Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

TPI setup is being installed as I write this. Forgive the picture, as we actually had close to a 70-degree day here in New Jersey today, and the picture has a lot of glare from the sun. I am only mocking it up in this picture, as the blue paint on the runners will be stripped, and the entire setup is getting polished, so it'll look purty. I can't wait to take those fugly Edelbrock shorty headers off. Hopefully the scanmaster will be released soon, and that the Turbo Tweak's chips start getting released. Once the TPI setup is bolted down and looking good, the turbo will be going on right after....

project89

iTrader: (1)

lol its about time :P, my tpi setup should be here wensdsay or thursday. i havent been able ot touch the car for 2 days now.It went form 80* days to us having 3 inches of snow on the ground and it just started snowing again grrrrrr.

this weekend im going to try fliping the ex manifolds that were on the car and see if they will work instead o buying shorty block hugger headers

BANDITSBC

Glad to see it's coming together. I'll be following.

Hope to be at the track next weekend, I'm not running nines, but i'm excited to see what my little 305 can do.

project89

iTrader: (1)

hey bandit whats the biggest size turbo that fits on those bbs headers?

BANDITSBC

I was just looking at that today. I believe a t70 will fit but I'm not certain of that. I have a ebay turbo based off a 60-1 if i remember right and i've got some clearance to play with. I saw someone selling one in classifieds here for $250, I don't know if it sold or not.
I'll take some pics and post them tomorrow

project89

iTrader: (1)

im going with an ebay gt45 which has a 70mm inducer and i know it wont fit, but i found a 76mm t4 flanged and if that turbo fits should be the same size as a t70, i may just buy a set of those bbs headers instead of making my own for the gt45

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Nice to see another 305 turbo. I was limited to only 14-psi w/the LC2 injectors (30-pound), but she still ran very hard when I had the turbo in the GTA. Do you have any pics, video's and/or sound clips for everyone following....?

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

The ebay GT45's vary in size, there is even one that has a 68.77mm inducer w/T4 flange on ebay, but that would of course defeat the purpose so stay away from it. The T76 will definitely fit with a little finesse, as mine has a 76.90mm inducer w/T4 flange and it cleared in the GTA, so you will be fine. Not too many pictures found on thirdgen.org with the XS-Power single turbo header setup, but I did come across one though to give you an idea of how it will sit. This is with a T70....;

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Wanted to confirm something, the stock throttle kickdown, although does in fact reach the bracket on the plenum, does not "extend" far enough to work properly, let alone even reach the mounting point on the throttle body lever. So yes, it is definitely needed when swapping from a carburetor to TPI, along with the throttle cable too....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

This is where I am as of right now, the lower intake manifold was kicking my *** since last night but I finally got it to seat right. As much as I elongated the center holes, and I drilled them a lot, it just didn't seem to be enough and the manifold kept pulling from side to side when I was tightening the bolts down. It's finally seated though. Working on the TPI distributor tonight, as I need to correct a few of the wires. The runners were stripped of that blue paint, but instead of polishing them, I just might hit them w/black again....

Drac0nic

Good work, one of the reasons I'm considering ditching the TPI is that the assembly of it can be a bit taxing at times. HSR or a single plane seems like it would be a better choice overall in some ways. Just thinking about buying a set of rails and some bungs and just going for it.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

That is definitely the one thing that I hate about the Tuned Port setups, as everytime you need to swap injectors the runners and plenum need to come off. I really wanted to run the LT1 intake that I was working on, especially after figuring out a way to make them work with just the distributor hole mod, and bolt hole relocation, but I am so curious to see the TPI in action now after all of that porting lol. I think in your case though if it really comes down to switching I would definitely go with the single plane w/injector bungs....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

TPI "fat cap" was a mess, I cleaned it up and sorted out the wiring issue. Started to polish it, but then stopped myself because I'm going to start on other things today. Ordered a new Petronix Ignition Module because I already have their Flame Thrower coil up top, and the ignition module that came with the distributor simply can't be trusted....

project89

iTrader: (1)

umm im not 100% sure but dont u need a small cap hei with tpi?

edit
draconic theres a vic jr for sale somewere in the classifieds for 100 bucks

if i woulda seen it before i bought the tpi setup i woulda grabbed it

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

1985/86 TPI came with the fat cap (it's already installed in the pics below). I had to get creative with the 1/8" NPT fittings for the oil pressure sender. I used the stock fitting in conjunction with the splitter from a few pages earlier. First picture is of course the oil pressure sensor, and the second picture shows the oil feed to the turbo....;

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

That's the only real reason that I'm ditching the TPI, I just hate dealing with all the parts... I have most of the parts for a victor JR fi conversion, but I stumbled on some decent LT1 heads for _cheap_ and it's a ton less work at that point to use an LT1 intake. I managed to finish porting the manifold, and did the rough cutting on the intake ports of the heads over the weekend...

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

you have to weld in holes to use lt1 heads and manifold on a sbc because collant flow in revers on an lt1

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Yea, so? You also have to give the coolant someplace else to go...

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

yeah thats what i just basically said, you have to weld a hole and drill a new one, its not hard just time consuming

rustrider73

you got a pic of what your talking about
weld a hole, drill a hole

bduffey723

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/fabr...n-project.html

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

therres threads everywhere like bduffey posted

rustrider73

thanks I just checked that out, lots of time & labor to do

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Wrapping up the plenum so I can get the Tuned Port Injection system up and running. When I put the project on hold awhile back I completely forgot that I didn't do the throttle body orifice on the plenum, so I started doing it today. I used whatever gasket that was already still stuck on it as my guide, and I didn't go any larger than the stock diameter, although it may appear larger now becauase I cleaned up the edges. Should have this done by tomorrow, then it's all going on....;

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Didn't get much done this weekend because it was a busy one, I didn't even get a chance to go the the Englsihtown swap meet yet, and I'm sure all of the good stuff is already gone lol. Anyways, plenum is finished, I just need to clean it up some more than I will post some pictures of it on the engine. The runners were again hit with black, as I like the way they look so much better this way than that blue. I was about a click away from throwing $80.00 dollars down the toilet by ordering a new TPI adjustable regulator, when I decided to just convert the stocker for about two dollars. Gonna drill the 1/4" hole into it tonight, but will weld the jamb nut to the cover sometime tomorrow....

metalhead212121

Don't say that... I'm going down tomorrow because the rain kept me away today and friday I overslept!

I'm enjoying this thread.. keep up the good work!

Dan

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Dan, it is so bad out right now, even as I write this the house is getting bombarded with rain. It's going to be extremely muddy tomorrow in the outer parking lot, so definitely try to get there early to avoid parking out there, and park somewhere behind the pits....

metalhead212121

good point.. I went down one year and I saw a guy get stuck on the grass. It was pretty funny to see the staff at Etown jumping up and down on the car to get traction. It's raining pretty hard by me too (about 45 min north of you). Hopefully tomorrow won't be a waste of a day..... (fingers crossed)

Dan

project89

iTrader: (1)

lol rob u could have just sent me those blue runners,and id have sent u mine,i just picked up some metalic silver base coat,and transparent blue top coat to paint my runners with.

going o do the runners the same color the cars getting painted,, tpi stuff will a black tpi base, and metalic silver plenum, with the metalic blue for the runners

cars getting done in a nice deep metalic blue with silver flames

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Okay, let's convert that stock regulator to an adjustable one. After you disassemble the regulator, first you'll want to drill a 1/4" hole through the center of the cap. Go to any hardware store and pick up a 1/4" by 1 1/4" hex bolt w/two 1/4" nuts (gold acorn nut is optional, as I'll be using that as a bearing). Thoroughly clean the top of the cap with a wire wheel (or sand paper) and get it down to bare metal, as you want to remove any factory paint that is on there. Put one of those nuts onto the hex bolt, then place the hex bolt through the hole underneath the cap (upside down). Then, put the other nut onto the hex bolt stem which is now sticking out of the outer side of the cap, and tighten it down to lock the upper nut into place (try to center it as best you can). Note that you placed the hex bolt through the cap upside down to provide additional welding room....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

When it comes to welding the outer nut to the top of the regulator cover, normally you will want to braze it using a torch at a much lower heat. Unfortunately though, there was no more of that rod left to use, so using a mig welder the nut was welded down. Once cooled, remove the hex bolt from the underside of the regulator cap. At this point, you now have a threaded insert in the regulator cap, with a mound of weld all around it. What I usually do, is clean off the weld with a wire wheel first, add some JB weld because it is easier to shape once it is cured, then file it all down to make it look factory. At this point I have the weld all cleaned up w/no leaks, the JB weld was applied to fill in the seams, and in about an hour or two I will have it all filed down, reshaped and painted. First picture is right after the welding, second after the wire wheel, and third after the JB weld was applied....

Drac0nic

Hrrm, penetration looks a bit dubious on that. Welding thin to thick (or thick to thin) can be difficult at times though. Nice way to save 50 bucks though.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

I honestly would have rather brazed it, and for anyone looking to do that mod I would highly recommend brazing with a torch w/low heat, but the mig seemed to do the job. There was no way to make the weld any thicker all around because I was concerned it was going to burn right through the cap, but just as long the nut is now welded in place to the cover, that is all that I was really after. It was tested at full spring tension and it holds no problem. The JB weld is only there to fill in the seams, and to help with the contour. Not to mention, there is no way 0"-kpa through 30-psi will ever break that weld....

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I think you're going to have a problem with that, there isn't that much room between it and the bottom of the plenum. If nothing else, if you're going to make the bolt long enough to a reasonable adjustment range you'll have to put a pretty substantial notch in the bottom of the plenum.

I flattened the end of mine with a hammer, jb welded a t-nut into the end of it that I broke the spikes off of, and then made a "seat on the end of a bolt to match the hole in a fender washer by spinning it up in a drill and used a dremel to grind the shape. Once it was painted it looked pretty good and worked pretty well

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Crossfire, you were right. After reading your post I was eager to put the regulator back on to see if it cleared, and although it did clear the plenum (in height), the bolt itself was rubbing on the plenum pretty bad making adjustment's impossible because the hex pattern was stuck (see picture below, note the second nut being used as the "locking" nut so the bolt doesn't back out). I removed the plenum and pulled the 1 1/4" bolt out of the regulator and cut it down to a tad over an inch in length, and it now clears perfectly. Still need to sand down the housing and paint it, but I am definitely happy that it all worked out, and that you too were successful with the very same mod....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Last install for the night. Just took a quick ride to advanced auto and picked up a 160-degree thermostat. It would make it so much easier if I had a check list, but as you can see I am winging it all from memory lol. Gonna tackle the intank fuel assembly tomorrow, as even though I have an external pump, what some of you guys may not know is that the L69's, although carbed and run a mechanical fuel pump, actually have an additional intank fuel pump to help with vapor lock. So long story short, that stock electric pump needs to come out. Fun fun, lemme tell ya lol....

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Huh, I wonder what the difference is, that would have never worked on mine, my regulator is actually under the plenum entirely. My whole assembly is shorter then yours and I had to grind a "tunnel" across the bottom of the plenum straight into the picture where the red mark is:


did you seal the threads somehow? I've seen others make them using a nyloc nut so the nylon locking piece seals the threads. In my case I just used some fuel proof, non hardening polyurethane sealant on mine which seemed to work well. Without sealing the threads with something the vacuum signal is just going to leak and it won't be right...

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

After the housing gets painted I'm going to use some teflon sealant for the threads. I was curious about the plenum area, so I just went outside by the 1990 GTA to take a look to see if it were any different, and sure enough I forgot about the later plenum's having an extra vacuum port fitting by the regulator area, not to mention the regulator being directly under the plenum. The plenum I'm using above was from an '86, which thankfully has a different shape in the back, cuz I'm so freaking tired of grinding lol....

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Both of mine are '87s... one more reason why I want to get rid of the TPI...

heh... tired of grinding... I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to keep the bits of aluminum out of my shoes... Otherwise I just put some ear buds in, cover them with hearing protection, my fully sealing safety goggles and just forget about an hour or 3, it's really pretty relaxing compared to real life...

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Not much accomplished today. Runners are on, but I'm waiting for my EGR blockoff plate to get here before I put the plenum on. Was going to make one, but I just don't have it in me anymore lol. Here is where the engine stands....;

junkcltr

iTrader: (1)

Looking good. Why not install the EGR and just disconnect the vacuum line or solenoid and make it not functional? That is a block off plate in itself.

You might have idle tuning problems with completely removing the bumps in front of the IAC holes in the plenum. Something to keep in mind if having tuning problems at idle compounded by large injectors.

You could grind down the adjustment nut and lock nut on the adj fuel regulator. That is what I did to gain the adjustment I needed with a short bolt.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

The beauty of removing the bulky EGR housing and going with a blockoff plate is that the runners don't need to be removed when swapping injectors, just the upper plenum and throttle body. You can pull the fuel rail (once unbolted) straight towards the front, then up and out. With the EGR valve in place though, the fuel rail can't even be snaked out with out removing the runners, and I know I'll definitely be swapping injectors in and out....

Although I ordered a nice polished one off of ebay last night ($15.00 shipped to the door), I actually did modify the stock one. I cut the EGR housing off of the base, then I welded the base shut. I then started to smooth the weld down, but that is when I got tired of it, and just ordered the replacement instead. In the picture you will see the modified base, as I also hit it with some black paint. It'll definitely work, but I figured what the hell, a replacement is only fifteen bucks. I also cut/siamesed the upper plenum gaskets...



Oh yes, your spot on. That is why I'm glad everything is getting documented, this way I can go back and reinspect all of the modifications to trace any possible connection(s)....

I took a ride to Home Dept last night and was able to find a jamb nut about half the size of the one in the picture, which reduces the height substantially. I was also looking for a bolt with a smaller (thinner) head to it, but they had nothing. So now I might have to grind down the sides of the head of the existing hex bolt that I am using, unless I can find one elsewhere....

86T/A_Ram_Air

im a little late on this but im subscribing

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Not at all, your right on time. I'm trying to do everything step by step this way everything gets covered, and so you guys know exactly what's being done. No hidden surprises, everything is getting documented. I didn't want to just throw it all together and say this is what it did, w/nothing tangible. You'll know every single detail about the car, the why and the how. You'll see it tuned, dynoed and raced w/no editing whatsoever....

I'm really considering making a fuel pump access hole to pull that old pump out, and for easier replacement down the road. I know some of you guys are against that, but the car is getting caged, plus I still need to fix a little less than a 1/4 of the floor pan anyway, and its not like I started with a cream puff lol....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Okay, finally put an end to the adjustable regulator dilemma lol. As already stated, I nabbed a jamb nut about half the size of the one that I was originally using which allowed me to go with a much shorter bolt. However, I couldn't find a bolt with a smaller head, so I was forced to make one. I bought the same size thread, but just the stem, no head, and I cut it to the length that I wanted. I then "filed" down the side that I chose to be the top of it into four sides, no reason to file six sides because I can grab it with a small adjustable wrench. Now it clears no problem, I can actually remove the bolt with the plenum staying on. Note that the bolt is already hitting the spring inside the regulator in the pics, so there is plenty of room for adjustment. Now I'm just waiting on my blockoff to wrap up the engine....

Artisan

This is a Great thread! Subscribed!

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Do it, it only makes sense, I'll probably do the same when I get around to it (or do something completely different and run a surge tank with the stock intank pump).

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

EGR blockoff finally got here and is installed. Doesn't hurt to give the little engine some bling to boost her confidence, even though you won't even really see it when the plenum is on. Can finally wrap up the engine now, I pulled the fuel rail back off to clean it up some more and to shoot some better paint on the regulator, because there was no way I was leaving it the way that it was lol. I decided to run the ignition module that came with the setup, just for now and just to see if it is any good. Worst case scenario, the flame-thrower will go in....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Thanks....

Your right, I'm definitely going that route now. I already marked the back for where I am going to cut (using a cheap power-drill with cutting wheel for better control, don't wanna use a high torque drill right over the gas tank). I think what I am going to do is run twin intank Walbro's, as I have a couple of sending units in which I can borrow what I need, then cut and weld everything in, then rewire of course. Should come out pretty good when it's done....

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Plenum is finished and installed. I also hit the injectors with some yellow, as that blue paint wasn't doing the engine bay any justice whatsoever. Throttle body is next, but first.... open wide, say ahhh.