Converting my 85' Chevy truck to TPI.

I'm toying with the idea of conveting my 85' pickup to FI. How do you think a stock TPI intake setup would perform on a Daily driven truck? It will also be used occasionally for towing?

Also would this be an easy swap, if i have the complete intake system plus the computer from a TPI car?

Thanks for any help
Travis

the TPI makes great torque at low RPM's so its a pretty good setup on a truck.

if u have the intake, computer, and harness from the donor car you are set,or Painless makes a harness for it as well to swap the TPI into something other than a Camaro/Firebird.

good luck w/ the swap.

Hey thanks for the quick response!

What about the fuel pump? Did the TPI car use an electric pump or a mechanical?

Thanks again

Never mind i found the answer to my question.....should have been obvious to me...fuel injection systems need a little higher fuel pressure than carb setups doh :)...lol

Also will all year TPI intakes (85-92) bolt up to my 85' block?

I don't think the intake will bolt to your heads. I'm pretty sure that the TPI setup used different angled heads. Maybe someone else can confirm this?.?. :confused:

I don't think the intake will bolt to your heads. I'm pretty sure that the TPI setup used different angled heads. Maybe someone else can confirm this?.?. :confused:

Vortec & fast burn won't because bolts are vertical, and the head intake port is a 1/4" longer.

All years of TPI can bolt to your heads, 85-86 will bolt on with no modification. 87-92 will require you to elongate the 4 center holes so the bolt can get a straight shot at the heads.

unless it is a tbi motor your heads will work, TBI are all angled, I believe or is it the TPI heads are all angled.. ? TPI would be great for a truck.. I wish I would have put it on my 88 TBI chevy...

unless it is a tbi motor your heads will work, TBI are all angled, I believe or is it the TPI heads are all angled.. ? TPI would be great for a truck.. I wish I would have put it on my 88 TBI chevy...

From my understanding, 87+ sbc are angle heads. Vette may be different since I recall something about thier aluminum heads using the 86 and earlier intake pattern.

Would it be better to avoid an 85' TPI computer? What year would be the best this conversion?

avoid 85 ECM like the plague. I personally prefer the 90-92 Speed Density system since I don't really care for the MAF.
85 has the lousy ECM and expensive MAF Burnoff Relay
86-88 has the Cold Start Injector and MAF system (late 88's have VATS according to a book I read).
89 has no Cold Start Injector and is MAF and has VATS
90-92 is Speed Density and has VATS.

Thanks for the help.

It seems like a fairly straight swap. Could I use an inline pump or would I need an intank pump? I'm assuming I would have to rig up a return line also.

inline pump is fine,that is what I ran when I did my TPI swap on my 86 T/A back in 2001.
Return line should be no problem on a truck since you have plenty of space to work under. 5/16 is the size of our return lines.

So did the 86' have a mechanical pump before? I guess what I need to know is can i use the existing fuel line coming from the tank to pull the fuel with the inline pump?

Thanks for all the help!

So did the 86' have a mechanical pump before? I guess what I need to know is can i use the existing fuel line coming from the tank to pull the fuel with the inline pump?

Thanks for all the help!

Well, my 86 was carbed and I converted to TPI and didn''t want to drop the tank, so I left the standard sender/pickup in the tank and went with a Holley inline EFI pump.
You can use the existing line to feed the external pump. Just make sure you don't have an electric pump in the tank, some carbed cars had a mech pump on the block and a booster pump in the tank.
For longevity, get an intank pump since they last upto 10 times longer than an external pump.