what engine to put tbi system on?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 85
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From: Walton, IN/Rensselaer, IN
Car: 1984 camaro berlinetta
Engine: v8
Transmission: 700r4
what engine to put tbi system on?
so i have had for a while an 84 berlinetta with the carbed 305(i assume but it is pretty ballsy for one), but the berli chassis is pretty well shot. so my dad came across a 92 rs that had the 305 tbi, and a good chassis and body. but the previous owner pulled the motor, leaving the tbi system but no block and no heads. everything else is there down to all but one wire being cut on removal. the guy said he left everything to put my motor into this car, and that it should swap easy. since the guy went out of his way to keep the tbi system as close to original as possible, i feel like it would be a waste to swap my hacked up carb system into the car. it even came with a good 700r4 trans that has been modded up a bit. to sum that up i want to keep the tbi, but i need a block and heads.
for the block and heads i have two options. 1 being my block, heads, and few other parts from my berlinetta. it is either not a 305 or has a pretty decent cam as it lopes a lot at idle and pulls the rusted hulk of a berlinetta around with about how much power i would like or need
. im going to try to pull a head next weekend to see if its 350 or 305 or in between with an oddball budget 325 stroker or what ever.
option 2 is i have my grandfathers wrecked 97 tahoe that has a running vortec 350 and 4l60e trans. but i have heard in order to make any power i will have to put in a new cam and id need an intake.
here are my questions.
which one would be the better option to pair with the tbi?
which is going to be harder to do?
which is going to end up mode expensive?
will the vortec bolt to the 700r4?
would the 4l60e be worth the time to mod and install it?
would the rear end out of the berli be better to swap as i know its a posi(but it needs a rebuild), or did the rs come with more than one rear and id have to check it to see if its posi or not?
if the berli is a mild camed 305 or some othe wierd combo, will that play nice with the tbi without chip tuning, at least jsut to get it running and make sure everything works?
i want to tune it eventually i just wont have money for the stuff for a bit until the engine itself is worked out.
for the block and heads i have two options. 1 being my block, heads, and few other parts from my berlinetta. it is either not a 305 or has a pretty decent cam as it lopes a lot at idle and pulls the rusted hulk of a berlinetta around with about how much power i would like or need
. im going to try to pull a head next weekend to see if its 350 or 305 or in between with an oddball budget 325 stroker or what ever.option 2 is i have my grandfathers wrecked 97 tahoe that has a running vortec 350 and 4l60e trans. but i have heard in order to make any power i will have to put in a new cam and id need an intake.
here are my questions.
which one would be the better option to pair with the tbi?
which is going to be harder to do?
which is going to end up mode expensive?
will the vortec bolt to the 700r4?
would the 4l60e be worth the time to mod and install it?
would the rear end out of the berli be better to swap as i know its a posi(but it needs a rebuild), or did the rs come with more than one rear and id have to check it to see if its posi or not?
if the berli is a mild camed 305 or some othe wierd combo, will that play nice with the tbi without chip tuning, at least jsut to get it running and make sure everything works?
i want to tune it eventually i just wont have money for the stuff for a bit until the engine itself is worked out.
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 4,553
Likes: 806
From: South Ms
Car: 89 Firebird
Engine: 355 TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 10 Bolt.Posi-3.73s
Re: what engine to put tbi system on?
Use the Vortec engine with the TBI. You will have to get a Vortec specific intake, 350 injectors , a chip burn or a 350 chip if you can source one, and maybe a 350 knock sensor. The Vortec engine is a great engine bone stock. The 700r4 will bolt right up.The RS rear will be open and most probably 2.73 gears so don't use that.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
From: Walton, IN/Rensselaer, IN
Car: 1984 camaro berlinetta
Engine: v8
Transmission: 700r4
Re: what engine to put tbi system on?
so the vortec will just need a intake swap to run? then tune as needed?
it will be decent on power with the stock cam?
is there an adapter plate to fit the vortec intake on there now or could one be made? my dad is a machinist, and ive been doing metalwork for a while so a solid piece of metal might not be too hard.
would it be worth it to do the 4l60e swap, or should i just save that for later?
will the stock vortec exhaust manifolds be ok or will i definitely need headers?the car has no exhaust so that will likly be from scratch anyway. are vortec exhaust manifolds a different bolt pattern than any other sbc headers would be?
will the rs have a vats system? will it go crazy because of the engine swap?
if i pull the head and find out that it is indeed a 350 that i have in the camaro now, will that change anything? would it just be bolt the tbi intake on and go, or is there other things that need done? ive heard i would have to drill out a bolt whole to make it work with my current heads.
will the stock oil pan from the vortec work, or since its from a truck will it be too large and sit too low to be safe in a camaro?
what would a good gearing for a sumertime semi daily driver? i have some info on converting a g80 from an s10 to be a regular posi, and putting that in the camaro. i dont want 4:10s with the 700r4, what ever is in the berli now overreved it a bit on interstate as it is and the carb would dip into the secondarys at that rpm, but i suspect it wont be nearly as bad with efi.
overall from my research the vortec sounds like it will actualy be the easyest, even though i initialy wrote it off thinking it would be the hardest. not to mention the vortec has probably another 50 to 100k of abuse before it will really need a rebuild where as the camaro motor i will probably need rebuild no matter what.
it will be decent on power with the stock cam?
is there an adapter plate to fit the vortec intake on there now or could one be made? my dad is a machinist, and ive been doing metalwork for a while so a solid piece of metal might not be too hard.
would it be worth it to do the 4l60e swap, or should i just save that for later?
will the stock vortec exhaust manifolds be ok or will i definitely need headers?the car has no exhaust so that will likly be from scratch anyway. are vortec exhaust manifolds a different bolt pattern than any other sbc headers would be?
will the rs have a vats system? will it go crazy because of the engine swap?
if i pull the head and find out that it is indeed a 350 that i have in the camaro now, will that change anything? would it just be bolt the tbi intake on and go, or is there other things that need done? ive heard i would have to drill out a bolt whole to make it work with my current heads.
will the stock oil pan from the vortec work, or since its from a truck will it be too large and sit too low to be safe in a camaro?
what would a good gearing for a sumertime semi daily driver? i have some info on converting a g80 from an s10 to be a regular posi, and putting that in the camaro. i dont want 4:10s with the 700r4, what ever is in the berli now overreved it a bit on interstate as it is and the carb would dip into the secondarys at that rpm, but i suspect it wont be nearly as bad with efi.
overall from my research the vortec sounds like it will actualy be the easyest, even though i initialy wrote it off thinking it would be the hardest. not to mention the vortec has probably another 50 to 100k of abuse before it will really need a rebuild where as the camaro motor i will probably need rebuild no matter what.