Hello everyone! I’m here looking for a bit of advice regarding my van.
A few months ago I purchased a 1992 Chevrolet G20, I’ve been looking for a van of this type for a while and this was the only one that I could find which hit most of my criteria. The van was mainly purchased to keep miles off my normal car as well as something I could use when doing contracting work on the side. Overall I’m very happy with the van but right now it isn’t able to perform one of the bigger reasons I had for buying it, which is towing a fishing boat a few times a year for trips around 200 miles each way. I attempted to tow a while ago and found out the hard way that I didn’t have a transmission cooler! Many quarts of transmission fluid and some newly installed gauges and I was ready to give it a go again. The next time we tested it the transmission ran ok temps were fine but I found that the old v6 really is just tired and not strong enough for the job. So this brings me to my huge dilemma, do I have the engine rebuilt or replace with a 350? Whichever route I go I do plan on having the transmission rebuilt as well as changing out the rear end, but right now I’m just wanting to make a plan as to what to do with the engine.
Is it even possible to get the power needed to move both the 3600lb van and a boat out of the v6?
Is it better to just buy a truck block (
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12681430/overview/make/chevrolet) and then purchase all the accessories separately or would a pre-assembled engine (
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-19355659/overview/make/chevrolet) work?
Aside from the engine swap, will I be ok retaining the stock fuel pump or will that need to be changed out?
Any other parts that I should plan on replacing? I read on another thread that the wiring for a v6 isn’t compatible with a 350, if this is the case is my idea even possible?
I plan on doing the work myself though I have never changed out an engine before. I have a few resources that I can use for general automotive assistance/knowledge but just thought I’d post here for some more van-specific help. Also I do not plan on going the route of a donor vehicle or purchasing a reman engine, either rebuild the one that I have currently if it would even be worth it, or a new crate engine.