When is a TPI L98 not a TPI L98?

Clue - when it has:

• Lunati crank swinging JE forged pistons on Eagle H-beam rods inside
• a DART Little M block topped with AFR Comp 210cc heads
• inhaling through a Stealth Ram with fuel thanks to a Commander 950 ECU

Oh, and when it is a 406, pressurized by an ATI D1-SC

Find out more about this impressive 'L98' in the 12/05 issue
of SuperChevy. Or on second thought, save your money.



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Huh.... Did they reuse the L98 accessories, oil pan??? Not to much Chevy left on that list!

 

TPI is a name they use to describe the fuel delivery system.It isnt a L98 anymore when they change the intake and engine!
Is that what your posting?

 

IMO,when you change those tuned long runners to a short or mid size style,then its just a fuel injected engine.

 

I agree. But at the same time, TPI is now referring to FI pre LT1 and pre LS1. While we all here look intensely at the discreet differences between AS&M runners and SLP runners. To the general car guy, its still a TPI, Gen 1 FI small block. And L98, well crap that is just way wrong. But maybe this is becoming lingo for the last of the gen1 blocks. I don't know. Thats pretty far off though.

So yes the lingo is "technically" wrong. But hey, it sounds like a sweet motor to me.

And shouldn't we just be thankful they are even writing about TPI anymore?

 

I see the points but I'm still seeing a SBC doing 780 hp and I give it a

 

I thought a T.P.I.motor was the reference of fuel delivery like C.F.I etc. they are all gen.1 small SBC.s, that is an impressive set-up, it would be an SBC........RIGHT??

 

When I hear TPI, I assume Long Tube Runners.

Vic

 

I posted a story where they got 416HP from the LTR setup but I don't think anyone in C4 Tech gave a chit.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...14&forum_id=48

 

loiq; I got that article in my file. Can anybody say Got Torque??? Has been a lot of articles on TPI motors the last few months. Hope they keep them coming.

 

This is similar to the motor I run in my street car. It is an L-98 motor (still using the factory L-98 block with traditional flow cooling, one-piece rear main seal, with original hydraulic roller cam (HR) provisions).

But it has been:
- bored and stroked (4" crank)
- all of the internals have been replaced (Crower crank, Oliver billets, JE custom pistons)
- original HR cam walked to be replaced with solid roller cam
- oil pan, pump , and pick-up are now aftermarket
- D-port heads have made way for AFR215CPs
- original stamped rockers have exited to make room for Jesel shaft rockers (but still under the factory valvecovers, though modified and spaced)
- long runner intake has been replaced with a significantly modified MRII with MB
- factory air cleaner has been replaced with a D1R with a HUGE vertical flow IC
- the block is still a factory L98, but with significantly more clearancing, splayed mains, ~25% block fill, and modified oil feed and return stands

The car makes a bit more RWHP than what is in the article. Now the question is, is it still considered a L98 TPI? I refer to it as an L98 because it is not an LTx with reverse flow cooling nor any of the LS series engine, or a traditional pre '85 engine family.

Thoughts/Opinions?
Aaron

 

Well, that's how I'd describe it as I was filling out my application to
appear on 'Pinks'. At least it still has the remnants of the L98 block
and valve covers(!), the one in the article uses a DART block.

AFAIC, that article is about a blown, intercooled, injected, stroked,
solid roller SBC. Different actors but the same script as used as an
outline by countless builders for years.

The Vrbancic Bros have earned their chops and I applaud what they've
accomplished here and before. But if they'd placed a Hilborn setup on
top of a 6-71, could anyone still excuse SuperChevy for using the TPI
L98 moniker to describe it?

Next thing you know, they'll put a Super Ram on a Bill Mitchell
Motown and call it a Crossfire.

I'm agitated because SuperChevy used to be a great magazine,
one I really looked forward to each month. They went pretty
Hollywood for a time with budget-busting feature mods. But
the tech articles, particularly the Danger Mouse series that
Mike Petralia authored, was meat and potatoes for me. Now it
looks like they hand the tech write-ups to Dakota Wentz - I
think I first saw his handiwork in Vette or Corvette Fever.
What a shame.

BTW - There is another article in this issue about identifying
GEN III & GEN IV engines. Bogus and some fellow travellers
have me/us fired up about the C4/LSx-LQx combo possibilities.
Since I haven't spent any time familiarizing myself with the
taxonomy of the more recent SBC varients, I looked forward to
a quick-start reference. Well, there may be one out there, but
the article in SuperChevy ain't it - what a waste of paper.

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Outstanding package.

More RWHP than their CHP ! Using an OEM block !

Well done.

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Thanks for the kind words.

The difference is larger heads, cam, IC and blower. I have a bit more cubes, but I don't think that is necessarily the contributing factor.

Mine is programmed via FAST, and is really a nice "street car". I am in the process of changing to a different intake to see if it has more power.

Aaron

 

Tuned Port Injection (TPI) refers to the long tube "tuned" intake runner system used on the L98 & LB9 SBCs.

So long as you keep the long tube runners to me it is still TPI or at least modified TPI.

So SR, MR, etc are NOT TPI in my book.

 

But they are L-98.

 

-they got me with that last month--I saw L98 and bought it--it was basically the same engine with a Dart 406 block and stealthram and AFR heads
-the next issue was going to add a blower

 

Stealth Ram isn't "TPI", it is just another PFI (Port Fuel Injection) When the tuned runners go it isn't Tuned Port anymore...Though using SLP, Accel or AS&M large tubes would still be "Tuned Port" since you are still running the LTR setup.

 

Crimminy, who cares what its called. I am just happy to see tech/build-up articles on something besides LT & LS series. We are probably the only hair splitters on defining a TPI/L98

I agree with the comments on Super Chevy. Years ago I considered it the ultimate tech mag on high performance with Doug Marion as editor. Then Doug Marion was gone, they went to focusing on everything except engines and now their tech articles are shallow, and seem to be just about anything with a few paragraphs and photo's of an engine. An article more than a page long is unusual I probably have not bought a half dozen issues in the last 7-8 years

Incidentally, my new SuperRam and 58mm showed up yesterday from TJ Wong. I am a happy boy! (It does have runners, albeit sort of short ones I am okay with thinking of it as "TPI"