Help me pick an engine, please?

[camok5]

I am lost and cant figure what way to go. I have a 87 blazer daily driver that is going to need a new engine soon and I am not sure which way to go? Right now it has a stock 350 tbi setup with some upgrades (cfm-tech tbi, headers, etc) and its not enough power for me? Smog is not an issue for me but I am looking for a very reliable engine so I can drive to places like Moab for blazer bash. I have looked into putting a GM330hp crate engine in and modifying the tbi setup to work with it but the more I research it the more complicated it seems because of all the upgrades needed (chip burning, fuel pressure issuse, etc) and I am a little scared of all the tuning to get it running right. Another option is to just go with a ramjet 350 because its very simple and reliable, but at 5000 dollars its also very expensive. I could sell my tbi stuff to get some money back but its still going to be more expensive then the GM330hp route. Or I could just go with a carburated engine but then I would lose alot of advantages with the fuel injection setups? So what is the best option to go with and is there one that I missed?

 

[HarryH3]

First thing you need to do is find out just exactly what the California emissions police will allow. They may reject it on sight if they see the RamJet under the hood. A sharp inspector might even reject it for having a carb instead of the factory EFI. Make sure you have figured out before you spend a pile of cash and then find out that you can't get it registered...

 

[stus84]

I have an idea

it is a big idea!

 

[camok5]

Emissions is not a factor because its registered as a desiel and the 572 would be nice but too expensive and the mpg might kill me.

 

[SUPER'BURB]

I would say it depends upon how much time and $$$$$ you are willing to drop. In a perfect world a Ram Jet would be great but as you stated they are a bit of coin. I wouldn't be afraid of the tuning (you can learn that).
I would be concerned with the time involved in learning and applying. How much is your time worth, and would the end result be more satisfying one way or the other?

If it was my rig and I needed it any time close to soon after starting the work I would go Ram Jet. You can loose alot of $$$$$ worth of time while you tinker to get things correct.

If time is not of any concern save the $$$$$ and learn how to tune your set up. I'm sure that knowledge will come in handy in the future.

There it is my .02

Good luck and let us know.

 

[camok5]

Your right about the time issue it would take to tune the tbi setup because its my daily driver and I am concerened with to much down time. Also I dont want to be dealing with a bunch of little details on a engine when I might be a ways from home. I know alot of people who have modified there tbi setups but it always seems like there is alot of little factors to making them run just right (researched on the thirdgen board). Has anyone had any luck modifying a tbi setup with little hassel?

 

[CrewCab59]

Why don't go back to a diesel? Say a 5.9 Cummins ..

$5000.00 way to much to spend on a gaser,you can do a Cummins for that.

CrewCab59

 

[dyeager535]

I'd be willing to bet 99% of the "TBI modification problems" are solely a result of the owners not doing research before the mods, or not listening to those who said not to do what the planned mods were.

You could very easily start with a baseline engine (which is the best approach) and learn to tune on that. Once you get that down, you can start on changes. But throwing on a bigger throttle body, bigger injectors, changing the heads/intake/cam/exhaust, all at one time, then trying to figure out why it runs crappy is not the right approach, especially if trying to stay away from "hassle". Look at folks who have problems: "I installed a bigger throttle body and injectors with stock PROM, and it runs crappy!!! What a hassle!"

It's just like building an engine or transmission. Every single component, the task looks daunting. Once you start piecing it together, it is much less intimidating.