I am considering building a 350 for my car. I want to keep the TBI. I am thinking about Vortec heads - I know that the manifold can be expensive, so I am open to options for the same amount of money if I can keep the factory manifold. But my main question is about a cam. I want a pretty solid cam with a steady idle, but don't want to pay more than 200-300 for it. Thanks in advance.

 

Which block you have factors in a big way when it comes to your cam choice, because you could go with factory hyd roller lifters or flat tappets. It depends on the block, because some blocks use one type of lifter and the other blocks use a different type of lifter.
Have you chosen a block yet?

Then there's the heads, if you want to use the factory TBI intake then some 305 heads from a TPI engine could possibly be a good choice. But those need work to be good with a 350.

 

If you can find a way to make the LT4 HOT cam run with Throttle body injection, I would try and use it. If not use an LT1 cam or a computer compatable Comp cam.

 

I have yet to choose my block but I plan to keep a hydrolic roller setup. I like the LT-X idea, but they are pretty expensive.

How hard are the TPI heads to find and would they be as good as a set of the Fastburn Vortecs?

What do you mean about the computer compatible Comp cam? I know about the computer/ cam compatbility, but I didn't know that they premade ones.

Thanks.

 

I'm not so sure that they make a TBI intake for vortec heads.
Correct me if I"m wrong???

TPI heads aren't that hard to find.
You can find a set of 081 or I believe 416's.
The L98 TPI heads aren't too bad for factory heads, they just need some port work.

If you go with TPI heads, I know that Edelbrock makes an intake that is specifically designed for TBI.

 

They make a TBI to vortec heads but they are about 300-350 bucks. I will try to find a set of L98s. Do they make them new? Any other suggestions for the cam?

 

Roller cam: The Lt4 roller they're on ebay for about $135 all the time.
Intake: might as well use a factory TBI intake if you want to save $$.
Heads: There might be different bolt patterns to the intake for different years, some TPI 305 or L98 heads would be good. Just be sure the intake bolt pattern matches.
L98 heads would be less work if you have a '87> intake.

The LT4 cam shouldn't require chip reprogramming to run, but it would probably be better with reprogramming. But then the stock cam can be improved upon with some reprogramming too.

I have a TBI intake for an 88, and a TBI with ultimate TBI mods, cheap if you're interested.

 

What kind of power can I expect from a LT4-Vortec and LT4-TPI head set-up? Would they be similar?

 

the vortec will be faster but the tbi computer cant be handle a cam that big without tuning it might now even run got to the tbi board and search for cam swaps and read about the chip burning in the do it yourself prom board

 

gm still makes the L98 head, look it up on their site

 

The LT4 cam won't run in a motor without computer tuning? I don't mind tuning it, I just need to learn how. It will be a while till I have the money to get the stuff. I plan to get a short block with a 4-bolt main, steel crank with forged pistons and then get the heads, intake, etc. and have a local shop put it in.