Hey,

I'm trying to form a plan / budget for the finishing touches on my 90' IROC. Due to enlisted pay, you have to either get a loan or plan well ahead if you want nice things! I'm already trying to track down a good deal on a T56 (Any help on where to find one would be nice, I've been trolling the yards) and it's time to decide on an engine setup.

Here's the thing, I really don't have anywhere that I could build a motor, at least right now since I live in the barracks, so I pretty much need to buy crate or have one built. I can drop it in on a long weekend but simply have no where to store the thing! I had been thinking the GMP 383HT for the longest time, I'm not looking for anything extreme, just around the 300 - 320 rwhp range. The harder part is I want to keep it fuel injected. I was thinking a 383 topped off with a miniram and then hooked up to my TPI setup. Unfortunately I'm definitely no engine guru, so any input / suggestions / help would be greatly appreciated! I'd say for a budget I wouldn't want to spend over 5 grand on the whole swap, which I think is definitely possible.

Thanks!

 

The crate engine alone is going to eat up most of your budget. The HT383 version with the carb intake is $4500 plus shipping; and although you won't need the carb intake, selling it probably won't pay for the shipping. Then you still need to get the EFI intake.

Rather than the Miniram, you may want to consider the Holley/Weiand Stealth Ram. The HT383 is a pretty mild set-up, but has Vortec heads, so you will need something different than your stock TPI base, and the Stealth Ram is one of the better deals available - about a 3rd of the cost of the Miniram.

You didn't mention exhaust, but if yours is stock, the 383 is going to want better flow. Headers, cat, & cat-back will run you a good $1000 alone.

And, you will need some computer tuning to get it to run decent.

So, while your plan is okay as it is, your budget is going to fall short.

 

Thanks for the input. As for the exhaust setup I currently have stock. That is also part of my plans, I was going to go with Dyno Don headers and Y-pipes, and I'm going to keep my dual cats (probably go with magnaflows for the cats) which of course limits my cat back options down to just a few. I don't think it's worth springing for an exhaust until I'm ready to put my new engine in, as it's not going to do a whole lot for the little 305 in it right now. I was planning on doing it all at once.

I'll have to look more into the Stealth Ram. Any ideas for a better starting crate with comparable numbers? And as far as the stealth ram goes, do they sell a deal that includes fuel rails and such in a package?

As for the tuning, I've got a guy back home for that.

Thanks for your help!

 

I always go by this rule: plan for it to cost twice as much as you think it will. Because it always does.

 

Haha yeah that's how it seems to go! I'm just trying to get a set plan for this build up because like I said earlier, in the military you gotta plan ahead and budget or get a loan to have nice things, and I make it a point to never owe anyone money.

 

Just a complete retrofit EFI system that goes for about $3k.

 

I've got about $8-9k into my EFI 383 project, and I still need headers and exhaust. I've done some extra work that wouldn't be necessary for the budget minded, but I figure I won't get the opportunity to sink that much coin into an engine for a long time. check out my build thread, https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...ap-thread.html

There a couple other members on here who are wrapping up 383 builds too.