whats the last year for manual fans (not electric ones) and what year did they begin computer locking up the transmission.

 

Clutch fans died off about the time that fuel injection took off.
By 88 they were all electric, but the switch probably came about earlier. It's hard to say exactly when it happened because most of the fuel injected and some of the carbureted cars had electric fans while some still had clutch fans.

 

I know by 87 clutch fans were out, possibly 1986. As far as the computer controlled lockup, I would have to say 1981 with the introduction of the CCC system.

 

The L69 introduced the single electric in '83 with the rest of the line having engine driven(clutch or direct)fans.It's odd the CFI motors didn't have an electric fan.I to think '86 probably is the last year of the engine driven fans.Then you had either single or dual electric fans.
And '81 sounds logical for computor control of convertor lockup.

 

most of the early 700r4's didn't have computer lock-up. they were hydraulic. mid year '87 was when almost all 700r4's went to computer controlled lock-up.

 

Then 12VDC supply is just for the solenoid for convertor lockup.How does it get the signal for speed?Wouldn't it have to be through the VSS buffer and the ECM?

 

no, it uses a switch and a valve train in the tranny to ground the solenoid. in '88 they eliminated the valve bore completely. in the earlier years, if it was dome my an ecm, it had aluminum plugs in the bore. it would lock-up depending on what gear it was in instead of vehicle speed.

 

reason why i ask this is to see if i got a 87 carb car to put a non cc carb setup on would be easier then putting one on my 89 iroc with tpi. Does the lg4 use a electric pump or mechanicle and if its mechanicle will it bolt up to the l98?

 

the '87 with the ccc should alreadsy have a mechanical pump on it. i could be mistaken. the '89 with the tpi has the block off plate for a mechanical pump but the lobe that drives the pump is not on the shaft so you would have to install a low pressure pump.

 

If you're going to gut and switch to a different configuration, it's not going to matter much what you start with. Obviously a Qjet car (CCC or not) is going to have more compatible with what you want to do. But unless you've already got a CCC Qjet car, why would you want to swap to a non-CCC Qjet?

Nothing against a good functional Qjet, but TPI is light years ahead. It would be a significant step backwards for a street car to convert to a carb.

 

i have a 89 iroc and am looking for a 85-87 z28 and put the 350 out of the iroc since the body is shot into a good bodied 85-87. TPI SUCKS FOR PERFORMANCE im not swapping to a non cc quadrajet i want a holley 4 barell. Reason i asked all this is to see if it would be easier

 

Awesome... a Holley 4bbl... Nothing like a massive gas leak waiting to happen. TPI doesn't 'suck for performance'. It has limitations like any other system. A Holley 4bbl has limitations also, like driveability, economy, emissions, durability, dependability, longevity... About the only thing going for Holley is extensive support and a simple, easy to understand, design... Oh yeah, and it's cheap.

As for what would be easiest? Get an early carbed car if you're going to do a carbed drivetrain. It'll cost you less and will be set up closest to the finished product.

 

Holley's are an excellent choice for performance if you don't want to use the TPI setup/ECM for engine control.Edlebrock's Performer carbs do give better street ability than Holleys for everyday because of the smaller primaries(and they can be tuned almost as easily).But neither are a cheap considering the cost of the carb/intake and the distributor you're going to have to use.

 

what do you mean 85-87 TPI sucks?

The 85 tPI was a screamer, I know several people who were convinced they were accidently given a 350 in 85 when they bought the car new. It was Hot for the day. 86 was a real dog, but 87 was not that bad, unless you got the Automatic Trans and non-performance axel. The 350 and 305 M5 cars were not too shabby for the day.

THe biggest difference between 1987 & 1988 is the program, and cam, the heads, intake, pistons, were all the same internally. Oddly enough in 1990 they downgraded the cam back to about the same numbers as an 87 cam, goes to show what a little tech will do.

I know when I changed over to TPI I was expecting a lot more than what I got. But when I did I converted my LG4 to TPI I went from a 15.4 sec quarter mile to 15.1 sec quarter mile, AND I got about 5 more Miles per gallon. I cant complain, I will not go backwards, Heck I know people like TRAXION who claim a 11 or 12 second quarter mile, Normally asperated with a STock bottom half... IIRC he has a different cam, heads, and intake, but any car would benefit from those modifications.

The problem people have is they want to plug and play, they do not want to take the time to program, and re-program to fine-tune the car, its go fast NOW or nothing. I gained a 1/4 of a second by my limited programming skills. When I slapped TPI on my car I went from 15.4 to 15.1, and now I am at 14.8 with some tune...

John

 

well if u read what i wrote i said im looking for a good bodied 85-87 z28. Then i said tpi sucks all years not just 85-87. im building this car for weekend only mostly drag. A carb will make more power and has more potential and cheaper. Even the best tpi setup has limits if tpi was so great why does everybody who is serious into racing ditch it for superram or stealthram? im old school i like carb dont make this a carb vs fi thing they both have pros and cons imo tpi sucks and for budget performance carb is the way to go. now please answer my question will it be easier to take my l98 in the 85-87 z28 and put a carb on it or leave the l98 in my tpi car and put carb on it?

 

TPI does not suck most people just dont understand it and just give up on it, with time, and patience tpi is very great platform it does have its limitations, and sure carburated engine may produce more power, but anyone can do that, and were is the fun in that

 

Tuche', Drag away...

The Stealthram & Superram are still built upon the TPI system, I was considering them a part of the TPI family.

True, On a budget TPI is not the way to go, If your wanting power. The system has limitations, although from many peoples standpoint the TPI's advantages far outweigh its disadvantages... Granted you take a 400 with a TPI setup with some intake and head modificaitons, you really do not lose the fuel economy but you can still get great performance... But like you said its more expensive.

Here are your choices from your above question:
1) keep the 89, slap a carb setup on it and drag
2) Buy another car with clean shell and put the engine in that car with a carb?

Which will be easier. Obvously option 1, as you do not have to worry about the transplant of an engine.

I think you need to look at option 3:
Sell your crappy TPI L98 car, with that money buy another car with a carb, most v8 3rd gens from 82-87 have a carb, buy a junkyard 350 Engine and build from there.

Just a note, if you buy a V6 or I4 car you will probably have to replace your front springs to bring your front up.

Good luck and good night.

 

The question doesn't really belong in this forum since you're not asking about restoration or history when you're talking about building a drag project.

The best reason I can think of to start with a carbed car is that you wouldn't have to mess with the gas tank. If you use a fuel injected car, you'll have to drop the tank and remove the electric pump, and either modify the sending unit or get one from a carbed car. Then you've got a fuel return line you wouldn't need, wiring to remove, etc...

Starting with a 4 or 6 cylinder car, virtually everything except the body/interior is different then a V8. They do usually have better rear end gears, and the driveshaft is the same, but the rest of the drivetrain is different.

If you start with a carbed V8 car, all you'd have to do is drop in whatever engine, intake, carb you want, plug in the existing distributor power wire, and leave everything else hanging and it'll run and drive.

 

Last year for the engine driven fans for the V8's was the '85 LG4.

 

Not to mention in 1987 the LG4 had 2 fuel pumps, one in the tank, one Engine Mechanical. THe up side to that is you get better starts, but ultimately the down side is its one more thing to go wrong.

John