Carburetor performance?
Last edited by davenbocafl; Feb 6, 2011 at 07:45 PM.
"I'm about to start my swap from cross-fire injection to quadrajet. I was just curious about what kind of #'s I can expect from a good 4 barrel quadrajet and edelbrock intake?"
This is the 1st you have mentioned yours being a TPI engine, not the CFI
"i chanced mine over to a 670 avenger holley, first phase was carb, edlebrock intake, roller rockers and accell distributer, it was about 330hp."
Last edited by rodj; Feb 6, 2011 at 07:55 PM.
Typing short messages on the internet makes it very easy to miss understand each other
PLEASE dont make me quote Rodney King here!
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Here's what you actually said Remember that the following was supposed to be in the context of an '84;
In the spirit of "garage drinking", The OP can either:
*Carb it,
*Port and tune it
*Get the aforementioned REnegade and tune it.
...and end about at about the same point either way. Options 2 & 3 will retain EFI drivability and other advantages, while costing less too.
Last edited by Tom400CFI; Feb 6, 2011 at 10:58 PM.
The CFI intake ports are so restrictive that improving breathing with bigger heads / cam is of little benefit without a intake change
Check out the CFI intake port size here
http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...25&postcount=2
Once you done a intake upgrade then the same parameters as any other engine apply.
Have to match cam / heads / intake relative to each other
Some reading
http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...6&postcount=11
CROSSFIRE INJECTION
The twin throttle body injection used on 82 - 84 Vettes
Last edited by rodj; Feb 7, 2011 at 12:03 AM.
the first problem is the intake, port it or replace it. I have not seen flow numbers or port lengths on the Renegade or ported intake. Renigades and Smokey Rams are not cheep. (the TBs flow surprisingly well)
The cam is tiny. There is no chance of making any meaningfull power without replacing it.
More cam well require a tune. This is where the trouble starts. I have no idea how to tune the Xfire ECM. I have WinALDL running but am struggling with understanding the data. I doubt that I have the knowledge to replace the ECM with a after market one and write a tune from the ground up. An then there is the expence. EFI parts aint cheep.
Exhaust, Finally a simple solution, headers and good exhaust. This will probly lead to a slightly lean condition, easy fix with fuel psi.
Heads, for up to about 375 hp pocket ported 113s will do.
There is no reason the stock short block cant support 6500 rpm and 450 hp. My problem is I dont know how to get even close to that with the cross fire.
btw Grumpys forum is excellent I have been lurking there for a long time.
And thanks for your help
Last edited by Crepitus; Feb 7, 2011 at 01:20 AM.
1. Learn to tune the ECM. For the CFI, that means (for most people) replacing the stock ECM w/the later TBI/truck unit that is more readily tunable.
2. Pre-plan an entire "package" that will work w/the stock ECM and built it
3. Build what ever you want, then do what ever it takes to "feed it what it wants".
"3" is the road that I blindly went down...and every thing worked out for me...and I learned a lot on the process. I got to the point where I just didn't care; "I'm going to put this part on, then deal w/the consiquences to make it work, later." -was my mind set. And that's what I did, part by part, mod by mod.
I can't speak to tuning the ECM because I never did it. I started w/a 305 CFI in a Trans Am (170hp stock), and ended with ~300hp out of a junk yard, 400 long block. First, using only Edelbrock "headers", and "Free mods" (Tstat, electric fan [which the '84 'Vette already has both those], advanced timing, etc) I went 14.50 at 95. It takes about 230hp to do that in a 3300 lb car, plus driver. Now that was on the STOCK ECM, chip, unported intake, and the 305 engine. Later I put in a 350, then a 400. When I did the (junkyard) 400, I put in a 224/234 cam, RR's, Ported the crap out of the intake, removed the swirl plates, radiused the lid transition, bored my TB's, installed UD pullies, and raised the towers.
To MAKE all this work, I upgrade the fuel pump, installed larger injectors adjusted the fuel pressure, added a Vacuum references FPR, and then fiddled w/it on the street and at the track to "feed it what it wanted" -no different than jetting a carb. The results were low 13's, easy 24mpg hwy, and a bone-stock like idle all on the stock ECM and chip/tune.
Here's what I learned. To make it work w/o changing the tune w/in the ECM you have to make more power (tq) in the same RPM range, or more importantly, you're engine after the mods, needs to have a tq curve that is the SAME SHAPE as before...only higher up, hopefully. The key to accomplishing that is to keep the cam's duration to the engine's displacement ratio, the same. Or close to the same. The stock cam is something like 202/208 -about 205* ave. 350/205=1.7. In my 400, I had a 224/234 cam -about 229* ave. 400/229=1.7. So the Tq curve in the 400 was about the same shape as the 350 (and original 305, in my case)...just HIGHER. That was convenient b/c that fuel CURVE, already existed in my ECM...all I had to do was give it more fuel (to match the added airflow), which I accomplished using larger injectors and more fuel pressure.
On a 350, I'd recommend going down the LSx road to more power; improve breathing using everything BUT cam duration. So better head, ported or improved intake, good dual exhaust, and more cam...but for lift only (or mostly). Then tune around that. But for starters, you can get to ~250 horse with nothing more than portiing and smart attention to detail, in your set up. All that will cost you is intake gaskets and labor. We're talking less than $100.00 here.
Joshwiles, For less than a grand, I'd port it, put some great exhaust on it, then dial it in.
For Crepitus, no way you'll get 450 horse through the stock intake, no matter how much you port it. For that, (if you want to "keep it CFI")you'll need a much larger Crossram intake. I don't know if the Renegade would swing 450, but I think an offy or SY1 might. And there is no way that you'll get 450 out of the stock ECM either, unless you go well over 400 cubes w/the appropriate cam, and/or are willing to sacrifice driveability in a big way. For that level of power (cam) you're really going to need to change the fuel curve.
Last edited by Tom400CFI; Feb 7, 2011 at 12:10 PM.













