Frank Thompson

Hello,i have a couple of questions concerning my 2003 S-10 V-6 extreme.i bought a 1980's sb 350 with the th 350 trans to put into my S-10,one of my questions is,will i need to buy a stand alone wiring harness for it? or can i use the one thats already in the truck?my second question is i heard i can weld the rear end tubes that the axels are in to the gear housing so they wont break lose and spin in the housing? sounds a little strange to me but then again im no expert? and if anyone has answers to help it would be greatly appreciated this is my first sbc s-10 swap...thanx for reading!!

dirtybob

I've personally never V8 swapped an S10 newer than '87. Always carb & mech. fuel pump so you just need switched 12V to the distributor. Not sure how different the harness is in later years. I hear dropping in a tbi motor is pretty 'straight forward', can't imagine needing a new harness.

I wouldn't waste any effort on the stock rear end, it will live just fine on street tires. Dragstrip + slicks will break it eventually.

BOOT77

Many many many moons ago I had a 1st gen 350 S-10 with stock rearend open diff. It was fun but never broke the rearend. I don't know the exact year but they upped the spline count a bit at some point, so I think all or most of 2nd gen have the slightly stronger axles. Pretty sure the mini-spool I got for my 2nd gen 96 sonoma was the higher count one. Like the previous reply said, hook it and it'll prob not last long, sides I think the weaker link is the ring gear/carrier in 7.5's idk I set my cars up to just slip the tire a bit so things don't break cause I don't like to replace rearend stuff.

Enough rambling, the main thing you want to stop is wheel hop or your gonna break it real fast.

BigBlackCamaro

Old thread, OP probably never coming back.

Before doing a 1980's swap in place of a 2003 4.3 you should compare factory power ratings. 80's 350's are garbage. Build quality and power numbers. But I know, it was free or something.