Chevy & GMC Vans

I am told the engine is going. Connecting rod tapping and rebuild required. But job is too big for the shop and takes up too much time. It's and AWD 1996 Astro and they have to come out the bottom.

I just spent a mint fixing a load of other problems and now this.

Not happy at all. A real downer, big time.

Actually you can remove the engine out the front. It requires that you cut the rad support in a couple of places so you can remove it. GM even sells a kit to do this job. You can make your own kit very easy and way cheaper however. Try doing a search over at astrosafari.com and you should be able to find some pics even. Ask SoCalliV8 for info on how he did his.

You might consider swapping in a V8 at this time. There are lots of good donor V8s out there if you start looking. I have put some V8 combos together for a lot less than rebuilding the V6.

Good luck!

I have read a lot about those mods. But sadly I am not into it (doing it myself for various reason, time, facility, means etc). Also Drive Clean here may be affected on the vehicle. If there is a place that does this I may entertain it. It all boil down to $$$. I have repaired or replaced most of the vehicle already. Engine had new head gasket due to major coolant leak last year. Tranny is the only think I have not actually repair. Fluid changed every year (dropped pan). I got the 96 AWD LT van with 278k Km on it and I been putting big buck into annually. Already exceeded the purchase price from a dealer.

Markham, ON

You might be able to talk a shop into doing your swap if you get everything you can lined up for them. By that I mean do as much as you can your self and use a shop for the engine install say. Then you can button it up your self in your spare time. What part of the swap do you think you won't be able to do? I understand how frustrating vehicles can be sometimes. Do you have another vehicle to drive while you work on the van?

I do have another vehicle I can use if required. I have also talked to a big rebuilder who also replaces the engine and they did not recommend going to a V8 as it is not straight forward. Told me to stick to putting another 4.3 rebuilt back in it.

It is not always straight forward to upgrade from a V6 to a V8 in some vehilces. That being said, this is one of the easiest vehicles to upgrade to a V8. What did they say was the hard part? Just about every concievable problem has been adressed with many different V8 combinations by some of our club members. It is not like we are reinventing the wheel...just going from a V6 to a V8.

You could check into the cost of rebuilding your V6. Rebuilding a 350V8 is quite offten cheaper. The cheapest way I found to do the swap is to find a suitable donor vehicle and strip it for all the parts you need. Maybe start to look for a wrecked 96 pickup with a 5.7l Vortec.