Chevy S10 4.3l Sunday stealth project

[groberts101]

I drove the truck down to the plant and my buddy drove me home. I didn't know s10's had an axle hop issue. My buddy is thrilled, he said it feels totally different, snappy and has never burned the tires like that before. I will take it as a win.

Wow.. I did all that and more and never achieved that dramatic of a result with any of my vans. Which is of course why I kept spending money buying and adding all those parts listed above! Then after it was all said and done I really wished I'd have just put in a bone stock LS motor and been done with it all.

I would advise him to add a custom y-pipe as well. Think I still have the one that came out of my Safari and it is one of the most horrible production y's I have ever laid eyes on(which is why I kept it in my scrap exhaust pipe pile). One of the y'd in legs inserted into the larger main pipe overshot the other legged in pipe so severely that it actually shrouded/impeded its flow a great deal and you'd easily cut your finger if blindly sliding it in there to feel the transition. Granted these are lower rpm motors.. but every little bit helps.

[Carnut1]

I drove the truck down to the plant and my buddy drove me home. I didn't know s10's had an axle hop issue. My buddy is thrilled, he said it feels totally different, snappy and has never burned the tires like that before. I will take it as a win.

Wow.. I did all that and more and never achieved that dramatic of a result with any of my vans. Which is of course why I kept spending money buying and adding all those parts listed above! Then after it was all said and done I really wished I'd have just put in a bone stock LS motor and been done with it all.

I would advise him to add a custom y-pipe as well. Think I still have the one that came out of my Safari and it is one of the most horrible production y's I have ever laid eyes on(which is why I kept it in my scrap exhaust pipe pile). One of the y'd in legs inserted into the larger main pipe overshot the other legged in pipe so severely that it actually shrouded/impeded its flow a great deal and you'd easily cut your finger if blindly sliding it in there to feel the transition. Granted these are lower rpm motors.. but every little bit helps.

I should have taken it for a ride before but was pretty peppy after. I wasn't expecting tire hop from a stop.

[groberts101]

Most of that comes from the 4l60e's 3.06 ratio first gear. Even with a 3.43 axle ratio.. they get up and go pretty well for what they are. 3.73's are even better. My van would lay two solid patches even with stickier 245 mm tires and scratch 2nd. Completely gutted and empty I could beat up on many v8's in heavier trucks.

[Carnut1]

0408181047.jpg

Anyone else using a rough surface treatment on a throttle body?

[peejay]

With the MAF that close to a long flat air filter, GM probably has that tube in there to straighten out airflow so the MAF reads consistently. Likewise that small diameter may be there to cut noise, and noise is resonance and harmonics, which can throw MAFs in a tizzy.

That said I have never seen ANY car that couldn't benefit from a simple MAF transfer table adjustment. Due to production tolerances and the like, they are rarely "correct", merely "close enough". But the MAF not only determines fueling but also ignition timing since the timing is based off of cylinder filling, not RPM/vacuum. So if the MAF is reading high then your ignition timing is going to be insufficiently advanced.

Usually the change is minor but sometimes it makes the car feel like a completely different animal...

[Newold1]

Want to make a real stealth screamer out of that little 4.3L V-6, buy one of these performance kits like a friend of mine did, get a nice set of 43 lb siemens injectors , connect the CPI injector wires up to the new injector harness, buy a HP tuners software programming subscription for the stock GM ECM, install a nice set of long tube headers and he'll have a "sleeper" killer mini-farm truck! My friends little S-10 was turning 10"s in the quarter with just a torque converter change and a nice set of street slicks!

www.syty.net "performance head package"

[Olds455]

There's also marine intake manifold that uses standard injectors and the stock tb.

[Carnut1]

Very cool info guys, Thanks!

[Carnut1]

I told my buddy that the experts said these mods should have little effect on performance. He said, "Bulls--t! tell them come and take my truck for a ride! "Damn thing was fishtailing all over in the rain and has never been so smooth and snappy!" Sounds good to me. Thanks, Charlie

[groberts101]

I told my buddy that the experts said these mods should have little effect on performance. He said, "Bulls--t! tell them come and take my truck for a ride! "Damn thing was fishtailing all over in the rain and has never been so smooth and snappy!" Sounds good to me. Thanks, Charlie

LOL.. yeah, generally the S10 guys tend to be like that, Charlie. Even goes well beyond S10's and relates to the 4.3 guys in general. Lighter truck.. no weight or decent transfer to the back tires.. 3.06 1st gear.. crappier tires/sizing.. etc, etc.. makes the trucks/4.3's decent torque production feel like the mini-3/4 scale V8 that it is.

If he really wants to actually go any faster over longer distances?.. do all the stuff I mentioned above and put some 3.73 out back with larger stickier tires , decent flowing exhaust, efans, underdrive pulleys, and a good tune. He'll be thinking his truck has suddenly turned into a racecar! Well, at least till he gets spanked by a Kia or Volkswagen anyways. Don't ask me how I know this but I can tell you for fact those Chevy's are not as light as some think they are.

But in the end.. if he's happy?.. and you're happy that he's happy thinking he's truck has gobs of extra power?.. that's all that really counts. And extra throttle response counts for something too.

[Carnut1]

I told my buddy that the experts said these mods should have little effect on performance. He said, "Bulls--t! tell them come and take my truck for a ride! "Damn thing was fishtailing all over in the rain and has never been so smooth and snappy!" Sounds good to me. Thanks, Charlie

LOL.. yeah, generally the S10 guys tend to be like that, Charlie. Even goes well beyond S10's and relates to the 4.3 guys in general. Lighter truck.. no weight or decent transfer to the back tires.. 3.06 1st gear.. crappier tires/sizing.. etc, etc.. makes the trucks/4.3's decent torque production feel like the mini-3/4 scale V8 that it is.

If he really wants to actually go any faster over longer distances?.. do all the stuff I mentioned above and put some 3.73 out back with larger stickier tires , decent flowing exhaust, efans, underdrive pulleys, and a good tune. He'll be thinking his truck has suddenly turned into a racecar! Well, at least till he gets spanked by a Kia or Volkswagen anyways. Don't ask me how I know this but I can tell you for fact those Chevy's are not as light as some think they are.

But in the end.. if he's happy?.. and you're happy that he's happy thinking he's truck has gobs of extra power?.. that's all that really counts. And extra throttle response counts for something too.

Before the Sunday project he was thinking of a full 4.3l build. We will see if a few extra ft/lbs get him hooked for more.

[groberts101]

Before the Sunday project he was thinking of a full 4.3l build. We will see if a few extra ft/lbs get him hooked for more.

I have cash in hand that says the shiny new wears off in two weeks or less! And far less than that if he puts it up against something he's raced before as a comparison.

And to be clear, I was not dissing your abilities or achievement there.. just a pessimistic and cynical realist created from hanging around and driving plenty of them 4.3's(I was and still are a 4.3 lover too) gives some added perspective to the actual power numbers generated at the end of a quarter mile.. or freeway ramp, or stoplight to stoplight, or whatever.

Good motors for what they were.. but with the amount of good LS motors sitting around the parts yards and bolt in swap kit availability these days.. not worth dumping money into a "seasoned motor". Been there done that.. blew the rings out of my last one since all that added cylinder pressure made it run so well. Had turbo parts for it but the shortblock never made it that far.

[Carnut1]

Before the Sunday project he was thinking of a full 4.3l build. We will see if a few extra ft/lbs get him hooked for more.

I have cash in hand that says the shiny new wears off in two weeks or less! And far less than that if he puts it up against something he's raced before as a comparison.

And to be clear, I was not dissing your abilities or achievement there.. just a pessimistic and cynical realist created from hanging around and driving plenty of them 4.3's(I was and still are a 4.3 lover too) gives some added perspective to the actual power numbers generated at the end of a quarter mile.. or freeway ramp, or stoplight to stoplight, or whatever.

Good motors for what they were.. but with the amount of good LS motors sitting around the parts yards and bolt in swap kit availability these days.. not worth dumping money into a "seasoned motor". Been there done that.. blew the rings out of my last one since all that added cylinder pressure made it run so well. Had turbo parts for it but the shortblock never made it that far.

I am with you, in reality how much could it have really gained? Now did it change how the mass airflow meter reads the air?
Did the amount of air change drastically on tip in changing how the motor hits the converter?
If I did a full buildup it would still be a street build, ported stock heads, upgraded cam that would still work with the GM fuel injection, nice exhaust, done.

[BOOT]

In a low power engine a few HP feels like a lot more than it would for a decent v8, think percentage gain. I think some things can rob more power from smaller engines as well. I know that truck would feel better just driving around and should be a bit faster cause it was really slow tah start, we all know it's no racecar n still pretty slow. 2nd gen is heavy compared to 1st gen but still lighter than a lot of v8 cars(before stripped down of course). Long as the guy enjoys the results everybody wins.

[MadBill]

0408181047.jpgAnyone else using a rough surface treatment on a throttle body?

I talked with a guy at the Mosport Ontario track last summer that has designed and sells a line of 3D-printed* air bells with dimpled inner surfaces: https://custompolycast.com/ *(or maybe just the prototype I saw)