okay i've just recently acquired a 1991 RS with a V6 LB8 173 CID MPFI. It was my uncle's car which has been sitting in his garage for the last 11 years untouched. Reason for that is that the engine blew out 11 years ago and he never got it fixed. The car is still in excellent condition minus the paint and engine. Now I'm going to drop in a V8 350 TBI. I need some good opinions on a good V8 350 TBI engine. I live in california so I'm also going to need to pass emissions. I've been looking at the 350 HO from GM part # 12486041 any feedback will help thanks

 

The base GM 330 HO is a great start for a TBI motor. Your best bet is to find a donor car to get all your parts from. You will need an 350 ECS module and knock sensor. Everything else can be found off a 305 TBI donor car. Do you have any goals or power levels you want to reach with this car. The rest of your parts selection will be determined by what you want to do with the car.

 

I would agree with everything Shifty said, except you said "Californina emissions". I don't think that engine would make a very amicable session with the "engine change" ref that you're going to have to have going from a V6 to a V8.

GM never put a Vortec-headed engine in passenger cars, so you're going to have to start with a '91-later passenger car engine/system.

 

you're better off with a LT1/LS1 or even a L98 swap.

 

i've been looking around on the internet and i haven't found a big selection of brand new crate engines. i want to drop a new crate engine in simply because i want to do things right the first time. i want more power than just the stock 350 so thats the reason i was going for gm's performace 350 HO but if i won't be able to pass emissions than i'm going to have to go with another setup. can anyone recommend a quality company, online or otherwise, to get a crate 350 engine for my 1991 rs that will pass ca emissions? how does this setup look: http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?act...=1577&pid=9009


i was checking out this guy's site: http://z28boy.cz28.com/ he has the same year and swapped in the 350 HO with TBI but i can't seem to find any info on emissions on his site. let me know if what i'm asking seems reasonable.

 

That Vortec TPI is not emissions certified. They don't say it in the info for that engine, but they do say it in the instructions sheet for the base ( http://www.sdpc2000.com/htm/TPI_instruc.pdf ).

I'm still waiting to hear from somebody who has legitimately gotten a Vortec-headed engine through California emissions inspection and testing.

Let's be clear here. First, you're starting off with a V6 to V8 swap. Read the sticky at the top of this forum for basic information about that. 2nd, the only system that will pass California emissions will be one from a '91-later passenger car that has been certified for California emissions - namely, '91 or '92 speed density TPI, or an LT1 or LS1 from a 4th gen f-body (you could include B-body TBI, but not if you're talking about more power). Nobody makes a crate motor that fits that bill by itself. You need the complete system from such a car. You could possibly sneak a modified engine under such a system and meet your need for speed, but you need to be thinking about locating a donor car that will supply the needed control system and emissions equipment before you go off and buy an engine.

 

That's because he has 0 emissions equipment on his car........

350 TPI
LT1
LS1

That would be my choices when choosing a car that can be fast and still pass emissions with the LT1/LS1 being easier to make pass with the same amount of HP then the 350 TPI

 

I am trying to find that out. I have been in contact with the editors at CHP concerning their vortec TBI build. I will see if I can find that info out. They did all of that to a cally car. They also had to relocate the EGR which would would seem like a visual inspection no no to me.