4.3L vortec refresh/upgrade path for eventual turbo

[Lil'John]

Title is almost the short. Engine will get a turbo then get swapped into another rig.

I already know that there are better swap candidates except for the fact that I have the 2000 4.3L vortec.

Longer: 4.3L vortec in 2000 4wd S10 pickup. It had a mild overheat and it now sucks a little bit of water to who knows where(no milkshake, no bubbles in radiator) I am going to pull the heads to have them checked. Good chance I'll pull the block to have it checked across the top then a new set of bearings. I forget the exact mileage but I want to say south of 150k. I'm cleaning the truck for a solid backup truck over the winter.

Next summer, the engine and trans will get swapped into another rig. At that time, I'll drop a turbo on it for giggles.

While I've got the engine apart, what else should I refresh or upgrade in anticipation of a turbo? I'm eyeballing ARP head studs. Cam at this time is out of the question but more than likely will get yanked when I do the swap. Basic goal at this point is refresh or upgrade any internals so I don't open it up later.

edit*I have zero power goals in mind for the turbo. I'm not trying to eek every horse out of the engine and run it on the ragged edge. /*edit

When I actually do the swap, what else should I consider? I'm looking for info so I can keep an eye out for deals.

For the hot side pipes, I'm eyeballing the many Cyclone recreations. Seems pretty simple at under $400 for a kit.

I've heard upgrading to the marine manifold is a good idea. Are injector plugs and throttle body compatible?

For the blow off valve and wastegate, I'm eyeballing Tial. Most of the reading I've done said got quality on these and go China on the turbo(VS Racing).

 

[arse_sidewards]

At a bare minimum you need to change ring gaps.

 

[Lil'John]

At a bare minimum you need to change ring gaps.

Thank you for the reminder

 

[bradp674]

This guy put a turbo on his stock 4.3, with 14 psi of boost, and beats the shit out of it.

 

[TrailTamer]

I've heard upgrading to the marine manifold is a good idea.

Yes. Otherwise Can’t put higher flow injectors in it.

Are injector plugs and throttle body compatible?

Throttle body go right on.

You’ll need to cut up the large connector plug next to where supply and return fuel lines goes in and splice in wires and injector connectors and redo fuel lines to hook up to the fuel rail.

Easy project to do.


If I remember correctly the 4.3 don’t have that strong rotating lower end. May want to look into aftermarket connecting rods and pistons.