I need to know what would be the best vehicle to pull a donor engine from that uses HEI syle iginition two barrel intake, and could use early style accessories....

i would say astro minivan.

Monte Carlo
Astro (as mentioned)

How about a year...thinking 89 or so but want to know all I can before I go and check and get an engine ....going to the yard next week with a tape measuure to see what all would be involved....want to make it as simple as possible...

S-10 over half of all s-10 had the 4.3, and teh 700r4 as well.

87 AND UP IS T.B.I . I PUT ONE IN MY ZUK AND LOVE IT. I PUT IT IN WITH A CARB FIRST AND 5 WEEKS LATER PUT FI ON IT I SHOULD HAVE DONE THE TBI IN THE FIRST PLACE. IT IS ABOUT 400 BUCKS MORE TO GO FI BUT IT WAS THE BEST THING I'VE DONE. IT WILL COST YOU 250 FOR A GOOD CARB SO WHY NOT FI.
JUST MY .02;)

Have a holley set-up so I'm half their...just looking for the most power that I can get and will check with chevy dealership to see what they have, I know the 4.3 will make decent power at a resonable cost.....

Definately call a junk yard guy THAT YOU TRUST! I've got a number if you want. Anyway, I just did this swap (into my boat, but same difference). Different years had different components, brackets, water pumps, belts (serp), heads, and intakes. The newer ('99 and newer I THINK) is a better choice. Just get everything from one donor vehicle, I spent weeks trying to mix and match brackets with accessories so the belt would line up.

Look for an 88-92 S10. You can probably find the whole damned truck in the paper, for a couple hundred bucks, if the body is shot. Get the whole truck so you do not have to worry about what you need to make it work. It's all there! Everything should pull relatively easy.

Mine is out of a 87 Impala. I like the fact that it uses a one flat belt, and a few other v-belts instead of one serp belt...So yes it has "old style" accessories already.

'78 to '84 the 229 was used. Two-barrel w/ flat-tappet hydraulic cam. In '85 and '86 the 4.3 w/ quadrajet 4-barrel and hydraulic cam. Found in Monte's, Astro vans, full-size trucks, and maybe a couple of others. In '87, went to TBI w/ roller cam, same vehicles. S10's got it in '88. In '96, Vortec head/intake bolt pattern. Uses 8 vertical bolts like late model v-8 vortecs, instead of 12, on intake. Different belt systems were used. All will interchange, as the bolt pattern on the engine stayed the same. Most '88 and later used single serpentine. '85 to '87 is luck of the draw, acc. to vehicle. If you are wanting to build a carb flat-tappet motor, email me, I've got some parts for sale. kbud1@bellsouth.net

kbud, so if I understand your right, a 89-92 fits my bill? ie looking for HEI style with tbi manifold but yet uses std old accessories? Will shoot you a email as well so I don't make this too long

Originally posted by coyote
kbud, so if I understand your right, a 89-92 fits my bill? ie looking for HEI style with tbi manifold but yet uses std old accessories? Will shoot you a email as well so I don't make this too long

What do you specifically mean by old school accessories. SI vs CS series alternator, v-belt or serpetine???

If you've got a vehicle w/ a 4.3 or 350 in it now, your accessories should bolt right on. Be sure to use the matching water pump for the belt system you use. '88-'92 Tbi is a good setup, easy to find and work on. Howell and Turbo city and others have wiring harnesses and anything else you might need.

I currently have a 350 and want to drop back to a 4.3 but don't want any new harness, just the long block and manifold...then bolt in a hei distributor, and alternator, water pump, compressor, power steering pump, starter, and pollution pump to the new engine and away we go....
I use holley projection and understand it enough to make it run and want to keep this set-up.....and not mess with another harness....

and if you are in california dont forget to get the doner car vin # it will help a lot when you go to the smog police
:beer: