I'm knee deep in the beginning of my build, and figured I'd chronicle it here for anyone who may be interested.
I'm building an 88 IROC as a project, and a gift to myself for seeing my son off to college.

I owned eight thirdgens before he came along. My favorite was my 87 Z28 red/red ttop tpi 305 that got totalled when someone ran a stop sign in front of me.

24 years later, and I found a nice cross between that car and my 88 RS v6.

So now that I've bored you to death with the backstory, here's another story!

I want to keep the TPI. I like the way it looks, love the torquey nature, definitely hold some nostalgic mythology for it, but mostly, I have the privilege of driving LT4s on a regular basis for work so I don't NEED all of that in my hobby car.

So i set a goal for myself. Build a TPI 350 capable of near 300hp for less than $2k
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in furtherance of that goal, here's where I am so far:

Long block 2blt vortec 350 (062 heads, crack free, bottom end smoked from low oil pressure): $150 (got my heads)

Short block 4blt vortec 350, remanufactured by ATK sometime recently, left in the rain when someone pulled the heads: $125 (got my short block with near new internals)

Comp XR270 cam from eBay: $225

BTR LS6 springs: $90

Comp 787-16 retainers: : $90

HST 7733-16: $60 price match AutoZone

CS 8510-1: $30 with speed perks at Advance

MS 93035-1: $28 amazon

22lb Bosch III injectors: $45 Facebook marketplace

165 ECM: $50 local seller

SDPC intake: $680, TG.org classifieds

$1673 so far.

I have the smoked short block on craigslist for $175, so if that sells I will adjust down.

The ignition parts i will source once the engine is built and will update the list. Also, I'm still on the hunt for headers/y pipe.

I was also able to score a 4l60e that lost 3/4 for $75

I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the engine tear down, but I will take pictures of assembly. I have screenshots of the ads I purchased the engines from that I will eventually add as well.

My ultimate goal is to have this all wired and setup for a 0411 pcm before installation. I'm a sucker for OBDII and the ease with which you can tune it.

My plan is to update this thread as things progress or problems arise.

I hope you have enjoyed my rant! I look forward to the journey ahead.

 

I'm lucky to have a cuda parts washer at work, so I cleaned everything overnight Monday and started assembling with what I have now. I honed the cylinders with atf in a spray bottle and a 220 three stone hone. The staining on the cylinder walls looks far worse in pictures than once they were cleaned with soap and dried. So im running it as is. I'm happy with how everything came out so far.

 

Cool build, I'm still finishing up my Vortec TPI swap. Are you reusing the TPI upper bits and accessory drive from the '88? I highly recommend doing a mockup before bolting the lower down, I had to clearance some room for my EGR delete plate on the passenger side.

 

Correct, going to do a little port work on the upper plenum but otherwise factory runners and plenum for now. Going to run the factory accessories minus the smog pump and I'm going to try the scroll style R4 . Thanks for the tip on the egr! I definitely want to mock it all up before I drop it in.