ianc

Hi, I know I'm not at the exact place, but i just bought a tbi setup off various camaros and firebirds from 89-92 i believe, and im trying to fit it into my 86 monte carlo SS. My car now is carburated and i need help with the engine harness (the only thing not included in the kit) i got the ECM but no harness. I like the 'painless wiring harnesses' but they are a bit expensive. Please somebody, give me as much information as you possibly can about making this swap. (i got a new electric fuel pump and i need help on hooking that up as well as the fuel lines and fittings)
Thanks a bunch, i need a lot of help.
Sincerly
Ian

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

We will pretend that you have a carb f-bod and not a monte to stay legal. Try to get your hands on a TBI engine harness. They are a dime a dozen and you should be able to get one from a local yard for cheap. I could not justify the cost for a painless TBI harness when they are so plentiful in the yards. TBI is not the swappers dream so needless to say there are a few of them around. Pick up all sensors as well if you can.

1981TTA

If your car has the "original" CCC Q-jet installed, you should be able to use the vast majority of the harness and sensors that exist in the car. The only "new" wires to run would be to the Injectors, IAC and Fuel Pump. The existing MAP, CTS, TPS and distributor wires should be good to go as-is. (My not-quite-3rd-gen TA had this type of carb/sensor setup, too. I just finished swapping in the TBI this summer.)

A quick trip to the junkyard allowed me to pick up the rest of the connectors for the TBI. The most involved part was "repinning" the connector from the old to new computers.

contactpatch

ianc,
why do you want to get rid of your carb?,
seems like a downgrade.

BMmonteSS

I don't consider ditching the CCC quadrajet for anything else a down grade. When that system works it does pretty well, but the CCC quad has some rather finicky fuel mixture controls. It has a mixture selonoid that would just flick back and forth between rich and lean to control the part throttle mix. The valve would usually just stick either lean or rich. TBI is much more advanced. The trick is going to be tuning this beast once you get it swaped over. The L-69 engine package had a decent sized cam, for a smog era car, so there aren't any off the shelf chips that will work well with that combo. You need to decide what you want to accomplish with this swap. If you want to get the full benefit of FI you need to have a proper tune. TBI is a speed density setup meaning that it won't compensate for different cams, heads, and other parts. Every chip is tuned for a certain combo of parts. For best results you will want to learn to do this yourself, mail order chips will be hit and miss. Just wanted you to know all of the facts before you jumped in. I also have a monte.....hemmm camaro, your supposed to pretend you have a camaro around here, here's what I did to swap over.

For a wiring harness, I just got a whole TBI harness since my ccc setup had been long butchered and removed. You could also use your factors harness with some wires added in for the injectors and IAC. You can also use your big cap dissy with no problems. The third harness that connects to the ecm to all the under the dash wiring, like the speed sensor, and ign hot. You'll have to swap some of those wires around to feed them into the ecm in the right locations. I suggest you get a haynes manual for a camaro so you'll have a wiring diagram for a tbi setup. Or you can search around here for one.

You'll need an adapter plate to use the factory intake. The stock TB will work fine for your combo, but you'll need to step up in the future if you want to make a whole lot of power.

Fuel is a bit tricky, you have two options. One is get an external pump and wire it inline some where and just bypass the stock mechanical pump. Your second and better option is to get a tank for a 4.3L monte. It will be baffled and have the right pickup for an intank pump. I opted for the external pump, I mounted it to the flat area right behind the rear end. The lines run through there. I have problems with the pump picking up air when I run with less than a 1/4 tank of gas and take a corner at spirited speeds. As for the fuel lines coming out of the TBI. I got some fuel lines from the parts store that have the right ends on them with about 18" of line. I just ran them as far as they would go and attached some FI rubber line from them to the lines coming out of the frame. Make sure you get the FI line, because it's rated at a much higher pressure.

Let me know if you have any other questions.