Has anybody done a v6 vortec head swap? I know the prevailing arguement is to drop a v8 in but was just curious. If the swap has been done how difficult? thank you, Steve

i personally like the v6, thats me assuming you have a 4.3v6
there will be a few small things.(i think you can do this to a 3.8 also???) your gonna need the edlebrock vortech v6 intake that is for carbs and an adapter to fit the tbi to it. im unsure about EGR....

brackets for the a/c or alt my need slight tweeking. the only other thing that i can think of is the exhaust manifold mounting may be different, the manifolds bolt on but i think they are at a slightly different angle so your y-pipe may not bolt up.

Yes, its a 4.3 sorry about that. I checked the edelbrock intakes for the 4.3 but they all seem to be for the trucks. Must be taller. Was also curious about the egr setups? thank you,Steve

they are desgined for trucks, as the 4.3v6 came in very few cars, as it was mostly a truck engine. i have an edelbrock tbi intake but have yet to install it. the tbi intake only works on engines up to 94 without the balance shaft.

When i spoke with the edelbrock tech line they said i would have to use an egr valve from an s-10 and reroute my lines going to it
the stock manifold has the egr at the rear of the intake and the eddie has it at the front and the mount is shaped differently.

im unsure if the carbed vortech intake has an egr provision, if it does i would assume just use an s-10 egr valve. install height wise im unsre of also, on the eddie site there is a chart that shows how to measure the install height.

the stock tbi intake is tall, im sure with the vortec carb intake and the adapter for the tbi unit it would be still be shorter than stock.

you'll want a chip to complement you heads and intake, talk to brian at http://www.tbichips.com

The carb'd maniolfd will not have EGR, IIRC. As 4.3s did not come with carbs, that maniolfd is designed for race or marine use only. With the TBI manifold you will be able to retain the EGR. You can use the carb manifold and use a TBI adapter (which might give you permormance benefits) , but you will lose EGR function.

I would also stay away from tbichips.com, or any other vendor for off the shelf chips for you ECM. They will not work. The car may run, and Brian does a good job of covering his butt so that no damage will be done to engine (read: setting up everything overly rich), but performance will suffer because his tunes are generic and NOT deisgned for your specific application. That can ONLY be done in person. Any tuning will need to be done by you or a reputable speed shop with good knowlegde of tuning GM fuel injection. See TGO for as much information of TBI tuning you could ever want.

i didnt think the carb intake had EGR provision but i wasnt sure.

yeah some who has the equiptment to do in person tunes will have the better tune. So i take you are also meaning companies(cant for the life of me think of any names)that summit sell are also generic tunes....even though they say call with details of engine modifications. as far as know theres no such performance shops in wv or close to me.

I can honestly say i dunno how spot on brain is, i personally have a laptop with WIND ALDL to datta log engine info and e-mail it to him. but like i said i dunno how accurate he is.Second with cars our age, early tbi chips are hard to get cumstomized,heck anymore any year tbi chip is getting hard to find. I called serveral of the big companies and none had any reference to my particular ECM's prom chip.#1227137 FHK. Brain was the only one that could make me a chip. as i get time i will check over that site with the tbi modifications. is the :settin up overly rich: a post here or??

any thoughts on other tbi info youd be willing to share would be appreciated.im no guru.

i checked over the site a little bit, the ultimate TBI thing i dont think i waste my time as holley sell's direct replacement TBI units that have 2" bores.

is there a tuning section i missed or is there just the tune your engine with the O2 sensor actical?

I guess I'll have to check manifold height. I may have other issues as I am using a truck air cleaner assembly. thank you for the responses, Steve

I meant that he covers himself by running his tunes rich, so no serious damage will occur due his tunes. But that is anything but an efficient way to make power. If you go into the messege boards there at TGO they have a forum dedicated complete to TBI engines and MANY of the threads cover tuning. They will explain things in so many details your head will spin and you will understand why NO ONE can accuartely tune a car over the phone or through the mail. The ultimate TBI mods are well worth the trouble, unless you feel like dropping the money for the Holley TBi or a 454 GM TBI. Even then then they will give you benefits.

holy crap!! your right..
it'll take days to go over this stuff

i knew it could be done, self tuning as i talked with a guy a moats through several e-mails, but i never ran into the information with this much detail.