i have a 1991 silverado with a 4.3 v6. a few months ago the transmission went out so i parked it and bought my dads f-150. im in serious need of somthing with better gas mileage because being 4x4 with a 5.8 v8 i have horrible mileage. i really like my silverado and was originally going to swap a 350 in it and try to make a mild street/strip truck but now im thinking about keeping the 4.3 and rebuilding it with a carberator because the wiring harness is bad and i messed up the throttle body what do u all think? a local technical school will rebuild it for free if i buy the parts

 

On a personal note, if I was looking for good fuel economy, I wouldn't be looking at a full size pickup. My Silverado does double duty as a tow vehicle, towing a boat and trailer aprox 4-5 K a year at #4000. And as a work truck, I'm in the building trades, an electrician.
On another note, free labor, how can you possibly go wrong?? Not that parts are cheap.
Had a Ford truck before, and in '93 bought a new Silverado C1500 Ext. W/5.7 and 3.73 and never looked back. They just keep going and going and.....................Ed

 

How can you go wrong with free labor?

Poor supervision-these are students-

Poor workmanship- overtorque-ing, stripping, forgetting hardware for fasteners, not sealing gaskets right,etc-these are students-

Carelessness or bad work ethic-these are students

Free labor is great, as long as you're providing it yourself, but I learned a long time ago that nothing free is worth as much as you paid for it.

As to the V6 engine, I've had them, and unless you're going racing, they're punchy,reliable engines for their size. I wouldn't try to tow too much too far, though.

 

i agree about the whole free labor thing. most of these students are still learning so they make alot of mistakes, trust me I was one once. If you can pick who you want to do your work by an interview process that would be great but I don't know if its possible. Kinda funny how when you were 18 you thought you knew everything and when you turn 25 all you want to do is learn everything.

 

lol yeah i know what you mean im 19 i dont know everything but i think i know a far amount.. seeing as how i have never been to a school for it and my friends come to me for help lol, anyways i wouldnt trust students working on my kitchen chair... lol not to be rude but i know a few kids that are in auto tech right now and they tell me all the time they forgot this part or they had 11 bolts and only 9 spots, things like this one time they told me they changed this guys steering colom and they had extra screws and could not figure out where they went...

 

Scary thought on both the carburetor and students rebuilding the engine. Compare the price on parts to that of a quality rebuild with a warranty. It may not be worth the savings.

Also, if you're worried about MPG, you don't want a carburetor. Keep it original. If the price on the damaged harness is too much, find one at a bone-yard or patch it up yourself. Same with the throttle body assembly.