1995 Silverado 4.3 Vortec 5 speed - prerunner?
 

I have a silverado with 4.3. It has near 350k miles on it. and I'm and I'm wondering if I rebuild it and do some mods, will it be a good engine to build into a prerunner? Not like a full on trophy truck, but good enough to offroad and still be a daily driver. It's 5 speed and is 2wd.. will it still be a nice fun truck or would I need to get a 350 in it? I kind of would like to keep the 4.3 because it gets good gas mileage ( about 18 mpgs ) and after tires and a lift I expect to get around 13-15. Any input? Thanks a lot for the help

Bumpp

Finally I'll take a stab at answering a question, instead of always asking them! I've owned, at one time or another, all SWB, and all stick shifts the following: 1973 350 V-8 2wd, 1978 Blazer 350, 1983 305 V-8. K10, 1992 2wd 4.3 l (like yours), 1995 5.7 l 4wd, 2004 4.3 l 4wd (and like a dumb-a$$ traded it, and just acquired a 2004 4.8 l 4wd. Of the lot, the best handling on road and off was the 1992 2wd 4.3 l. After that comes the 1995 4wd 350 v-8. I thought the 1988-1998 models years were the best handling of the Chevrolet trucks. Here's what I'd do if the vehicle were mine: do a coil spring lift on the front, change out to 7 x 16" rims, go to 265/75 x 16 tires. Get that spare off the underbody - mount it in the bed - I use a side mount. Change the shocks - I like Rancho 5000's. If you've got 3.73 gears, I wouldn't touch them, unless it's to add some type of locker or limited slip. Before doing all this and pulling the engine, I'd look at the frame. If it's clean - go for it. If it's a rustbucket I wouldn't bother. My current 2004 has too much rust and I'm spending a lot of time getting rid of it.

Back to the 4.3 l engine - I liked the ones I had in combo with the five speed. For prerunning it's a light in weight engine, less bouncing on the front end. Now, about pulling it and the rebuild, I'm no expert in that dept. I'll defer to someone with engine rebuild experience.

Is there a lift kit for the front you recommend? And what about some deavers on the back with some nice shocks? I want to go mid travel with my front too. Also, this truck has been in AZ all its life, no rust here :) any pics of your trucks?

2" lift kit
 

Here's a link for a Rough Country 2" lift:

Chevy Suspension Lift Kits

That should give more wheel travel and room for 16" rims. They also have a 4" lift. Here's my latest, 2004, SWB 5 spd:

2004 Chevrolet Silverado SWB 4x4 photo - Gene Paull photos at pbase.com

I definitely preferred the handling of my 1995 to the larger 2004. The 1995 model was just more agile.

Hope this helps.