I have a 69 coupe. I am going to do a frame up, but it is a non numbers matching car. I want to do a fuel injected engine of some sort.
My goals are to have a reasonable amount of money invested but I am wanting to use my stock gauges. By reasonable I mean around 4K for engine and tranny and hopefully I can get the harness included as well.
I want AC and all of the power toys. Whats your opinnion or advice on what you have done. I will be asking for help along the way....


Thanks alot!!!!

 

Step 1 - Decide how much power you want to make.

 

With a $4k budget, try to find a TPI engine from a '88 or newer C4. In late 87 there were improvements to the engine. Also look for a '88 or later 700R4 transmission from a truck or Camaro. Don't get a C4 transmission as the tailhousings won't work for most conversions.

 

I will post a little more in a few hours.

 

This is a little thing I wrote some time back. Maybe it will help you.
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You have a unit
First you have to determine whether you want mass air flow or speed density. The C3 is more conducive to speed-density due to space issues. Mass-air flow is easier to make engine changes without PROM changes. If you are technically proficient enough to make a Camaro harness work they can be bought for $100 or less. Aftermarket harnesses range from about $300 for Painless to $500 for Howell to $700 for Street and Performance. Howell makes a great harness, but for a Tuned Port they do not make one that will control the converter lockup on a 200R4/700R4/4L60 transmission. If you are running a manual trans or non-overdrive I would highly recommend them. I have heard great things about Street and Performance harness, but do not have first hand experience with them. I also have a Fuel Injection Specialties (FIS) harness and it is OK. The ECM can be had used for $10-50. A good external fuel pump will cost at least $100. I use an 88 Ford Truck external pump, $114 from CarQuest, made in Texas by Airtech. If you have a 78-82 you can use your fuel tank with an 82 sending unit and a TPI pump. An aftermarket PROM with VATS and Emissions codes removed will be $100-200 depending on source and complexity. You will have to add an oxygen sensor to your exhaust, $20 for the sensor, $5 for the weld-in bung, and say $25 for an exhaust shop to weld it in if you can’t. Some harnesses use VSS and some do not. An auxiliary VSS sensor is around $75. To install a TPI I say figure at least $800 plus the TPI unit and whatever repairs are necessary to bring it up to useable status. I have TPI/700R4 in my 69 Corvette (Howell harness) and an 83 Pickup (FIS harness) and I love it. Starts good, great torque, good fuel mileage, easy to swap onto stock engines (although both of mine are out of 90/91 ‘Vettes).

Differences in years
All Corvette TPI intake manifolds work with the older (through 86) iron heads and the factory aluminum heads through 91. F-body TPI intakes use the upright center bolts on 87-92 and thus fit all 87-95 iron heads (non LT1). Either can be swapped to fit the other with some drilling. F-body has the fuel lines come out on the drivers side and has a central port for EGR. Corvette has fuel lines that come out on the passenger side and has an external port for EGR. The runners are all the same through the years, but the LH runner has a hole for a 9th injector in the 85-88 runners. This can be plugged off if you get a nice LH runner and don’t want the 9th injector or decide to run speed-density. The plenums all physically interchange, but 90-92 have an extra vacuum port for the MAP sensor used with the speed-density computers and wiring. 89 is an odd year, it is mass-air flow but without the 9th injector. 89 up throttle bodies can be used on all years, but a 85-88 throttle body requires a ½” hole be drilled in the front of a 89-92 Plenum for idle air. 89-92 Throttle bodies have a bit more desirable cable attachment. The cable attaches around a circular linkage which has a smoother actuation than the straight linkage on the 85-88. The Corvettes have an aluminum plenum extension over the distributor, the F-body extensions are plastic. The Corvettes use an HEI coil-in-cap distributor for 85-91 (Delco 1103680). 85-86 F-body also used a big-cap distributor. 87-92 F-Body used a small cap distributor with an external coil (Delco 1103479). This same distributor is used in the 87-95 5.0/5.7/7.4 TBI injected trucks.

Why to get it
If all you want is around 300 hp there is no reason to spend a pile of money on a crate motor. The basic $1200 4-bolt Goodwrench 350 with an aluminum intake and a Holley will put out power in that neighborhood. Chevy High Performance (I think) did a series of articles with one of those a few years back and with decent exhaust should get you in that range.

I would look into a TPI. They start immediately in winter, have great vacuum, and will get great mileage. I can open the headlights and the wiper door at the same time with no hesitation at all-solid wooomp. With 3.70 gears (and a 700R4 overdrive) I get 18mpg city and 22+ highway. With 3.55 or 3.36 it would be even better. You can probably find a used Corvette TPI engine for $1000 and with an $800 harness/computer/fuel pump you would be set. On a 78-82 you can use the stock fuel tank with an 82 sending unit and TPI pump and be in better shape than 68-77 with an external pump. With the Vette TPI you would have aluminum heads that would remove weight. Even with an F-body iron-head TPI 350 it will be less weight than a stock intake. It will bolt up to everything in your car, use stock accessories, use your transmission, and the visual appeal is awesome. Don't be afraid of fuel injection, it really works.

As far as websites see:
www.corvettefaq.com for conversions or more TPI info at www.fuelinjection.com

 

Just to back up a step, I think issue #1 is that you will probably not be able to get a new performance engine and tranny for $4k... (not sure if you've looked at prices). New 275 HP crate engines will run you about $2k after adding the additional costs of the intake, headers, etc., and a stock 4-spd tranny is about $2k as well. Anything above this will of course be extra.

So if you can live with a rebuilt engine, which I think is a great way to go, you can definitely up the power. Again, EFI will be hard to do for under 4k including tranny, especially since you will have to buy everything required for the conversion.

With that budget, I think a reasonable setup would be a 300 HP rebuilt small block (2.5k) with a rebuilt 4-spd (1.5k). Carbureted. That's a good setup and you'll definitely be able to scare the neighbor's kids.

And if you have the time, why not build the engine yourself? You'll learn a lot and be able to drag out the cost.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

Dave

 

Thanks for the advice. I am leaning towards a crate engine...I want tuned port but I want to be able to have a distributer with the gear drive...do they have one that is compatible? If I did get a Tuned port from a donar car....which would I choose?

Thanks guys!

 

Check out Performance Distributors for an HEI with tach drive. Personally, I got a 76 tach and modified with the face from my '68. I'm in the middle of swapping TPI from an 87 Camaro onto my 68. For 4K, you can definately do TPI. You could go with a brand-new TPI for 4K, if you shop around for the good deals. Personally, I'll have about $800 in mine when I turn the key for it's test run. Mind you, I started with a known-good 327, and am on a pretty tight budget. But the TPI swap is fairly common, has good support from the aftermarket, and can be done without major modification to the car.

Not to hijack the thread (and responses to this can be e-mailed to mmeyer@everestkc.net), but does anyone who's already done a TPI swap want to throw in some tech advice, pictures, etc? Better yet, anyone with a 68-72 want to throw some pics my way?

 

Mike:you will have mail in a little while.

You can do a new TPI motor for $4000 with some work.

Crate "Targetmaster" 350 $1500 (or better a 92-93 Caprice roller cam motor for a bit more)
Used TPI $350
Harness/PROM (S&P) $900
Fuel pump $110

That leaves about $1000 for a trans. You can get a used 700R and shorten your driveshaft for less than that. Probabaly could get a core and have it rebuilt for that money.

I prefer a Corvette TPI unit because it makes the fuel lines easier. You can use Vette fuel rails with F-body intake to make the center bolts work out.

TPI can be found in 85-91 Corvettes and 85-92 F-bodies.