Re: Building a powerful, effiecient, problemless 4.3L turbo
Heres a plan, and a good idea of what you'll need. I'm assuming you are putting this into a 2wd S10. The 4wd conversions are a bit easier as that is all a Sy/Ty is anyway....4WD S10 +_ some specific parts.
Engine: I saw two motors go through a reputable machine shop in Cincy in the past year. Both were NEAR or OVER $5k for the machine work, assembly, and parts. Forged pistons and rods, 4xx cam, Vortec heads. Machine shop put togethor everything that moved inside the motor. Intake was converted by JSM for ~$250 for the vortec heads. One has a 67GTQ turbo the other has a PT52 from a GN. You'll need to budget another $1k for the exhaust manifolds, and intake. For the intake you can get some stockers converted purchased and converted, or you can get an edelbrock for the vortec heads, and have that converted to MPI (another $500 depending on who does it). Toss an LS1 Throttle body on there, and you're getting close. With a 2WD you'll need to have a custom downpipe fabricated, so add another $400 in there for that. Oh yea, you'll need to get a Sy/Ty ECM, and fabricate a wiring harness or it. Throw another $500 in there or injectors, connectors, ECM, and misc supplies to make that happen.
Now for things to support this nice motor setup you've just built.
Intercooler...You can go air to air if you want. Custom setup with parts from ebay can be done for $500. Purchase one from RPM that you'll have to slightly rework to make fit on a 2wd chassis for $1k, or have a custom setup fabbed for $1500. Stock Sy/Ty stuff is marginal at best, and is expensive, however it works and can be had for semi-cheap if you wait for the right deals. You can also go hot air, and run just methanol as a cooling agent, however thats a risky proposal for someone who doesn't know EXACTLY what they are doing.
Transmission: T56 is a good option that I haven't seen done on a turbo 4.3. There are a myriad of threads on the various S10 sites about making that work. 700R4 is junk, but will live in a 2wd application (although your tires won't). 4L80E is best, but is somewhat pricey, if you want reliability this is where it's at. The sy/ty conversion is ~$5k, I'd think you could do a 2wd for a bit less...lets say $3,500.
Rear End: If you don't run slicks the 7-5/8" rear end will hold for awhile. If you are gonna run slicks you'll break that in short order. Toss another $750+ for a good 8.5" rear or better. Of course the better you get the more money you are going to have to shell out.
Fuel system: Your gonna need at the very least a new fuel pump and regulator. At best a whole new setup with fuel cell, and various lines/fittings.
As you can see the expenses add up VERY quickly for the Turbo 4.3 option. You'll have enough power and torque to shred tires in no time, and run around about anything on the street assuming you can hook in 2wd. My personal advice is to find a nice LT1/T56 F-body thats been wrecked. Buy it for $3500, and have EVERYTHING you need to make the swap work minus a few S10 specific pats. You'll make plenty of power, and it'll be dead nuts reliable. Theres a guy in Atlanta that moved his Fbody stuff over to an extended cab S10. I've seen him run with a Viper on the highway. Take that same LT1 and stroke it to 383ci like mentioned above, and you'll have a helluva motor for ALOT less money. Not nearly as original, but it'll get you closer to the goal of cheap/fast/reliable!!
Just my $0.02, your milage may vary, no warranties either expressed nor implied.
But keep the info coming!
