G-Body's 1980 Chevrolet Chevette

Trying to catch up online

Its been a while since I updated this site. I have been working ahead on the chevette though. I put a 1995 S10 4.3L and 4l60e in it. Dropping the motor in was surprisingly easy. It fit without much fabrication. I had to make engine mounts (went with solid mounts because they were easier and I figured it would help stiffen the uni-body). I also had to recess the heater box to clear the distributor. I cut it with a die grinder the put a piece of 4” PVC in, fits like it was factory. The block had to be ground a bit for clearance by the steering shaft.

The exhaust manifolds from the S10 would not fit, so I found some from a 87 monte carlo. They are more like factory tubular headers so they were easier to modify. I was able to use some creative engineering and make them exit at the rear of the engine compartment. The rest of the exhaust system is made of 2” pipe that I bent by pie cutting it. I didn`t have a bender, but the welder and hacksaw were close by.

For an electric fan I had one from a v6 f-body. When I tried wiring it backwards to make it a pusher fan it worked horribly, but it pulled lots of air as a puller fan. I grabbed a radiator out of chevette with HD cooling. After looking carefully it looked like I could fit the fan behind the radiator if I put the fan motor inside of the engine pulley. I ended up relocating the radiator further forward and lower. (this required cutting and modifying the core support a little bit).

I put the computer inside the car above the glovebox behind the dashboard. The rest of the wiring was pretty easy. I had to add 3 fuses in the engine compartment and a couple by the fusebox. The OBD plug is mounted on the drivers kickpanel.

The part that I was stuck on from the start was gauges and warning lights. I did not have the factory senders from the factory idiot lights and the factory chevette speedometer was mechanical. The 4l60e trans that I had was made for an electronic speedometer, plus I needed a check engine light in the dash. That problem was solved by some internet searching. I found out that the GM full size vans from 1978 – 1990+? Had the exact same gauge cluster except that some came with full gauges AND the later ones had an electric speedo. W00t. I was able to find one out of an 89 van and it had full gauges, an electric speedo, check engine light, and trip odometer. The cluster literally bolts in place. The only modifications required are to re-pin the connector on the back. The chevette has an 16 pin connector while the van has an 18 pin connector.

The only major stumbling block so far has been hood clearance. The top of the TBI injectors virtually touch the hood. At first I thought I could just mill the intake down…….I pulled the intake off and tried to. At which time I found out the intake was hollow there and had a coolant passage running through it. My first thought was that the 4.3L 85-87 monte carlo TBI intake would be shorter, but after researching it I found out it is the same height. Then I tried looking into the edelbrock, GM carb`ed intake, and marine 4.3L intake, and found that the shortest one would only gain me about 0.25”. In the end I ended up going back to a TBI GM intake. Right now I either have to put a hoodscoop on or make a carb hat so that I can run a remote cone airfilter.