so i have the l69, and honestly no complaints its great all round, its quick enough its got good torque and i get pretty good mpg, however i long for more, my question(s) are which would be better for a reliable DD switching to a 305/350 tpi, (the easiest an cheapest fi engine swap i have come up with)
or keeping my l69? also how hard woul it be to swap to one of the tpi engines? in advanced for any help

 

Trust me, keep what you have. Do the normal performance upgrades to the car and you'll be plenty happy for a while (headers, exhaust, intake, cam). The L69 is a very capable motor.

Read my build thread. It will give you an idea.

 

while doable, swapping to TPI would be a bit of a challege coming from a carbed car. You'd have to replace the fuel sending unit, fuel lines, engine harness, and get creative with repinning the car harness for the additional fused circuits. The engine's the easy part, its all the little things that add up. Unless you're getting a big upgrade out of it, I'd agree that keeping it carbed would probably be the best route to go

 

i'd been reading your build thread, love what you've done so far, i though you had a gmpp 350 though and not the original l69? or did i read it wrong? .....( i read it wrong) great build though

i see, wasn't aware of everything that went into it, i figured new harness feulpump and ecm but i wasn't aware of the fuses and all that, thanks dan

 

If you're going to go through the trouble of converting to EFI, go for the whole ball of wax and get an LS1.

But, while the results will be very satisfying, that swap will be more expensive and involved than you may want to tackle.

Here's a more reasonable alternative - keep your L69 carb et all, and swap a 350 under it. Here's a pretty decent choice for a new engine that will really perform http://sdparts.com/details/gm-goodwr...gines/12530282 . A cam swap before you install it will make it rip even more. You will need a Vortec Performer (or equivalent) spreadbore intake, and a one-piece rear main seal flexplate ('86-'90 f-body V8 automatic transmission application). The L69 exhaust is about as good as the factory ever did, but headers and 3" Y-pipe, cat, & cat-back would help it run even better.

The 350HO 330 horse crate engine is another possibility, but the only real difference between the two is the HO has a little bigger cam - although it is also flat tappet, so swapping out the L31 cam with most any roller lifter cam would be a better choice, IMO.

 

wouldnt that take relocating all the acc pulleys and a different oil pan to make it fit under the stock hood? oh i don't wanna change hoods i have a 83 fiberglass hood with the functional flaps also it looks so good on the car (as if it belonged there) but i think for now ill just build up the l69 a bit i know i'll never really have over 300 horses but idc 250 is about all i was lookin for, an ls1 would kick major *** but costs alot of cash lol that'll be a long while, i was thinkin itd be a super cheap pretty easy swap to tpi but i honestly have no complaints with the l69, little hard to start below 25* outside but how much do i drive it then anyway

 

You would take your L69 accessories and swap them over to the L31 longblock. The oil pan will be fine. The Vortec Performer intake manifold puts the carb about 1/2" higher than the L69 intake manifold - so, no, no problem there.

There is no reason a properly operating L69 carb should not start easily below 25 degrees F. Same carb I had on my '86 LG4, and I drove it year-round with a 350 under it. Never gave a problem, even when the temp was below zero.

 

i dont have any underhood insulation, i guess the p.o. thought hey i dont need that its summer time it'll just keep the car cool, problem is in this weather i can drive all day and the temp doesnt get anywhere near 200 even

 

The insulation is there to protect the paint on the hood, not to keep the engine warm.

Why is not getting near 200 degrees a problem?

 

in the cold weather up here my belts squeal and its loud and obnoxious low rpms only though and i know the car keeping cool is a good thing