Hello everyone,
I have a 92 Caprice Wagon 350 TBI. I know it's not the norm car here but the info and knowledge on this site is hard to beat!!! I am a newbie and have some questions I'd appreciate help on.
I want to replace the motor in the wagon. It is not a daily driver and is only driven in the summer. So gas milage really isn't that important to me. Am I better of building on the TBI motor I have? Or should I build something like the L31 Vortec motor in the other threads? What is the most cost effective way to achieve this? I am running a stage 2 700R4 tranny already, with Dynomax 86001 headers and 2.5" full exhaust, cat delete, etc.
What do you folks think and what kind of budget can I be looking at? Are 13.0's capable on a budget(lol). Where do I start and with what? Does anyone by chance have a layout of exactly what I need? I know it's asking alot but I'd appreciate it. Thanks alot for your time!

DJ

 

You said "cost effective" and "budget". That means either modding the engine you already have, or rebuilding it.

The L31 Vortec heads require an intake manifold with a raised intake runner, so that means you have to use a Vortec-specific intake... and that means you will certainly have mechanical interference between the engine bay cowl and the distrbutor, per this thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ibutor+Caprice

I already answered your similar questions a year ago in this post:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...ibutor+Caprice

You already have a superior exhaust, and IIRC you already started on logging data with WINALDL... so chip work should not be far behind. So what you need now is a good DIY cold air intake:

Impala SS Forum: TBI L03/L05 Intake Mods/Cold Air intake.

because they're so easy/cheap to do, and IMO you ought to follow Fast355's lead and port the heads you have, and do a cam swap while you are working the heads over. That approach is about as budget-minded as you can get.

13.0 ? In a wagon, you will have to have mods as thorough as those by Gerry Charlesworth, a.k.a. 95 wagon on the ImpalaSs forums, web site here:

95wagon Annex

Impala SS Forum

He's run as fast as 12.8 @ 104.6 mph.

So if you really want to spend a LOT of money, you can equal his level of wagon performance... but more realistically you can hope for mid to high 13s in your wagon if you add a cam, ported heads (like Fast355's work here on TGO), and ECM tuning to the 350 you have now. HTH.

 

Man you have a memory! I couldnt even find the old posts.(lol) I had to wait last year becasue I lost my job.

I guess the easiest way to say it is I want to start from scratch. The 350 I have now has 277,000 miles on it. I have a budget of $2500-3000.00 set aside for replacing the motor. I wanna run the best I can and still drive it anywhere. Is this enough money and which way would you lead with that budget?? THANKS!!!!

DJ

P.S. I wish I could have started with a LT1 wagon like Gerry did

 

If the engine was well maintained, it should make an excellent core for a full rebuild. OR just buy the LO5 crate motor (saving you a lot of time).

 

I'd really like to lean towards the Vortec, but I dont want to run into problems with the distributor clearence on the Caprice! I have some specs from Popular Hot rodding when they made a Vortec go 457HP under $3000.00 From what I have read I figure I need 450-475HP to make the 4400lb. car go 13.0s.

DJ