I have an 89 4.3 4x4 that I just took the heads off of and was planning to send in. I remember first getting the truck a few years back and seeing that a "common mod" was to swap the heads for newer Vortec heads and pair that with the Edelbrock 2114 intake and a carb-tbi adapter plate so the TBI can be used still, and I wrote that down in my car notes for a future possible mod. Now that I am sitting here with the heads off the car, I can't actually find anyone that successfully did this mod, just a handful of threads suggesting this for a decent noticeable power gain.

I have some concerns looking at the Edelbrock intake versus my stock intake. There is no mounting place for EGR, it looks like the thermostat housing mounting place is different than my 89, and I'm concerned about being able to mount some of the emissions/spark stuff to that new intake, and possible the throttle cable bracket but it looks like there may be a spot for that.

Has anyone successfully done this mod? This is my daily driver right now and I don't want to do this mod if it will cause more of a headache to get it to work, but would gladly do it if it's as easy as it seems.

 

EGR delete tends to go hand in hand with an aftermarket manifold. as good a time as any to do it.

 

Not worth the trouble IMHO, TBI system is a power bottleneck

 

Thanks for your responses. Spent a lot of the afternoon yesterday doing more digging too. I'm taking the heads to my machine shop this morning and am just going to stay with the current setup. If it weren't currently my daily driver I would probably be more inclined to do the head swap.

 

I think you will be happier this way.