350 swap

[Schwein]

i just bought a 350 for my 1995 s10 its a 5 speed manual and i found a 350 out of an old truck that was newely rebuilt, i bought the motor for 3 grand, and it has less than 2 thousand miles on the rebuilt, the engine in my truck now is a 4.3 liter i know i need new engine mounts, but what else will i need? will in need new suspension or shocks? if i want to put the 350 in, or will the swap be pretty laid back and easy?. can anyone tell me exactly what else i will need to drop the new 350 in, my truck has 4wd should my suspension or shocks be able to handle the 350 weight.

[TopDogg]

You have a 4x4? You will need a different oil pan, headers, electric fan to start with. I never did a 4x4 yet so I am not sure of how your tranny will fit. i would use the trans that is in there to keep it simple.

A 350 doesnt weigh much more than your 4.3. How ever much the extra weight will lower the front it will lower the rear atleast half that.
So an adjustment to your torsion bars would fix it. Your not looking at much of a difference here though.

If you go to ebay you will find 350 s10 swap guide books for sale. I seen 2 people who were simple shade tree mechanics refer to a swap guide and they both came out with something to be proud of.

[hakogen]

be careful with that tranny... the tranny in there isnt designed to have the power of a 350 going to it, so chances are it will blow within a few months, maybe longer if you baby it. find a tranny to go with the motor, or youll just be making more work for yourself later on. i put a 350 in my fist ride. it was an 87 cutlass supreme with a v6... i put the 350 in there, and sure as snow. 4 months later, kaboom... well more of a ka-grind. heh

[TopDogg]

I am going on the assumption you dont have a 400+hp engine wth 4.56 gears so Your tranny will work fine. Its a 700r4 I would imagine. You might want to install a shift kit to keep slippage down. You could also have other tricks done to it but save that til later.
The tranny he is reffering to above in the Gutless was probably on its way out the door anyway.
I would keep it cheap and simple first to see what you prefer.

[Schwein]

well thanks for all your help on that, this truck is overwhelming me i just bought and im working on 3 different projects at once, my clutch my pitman and idler arms, and now the motor swap so thanks for the help