I have to have fuel injection, period. Let's just say Ive had bad experience with carbs and I cant tune them for $h!t. I was seriously considering the Vortec HSR, but after more reading Im wondering if a Miniram (possibly SuperRam?) might not be out of the question. I see that the MR has an option for the Fast Burn head setup, isnt that the same as Vortecs? They also say that they can drill the Vortecs to accept the MR with the std SBC bolt pattern. Im sticking with my Vortecs, and I dont have enough money for aluminum heads so they'll have to do for now. I could change out my cam if need be, but Im staying hyd. flat tappet. Again, dont wanna spend the money on a retro kit. Heads flow decent (slightly ported already), decent cam, would the HSR still be the best bang for the buck with my motor? Specs in sig, thanks guys!!

BTW: Im not trying to start another argument. I seriously dont know which one would be best for my application. I know some people are biased, but Im only interested in the facts at this point.

 

yes the HSR is best bang for the buck for that motor combo using vortec heads. HSR is available with vortec bolt pattern as well! I assume you have those heads setup to handle that lift cam right?

the miniram is nice adn would work well but flows more air that makes it suitable for bigger cammed, bigger inch, higher flowing head kinda motors. your 383 with that cam could make some nice power with the miniram but its expensive and you'd have to get it to fit the vortec heads. I really dont think you'll give up anything by going to HSR over the miniram. you will actually gain lower rpm torque

Fast burns are raised runner head like LT4's i believe and are aluminum.

 

The Holley Stealth Ram costs about $500. The TPiS MiniRam costs about $1000. I know which one I'm picking, since they're both short runner intakes and should produce similar numbers.

 

I thought the HSR would be considered a tunnel ram or something along those lines? Maybe Im thinking in terms of carb'd manifolds, but I assumed that with the tunnelram-like design, the HSR would make more power up top than a TPI or MR that seems to have shorter runners. Might be talking out of my a$$, still doing all kinda research into all this

 

TPI has LONG runners. MR is short at i think 3.5 inch. HSR is at 6inches or so.

its not techinally a tunnelram even tho it looks like one. the shape and size of the runners dont flow like a tunnelram tho. miniram will make higher rpm power but only at levels above 6000rpms or so. HSR has been known to pull to 6000 or abit more

 

I agree with Kevin. Go with the HSR. Better intake system all the way around and cheaper to boot.

 

is it true that the HSR cannot be P&P? Something about the casting be too thin in some areas? Ive already P&Pd my Vortecs on the exhaust, but left the intake alone for when I was carb'd. But with EFI, Im thinking Ill at least port match and polish the intake ports.

And I keep hearing about EFI manifolds being made for 1205/1206 gaskets. I know that they are different sizes, but what about Vortecs? Can I use the 1205s on my Vortec HSR base? Or is there an equivilant for 1205 in a Vortec platform?

 

brand new HSR bases can be opened up to 1206 ports.. new material was added to the base for more porting. Before this year, the intakes were only setup for 1205 ports.

if your vortecs are 1205 gasket sized, then the HSR can be matched easily

 

so the 1205s can be used with either std bolt patterns or Vortecs?

 

vortecs suppose to use felpro 1255 from what i am seeing, which are 2.11 x 1.080 while the 1205 is 2.090 x 1.28. 1255 has the bolt holes in the right locations too. i guess its equivalent to the 1205 but for vortec heads

i'm assuming the vortec HSR has same ports as vortec heads since thats why its made so you should use a 1255

 

I own a mini ram and I find that it is difficult to tune but I am still learning to tune so it might be just me. Bang for the buck I would go with the HSR.

 

My experiance with HSR is that if you're going from TPI it is a true bolt on. Yea you got to re-run fuel, vacuum lines and make things like your throttle body, thermostat housing and other stuff work, but I didn't have to do any "tuning" to get it to run great. I even used the stock 21lb injector on my 350! (You may need a bigger injector with yor setup.) I didn't notice any loss of low end torque. She pulls at 1500 in fifth gear and it zings up to 6 grand like she likes it. I've heard the MR is a great setup too. Super ram looks too funky for me and still is in the middle, performance wise. BTW I spent about $700 doing the swap from TPI. My 0.02.

 

So at that price, Im assuming that you reused your ECU or swapped in a 730? Im kinda leaning towards getting a SD harness and 730ecu to wire my setup, the C950 is sooo damn expensive, and the stock wiring should make for an easier install.

Let say on a "basic" HSR motor (no nirous, nat. asp, just good heads/cam/etc), would there be an advantage of using an aftermarket EMS as opposed to rewiring the stock unit to work? I would like some decent amount of tuning capability, but as far as features like nitrous and boost controllers, thats not an issue for me. I still need to read up on the 730 swap though, I keep putting it off

 

i'd say the 730 can handle most any n/a setup your gonna run. i know my buddy 87 TA on these boards runs a miniram 406 that has gone high 10's n/a in a full weight trans am. he runs the 730 i believe. thats probly 450+whp in there

 

I reused my MAF setup. There were no computer/harness changes required. (had to re-route a couple of connections) I haven't even got a code or anything for not having the EGR hooked up. Just plug and play. Now I'm not a tuner (yet) and have read all about the pros and cons of MAF vs SD. Not gonna comment there but the MAF is working great for me. I don't think the swap to SD is a big deal but from what I understand you have to tune it. I say if you have it - use it.

 

man, thanks for all the info fellas! The only other thing Im thinking of now is swapping out the cam for something thats a little more forgiving with tuning (XFI280 maybe?). The motor in my sig ran fine with the exception of some carb issues, I mic'd the heads and they are all clear for appx. .500" lift (Imnot going over .490" without machining though) so if I were to go to the XFI or somthing with some more lift, id have to have my Vortecs machined out (kinda dont wanna do). Would it be better for me to go ahead and pull the heads to have them machined for more lift and get the 280, or stick with my XE274 and hope for the best (power numbers and tuning wise)?

 

XFI280 is huge and will not be forgiving or easy to tune.

 

so the XE274 would be easier to tune? I figured the 113LSA on the XFI280 would help out more with tuning issues, my 274 has 110lsa IIRC

 

The advertised duration has as much to do with tuning as the LSA does. If you raise the duration you cancel out the effect of raising the LSA.

Install your 274 cam advanced 2 or 4 degrees. That'll help tame it at idle and make it easier to tune. It'll also give you more low-end torque from idle to 3000 rpms.