Hey guys i dont normally post here but im looking to upgrade to efi and thought that tpi would be a cheap solution. What are your reccomendations? I was thinking buyinga beater v8 camaro or trans am and taking the fuel pump,manifold,tpi setup,computer and fuel lines. I hear that they bog down after 5000 rpm, what are some remedies for this?

 

That is one sweet ride. :thumbs: :thumbs:


[Modified by =Agent-Jones=, 2:21 PM 8/15/2003]

 

yup, I think the stock TPI would be more restrictive than you might care to imagine. You can do the aftermarket parts (hi-flow base, runners, port the plenum) but that gets expensive quick. You might be better off going either Superram (tried and true) or LT1 (more interesting as a swap and may be cheaper). You could even go for the stealthram and just use the 86-89 TPI harness/ECM with a custom chip.

I personally went from a crossfire to an aftermarket TPI setup and it wasn't really all that bad- but I'm in dire need of a chip tuning and it was a little more expensive than I had anticipated. Avoid the camaro stuff, since you'll most likely be upgrading the injectors and chip anyway, and the fuel lines are oriented the wrong way (vette fuel lines come straight out from the fuel rail).

Things you will definitely need:
An intake of your choice- if you stick with the TPI style, don't be afraid to ebay individual parts... you might actually get them cheaper depending on how much of the conversion will remain stock? Frankly, I would lean towards the Superram for a street rod but everyone has their opinions.

New fuel lines. You're running ~45psi in the TPI system, so that means you'll want mostly steel or braided line with high-pressure rubber connectors. If you don't have a 3/8" fuel return line to the tank, you'll need to run one.

A refreshed, used `86-`89 ECM and harness- MAF. It's easier to setup than Speed density and shows no real airflow restrictions for more reasonable setups. Try and go for the `89 year, since there was no cold-start injector and this will simplify things further. `86-`88 can be made non-coldstart easily, but the chip would have to be modified to run well on start-up.

Air intake plumbing: you have the hardware set up, now where is it going to pull air from? I've successfully mounted the MAF sensor and a K&N cone filter under the hood, but it sucks in engine bay air (hot). So think about what you want to do there.

And the assorted coolant hose routing, Fuel Pump, etc.... It's not too bad, just put everything down on paper and build it a few times in your head before you begin. A lot of little things have to come together for it to work properly. And run a search on LT1 intake conversions, the stealthram, etc for more info on those. But they will use the same MAF wiring harness, sensors and ECM as a bone stock TPI so don't worry there... it all comes down to your goals, peak power ranges and getting a good chip burned for your setup.

If I wasn't on dial-up right now, I'd send you some pictures!

:thumbs:

 

Well i am only 16 and being canadian my dollar goes even less farther. Here i can probably get the whole setup out of a camaro or transam for $350 american if i go the corvette route they will charge more because of the name. This superram you speak of though, is it the LPE superram? What is going to be cheaper? my budget will be about $850 us max.

 

Look up Patsnitrovette on the C3 section, he has done this swap.

 

I know but the C3 guys told me to come ask you guys, nobody wants me :cry

 

I think we can help you... :D but the $850 budget is what's going to shoot you in the foot. I don't know what your stock motor's HP rating is, but I would gander that going from a carb to a stock TPI is going to seriously squash your HP. My guess is, that unless you have $1500 or more to invest in some quality port injection parts and all the necessities... you'll just wind up doing a tremendous amount of work only to end up with less power and poorer driveability than what you started with. I would wait until I had the credit line to do this swap right, rather than try and skimp by and just "do it" now.

But that's just an opinion. :P By the way, what are you looking to get from this swap? Better gas mileage, power???

 

I was looking for better gas mileage, uniqueness, and more torque. My carb is giving me problems so instead of replacing it and then doing FI afterwards I thought it would be better to just go to FI first. The LT1 intake that you reffered i have seen on ebay for only like $150 :eek: What modifications if any are needed to mount to a first gen small block such as mine or yours.