What do you think??? either is a Vortec!!Question is who knows where to get adapters for trans or I could get a jeep trany!!

swapping into what vehcile?

Nissan transmissions wont be up to task of V8 power, and it would require quite the adapter to get another tranmsission working with a Nissan case.

To do an engine swap, you're really looking at a full drivetrain swap (motor, trans, Tcase)

truck or suv?

Vortec or regular 4.3. Off road your not going to have the rpms up high enough to utilize the vortec engine. Daily driving it would be nice.

As already stated you will need a engine,tranny and t-case. Why would you put a Jeep tranny behind a Chevy motor? Ideally you'll want a 700R4 regardless of the engine you chose.

I had the 4.3, its in the for sale section. It had lots of extra grunt over the VG30. I would go with the 4.3 over a 5.0 in a Nissan for packaging reasons.

Def. go with the 4.3, the horsepower isn't that much different between the two, plus it'll fit alot easier into the engine compartment.

4.3 would definitely be the best choice. The 305 is a pile and not worth the extra weight.

If your not going for a 350 GM or 302 Ford, I would not even bother swapping. For the amount you'll end up spending putting in a V6, you could add 2 more cylinders for just a bit more.
Lator....

The 4.3L Vortec V6 is an excellent engine. Not many V6's out there have the torque curve of that engine. The reduced length and weight over the full V8 is huge.

When I'm done with the SAS, i am going to revamp the 2.4l. I am going to port and polish the head to gain some HP.

not to bring this thread back from the dead but the 4.3 isnt a good motor at all.The intake manifold gaskets fail like I use toilet paper.most of my paycheck is thanks to chevy.(thats not good for chevy).nissan has one of the most powerfull and reliable V6's in the world and your going chevy for less power and more problems?the VQ35DE,VQ35HR,and VG30DE-TT all will surpass the 4.3 and even a 350 smallblock in stock form.Lets face it.none of us want to turn our rigs into dragsters but we want the most reliable and powerfull motor and mabey some decent gas milage right?A stock VQ or VGDETT will do more then enough.you can also put a turbo'ed KA24DET in that bad boy and have about 230-280WHP on the stock bottom end and save lots of weight and not hurt at the pump so bad because the only time the gas milage would be bad is when at boost.And the best part about that is that you can use everything from a 4cyl hardbody (wireing,ecu,MM,tranny,transfer,driveshaft) and then all you will need is a frontier 4cyl or 240sx 4cyl and your set.

quote:

Originally posted by Eric R.:
When I'm done with the SAS, i am going to revamp the 2.4l. I am going to port and polish the head to gain some HP.

dont waste your time or money.with a $1000 you can make a ka24DE get 180whp with bolt ons but on a ka24e it will be less,and port and polish wont give you sh!@.I have seen very minimal gains from port and polish without boost on 240sx's and you will have wished you spent you money elsewhere.dont mean to be rude.just trying to save you $$$.Just do the basic intake,header,exhaust,cam or cams form a 240sx,and ECU and then just leave it alone unless your planning on boost.good luck with it.the KA is a very ,very tough motor.I love it and if I could I would trade my VG30E for a KA anyday.I just havent been able to find ANY ka powered 4WD's around so i got the VG 4wd

Um your forgetting something, it's not how much horsepower the engine puts out at say 5K RPM's. Off-road it's the engine which puts out the most horsepower at idle(700-1500rpms) is king.

As a daily driver, any boosted Nissan engine would be bad azz.

Two weekends ago I overheated my 350 to approximately 275F. I shut it off, fixed the problem with my fan, started it back up and let it cool down. Drove it home, took it out on Saturday and Sunday last weekend. No ill effects from the overheating.

My S-10 with the 4.3L V6 has 150K miles on it. The most I've had to do on it is replace a water pump.

Tell me how many of those Nissan engines could drive home after overheating like that?

To top it off the 4.3L V6 has way more torque down where you need it for wheeling than any of the engines you mentioned. Turbo's on a crawler are asking for trouble too.

To make a VQ35DE, VQ35HR or VG30DE-TT put out more power than a stock 350 would cost a hell of a lot more than building a stock 350.

If we each took $2000 and built an engine, you stick to Nissan and I stick to Chevy which do you think would have the bigger, flatter torque curve? I don't even think you could buy a VQ35 with a transmission to hook it to a transfer case for $2000.

If we're talking $$ per ft-lb of torque it would be hard to beat a 4.3L Vortec.

two weekends ago your 350 overheated? arent you proving my point?

quote:

To top it off the 4.3L V6 has way more torque down where you need it for wheeling than any of the engines you mentioned. Turbo's on a crawler are asking for trouble too..

as a matter of fact,the chevy 4.3 has 200hp and 250tq at the crank.all the motors I just listed have more torque and hp's.As far as power curve,have you ever dyno'ed your S10 and dyno'ed a 350Z? you need to educate yourself before you make false statements.

quote:

To make a VQ35DE, VQ35HR or VG30DE-TT put out more power than a stock 350 would cost a hell of a lot more than building a stock 350.

stock 350 is about 210hp and 300tq at the flywheel depending on what type of 350 you get.once again, a stock 350z is rated higher in hp and about the same tq at the flywheel, so that is false.however I will agree that to make big power in a 350 smallblock will cost alot less but lets face it you not making a drag car right?I am only comparing these motors in bone stock form,not modded.

quote:

If we each took $2000 and built an engine, you stick to Nissan and I stick to Chevy which do you think would have the bigger, flatter torque curve? I don't even think you could buy a VQ35 with a transmission to hook it to a transfer case for $2000..

I rather spend the extra money for better quality.

quote:

If we're talking $$ per ft-lb of torque it would be hard to beat a 4.3L Vortec.

well then why did you buy a nissan?you should have just stuck with an S10 and SAS'ed that thing.not trying to be rude man, but chevy motors arent all they are cracked up to be.chevy's are always having IM gasket failures,fuel pump failures,rear end failures ect.This is from first hand experience.At my shop everyday we already know a chevy will come in with a problem, and everyday we get about 3 or 4 of them.No other car company has those types of problems.next in line with issues would be ford.the dodges seem to hold up pretty well though.So I dont mean to insult you in anyway and hopefully you are mature enough not to get worked up about it.Its all just opinions anyways,right?to each his own.If you like chevy,great.I just prefer to saty as far away from them as possible.

Ok lets get down to it. I'm a die hard Nissan guy, pretty much every vehicle I own is Nissan except the tow rig(ford).

I've got a 3.0 with 5.38 gears in the axles. A chevy 4.3 with 5.38 gear set will eat me alive any day off-road. A VQ motor in my truck would be just stupid. horsepower does not turn the wheels. Even though the engine puts out more torque stock than my truck the 350Z motor is not designed for torque. I would much rather throw a titan engine under my hood.

I'm all for Nissan but the GM 4.3 and 5.0 engines for the most part are very reliable machines. Quality aftermarket parts are about half the cost of the Nissan stuff.

Another thing your forgetting. When you droop in a chevy motor into your rig you just opened yourself up to a new world of transfer case options. Nissan is just now getting options<- with a high price tag.

If I was building a competition rig today I would seriously consider a Chevy and maybe ford engine. tons of engine and transfer case options. Nissan your extremely limited.