I played with the 4.3 for quite a while in various vehicles, and I would recommend it for a light-to-medium weight pickup on the street. They do well as long as the radiator is intended for a v8 or at least A/C.
If you plan on offroading a large, heavy truck, stick with a mostly-stock 292. It's got a whole lot more torque at lower engine speeds and will pull you out of most anything. The 4.3, unless it's a CFI version (Central Fuel Injection) doesn't make big torque, just adequate.
The only "easy" thing about the 4.3 conversion is almost everything is the same as a v8: water & fuel pumps, mounts, starter, carb/EFI, you name it. Just the engine itself and the exhaust manifolds (of course!).
I've seen econo dragsters with built 4.3 engines, and they haul the mail. But they're just as expensive to build to that power level as a smallblock, and make the same power per cylinder.
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David
newbie #4153
