Hey guys, i recently purchased a 1989 Camaro Z28 from an old lady a friend knows who wanted to just get rid of it, the car sounds amazing and has a cowl hood, a beast on the street, I've been asking people what it is, and they say that its a 305 TBI, my cuz says that its a carburetor, because when we looked under the filter it sure looks like a carburetor, is that the way a TBI engine should look like? And what is the difference between a TPI and TBI?

 

Carburetors weren't available in 1989, so unless it's been modified you have TBI.

TBI is similar to a carbed setup, with two injectors mounted centrally on a 2bbl manifold underneath a round air cleaner that's similar to what you'd see on a carb.

TPI is a tuned-runner system with 8 individual injectors and a plenum design that looks nothing like a carb or TBI.

 

Not to be a jerk, but I thought we covered this with you in one of you're earlier posts entitled 5.0 or 5.7?
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...t=#post3517115
But anyway go back and look at the pictures that were posted in the link above and compare to yours. If yours looks like the picture when looking down on your engine then it's TBI if it doesn't then it carb.

 

Really did not know where to get an answer to a question I have regarding 3rd gens. So I'll try here. What are members opinions regarding 5.0 T.B.I.s vs 5.7 T.P.I.s ?

Besides preferences for either one, how close are they in performance? Is the difference substantial? Specifically a 1992 Camaro RS 5.0 T.B.I vs a 1989 Camaro IROCZ 5.7 T.P.I.

I'd appreciate some opinions regarding performance, ease of repair and also anything that may prove useful in choosing between the two. Thanks, guys.

 

Next time, after searching for an already-existing answer (your questions have been covered before), please start a new thread in preference to responding to a nine-year-old thread that isn't related to what you're asking.

A 5.7 TPI will KILL a 5.0 TBI car for acceleration, all else equal.
A 5.7 TBI will beat a 5.0 TBI car for acceleration, all else equal.
A 5.7 TPI will beat a 5.7 TBI car for acceleration, all else equal.

Given enough time, money, effort, and enthusiasm, there are ways to improve the odds if you happen to have a 5.0 or are limited to TBI; but the smart money is on making plans to scrap the 5.0 for the 5.7 (or bigger) right from the beginning. The 5.0 is, first and foremost, a small-bore turd that has no room for large valves. The small bore means the only way to get real power is to supercharge or install NO2; and you could do that to a 5.7 (or bigger) with even better results. From a certain perspective, a 307 or even a 283 is preferable to a 5.0. The first post in this thread regards a 5.0 TBI as a "street beast"; that'd be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic. I suppose if the original poster has only driven twenty year old, wrong-wheel drive two-liter junk, he could have that opinion. I have this fear that modern, wrong-wheel drive two liter junk would eat a 5.0 third-gen in typical as-is-now condition.

 

Thank you for the info, would have posted in the proper place, but needed feedback asap. Thanks again!