Could also be different aluminum types.
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
Tbi 350 to TPI ?
- Thread starter imiceman44
- Start date
And/or heat. I assume those later ones generate more heat, hence plain aluminum with cooling "fins". The earlier underhood ecms I'm not even sure their housing are aluminum. They are painted/coated, whatever they are, so should be pretty well protected from corrosion.
You should see the brake lines down further on the frame on this van.
It was dry in the mc so I filled it and pumped the pedal a couple of times and looked underneath and fluid is dripping all along the frame.
It's weird, it's hit and miss on this one, it's from San Francisco
Earlier ones were sheet metal
You should see the brake lines down further on the frame on this van.
It was dry in the mc so I filled it and pumped the pedal a couple of times and looked underneath and fluid is dripping all along the frame.
It's weird, it's hit and miss on this one, it's from San Francisco
san Francisco?! ugh. its been taught to piss and shart all over the street and not give a F#$%
that master cylinder is prob the 2nd or third that's been under that hood... guessing that's why the corrosion is worse on the computer housing??
if using the vortec block for somthing... i say:
-leave the TBI motor alone- put it back in whatever vehicle need the tbi.
-sell the heads off of the vortec motor, and whatever parts go with them (intake, injection, throttle body). some people still want them, and you would be cash ahead on the TPI project.
-find different heads for the vortec block, and go to town on it with the TPI. then you are roller cam block, one piece rear main seal, and TPI!
Last edited:
Ive always wanted to mess around with the TPI stuff. I have never owned or driven one. I used to hear that the long runners and runner volume were suited very well to building torque in low to mid range. -someone already said this on the first page, but supposed to be be great for truck applications?
I've messed with carb'd 350s, had a warmed over LT1 in my '95 z28 and that was a freaking blast, have had a lot of experience with the TBI stuff and some friends have done the vortec 4.3 and 5.7 thing...
seat of the pants winner by far was the LT1, with the 6 speed T56...
.
I would love to have that trans and some similar high compression lt1 or an LS of some kind in every car until I die. 2 overdrives and the ability to be sideways and spraying rubber at any time, or cruising at 68mph getting 32MPG. ohhhhhhhh i miss that car.
the LT1 with the opti-spark would not be my first choice for a truck, but ive always been curious about putting the LT1 intake on another engine. I Have seen articles where people drilled the rear of the intake and machined a spot for the distributer to pass through.
probably less work to just go TPI. I remember several articles and write ups about putting TPI into a truck that originally had TBI... computer swap, and some wiring under the hood? seemed like a lot of the factory harness and connectors were still useable... still a project though.
are there any easy options to run TPI intake and hardware with a more modern computer system?
I've messed with carb'd 350s, had a warmed over LT1 in my '95 z28 and that was a freaking blast, have had a lot of experience with the TBI stuff and some friends have done the vortec 4.3 and 5.7 thing...
seat of the pants winner by far was the LT1, with the 6 speed T56...
.I would love to have that trans and some similar high compression lt1 or an LS of some kind in every car until I die. 2 overdrives and the ability to be sideways and spraying rubber at any time, or cruising at 68mph getting 32MPG. ohhhhhhhh i miss that car.
the LT1 with the opti-spark would not be my first choice for a truck, but ive always been curious about putting the LT1 intake on another engine. I Have seen articles where people drilled the rear of the intake and machined a spot for the distributer to pass through.
probably less work to just go TPI. I remember several articles and write ups about putting TPI into a truck that originally had TBI... computer swap, and some wiring under the hood? seemed like a lot of the factory harness and connectors were still useable... still a project though.
are there any easy options to run TPI intake and hardware with a more modern computer system?
I’m running a Megasquirt system that I built on my tpi. It’s very diy and you need to know what’s going on haha. The Holley Terminator X is what I would recommend to anybody that isn’t too hip on building their own harness and ecm.Ive always wanted to mess around with the TPI stuff. I have never owned or driven one. I used to hear that the long runners and runner volume were suited very well to building torque in low to mid range. -someone already said this on the first page, but supposed to be be great for truck applications?
I've messed with carb'd 350s, had a warmed over LT1 in my '95 z28 and that was a freaking blast, have had a lot of experience with the TBI stuff and some friends have done the vortec 4.3 and 5.7 thing...
seat of the pants winner by far was the LT1, with the 6 speed T56...
I would love to have that trans and some similar high compression lt1 or an LS of some kind in every car until I die. 2 overdrives and the ability to be sideways and spraying rubber at any time, or cruising at 68mph getting 32MPG. ohhhhhhhh i miss that car.
the LT1 with the opti-spark would not be my first choice for a truck, but ive always been curious about putting the LT1 intake on another engine. I Have seen articles where people drilled the rear of the intake and machined a spot for the distributer to pass through.
probably less work to just go TPI. I remember several articles and write ups about putting TPI into a truck that originally had TBI... computer swap, and some wiring under the hood? seemed like a lot of the factory harness and connectors were still useable... still a project though.
are there any easy options to run TPI intake and hardware with a more modern computer system?
You can use a regular module in the small cap distributor, but I ditched that and did a crank trigger.
the LT1 used a drive gear and sensor that mounted inside the block and was driven off the cam in the same position as a standard distributor. wonder if anybody has a use for that - distributorless ignition for the gen 1??
EDIT: now that i had a minute to think about it, that must have been solely for driving the oil pump- there was no wiring or sensor on that thing, and the optispark was driven directly by a shaft out of the front of the timing cover
I’m not sure. It would probably work. I know you need a crank trigger and cam trigger if you want to run distributorless
Me too. I can't call it an L98 because it's a Goodwrench block, but the mid-range torque is way better than with the Quadrajet. My understanding is that TBI is not a large performance gain over Q-Jet.
I can't say any performance gain but more reliability and consistency
For sure any EFI has advantages for cold starts and such (without annual linkage bending, etc.). I was just saying that the TPI does make better torque. It's antiquated for sure, so no reason to go to great lengths for one (unless you like the retro aesthetics), but if you have it, it's probably worth the effort to get it installed. Theoretically you can get a tick more MPG than TBI, but hard to find real-world numbers.
I have no experience with the stock TPI controller, so I can't tell you how hard it is to dial one in, but with a pretty much stock setup you might not need any tuning.
Did you put the TBI on exactly the same long block as the Quadrajet? Or were you also changing lower end parts?
Just wanted to make sure it's an apples-to-apples comparison.
Yeah, my LT1 felt great during those few brief moments that it would actually run correctly.
Last edited:
Just took the intake manifold off and installed all the aluminum TPI (you said TBI, which I've never had) parts from there. It even had the same distributor for a while.
Oops! I definitely meant TPI.
I have about 5% interest in doing this to my TBI-powered L05 someday. But, as said earlier in this thread, it's easier to bypass TPI altogether and install something newer.
And it's easiest to just leave well enough alone!
I agree there's better today, but the only reason I consider this is because I have it and I got it cheap a long time agoOops! I definitely meant TPI.
I have about 5% interest in doing this to my TBI-powered L05 someday. But, as said earlier in this thread, it's easier to bypass TPI altogether and install something newer.
And it's easiest to just leave well enough alone!
