Originally posted by turbofish38
Just like the 3.8 Buick, the 4.3 Chevy was the prefered choice in NASCAR in the Busch Grand National series before they went back to V-8s. Any body who says there aren't any good performance parts aint looking to hard. Dont forget the 4.3 was just a 305/350 SBC with 2 cylinders cut off.
Ummm... a 4.3 is NOT a 350 with two cylinders lopped off as far as the high stress components .. An odd fire 4.3 is close but a production even fire isnt (see prev post in reference to odd fire con rods).
NASCAR used bow tie blocks which have V8 style oiling system where as the production blocks are not V8 style oiling (nor can production blocks be converted to V8 oiling). NASCAR used odd fire cranks (common pin) but production 4.3s are even fire.
Like I said, some pieces will carry over from the SBC engine but your high stress pieces will not unless you go odd fire except for pistons. Also, as I stated only a hand full of ppl in syty land have went odd fire so getting it tuned once its togeather is a PIA unless you have a LOT of resources at your disposal.
FWIW... Pieces that will interchange between a production 4.3 and a SBC:
Push rods
Rocker arms
Lifters
Valve springs
Valves
Timing chains
Timing chain covers
Oil pumps
Oil pump drive
Main bearings
Pistons/rings
Water pumps
Starters
Flywheels/flex plates
Things that will NOT interchange:
Connecting rods/rod bolts
Rod bearings
Cranks (obviously)
Cams (ditto here also)
Push rod guide plates
Distributors
If you look closely at the above list (Im sure I missed something) you will note that the only high stress components that carry over from the SBC to the production 4.3 are the pistons and valve train components. The components we have the most trouble with are cranks and rods which dont carry over and our motors are low RPM torque motors which dont require huge cams or huge RPM so the advantages of the high end SBC valve train stuff is minimal IMO.
Up until a couple of months ago you could not get an even fire forged crank no matter how much money you had. Several ppl have placed orders with the likes of Cola, Hank the Crank, Scat, etc only to wait months on end with no crank shipped and they finally just cancelled the order. Just recently a syty vendor has came through with a forged even fire crank (if you have the ~$2500 to buy it). Eagle makes H beam rods for the even fire and they arent too bad on price and Oliver makes high dollar rods as well. Most guys I know of, myself included, went with the Eagles due to the high cost of the Oliver rods.
So, to sum it up yes you can find bullet proof performance parts for the 4.3 if you have the bucks to step up to the odd fire deal but by the time you spend the money to do it you could have built a SBC for half the price. If you do that then its just another S10 with a SBC stuffed in it and just like you guys most of us sytyers like to stick to the V6 stuff thats within reach of our budget as staying V6 is the "right" way to do it.