Okay, I am a newbie, so give me a break if I ask stupid questions. You guys come highly recommend by some of the members on the CK5 board.

I am in the process of having a 383 built and would like to run the Edlebrock MPFI for TBI engines. The engine will be built by Sunset Racing & Machine of Lubbock, TX and will not be radical by any standards, but just produce a lot more torque & hp for my '90 Jimmy.

How difficult is it going to be to get a custom chip that will run it properly? As far as I know, there is not anybody locally that will custom program. Fastchip said they won't program for MPFI, Superchip wants your first born for their chip, I am not sure how much Hypertec wants.

Suggestions? I live in Central Texas.

Thanks for any help.

 

Why not get a laptop programmable system like a Holley or others.

I know your engine shop has experience programming them.

 

By your question, are you saying that programming your own prom is out of the question? In other words, if you could do your own programming, would you? It opens up a whole lot of options and is not expensive and more accurate than having someone do the calibration from miles away or just strictly on a dyno.

 

Doing my own programming is not out of the question, I am very interested. My first question was how difficult is this combination going to be to make run properly with the existing computer? Second, after looking at some of the custom programming prices from Superchip, etc. buying the necessary hardware and software, looks more attractive.

 

Well in that case, you have lots of options. You could get several aftermarket ecm's for less than a grand. You could also use factory ecm's that aren't the stock one. And of course you could use the stock one. It depends on how much you want to spend. Bottom line, you could do without anything more than the stock ecm and stock tbi, not even the MPFI swap. This is of course if the cam is very friendly and HP is not that high, it could run pretty well, but you have to be honest with the output. Your investment would be that of about $300 buying a prom programmer, bin editor, UV eraser, and a cheap laptop using a free scanner software. You will have to do lots of research and it will take some time. It's not impossible though. Now if you were willing to do the MPFI swap, I think you could do one better. This is just my opinion remember, but I would get a Super Ram manifold with 24# inj's. I would use a 1227730 ecm and run the $8D code for it. This is basically what the 90-92 TPI cars used except you don't need to find a car to take this stuff from. Cavaliers, Berettas have the same ecm, just V6 or 4 so the wiring is different, and you have to do some wiring harness modifications. The same programming stuff as used above works for this too. This option is going to add about $1100 though (fuel pump and other misc items included), but you were willing to do the MPFI swap and have someone do the tuning which was going to be a few hundred more. At least this way you can do it yourself and have the satisfaction of getting it done right.

 

And if you arnt set on going with a TBI setup i have a Tuned Port setup that i rebuilt for my 383. New 24lb SVO injectors, Holley AFPR, new MAF and relays, and wiring harness (including ECM and distributor and everything like that). I could probably through in my new TPIS cam and lifters too. I need to get rid of it all because i'm going with a carb and Weiand supercharger setup. Anyway just a thought, write back if interested.

Sethro

 

Correct me if I am wrong (happens often) but isn't the Edlebrock system designed to be run by the stock TBI ECM and wiring harness? In other words, they take the stock TBI injector signals and run it through a driver box to drive 8 injectors instead of just 2? If so, then a chip that is programmed to run a TBI 383 engine of your description should run it. IN THEORY. Real world, who knows. Of course you'd have to tell them how much the Edlebrock intake system actually flows since it's probably quite a bit more than a stock TBI/manifold combo and would affect the calibration.

 

Damon,

Turns out you are absolutely correct. The swap is complete and runs great. There were numerous opinions as to whether it would run on the stock chip, it did. It ran a little lean, but ran just fine.

The Edlebrock MPFI for TBI equiped engines comes with a card that once filled out with your engine specs and faxed or mailed back to them, they will supply a new chip. In big bold letters on the card is says that the chip is intended for stock applications only. After talking to Edlebrock they told us how to fill out the card to get a chip that should do the job.

The engine runs great, but with only 150mi on it, it is a little premature to conclude that it is running as well as possible.