Well, I pulled the valve cover to replace the gasket, and low and behold I see that this (apparently) untouched '88 L03 TBI in my bird has 081 heads on it....... Did they come like that, or do you think someone played with it???

 

No, the 081 is a TPI head. That is awesome, i wish i lucked up like that. that leaves some room for some serious mods.

 

thats what I thought too, i guess now i'll have to find out whats going on in there...lol

 

The 081 is not necessarily a TPI head. I have seen a couple of untouched truck tbi engines that have them. Wouldn't suprise me if some cars, gearing, transmission have the 081s and others the swirl ports.

 

Did they happen to be in the last year of TBI production by chance? I only say this because I know in 92 you could order TPI in your RS, even though not one car was ordered this way. I think GM had a surplus of TPI parts and they tried to get rid of them.

 

These were on like 92-93 trucks and vans which would be consistant with the end of TPI camaro production.

 

dude
I was just tinkering about a few months ago when I noticed I have the 081 heads on my '89 305 TBI. I'm sure they weren't swapped in but everyone says no production TBI came with 'em.

does your car have any other mods?
it's hard for to belive someone would put in these heads without intake an exhaust etc.

 

Blown engine under warranty... replacement motor ordered incorrectly. "TBI 305" recieved this motor. Find the previous owners and ask em, it happens all the time. Personal example: My Dad's first Suburban was an 87, TBI, swirl port heads and all that jazz. Motor had a melt down and was replaced with a goodwrench 350. Wow, that truck was awesome for another 160k miles. 210hp vs 250hp, just to show you what does happen in a vehicles life.

 

Did you not see the untouched part in my post. It was my uncles truck with 210,000 miles on it when it ate a rod bearing. He bought it brand new in late 1992, low and behold it had 081s which are sitting in my garage now.

 

No, I saw it, but I could care less what you're uncles TRUCK came with. I'm instead focusing on the following;
I see the words "apparently" and "bird".
But hey, you guys can think whatever you want, doesn't change my opinion until I see it myself. Proof like, "I know this guy that's owned it since stock and..." doesn't convince me of jack for the following reason: Friend bought a c1500 from his uncle that had a zz4 and Edelbrock MPFI conversion kit. I asked if the injectors were properly sized after I found the injectors going static and he said yes. Infact he got defensive about me asking him twice to recall what size they were. Not everybody has a perfect memory but if you don't know then give me the worst case scenario... yes the zz4 was running on 19lb injectors and lucky for my buddy the cylinders are all still holding compression.

 

Whats with the getting so defensive. I am just stating that some TBI engines came from GM with TPI heads on it. Regardless if it was in a truck guess what the same engine could be in a F-body after all they came out of the same plants. For example a TPI engine could have accidentally been stuck in a TBI car at GM which would explain 081s on a 305 TBI. I am not saying it is the norm, but still possible

 

I have a 90 K5 Blazer with a 5.7 TBI engine, I come to this site because you guys have the best TBI forum, my question is what makes the 081 heads so good ?, could they be swapped on in place of the stock swirl port heads ?, and would they work with the stock tune or would they require a chip and tunning ?. were is the number on the head located that tells what they are ?.

sorry for all the questions, this is my first TBI vehicle so im trying to learn about it.

 

What makes the 081's so good is they flow decently. With some porting the flow very well. They are an excellent replacement for the swirl ports. As far as the tune, they should work pretty good with a stock tune. The only thing is, you will not realize the full advantages of the better flow unless you do some tuning.

As far as the cast number, look between the last rockers on the right. Not sure on that though.

 

there was a post a few weeks ago called "swirl ports and why they must go"..or something very close to that..that has loads of info in there. Also try the stickies at the top.
...
here it is
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...they+should+go