OK so I. Rebuilding my engine and it's for my trail truck.
I tried saving my egr pipe but it broke so I'm going full off road now. What all do I have to do and how do I do it guys? It's my intention to delete all emissions at this point ! Yes I realized will have to be reprogrammed.

 

Nothing guys...? I've been searching everyday and I've found a few things including a possible way to make my rockers adjustable like the old small blocks so I can buy a bigger camshaft.
Has anybody done this. I was told it was a matter of removing my rocker arm studs AMD installing new ones that would except the old small block lock nuts.sounds simple and affordable.

 

Your post starts off by stating you are building an offroad truck and asks "what do I do and how to I do it". Those are very BROAD questions that seems to suggest that you have no clear direction and often leads to people reading your post and moving on. Lay out your intentions (put together a specific path to your desired endgame), ask specific questions, and you may find that you get answers. If you don't put time into your build, you shouldn't be surprised to find that no one else is willing to do it for you.

As far as the rocker arms are concerned, in the past the heads had to be drilled and tapped to fit the older rocker studs. It was the difference between the new metric bolt and the older SAE stud. I'm not sure what is available now for these engines, but a quick call to one of the major cam manufacturers would likely get you that information.

 

Well to be honest I had no clear direction on my engine plans because I'm trying to keep it affordable. So I figured I'd ask for some suggestions .

Cam company's may make the cam, that doesn't mean they have the studio conversion I need, the cam I'm looking at doesn't have adjustable rockers available but it's required.
So ask the guys who deal with our specific engines I figured.

 

Looking into this a bit more (Google finds an amazing amount of information), it would appear that your '98 engine may have screw in studs with stamped steel rockers, just ones with a shoulder on them for the net lash valvetrain setup used from the factory. It wasn't until 1999 or 2000 where the rockers were changed to bolt down with the use of a rocker arm support.

Summit Racing has THESE ARP STUDS that state they are for Vortec 4.3L engines. Maybe you can call ARP to confirm? Or Summit? Cam manufacturers will also likely have answers to this very question. Just because they only sell the cam doesn't mean they don't know specifics about the engine that it goes into and what other supporting mods are required to run said cam. They wouldn't be very good at manufacturing cams if they didn't know the limitations of each application and how to make the appropriate changes, if required.

One thing to watch out for is valve cover clearance. Changing rocker arms could cause an interference between the rocker arm and the valve cover. I'm not sure what your options may be for aftermarket valve covers that would add clearance in this area. In the past, where aftermarket alternatives were lacking, I have seen people machine spacers out of aluminum to move the valve cover up and out of the way of the rocker arm. That's $$$ though.

Having no clear direction and asking specific questions to gain direction is one thing. Asking vague questions and relying on others to do the research for you is another. Google is your friend, use it. If you find conflicting information, ask away and we'll see what we can do to get you the facts. Keep on the path you're on and you'll find yourself complaining even more about the lack of responses. I'm trying to help you get responses. Show effort and it may result in more people answering up.

 

Thanks for your help. It's not that I don't use Google or your search engine. Maybe I give to much information for it or wrong terms but I find nothing on building theses engines. I actually called summit before I ever made a single post AMD they said it had to have new rocker arms.

Adding all my cost just to get a mild difference it just doesn't make sense to do an engine build at all for performance so I made the decision I don't want that much money in this particular truck.
So I'm decking the heads to raise compression and I'm goi g to bore the cylinders out. Only question let is how far can I punch the cylinders to get a safe and good running truck for internal modifications.
I still have to find a pair of headers as well. Intake wise I'm still not sure. I wish I had the cash to just throw an LS1 in it but that ends up with a pike of ****.

I'm sorry if it seems as though I'm looking for others to do my home work but I figure there's got to be a ton of people who've done or wanted more power then this engine produces so just ask the guys who've done it already and get a your wasting your time and buy a small block or something.

 

Call comp cam, tell them what you want. I did and they gave me the part numbers for a cam and said I would need new springs. Told them i didnt want to do any head work and thats what they set me up with. So Cam, get some headers and high flow exhaust, then have send your computer out to be reprogrammed. You should gain 30 -40 more horsepower and a bunch more torque. Torque is really what you want. Theres a start for ya

 

Well I've already had the machine shop assemble the head. I did have to call for headers to . Summit told me the same basic thing NA except the big dollar ones. I'm still trying to decide what brand headers to buy . Pacesetter or some EBay units that look identical except there stainless steel. Any thoughts on that.?

 

I got mine,front amazon, been a year and they're fine

 

What brand are they and did you feel they made a difference in the vehicle at all?