I was switching out to 65#'ers and a Cop Car chip to see if it would run better, but I was having issues turning down the fuel pressure enough in order for it to not choke at part-throttle, and I was too lazy to go find my stock spring for the regulator. I put the 55#'ers back in along with the burned chip, but then as I was putting everything back together, the last screw on the back side (nearest to the firewall) just kept spinning and spinning

I pulled it back out only to discover silver stuff in the threads, so it appears that that hole's threads have been stripped. Luckily enough, it is tight enough that only a VERY small amount of full trickles down and the car is still very streetable.

I think I'm just going to get a screw of similiar length and a little bit more width to put in there and re-thread it that way.

Anybody ever dealt with this? Does this sound like a good plan?

 

I'm the last person you want advice from about anything mechanical but after I installed my TB spacer, I stripped out the same screw on my unit too. I went to my good, old reliable nut, bolt, and screw collection to see if I had something close. Part of the problem was that the spacer decreased the amount of the threads available to use for tighening. I found a longer bolt that fit the threads and used it.

No worries, just an odd bolt you can't see under the air cleaner.

 

Dont drive it like that. There is a great ignition souce behind the tbi, namely the dist. and with fuel vapors around, it could lead to a fire.

I take it this is one of the screws that holds the upper half of the inj.pod on? The proper way to fix that is to get a new inj. pod. Dont try to use a longer screw, its unlikely there will be enough material there for it to properly anchor into even if you went at it with a drill and bottoming tap.

 

I just used a slightly larger screw and now it works great.

However, while in there we did notice some light coming through the serpentine belt

My 8K mile Gatorback belt was splitting right down the middle.

 

Hey Gunny, I'm curious... was it worth keeping the TBI on you're 350 swap? I mean, if you had to do it all over again, would you even (initially) bother with Throttle Body Injection?

Of course I'm asking this for a reason... as my current project came with an LO3, and I just got my hands on a 1972 400 small block. I'm kinda bored with the whole HSR/LT1 intake thing (been there, done that)... you know? ...and was honestly considering keeping the TBI.

After reading what Pablo, and some of the other's experienced though (in reference to TBI's limitations), I thought I'd ask someone who's had some success running something larger than a 305.

Honestly, do you think it's worth it?

 

That depends. Do you have emissions where you are?

 

Emission's isn't a concern. I'll be running EGR, and adapting the serpentine belt system to the 400 to utilize the 88's stock smog pump... along with a 3 inch converter.

Other than the dipstick being on the drivers side, and the three freeze plugs on each side of the block, there's really no way for them to tell it's an early 70's block (visuals aren't even implemented yet here in New Jersey, well, in Central Jersey, anyways).

But yeah, am seriously considering the stock TBI set-up... as I'm honestly getting a little tired of removing/repinning computer harness.

 

Well, if I didn't have emissions I would just stick with a nice Road Demon, but since I do, and I needed more ***** than the 305 could offer, a 350 TBI was the only way for me to go. Here in GA, the rules are a real pain the **** to figure out and this was the simplest way for me. As most on here know, I don't do computers, so I wanted to do a swap with minimal computer changes.

 

I read ya, so you would have definitely went the Carb route... had you had the choice.

This is why I prefer Mass Air Flow (although it too benefits greatly with the right PROM tuning). It's a toss up right now for me between TPI (albeit, with a different intake of course), and TBI. I really don't feel like pulling harness this time around, I'm honestly tired of it. But if TBI is going to cause me more problems than good in the long run....