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Engine SwapEverything about swapping an engine into your Third Gen.....be it V6, V8, LTX/LSX, crate engine, etc. Pictures, questions, answers, and work logs.
Hey guys. Long time listener, first time caller. Over the past year I have been building a 355 TPI from the ground up. The only thing I had to start with was a bare block and crank from 92ish truck. The block was machined and bored .030 over and crank turned to a 10/10. At that point a fellow forum member (from another forum) perk my interest in a TPI intake system with egr delete, machine to fit 86 and earlier heads, fuel rails, nib double roller timing set, and a nib crane 2040 cam+ lifters for a deal no one cold pass up. From then on it was decided that TPI was the route to take this build. Ffwd to today. The engine is built minus the sensors, brackets/pulleys. The issue I have right now is, because I didn't start with this style of motor to begin with, I'm not sure what exactly I'm missing or need. I do know I will need knock, tps, iac, cts, map, coil, harness, '730 ecm (reflashed), and..........icm?
What else am I missing? Also, the location of where the map, coil, and icm are suppose to rest.
Thanks for any and all help. I will probably have more questions.
Engine specs:
355 TPI (SD) egr delete
Computer controlled HEI dizzy
Hypereutectic flattop pistons
Dart Eagle Iron SS heads (2.02/1.60 72cc fastburn chambers)
Crane 2040 cam flat tappet 1.6 roller rockers
Long tube headers with hooker max flow muffler no cats
I would love to share a few pics with you guys of what I have, but not sure if I'm "allowed".
Seeing as we don't have a parts list of what you do have, it's really hard to know what you need. We also don't know what it's going into, making it even harder to know what's needed.
The map went onto a bracket that bolted to the plenum on the P/S. Coil bolts to a bracket that bolted to the intake base just to the right of the dist. Unless you use a large cap HEI dist, in which case it's on top the dist cap. The icm is under the dist cap in both cases.
Pics may help. Don't know why it wouldn't be allowed.
Also you may want to measure out you compression. 72cc chambers on a flat top 350 may be low.
Thanks for the response Aliceempire. The parts I have are the engine it's self, lower intake, runners, plenum, and fuel rails. Basically I don't have anything electronic at this point other than the dizzy. I don't know why I mentioned a coil in that list since I'm running HEI. Also I was mixed up when I said "icm" I meant the ESC. I know the tbi engines have these but not sure if the same goes for the TPI.
My comp ratio is 9:1. Not sure how that could be too low. Aren't stock heads 76cc chambered?
The engine is actually going in an 87 k5 blazer currently running a 5.7 tbi. The motor is tired and worn out so I decided to build a new heart for it. My truck also is running a mechanical speedo cable. Will I need to add a VSS for the Speed Density system to work properly?
I was finally able to add pics by editing the post. But for some reason when I did, it generated a completely new thread. I'll go ahead and post a couple here though.
Stock chambers are 64cc. 9.0 maybe an OK comp. Stock was 9.3 ish with flat tops. Depends on the actual dish volume, head gaskets and how far in the hole the pistons are. I'm just pointing out the 72s are bigger chambers. Hate to see this thing turning out less than it can be for you.
You will need a vss signal so you'll need to work that out. Been a while since I dealt with a mech speedo, 89 camaros had the mech and the vss, may be able to use that.
And the esc is incorporated into the computer.
Just thought about it, factory SD tpi used the small cap dist. If you're using the large cap the wiring is different but, if I remember correctly, it is still usable.
As for sensors some of it will depend on if you want to run MAP or MAF. From your pics I see you have the later style intake so if you want to run MAP you will need:
air temp (ATS) sensor (goes in the bung on the underside rear of the plenum)
Throttle position (TPS) sensor (pass side of the throttle body)
Coolant temp (CTS) sensor (goes on the front of the intake base plate under the hose barb)
Manifold air pressure (MAP) sensor (pass rear side of the plenum hooks to a hose barb on the plenum)
Idle air control valve (IAC) sensor (pass side of the throttle body under the TPS sensor)
O2 sensor
For a MAF system you would lose the MAP sensor and ATS sensor, and have a MAF sensor between the throttle body and the air filter instead.
As for wiring you will need either a setup from an existing TPI car to match your engine which would include the harness and a computer. The computer would then have to be tuned for your engine. You can go MAF or MAP with this route.
Second option is to get an after market harness (painless, etc.) and a tpi computer that will work with the harness. The computer will have to be tuned for your engine. Most of these harnesses are going to be available in MAP setup only, but painless does make one for MAF (part number #60102).
Third option is going to be a self learning system like a FAST ez-efi retro or ez-efi 2.0. This is the route I went because the system is self learning so if I make any changes to the engine later down the road it will re-tune itself. This setup is MAP only and will run you around $1300 for everything.
I went with the ez-efi 2.0 30404-kit, because I plan on putting an LS in eventually and this system will handle that swap.
If the truck is already running TBI, just find one of the many TBI to TPI conversion tutorials online.
By far the hardest part will be wiring. I'd grab a GM service manual for the donor car, and the project car, compare the diagrams and see what you'll have to change on the destination car to match the donor.
Aliceempire: thanks for the heads up. I was under the impression that the stock had larger chambers. Never the less I still think I'm good here. Being a 4x4 truck, low end torque is more of what I'm after. However, the motor turning out to be less than expected has been at the back of my mind since the day I started the build. Especially since this is my first ground up build. But I do believe it will still be far superior to the stock TBI motor. They do make a vss that threads onto the end of the mech speedo cable so that won't be hard to do. Just wasn't sure if I would need one or not. Thanks for you help!
Jharrison5: thanks for your reply! It's definitely gonna be a SD system. Ideally I'd like to find a SD harness and the '730 ecm to use. I'm already planning to have the ecm reprogrammed with the new specs of the engine. The ez-efi 2.0 would be ideal but unfortunately the funds are not gonna allow it at this point.
Drew: thanks for the reply as well. I'll have to look for some of those. Unfortunately the reason I've got the questions I have, is because I don't have a donor car. I also didn't start with a tpi engine. In the beginning it was just a crank and a block and an idea. Everything has been pieced together from scratch so I don't have the old to compare to the new.
The friend that sold me the tpi intake was the person the turned me on to this forum. He said there's a great deal of info here and lots of guys/gals willing to help. So far I have NOT been disappointed yet. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge with me even though I don't own a 3rd gen. Please feel free to comment on any concerns that you may see that I may run into. I have done TONS of research throughout this build and I have gain alot of knowledge. But you can never learn enough in my opinion.
06-17-2016, 06:18 PM
