Flip94ta said:
What about the 3.4 swap? It weighs less than 4.3 and has a 3yr/36,000 mile warranty.
I am not sure if a carb intake fits or not though.
actually the 3.4 swap is a bolt in swap
BUT
only if your truck is either an auto or a hydraulic clutch equipped 5 spd which I am pretty sure the 85 was
83-84 were the bad years for the manual clutch setup but I could be wrong on this
reason why you cant do this is the 3.4 block doesnt have a boss in it for the something that has to do with the clutch mounting so a manual clutch wont work
the 3.4 is in fact lighter than a 4.3 but not enough that I would call it worth it
but they put out similar power numbers
the advantage for a 3.4 is you can keep alot of the stuff that relates to the 2.8 like the tranny and rad and motor mounts and everything
the 2.8 and 3.4 are externally identical dimention wise
they are both 60 degree V6's
whereas the 4.3 is a 90 degree V6 and to use that you will need a new tranny and a different radiator
not to mention you will need to swap motor mounts as well
and on a real complication concern
you MAY need to move the steering column over to the left a tad
from what I understand in 1988 when the blazer first became available with the 4.3 stock GM moved the column slightly to the left for better clearance
also with the 3.4 you could reuse you existing intake manifold to keep it simple and carb'd
also if you wanted some performance stuff all you need to do is buy perf stuff related to the 2.8 and it will work on the 3.4 but with better results
now the down side of the 3.4
they arent as easy to come across as the 4.3
basically your only options for 3.4's is a 93-95 camaro or firebird
or a GM crate motor
the fwd 3.4's wont work because of a different block design
now another option is the rwd 3.1 that was available in 89-92 V6 camaro's
it was a pretty torque engine in its day and is alot more plentiful and less desired in the junkyards and is also a bolt in swap for your 2.8
in TBI form the 2.8 is rated at 125 hp (110 for your carbed version) and 150 lb/ft
the 3.1 is rated at around 140-150 hp and probably around 160-170 lb/ft
and the 3.4 is rated at around 160 hp and 200 lb/ft
really and truly I think the 3.1 swap would be the cheapest and easiest swap for you to do
reason is the engine will be the easiest to find in the junkyard and because its not a very desired engine it will be cheap
plus you can reuse everything off your old 2.8 and keep your rad and trans and motor mounts
the 3.4 is a little harder to come by and therefore more $$$
and the 4.3 will be pretty close to the same amount as a V8 swap because of all the other things beside the engine you will need to change to make it work
and in carb's form a 4.3 is only gonna make around 150 hp and 200 lb/ft especially if you use non vortec heads
vortecs will add hp and tq but also add cost to the swap plus you will need a vortec specific intake manifold for which there is only 1 choice
the edelbrock 2114
good luck
if you have any more questions feel free to PM me and I will answer them to the best of my ability
