i am interested in purchasing a newer s-10 pickup but i am not real sure about what year to choose. i have a few questions regarding years and what is the best choice. all these question pertain to the 4.3L V6.

first, what year did the vortec fuel injection become available? also, i know there was the central fuel injection model as well as the newer one and which one is better? i have heard the central fuel injected one has better throttle response than the newer version. what transmission is used on the 5 speed and on the automatic in the truck? and my last question is how wide is the truck, wms-wms.

thanks for the information.

dan

Originally posted by chickenhawk
and my last question is how wide is the truck, wms-wms.

dan

Interesting question... you have plans for it?

I don't remember the measurement off hand. I'm not that much of a gearhead. I do know it is 1 1/2" wider than a first Generation Bronco.

The Central Port Injection is garbage. Prone to leaks. I believe that 95 was the first year for a Vortec. Go with that and you will be happier. That will also get you into the new body style.

'88 was the first year for throttle body FI. At that time it was called a vortech engine, but apparently they are not considered vortech any more.
An aoutmatic would be a TH700 R4 or 4L60E (electronically controlled 700). A 5 speed would probably be an NV3500.

i do have plans for an s-10. i am going to purchase a 2WD S-10 or sonoma. rip out the front and rear end, put in whatever axles i decide on, d44, d50, d60 or 14 bolt. in the rear it will have full size 63" chevy leafs with 3/4 eliptic. in the front will be waggoner leafs, 44044's, the rancho lift leafs. the reason i chose the s-10 is for its 4.3L factory installed motor. the reason i want to know the width is to find the correct width axles. anyways, if anyone knows the width, it would be appreciated.

thanks for the info cj-jeeper and fyrman

Originally posted by CJ-Jeeper
'88 was the first year for throttle body FI. At that time it was called a vortech engine,

You are thinking 4 Tech. TBI and the Vortec motor are completely different, right down to the head design.


As for the axle swap: If you are starting with a 2 wheel drive, why not use coils up front? The upper buckets are already there.

OTOH, there is less garbage to get rid of with a 2 wheel drive....

And first generation Bronco axles are the closest you are gonna get for a Dana 44. Find a complete Bronco somewhere, and you will have a front 44, rear 9", and all the braketry you need for a coil suspension front. Like I said, those axles are only 1 1/2" narrower than the S10. 3/4" wheel spacers, or wheel backspacing can make that up.

EDIT: If you do decide on the Bronco axles... All you need to do is open up the James Duff catalog for bolt on lift kits, articulation improvments, etc...

The bronco axles are a good choice, especially if you want to do coils. Being narrower is a good thing if you want to stay near stock width overall. You will be useing wheels with less backspacing, so it will end up a little wider anyway.

Axles from an '80's Waggoneer would also be good but a couple inches wider than the Bronco's.

On my last S10 I swapped in a 12 bolt from a '70 Chevelle. I don't know the width, but it was very close to the S10 rear. That was an good for me because I had the IFS front & my wheels fit the Chevelle lug pattern. Would'nt be that great for you since you would need to to change it to 6lug or whatever you use on the front.

Sorry I can't actually say what stock width is.

For lots of engine ifo, check out the link in FRYMAN's sig.