4.3L rebuild

[dezerts10]

I bought a 2002 4.3L off a friend about a year ago. i have finally statred to tear it down. I am going to convert it to a N/A set up. I have gotten some really good infor from some of you about how to acomplish that and thought I d ask a few more ?s.

It has steel heads. Should i consider converting to aluminum ones? i thought all vortec engines had aluminum heads

the engine had atleast 100K miles on it and I want to rebuild it completely. Should I consider boring it? should I look into replacing all the pistons and rings?

next I live in temecula does anyone know any local places that you would recomend to check the heads do a valve jobcleaan the stock heads up, and also check and possibly bore the cylinders.

any other things I should be thinking about since the engine is down to the block and heads?

Gregg

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[Ryno]

The vortec heads are the best head bang per buck. You'll easily spend 1k for alum. heads. Save the $$$ for something else. Get the heads cleaned up, new valves guides, seals, and springs. Get all new bearings at a minimum, along with a timing set, and oil pump. Check the cylinders before you bore it. If you can feel a ridge about 1/2" down, time for a overbore. If everything looks good, run it.

Dougan's in riverside does good work, but they're backlogged. I don't know if Danzio is still around, give them a call, they probably have a shop they use for checking parts and machine work.

Danzio Performance Engineering 951-245-2537

[dezerts10]

thanks for all the information.

I have a place down the street from my work im gonna check out tomorrow here in temecula tand maybe tuesday go to another place that is a huge viper performance machining center a few streets over from my shop.

i dont plan on boring the engine unless there is scarring onthe cylinders. luckly my dads a mechanic who rebuilds these things monthly at his work in the forklifts they run

so the vortec steel heads I have are what i should run. just get them clened up and rebuilt? should I consder getting them ported?

I want to keep the engine 91 octane friendly and mexico pemex friendly

[baja stu]

Along with rebuilding your heads don't forget to rebuild your rods, have the crank checked out, and if your cylinders feel ok just hone them out. Reuse your old pistons if they look ok and then install a good set of rings. If it was a good running engine at 100k miles then alot of the parts are reuseable. Engines these days last a long time.

A little porting on the heads never hurt. You can gasket match them and just smooth them out. If you change them too much you will haft to change the size of the cam and carb to match the increased flow.

[dezerts10]

engine ran good at 100K.

since the engine is torn down so much ill prolly do rod bearing, main bearings, and rings for sure and then check out the pistons and cylinders.

what are the camshft bearings called?

are the stock style lifters and push rods worth upgrading? what aboutt he valve train?

[Ryno]

Cam bearings are cam bearings. You might as well put a better cam in, and a new cam means new lifters. Maybe think about 1.6 rocker arms as well for more top end. If you do those three things, you'll need to get matching valve springs as well. You're looking at somewhere between 2k-3k depending on what parts you use. Roller cams are expensive.

[dezerts10]

ill leave the top end stock for now if it takes that much cash to do it the right way.

[jowoog]

build it !!
http://gmperformancepartszone.com/en...sflsrcug7ika96

[dezerts10]

is the 4.3L I have (out of a 2002 truck) what most sites or parts list refer to as the 90deg v6?

[Ryno]

Yes, the 4.3 is a 90 deg V6. One cylinder bank is 90 deg from the other.