I have a 1985 Monte Carlo v6 4.3L, fuel injected and I'm trying to get a stronger engine but I can't find any fuel injected engines in colorado. What engines can I put in my car? Everything on the car is original and in good condition but I want more horse power. What can I add to get more horsepower?

 

What condition is your present Motor in ?
How many miles on it ?
What is your mod budget ?
The 4.3L is a strong engine & your Monte Looks original..
How much power are you looking for ?

Check back on your thread to see what are super mod member's suggest...I think a Turbo would be great on a 4.3 L & it would surprise a lot of people 4-Sure...Good Luck in getting the power you are after...(Please post more pic's of your 4th Gen please) Thanks
Buick Grand National V6's were sure strong 4-Sure!!!!!

 

My motor Is new and I have about 163,000 miles on it. When I bought it it had 98,000 on it. I was thinking about rebuilding the transmission sometimes soon but I wanted to get an idea of what works or doesn't work for the Monte Carlo before I test it out. I talked to a guy and he said it would run me about $4,000 to get a turbo on it because it would need to be modified to fit and run correctly in my car.

 

you could always v8 it lol but seriously, since you have the fuel injected v6 car you can put in a throttle body fuel injected v8 (87-95 truck motor or 87-92 Camaro/Firebird/Caprice TBI v8 would hook up the easiest) since your car already has the EFI gas tank and sending unit and the wiring for sensors, and all the stuff you gotta have for fuel injection. I'm pretty sure if you get the right motor all you have to change is the computer(v6 computer makes a v8 run like crap learned this on a 4.3 to 5.7 swap in a S-10) You could also look up camshafts for a 4.3, vortec heads for a 4.3, headers/dual exhaust, aftermarket intake manifold, lower rear differential gear ratio (you have the same 7.5 inch rear end that comes on 80's model Camaros Firebirds and S-10's) I think you can get underdrive pulleys for a 4.3, too. There's all kinds of aftermarket performance stuff for these Montes but they do have more performance stuff readily available for v8s. That being said I think it'd be awesome to see someone soup a 4.3 up. Also if you would ever consider doing a v8 swap USE A 5.7/350! The 5.0/305 motors suck! All the chevy v8s I've seen after 1987 have the engine displacement cast into the block between the transmission and drivers side cylinder head. It's hard to see may be covered with grease, but its there as long as the engines newer than 1986. I hope this helps you out somewhat there's a lot of smart people on this site, so if you have any more questions ask away, somebody's gonna probably know the answer or know how to find out the answer. Good luck with your project! Make sure to let us know how it goes. Flip your breather lid upside down and put the nut back on, it's redneck but it'll give you about 10 horsepower and it'll sound cool, just don't leave it that way lol. If it helps you could consider getting an open element breather (air filter) running that lid upside down is the same as having an open element. These are the big chrome universal air filter assemblies you can get off the shelf at most auto part stores. I don't mean to ramble just trying to help! Good luck!

 

if you arent going to put a power adder on the 4.3 i wouldnt bother doing anything to it. the good news is that any of the small block chevys will bolt right into your car. the older motors also have the engine identification numbers cast into the block on the drivers side, but they dont tell you the displacement you would have to look that info up and match it with the number on the motor. 305 doesnt suck, but its not worth playing with. you want to go 327 and higher. big blocks can be done, though ive never done this swap, but having seen it in person several times i think its a little tight with headers, and adding that much weight to the nose of an already heavy car is unnecessary. a big block swap would take more work, and all of the bbc parts are more expensive than the small block stuff. not to mention a tough small block should be able to take on an equal big block. LS swaps are becoming common and popular. they will be pricier than a gen 1 swap but would certainly perform better especially if denver is high elevation(im pretty sure it is). also as mentioned above about rear ends to my knowledge the fbody cars of the 80s had a aussie 9 bolt or something in them, but gear swaps shouldnt be considered until a motor/trans combo is picked, and then only after a camshaft is selected(this is if you want a matching combo, and something thatll actually be able to compete on the street or track). if youre just looking for a performance boost and dont care if the car runs out of motor you could do a gear swap, depending on what series carrier you have youll be limited to what gearing you can run unless you swap out the carrier with it. once again not worth the trouble till you get a combo going. you may want to check out typhoon and syclone forums both of those trucks were factory turbod 4.3s perhaps the members of that forum could shed some light on what is possible with that motor. im not sure if its the same motor only that its the same displacement, but im sure they would know. good luck.
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I want to ls swap my 85 Monte and do a front end conversion to a SS any suggestions?