Early 4.3 upgrade?

[Scruffy49]

The original issue 4.3 in my 85 swb is tired. Smokes like a 2 stroke tired. IF there is enough wall thickness left, going to rebuild it.
RV cam? Retrofit roller cam? Thermostat temperature? Exhaust w/o egr or smog pump provisions?
Already installed a non-ESC distributor (Jegs with 4 pin icm).
Swapping to a 500cfm capable Holley 2bbl on an adapter, 1/2” spacer, stock iron Qjet high rise intake.
Truck has a Th400 that will also get refreshed. Deep finned aluminum pan, higher flow rate filter, stand alone cooler, new cooler lines.
Rear axle is open 2.73s. Finned aluminum cover, getting new axle seals, internals all look factory new other than the leaking axle seals, pinion seal and tubes. Weld the tube/housing seams fully? Add a truss? Best brand for seals? Used to Mopar 8.75, Ford 9” and Danas, an 8.5” 10 bolt is a bit different.

I’m sure the long term GM guys are rolling their eyes, but, grew up building/driving flatheads and FEs. Not much translates…

Thanks for any parts/building reccomendations and/or tricks.

 

[Scruffy49]

And please don’t say LS swap it. I’d rather scrap it than run a computer controlled engine in it.

 

[Ricko1966]

Seriously with all the people doing LS swaps you should be able to find a usable as is SBC cheaper than you can buy a stock rebuild kit,more power,easiest swap ever and if mpg is your concern use a 305. My 2 cents

 

[bucket]

If I were to stick with the V6, I'd start with a 4.3 from a '96+ truck. They have much better heads, a balance shaft and a factory roller cam. You can find them used with fairly low miles still. With the money saved from not having to rebuild, there will be money left over for an aluminum intake and an electric fuel pump swap.

Then I'd swap in a transmission with overdrive. A 700r4 would work nicely here and it has a steeper 1st gear too.

Out back, don't worry about welding the tubes or any kind of truss. That's not needed at the power levels of a V6. However, I would swap to a 3.73 or 4.10 gear, depending on tire size. It will make the biggest difference for acceleration than any other modification to the 4.3l. Aside from boost.