Alright this is really strange. The engine is completely back together. The car will not stay running at ANY rpm...of course I haven't floored it since I don't like the sound of rods and lifters but I took it to 4 grand and it still dies. Sounds like a HUGE vacuum leak. When I put the plenum on, The gaskets (upper plenum to runner gaskets) didn't fit right...the one for the driver's side that has the egr hole covered up about 1/3 of the egr. The one on the pass side was too far forward for the bolts to go in when the plastic gasket tabs were in the holes. I thought I might have had them backwards, but when I switched them it was obviously wrong since nothing lined up right. So I took out the tabs on the pass side gasket and lined it up with the holes. The only other thing that could have a vacuum leak is that piece that has two hoses coming out and bolts underneath the coil. I got plastic vacuum line that was too thin but used rubber cement to sort of fudge things for awhile. I really think the car should at least run though if that's the only leak.

Just to make sure that stuff is hooked up right: I ran one line from that coil piece to the tb (long) and the other to the egr valve. The fpr goes to the plenum, and so does the remaining rubber hose that "T's". The other thin plastic line goes to the heater diverter valve.

It's not a big deal really to pull the plenum since I've got the tb bypass but if it is those gaskets is there any way to buy them individually? All the vacuum lines and pcv and brake stuff is hooked up correctly. I guess I'll just have to yell and scream at the parts store but I've never had felpro do this to me before...oh well.

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89 Iroc-Z LB9 305 TPI auto 2.73 posi:
3" Dynomax "cat" back,K&N filters, TB bypass, 3" pipe in place of cat, cleaned and flow-matched injectors, 180' thermo, mild ignition mods, synthetic oil, kicker sound system, soon to attempt engine swap...

 

I was able to buy those gaskets at the Chevy dealer parts counter right around my house. You should be able to go to one around your way and order them too.
HOpe it helps.

 

U ROCK,

Sounds like you got either the incorrect gaskets of some that were punched wrong. I've never had trouble with Fel-Pro or GM gaskets lining up with the ports and passages. I've always been able to use the plastic retainers. I've had the plenum off my own TPI at least five times ( gotta love those dirty injectors) and have always used Fel-Pro or GM gasket sets. You might try returning the set and comparing it to another one.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

 

Hey I Rock, I did this a couple times when I first started working on the TPIs. Are you sure you have them on the correct sides? It really sounds like you have the gaskets swapped or flipped. Double check.

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"I don't want to be right - I just want to know if I'm right"
-Einstein

 

Well that's what I thought too - with the retainers there's really only two possibilities and they both seem wrong. I dug the old gaskets out and I'm gonna put those back on. I'm also going to fab up some vacuum lines to eliminate those vinyl ones since I bought the wrong size. If that doesn't fix it I'll probably be posting some more...thanks

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89 Iroc-Z LB9 305 TPI auto 2.73 posi:
3" Dynomax "cat" back,K&N filters, TB bypass, 3" pipe in place of cat, cleaned and flow-matched injectors, 180' thermo, mild ignition mods, synthetic oil, kicker sound system, soon to attempt engine swap...

 

I had the same problem with a set of Fel Pro upper plenum/runner gaskets that I installed a couple of months ago. Got mine from NAPA.

When I matched up the gaskets to the correct side -which will cause a gigantic vacuum leak if you don't match them properly and end up putting them on the wrong side of the engine - the plastic tips were installed wrong (backwards).

I simply removed the white plastic tips and re-inserted them from the opposite side. Then everything lined up properly and all the holes in the plenum and runners were covered properly.

I figured Fel Pro was testing me to see if I was paying attention.

Hope this helps.

Jake

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1986 Corvette Coupe, 415 CID, Edelbrock 6073s, ZZ9

 

Yep - that's exactly what was wrong with these...I reversed them too. Thanks

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89 Iroc-Z LB9 305 TPI auto 2.73 posi:
3" Dynomax "cat" back,K&N filters, TB bypass, 3" pipe in place of cat, cleaned and flow-matched injectors, 180' thermo, mild ignition mods, synthetic oil, kicker sound system, soon to attempt engine swap...