One of my friends has a 1988 Firebird Formula that I was looking to buy until he smoked the engine (cracked block). He was looking to get this one off of Jegs.com to replace it and asked me if his stock TPI from his 305 would work on it:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet-Perf...rentProductId=

Since I'm still learning and didn't want to give him the wrong answer, I figured I'd check here.

 

It will work although I would not do it. Buying a fresh engine I would at least stay roller cam.

If you buy that engine he will probably have to retune or at least swap injectors. Is he comfortable working with EFI? What are his goals? More power?
I would much rather have this but it would require a vortec base for the TPI system

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Perf...30283/10002/-1

 

He wanted to keep a stock look in the engine bay. Both of us are fairly technical, but he looking for something that's fairly plug and play. I suggested seeing if we could find a decent L98 in a boneyard if he wanted an easy install.

 

Luckily, all SBC look the same, and most tpi units look the same. The important part is the internals. Different ages of blocks means different internals. If I were you personally I'd go pull one out of a thirdgen or order one. Pulling it yourself gives you the experience and a basic idea of clearances and space in the bay.

 

That motor is the 165 HP wonder out of the mid 70s part number for part number, except "rated" under a different ratings system and with a different cam.

If it came in a car with a 4-bbl carb like it is intended for, it would probably be "rated" at around 200 - 210 HP.

Not a good choice for anything resembling a "performance" build. Not really even a good choice for a 305 replacement. But it would "work" if your standards aren't too high.

That aside, TPI is identical in every way whether on a 305 or a 350, year for year. Same base, same runners, same plenum, etc. Injectors are different and various programming things around it are different but TPI itself is the same. So yeah, it will give the same underwhelming performance on a 350 that it does on a 305, except worse.

The center 2 intake bolts on each side are at the 86-back angle on that motor's heads; therefore his intake would need to have those holes slotted out.

 

If he still wants a crate engine, I'll recommend this one. For what he wants, there are plenty of junkyards in the Chicago area that should have the motor he needs.

 

That engine has Vortec heads, which require the $$$$Vortec base$$$$ for TPI to work.

Good choice for a carb setup, where an intake is cheeeeeep; not so much for TPI, where the intake is about half the price of a car, and the runners void and negate any performance benefits that might accrue from the better heads.

For putting a stock TPI on top of, a regular old L98 short block is about the best bang for the buck way to go.

 

And I have a friend and his dad who just finished building a 383 stroker for their '77 Vette. I'm sure they can help Vince rebuild a L98 that we find. Thanks Sofa, I think that's route I'm going to push for.