I have a 1991 S10 Jimmy Blazer. Eventually I'm going to swap out the original motor for some thing better. More horsepowery and stuff if you get what I'm trying to say. I would like to be around 400+hp range at a reasonable price. (Reasonable is a hopeful term, obviously there is no reasonable price when it comes to putting power in your car)

I'm looking at a 383 stroker and wondering if that would fit in my blazer. I am definitely open for other ideas and suggestions.

I suppose a starting range would be $3000-$4000

Thank you!

 

Nope it'll never fit!!!


You do realize that a 383 is the same size as the standard 350 that has been swapped into the s10 platform quite literally 10s of 1000s of times right?

I'm not trying to be a smart a** but please help yourself first.

Oh and $3-5k will get you a solid 383 but then you still need a budget for building your trans, exhaust, mounts, drive line mods etc so plan another $2-3k on top of the cost of the motor. That's if your capable of doing all the work yourself. Sure it may be possible to do it a bit cheaper but to do it right is not going to be reasonably priced lol!

 

No, I do not realize this. If I realized this I would not be asking about it.

 

I suggest you spend about a year reading about v8 swaps. The options are endless and there are forums dedicated to nothing but v8 swaps in s10s. I'm telling you this because no-one will be able to tell you exactly what you need and how to do it there are just too many variances so I suggest read and figure out what you want to do and pick a couple similar builds and use them as a guide.

 

The one piece of wisdom I have here is this: Start off with the installation. Get a $300 (or less) "runs good, no smoke" junkyard 350. Don't do anything to that engine but a good tune up (new plugs, wires, dizzy cap, rotor, PCV valve, air filter). Start your installation at that point. Get the thing running and driving first. After it's driving, it's fairly trivial to "upgrade" the engine with a super-duper 383 stroker, hi compression, blah blah blah.

I've seen a lot of guys spend a ton of money building a super hot rod engine, and then, in the installation they run out of free time and/or run out of money and/or run out of talent. The result is a $5,000(+/-) "super engine" in the basement, and an undrivable, unfinished "project car/truck" taking up half their garage. This leads to divorces, parents throwing their adult kids out of the basement, and lots of ads on Craigslist that read like this: "Unfinished project car with extra engine and lots of cool stuff, over $8,000 invested. Bring a trailer and $1,500 and it's yours."

 

Get a notebook and make your own "project planning book". Write down every part number, price and supplier. It will keep you organized because you won't be able to remember everything. Think about every nut and bolt from the front bumper to the rear bumper. Consider the cost of all the tools and incidentals, including transportation while your vehicle is down. General rule for big custom projects is to carefully plan a budget and time schedule. Then double them both. Plan on it taking twice as long and costing twice as much as you originally thought.

Some people will show a finished project and say " It wasn't hard". They're the same people who'll injure themselves and say "It didn't hurt" as their eyes well up with tears.

 

Not the only way to do things, but below is a good resource for someone considering the swap. I have this book and I have a 1989 S10 2WD with a 383. Most difficult thing is getting the driveline angles right while getting the engine and exhaust to fit. Know that stock oil pans prevent this in a 2WD. Don't know about a 4WD. I would be very concerned about using the stock trans and transfer case from behind a 4.3 in a high performance application. Your budget sounds a little low to me, especially if you build a new 383 and do anything with the transmission.
JTR Chevrolet S-10 Truck V-8 Conversion

 

This above

 

How about a junkyard LM7 5.3 swap with transmission, transfer case, and computer from a 2000-2007 Chevy. All you need is a wrecked donor vehicle. At least the exhaust is not such a problem with LS motors. Note that shorty S10 swap headers are absolute death to real performance with a Gen1 small block Chevy. I know - I had them and recently went to fenderwell headers. A 5.3 can remain emissions legal if your state cares about that.