New plan for the jimmy :D

[plant.one]

Ok folks, been doing some pondering and budgetinging work and have made my decision. Once i get my company van my jimmy is coming off the road as my daily driver and its time to do some work to the engine.
mostly what set me off on this tact is i'm tire of the oil spots in the driveway, plus hell.. everyone always wants more go outa their truck, right? ;) what i'd like to know from you folks here at the planet is knowledge base stuff on like which parts are going to work best for my engine applicatoin based on what i'm looking for outa the truck.

SO before i get into a list of what i want to do, let me go over what my goals are.

1. Stop all oil leaks and be able to run a full synthetic w/o painting my driveway black one drop at a time. Not significant leakage right now (less than 1qt over 2500-3k miles) but annoying.

2. Driveability - i HATE the dead zone between the torque and hp peaks. I want to be able to have a nice even (or as even as possible) powerband.

3. Dependability - yea, its only got 153k on it, but its also got 153k on it and i dont know what happened for the first 140 of it. I wanna be SURE the next 150k are flawlessly smooth as far as the engine goes.

4. Fun - hey.. everyone needs 250-300hp right :P I wouldt mind to be able to slip up to the track for T/T night and make a few runs here and there and pull some respectable times with my brick :p Not to mention being able to embarass the occasional ricer heheheh

5. I've never owned a REALLY nice vehicle before. I mean i've had some decent stock vehicles - but generaly they were just A-> B vehicles. I'm ready both maturity wise (meaning i have the self controllt hese days not to abuse it and lose it) and financially to have a lil bit of toy in my vehicle instead of just somethign to drive around from A -> B.


Things i dont want...
1. SC or TC. This is going to be a N/A build.
2. To be required to run premium gas.
3. NoS - i would like to buy my HP once ;)
4. Gas Yardage - Not trying to dump my entire fuel tank thru the engine at once as i would still like to be able to take this truck on trips and such (my folks live about 2.5 hours from me)


Current plan

1. Remove the engine and send out to have it boiled. Time for a good de-sludgeing and wont hurt to be able to see that there's no hair cracks starting up, etc.

2. Port Polish

3. Upgraded Cam - give me more midband power

4. Crank

5. Lifters/Rollers

6. Gaskets/Seals/Bearings

7. Rings and Most likely replacement (stock) pistons.

8. Oil Pump (might as well)

9. Oil Pan - plug hole isnt right so while its accessable i'm gonna fix it right. (see the WTF thread heh)

10. MSD (or similar) ingition system - this will probably be done AFTER the engine build though. - Budget pending item-

11. TB Mod

12. ERG mod

13. Aftermarket air intake (cone style filter)

14. Upgraded Intake Manifold - edelbrock?

15. A/C Delete - still works fine, but i never use it, so i'm gonna free up engine compartment space.

16. New Oil Lines (more leak point issues)

17. Probably have some cleanup work done to the heads.


So will this list of goodies do me right on this build? Did i miss anything? Anything else to consider?

Please give me some input here so i can get my parts/price list togther and start getting everything here sittin in the garage ready to go.

Thanks again in advance you guys! I really appreciate all the help you've given me so far!

[Mikz86TA]

Im guessing its for the 4.3 and you dont want to go to a 350. Port and polish be consevative if using the stock heads. Unshrouding tha valva and gasket matching. Oil pump, go with a Melling..its what they do. Cam...keep in mind the limits when using the stock heads/pistons. But try to determine which cam wil give yu your intended 'range' 1st and go from there. No EGR mod needed if you goahead and get a different manifold. The 2114 I think and TB/Injectors custom setup. Try to refresh the heads and get some Ferrea valves, springs to accomidate the cams new lift along with new componets like valve locks and guides/seals. Rockers...go with full rollers if budget permits and check ratio availible after your cam selection.

[T Man]

sounds like you are on the right track, as far as the port and polish...id just go with the polish. Not enough people out there flow bench their port and polish jobs...just get in there and hog out material and kill velocity in search of volume

[Tink]

I'm not sure, but I think Edelbrock is the only one I know who makes an intake for a TB 4.3L. That is what I am running on my 91. It does require a chip, which in turn requires premium fuel. I'm getting 20mpg with it with mud terrians and 4.10s. SO, not sure about not running premium unless you stay factory intake and mild cam...

Some other things that are going to help other than the motor build are gears - 3.73s are nice with a TB 4.3L. Also, TBs have a very low stalling torque converter, using a 96+ torque converter will help your off the line feel.

[plant.one]

dont need a stall converter upgrade, i have a NV3500. Probably wont go th 3.73's eithor, as my 3.42's give me a fair ammount of go juice and if not engine rev in the lower gears (ITs the WIDE nv3500 - 4.012 1st gear)

I went into the local performance shop and talked to their SBC chevy specialist and he's gonna make a few calls and see what he can come up with on a parts list for me or a possible performance package from like one of the major line vendors (edelbrock, crain (sp?) - you get the idea)

[muddrode]

How about headers/exhaust?

[Tink]

Oops! Didn't see that in your sig.

I used the total power package from Edelbrock on my 4.3L. I tried running the intake w/o the computer chip, but it idled like **** and kept stalling out.

[plant.one]

How about headers/exhaust?
I'mma have to wait for tax season - this build will eat up most of my extra $$ for this fall and then x-mas will be around the corner heh.

[plant.one]

Oops! Didn't see that in your sig.

Neithor did i, thats why i thought to add it in the other day. I had made updates a couple weeks ago i thought, but aparently i didnt save the changes. sorry! :)