so i was wondering some stuff about my 1992 camaro.
1. i wanted to know how to tell if my car is tpi or tbi
2. how can i tell what kind of tranny is in my car
3. what kind of cam should i get
i am looking to add some horsepower to my car so i was wondering how to switch to a carberator and everything i can do not touching the heads or switching the motor to a 350 and i was also wondering how to know what gears are in my car? thanks for viewing

 

Ok, a TPI engine looks like this pic, and a TBI engine looks a lot closer to a carbureted engine, with air cleaner assembly on top.

Transmission...count your pedals, 3=standard(manual) tranny Gas, brake, and clutch... 2 pedals, gas and brake=automatic. Assuming that its stock, auto trans in your case would be a 700R4.

As far as a cam...honestly you need to learn a lot more about mechanics in general before you go buying a cam.

Why dont you show a few pics of the car. And look at the 8th digit in your vin, that will tell you if you have a 305 or 350 (if its a v8 anyway)
if that digit is an 8, that means 350.

Also assuming your car is stock...check your RPO sticker in your storage compartment. Its in the rear hatch are, drivers side and it opens with your door key. It has all kinds of 3 digit codes like L98, L03, B2L, U19...anyway, you can find out a TON of info about your car, including axle ratio by looking up RPO codes for your car.

Has your car been modified by previous owners or???

 

you can decode your vin and your rpo codes and learn everything about your car or post some pics of it

 

in most states you can not switch a injected motor to carb and keep it legal due to emissions laws , check with your local laws to be sure.

 

ive never heard of that, it was my understanding that as long as it passes the orginal smog standards youre fine

anyway why would you want to go carb? is there a specific reason behind it?

 

Alright well I do know for sure its a 305 sbc I do know a lot more stuff about the motor and plus my dads a mechanic and it is an auto I've been told its a 350 turbo trans but still not sure and how do you decode the vin and figure out. What all the codes mean? And I live in michigan and yeah I will get some pictures up in the future and I thought I had the tbi but what's better a tpi or tbi? Or a carberautor?

 

Just shift thru the gears...Turbo 350 has 3 forward gears...so it would be P-R(1 click), R-N, N-D, D-2, 2-1 for a total of 5 clicks from one end to the other...700R4 has 1 more forward gear, so shifting from park to first gear, you would feel it engage 6 times.
If you have a 3 spd auto, then get underneath the car, and look at the tranny pan. A turbo 350 has a square pan with a notch out of one corner, a turbo 400 looks a lot different, not squarish really.
Just write down all your RPO codes, then do a internet search for "1992 camaro RPO codes" and you will find all availabe RPOs and meanings. As far as VIN, search for a VIN decoder for 92 camaros...
as far as whats better, TBI or TPI...mostly a matter of opinion. I prefer TPI, and there are lots of reasons people want to switch to carb'd...all depends on your personal preference, and laws where you live.

 

Alright well I have the 700r4 trans cause of the engaging of it 6 times and alright how many codes should there be? And I thank you for all your hope its much appreciated and I'm new to this website so I'm nut sure if I'm replying in the right spots or not but I do thank you

 

if you decode the vin and then use the RPO codes (should be in your glove box) it will tell you everything your car came with, also it is a 92 so it would have a 700r4 unless its been swapped.

RPO's are all the factory options installed on the car, there should be a pretty long list in there on a typed sheet of paper, normally its attached to the side with an adhesive covering


any word on the carb bug?

 

well i dont have the whole list of rpo codes but im gonna look in the hatch for the three digit ones. and i really thank you all for your help

 

i got all the rpo codes and i decoded the vin number i did everything expect i couldnt figure how to use the engine codes

 

[QUOTE=BluFBdy;4639541]ive never heard of that, it was my understanding that as long as it passes the orginal smog standards youre fine[QUOTE]

As I undertsnd it...

It's federally illegal now in all 50 states to change any vehicle from it's original smog equipment. So, even a computer controlled carbed car falls under the gun, since the computer controlled timing advance/retard based on info from the TPS and such. It's ok to go with newer technology (like a LS1 swap into a 3rd gen), as long as all the newer emissions equipment is retained. But it's not OK to go backwards in technology.

{But Uncle doesn't personally look at cars, so it's a law that doesn't get enforced}

In most all states, the same law has been adopted in one form or another.

But - like in NC - alot of states have changed to only doing "emissions" inspections on OBDII cars. The reasons - a) they've reduced their emissions through years of pipe probing, b) the OBDII cars are tested with direct computer connections - no more tail pipe probing, so the process has been streamlined - YOUR OBDII car actually gets connected to the state's computer system, and IT determines whether you pass or fail - takes the pass/fail out of the hands of the 'testers', therefore no 'getting your bud to pass you' scenerios, and c) there just aren't too many pre-OBDII cars left, so it's just not cost efficient to really worry about them (since 9/11, everyone has gotten a new car with 0% financing, everyone has a new ride!).

And like NC, alot of states only do the OBDII testing in high population counties. So some of us get by with it. This is a recent thing in NC - 5 or 6 years ago I had to pass emissions with my 1992 - but today it's been dropped since it's not an OBDII car.

 

just wondering what happens if you failed a emmision test?

 

i searched all my rpo codes.the only thing i found on it about gears is gear speedo driven so i couuldnt find anything about what gears are in my car is there any other way i would be able to tell?

 

Do you have a GU5 RPO code??? If so, and its what I think you have, thats 3.23 gears. If you have a 305 TBI with a 700R4 from the factory, chances are your rear end gears are 3.23
http://www.rpocodes.com/
try this site...on the left side of the page it has links for the first letter or number of your code...you can decode the whole list. Hope this helps

 

No license plate.

 

alright i have 2.73 gears and what is the difference between the 2. and 3. gears?and how do you switch them out? and does this effect gas mileage?

 

"2.73" and "3.23" are ratios, you take the teeth on the ring gear and count them, then take the teeth on the pinion and count them, driven over drive, driven being the ring and drive being the pinion gives you that number. It's just a ratio, thats all, the higher the number the higher your torque multiplication is so it gives you more power off the line, YES it effects gas mileage, if you put a tall set of gears in itll be a beast off the line but highway driving will kill you because it will run at a higher rpm, by changing the rear gears youre changing what GM put in for the tranny because overall final drive is key thats after the power has made it out of the motor, thru the trans, and then thru the diff to turn the wheels. YOu can go mild and go for a 3.23 or a 3.73, but in either case youre going to need to get a series 3 carrier (somebody correct me if im wrong) because the ratios in the 3's need a larger carrier, then would be a good time to up it to a posi btw

 

alright thank i think ill keep 2.73 because of im on the freeway a lot not for long but still the drag tracks are mostly freeway driving and how do you put a posi in? do you have to change the gears for posi?

 

Don't take that the wrong way lol a good set of gears would be a great investment, as long as you keep it in the 3's you'll still get good mileage, you just trade a couple mpg for torque, fair in my book lol it affects top end more, like at 80 you sit at 3k rpms, with a taller gear it might sit at 3200 etc

A posi install is something id take to a shop if you've never done it, or your dad might, just ask him what's involved with setting the 10 bolt up with a new carrier/ gear setup, it can be a hassle the first time

 

alright thanks. how much do the 3.23 or 3.73 gears cost? and what would be th best kind to get? and are those hard to change? and how do i get posi rear end? what do i have to buy

 

The easiest cheapest way is to swap in a 4th gen rear end from a 1998 - 2002 camaro/firebird. You can find rears with 3.42 gears pretty easily, they are posi, and you get the added bonus of LS1 rear disc brakes.

But - some considerations...

1) the emergency brake cables don't match up, so you have to do some modifying here
2) you have to have 16in wheels to clear the larger LS1 disc brakes
3) the 4th gen rear is wider, therefore you're stock 3rd gen wheels will stick out about 1.5 inches farther on each side

But it's a cheap easy swap - a direct bolt-in basically except for the E-brake cables - you just swap the entire rear end.

 

Alright thanks and what do you think the average is for a new camaro rear end price wise? And does that mean my tired can't be over or under 16 inch and are the tires sticking out notciale? And also is it hard to modofy the e brake cable?

 

I paid $180 for mine bu t that was several years ago - $250 is about average I see these days. You have too have at least 16in rims.

 

Sorry if the quotes are messed up on my phone but alright thanks and do you just go to the local junkyard?