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Atlas 3500/3700/4200 engines, give me the good, the bad, and the ugly

u2slow said:
A quick googling says there's an updated spider, and updated intake gaskets.
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Already knew that and have updated mine... just pointing out that the 4.3L isn't flaw free.

Aftermarket is also kind of limited. The biggest pisser to me is the lack of a replacement "solid" intake. I'm not sure how far I'd trust the plastic two piece intake to boost. OTOH, adding a turbo is pretty simple with the repro SyTy turbo manifolds for ~$700.
 
2007 Trailblazer with the 4.2. Took care of it, absolutely no issues for the decade we had it. Was a previous daily rental car. I loved the engine. Downside to it (as I'm sure you've seen) is the bellhousing pattern. Co-worker's brother has one, beat on hard (even by irate standards) and hasn't missed a tick. I'd like to build a six-shooter style buggy with one in the rear someday.
 
Lil'John said:
Already knew that and have updated mine... just pointing out that the 4.3L isn't flaw free.

Aftermarket is also kind of limited. The biggest pisser to me is the lack of a replacement "solid" intake. I'm not sure how far I'd trust the plastic two piece intake to boost. OTOH, adding a turbo is pretty simple with the repro SyTy turbo manifolds for ~$700.
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It's basic/minor 96+ Vortec baggage (incl. V8), so I don't hold the 4.3 size directly accountable.

Have you looked at the marine applications? There's carb and EFI intakes there. Not sure what the EFI system is like.
 
u2slow said:
It's basic/minor 96+ Vortec baggage (incl. V8), so I don't hold the 4.3 size directly accountable.

Have you looked at the marine applications? There's carb and EFI intakes there. Not sure what the EFI system is like.
Click to expand...
Last time I looked at intakes, all I found were carb marine applications.

Here is a turbo 4200 video with some good info:


Not stock swap(control/parts) but covered a lot of good physical stuff... like the 4200 was only front sump oilpan while I5/I4 engines were rear sump:homer:

EDIT
The video starting at 20m covers oiling and doing direct oil to each main:eek:
 
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Read the thread but i didnt watch the vids.
I poked google and saw lots of ar5 bellhousings and adapters.

What i didnt see was what are the atlas motors using for flexplates and flywheels? Same as ls? Sbc/bbc 2p seal 6bolt pattern?
Internal or external balance?
 
I had this bookmarked.

Vortec4200wiki

Welcome to the Vortec 4200 Wiki. This is centered around the Vortec 4200 platform. Here you will find lots of information on the performance and modification of Vortec 4200 engines.
sites.google.com sites.google.com
 
From what I understand 4 & 5 cylinder used the Aisin AR-5 and shared common flywheel 89060406, friction plate 24259734 and pressure plate 24257933. No idea on interchange with anything else.
 
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