Decision Time Should I do a 350 Swap or Just Rebuild My 4.3L

[pk5066]

I'm about ready to pull my the engine from my 97 Astro. I dont which way to go. 350 or just rebuild what I have. I have W vin number.
1) What Vin number should I get for a 97 350?
2) If I do a 350 swap do I have to get a complete wire harness and ECU?
3) Am I going to have constantly mess with the engine setup? I want to be able use this as a daily driver and be dependable.
4) What mods need done to the tranny?

I did an H22 swap on my son's Honda Civic and I'm constantly replacing front axles because they just don't make a proper fitting drive axle for this swap. Is there the any kind of issues with these 350 swaps?

Thanks in Advance for Your Input.

Paul

[Smiliesafari]

Welcome to the site, Paul. The V8 swap has been done a bizzilion times. Everything has been worked out so you don't have to worry about any problems. Your best bet is to find a donor vehicle. 1996-2000 pickup. Either a 305 or a 350 will work just fine for a daily driver. Staying with the center port fuel injection makes this swap a breeze. If you don't want to go to the expense of an entire donor then look for the same years motor. All of the accessories and brackets from the 4.3 will work on the V8. The wiring only consists of adding the extra wires for the extra injectors. The ECU can be reflashed to run the V8. As long as you stay stock it will be a lot less work and there will be no unexpected problems. The transmission should work fine as long as it is in good condition. I am in the beginning stages of this swap. I've done hours and hours of research and fully expect my 96 Safari to start and run perfectly when I'm done. I'm using a 305 roller with 350 Vortec heads, 6 inch rods on flat top pistons, roller rockers, and stock exhaust. It's my goal to have a good bottom end engine with excellent MPG. This is our travel vehicle so I'm looking for reliability also.

[Logan]

I used to use my V8 Astro to do my 8-12 house calls everyday. Swapped the engine over the weekend and off I went. No issues with cooling or anything like that. I did swap out my transmissions after about a year cause my V6 tranny had 300,000 miles and was getting "soft."