Chevy 4.3 choices

I have decided to go with a Chevy 4.3, instead of the Buick 231, mainly due to parts availability, and age of the Buick.

I have just picked up a sm465 trans with bellhousing, so it will make the Chevy setup even easier.

I know there are a few variants of the 4.3, however I have no idea which is best to use in the Jeep conversion.

I have heard that the later 96 on engines using the OBD2 are hard to get running correctly unless you have all the sensors and misc stuff.

Any pro or con on using a balance shaft motor???

At this time, I am looking at a 91--95 year engine as being the best option, however I would like input from those who have gone before.

Also, for the trans to xfr case, Novak or Advanced Adapers??? Dana 18 xfr and sm465 trans.

Thanks in advance.

 

How much power do you want?
A TBI would be very easy to wire but is about 40hp lower than a Vortec.
There is also a change in factory wiring 93ish. One is a vehicle control and all the wires are mixed. After that it's a component control, this is much easier with plugs for each part (engine/trans/bla bla).

I don't believe you will really notice a difference between the balance shaft or not in a Jeep.

 

Not too critical----factory stock should be all I need, still running 1960 axles, so I dont want to get too wild. The idea of 40 extra factory HP is nice though.

Thanks for the input.

 

I've got a '90 TBI unit i'm putting in the '68 simply because it's the easiest to work with. Very simple to diagnose and you can easily delete stuff like the egr without setting any codes. The Vortec with TBI would be a good unit. I'm not a fan of the cmpfi systems as they can be problematic and expensive to repair. PFI systems would be a good choice but like said stay away from the OBD 2 systems for simplicity sake.

 

Anybody else????

 

I put a '92 in my Jeepster and over revved it, not the engine's fault. I replaced it with a '94, basically the same engine with a couple of differences. (Now I have a tach and a MSD box with a rev limiter) The '94 has the balance shaft that was mentioned above, I wouldn't let that sway you one way or another. The second was the EGR valve, the '92 has a vacuum operated and the '94 is electrically operated. I have a '92 Astro van harness that has no provision for the electric EGR. I don't have it hooked up and it hasn't been an issue.

Just my opinion if you are going to make your own harness from a donor 4.3, go for the TBI. If you are buying a harness and ECU, find a newer Vortec engine. My '94 has factory "vortec" valve covers but isn't what people call a vortec engine. The newer ones with multi port are what people consider the real vortec engine so I'm told.

If I was doing it over again I'd probably go for '94 or later to get the newer type EGR wiring, even if you replaced your engine with an older one the vacuum wouldn't be hard to hook up. I'd want to hear it run, some 4.3's had piston slap, and the lowest mileage you can find.

 

I have a 92 TBI with 35's and It has enough power for me. Runs great.