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I have an 86 coupe that has all the "free" mods. Although the car has great initial grunt, it falls on it's nose after 4,500 rpm. From what I've read on the forum, getting better topend with the TPI is difficult because of the low flow potential. I was thinking of replacing the heads with iron vortecs . With these heads, would an LT4 intake and TB work? What would the results be with the stock auto and rear end ratio? I'm not into racing , but I hate the poor top end performance.
Youll need the intake manifold modified to work. Theres a website that does them, i think its lt1intake.com or something like that. The LT4 intake will not just bolt on and work correctly. I would not use Vortecs unless there was no other option.
You would, depending on the cam, probably end up needing a higher stall converter and lower rear gears to really get somewhere on this path.
Thanks, Vader. I guess I'm totally confused as to which heads are the best value . I've heard a lot about the vortecs being the best bang for the buck. But then I hear that AFRs are the best. Then again, maybe a porting job on the stocker is what I need. I'm not looking for 400 hp , just to get the engine to pull strongly up to the shift point on the auto trans. I think that the TPI is the real culprit here but I also know that it is the entire package that must work together. I think maybe a set of headers with low restriction exhaust is the first order of business and see if that gets me what I want.
The vortech heads are great heads but they realy complicate the situation. If I where you I would port the stock heads and either go with the modified LT1 or the miniram. The Miniram would be my first choice because of fit and finish but if I had limited $$$$$$ then the LT1 intake is an option