I dunno if it would even be worth considering a turbo or top swap with almost 200k miles on it though...

 

200,000 miles? Might as well buy a new engine, or a newer car altogether.

 

Look around for a used, low miles 3.8 L36 and transmission. Then get the turbo. If you want to go fast you're going to have to spend money. Or get yourself a camaro/corvette, you'll go fast then.

 

yeah man, im with everone here, you aint gonna get too much out of that 4.3. i dont know if im taking about the same engine but, i raced a sonama with a 4.3 and i stomped taht thing. as you can see, i have minimal mods on my 3400.

 

I'd do it haha

You'll still have all the parts if the engine dies, so when you swap in a new engine you'll still have a turbo.

 

if youre looking to get over 400 horses, id say LOL just buy a corvette or maybe even a viper.
jk, you should just turbo a 3800 and do some other popular mods for that engine.

 

Since the 4.3 liter is my baby V6...I will defend it. Can you get 400+ out of the 4.3...yes sometime back Hotrod mag did a write up on the 4.3 carbed engine and they got 301 hp and when they put a supercharger got 501 hp then blow a head gasket.

Also when the Bush series of Nascar was racing V6's they was getting over 400 hp out if that engine.

Also the 3800 boosted engine (L67) is kicking out 240 hp stock and the Syclone engine (turboed 4.3 liter) is kicking out 280 hp stock. So if done right the 4.3 can be a very fast engine. There biggest downfall is no real aftermarket support but they have one saving grace...they can use alot of the some stuff as the 350. Somewhere I have a website that sales a stroker kit for the 4.3 and procharger makes a supercharger for the 4.3 tbi engine. So the 4.3 is no laughing engine it is a good strong engine if it is build right.

If you are still with me, I will say this...with the aftermarket support of the 3800 I personally would stick with the 3800 because you already have the engine, pcm, etc. It will not be that hard (hard as in compared to a complete engine,transmission and possibly computer swap) to get more ponies out the 3800. If you don't have a 3800 in your Monte it still would be easier then trying to make a 4.3 fit and work...unless you are also converting to rwd or you want to be different then by all means do what makes you happy.

 

Why though? So you can end up with sub-par performance (from worn rings, carbon buildup, valve seal oil leakage, etc etc)- and a setup that is more likely the break?

I just don't see the point. Then you end up with a $3000 car, with a $3000+ turbo kit, a $3000 semi-built transmission (since there is no way I'd trust a stock tranny w/ 200k- or even a rebuild to last behind 400 hp for long)- and when the engine finally lets go- then you're looking into buying a low mileage engine on top of that; and that's not even considering that the whole rest of the car is already worn out anyways (brakes, suspension, etc).

With a car that old, with that many miles- and wanting 400 hp- I'd add up the cost of all the performance goodies and transmission goodies to get there reliably, then add in the price of a lower mileage engine w/ accessories, then the price of all the other maintenance items in the brakes and suspension that haven't been replaced yet (no sense in building a 150+ mph setup if its not safe at 100)- and then compare that total to other used vehicles on the market- maybe something that would let you hit the same 400 hp with fewer needed mods, and less cost- with a lower mileage vehicle.