1979 305 carb to TPI swap? How to?

CruizinKev

Frequent Racer
Hey there,

I want to know how to swap my stock 1979 monte carlo carb 305 motor to a TPI.

Want to upgrade the motor with a lunati voodoo cam, headers and x-pipe exhaust.

I need the full intakes but don't know about the wiring harness and other parts I need....

I'm in Germany so not possible to get parts at local junkyards. Would be awesome if you could post links to shops, write-up and such..

Thanks,
-Kev
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
Your best bet may be to go with something off of eBay, but make sure it has all the sensors, full harness, and the computer. There are some differences in the systems that make some more desirable, but I don't know for sure what they are. Most of the stuff will be contained on the intake, but you'll need a few other things like the fuel pump (easiest with a stock 4.3 tank/sending unit imo), fuel lines, and O2 sensor(s).
 

86Cutlass383SR

Daily Driver
Apr 1, 2009
35
0
0
Sesser, IL
Not knowing what info or knowledge of TPI's you have, here is a brief but long summary of TPI's in general. I'm only hoping to help and not trying to insuly anyone's intellegence if this info is already known.

One of the best research sites for TPI info can be found here: http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/

Of particular interest would be the *TPI* section. If you haven't aquired a TPI setup yet, then there are usually some in the For Sale section. From 86 - 88, the TPI f-bodies had a stand-alone wiring harness which was not integrated into the dash wiring. I think it was 89 when they combined the dash wiring with the TPI wiring. If you can find a harness from one of these 86 - 88 f-bodies you can use that as your car with a bit of modification where the harness goes thru the firewall. There are also a few aftermarket harnesses on the market for these. Howell, Painless, and I believe SpearTech, along with others comes to mind. Some can be had with emissions if needed.

The 85 TPI has a differant MAF curcuit and relay which should be avoided due to lack of replacement parts. The 86 - 89 TPI's use a MAF (Mass Air Flow sensor) and is better if you are going to mod your TPI with bigger cams, heads, headers, etc. The MAF actually measures the incoming airflow. This system is more forgiving to engine mods.

The 90 - 92 TPI's used a SD (Speed Density) and uses a MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor along with the programmed chip to *calculate* the airflow. Any change in airflow due to cams, headers, etc and this *calculation* is off and won't run correctly.

The 305 and 350 TPI units are identical with the exception of the 305 having 19# injectors and 350's having 22# injectors. With a fairly stock engine and an adjustable fuel pressure regulator (to increase the fuel pressure), the 305 injectors can be used in a 350.

You can buy larger runners and base for the TPI which will increase airflow velocity. You can also port the stock base and the plenum.

Stock and stock type long tube runner (LTR) TPI's have a powerband from idle to about 4800 rpm. Due to the long 17" tube length (from plenum to the head intake port) these systems can't flow much air over 4500-5000 rpm. There are also other TPI type intakes available if you want to move your HP/TQ powerband up higher. These systems have shorter runner lengths and some are emission legal if that is a concern. Holley Stealth Ram (HSR) offers good mid range and upper rpm power and fairly cheap, the John Lingenfelter designed SuperRam (SR) which is no longer in production and fairly expensive, the TPIS Mini Ram which is basically an LT1 type intake good for higher rpm power. You can find the pros/cons of these intakes in the *Alternative Port EFI Intakes* section.

If you feel you can learn tuning the computers of these cars, the equipment to burn your own chips is cheaper to buy than buying most aftermarket chips and since you can tune it youself, you end up with a more finely tuned and better running system. Most aftermarket chips only change the WOT parts of the computer and don't do much for the idle and part throttle where you'll be driving most of the time anyway. The *DFI and ECM* and *DIY Prom* sections will be of interest.
 

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