I have a 89 Iroc that currently has a 355 tpi making just under 375 hp. I have a chance right now to get a carb'ed 406 small block making 500 horse and 550 torque for next to nothing from a friend.

Im assuming it will be easier to sell my TPI engine with the computer and wiring harness, and id also like to get the unused wiring out from under the hood. I have concerns in how that will impact the rest of the car. Are things like guages, stall converter, fuelpump, fans, etc. still work without the computer and wiring harness?

And to all the guys that get mad about people cutting up TPI cars, I agree that Fuel Ingection is great! But the thousands of dollars it takes to make a reliable 500+ hp motor run with TPI, I prefer the $300 a holley costs. EFI is great if you can afford it.

Thanks for anybodys help

Greg Jasperson

 

Greg,
Sorry I can't help with your situation. All I can say is try a search. I've seen two pretty in-depth threads about TPI>Carb swaps within the past week.

My reason for posting: Mind listing the build of your 355?

 

Greg, get an HSR (holley stealth ram) and a matched set of injectors. you'll need a tune with the computer and a larger throttlebody which you should be able to afford if you sell the TPI complete minus computer. it's not as expensive or hard as you think and you'll have the fuel economy and driveability of an EFI 406 + the top end of a tunnel ram motor.

 

if he doesnt burn his own chips thats looks to be about:

chip burning-roughly $300-350
bigger T/B-roughly $300-$400

if u can get $600 for that TPI setup,computer,wireing harness and all...your doing great. my dad sold the same thing off an 86 IROC and got about $535 i think it was,and that was 6-8 months ago i think. dont forget that the stealth ram isnt emissions legal.

or u could go w/ a Edelbrock air gap intake and 750 carb.- about $500 or so there im guessing and about $175 for a good HEI distributor...

the choice is yours

 

an HSR isn't emissions legal per se but if there is no visual inspection it's not a problem, the HSR will be far cleaner than the carb as well as more efficient. air gap RPMs don't have EGR provisions anyways. you also forget he'll need to fabricate a linkage for the carb to use his existing cables and a fuel pressure regulator with a return line port so he can run the 10 psi a carb runs at rather than the 42 psi he's running now. TBs can be had for around 200 on ebay (you CAN go with a used one cause TBs hardly ever go bad) and chip burning is only $150 from www.pcmforless.com
Complete TPI units go for around $200 complete minus computer on ebay and you can keep your distributor.

 

Heres my situation...

I have my TPI motor sold for betwen $3500 and $4500 (More so if I can include the computer and wiring harness)

Although i could build a competitively priced EFI/TPI motor for about the same amount, in my situation, it makes more money sence for me to go carbed if I can sell my current setup for that much

Greg

 

i did a tpi to carb swap on an 85 and all the gauges still work fine. youll just need a pre 81 hei dist. which is pretty easy to get either aftermarket or a $25 junkyard one. youll just need to spend $75 on a tc lock up unit unless you dont care about losing a couple extra mpg. i got rid of all the ecm harness wires from under the hood because they do absolutely nothing with a carbed motor and the engine bay is a hell of a lot cleaner and im guessing you dont have emissions testing wherever your from. if its just a weekend driver or a car thats not driven everyday id say go for it youll be a lot happier with a carb if you know how to tune one. knowing how to tune a carb is the key and the main reason you got a million fuel injection people saying to stay with fuel injection because they cant tune a carb. im pretty sure the 89 is almost the same as an 85 so you shouldnt run into any major problems.

 

for 1 thing,i dunno what carb u have man,but my 750 Edelbrock only wants 5.5 MAX lbs of fuel pressure. to do that,i just used a Mallory FPR and has a port for the return line. i think its about $75. u need to buy 1 connector that goes into the HEI dist. u cut off the stock 1 on the dist. wires that are pink and white (power and tach i believe) and put the new connector on,and ur ready 2 roll.

 

im running a 750 holley but dropped the gas tank and put in a carbed sending unit and used a mechanical pump which i forgot to mention. and the 85 used the bigger hei with internal coil unlike the 87 and up dist. so i didnt need to cut nothing. depending on if he wants to run the tpi pump or not if he decides not to he's still gotta drop the tank to put in a carbed sending unit.