I'll be getting a 355 crate engine soon, and I want to go fuel injection for sure.

What kind of system do you use for fuel injection? Are there different companies that make these type of fuel injection systems, or how does it work?

I also have a 305 TBI now. What exactly does TBI mean? My friend and I are stumped. I have a huge air cleaner can, and it looks like a carb, yet its TBI? Major confusion. I thought there was just two methods, fuel injection, then carb. Now someone tells me I have TBI, and I have no idea where that fits in. Anyone care to enlighten my retarded butt on the matter? Thanks, Eric

 

TBI= Throttle body injection. Yes, its fuel injected. You'll get varying opinions of it on this board (mostly bad).

As for TPI, costwise the cheapest route is to buy a complete setup, preferably off a wrecked car where you can get every little piece you might need. Some of that stuff can nickel and dime you to death. Then from there you can decide what sort of upgrades, if any, you may need.

 

TBI = Throttlebody Injection
TPI = Tuned Port INjection

In a TBI the fuel is injected at the throttlebody. In a TPI the fuel is injected in each individual intake port in the intake manifold allowing for a more precise tune of the ports.

 

I am one of those people who happens to think TBI is not so bad.
It is similar to a carb because there are only two injectors and they sit in the actual manifold. The air cleaner sits atop the whole assembly and looks just like a carb.

Factory TBI can be made to flow significantly better.

You have to:

Delete the drop in filter and get an open element.

Get a TBI spacer and a flow enhancer piece.

Get TPiS or Cruzin Performance to flow match the two injectors

Buy an aftermarket intake manifold from edelbrock or a similar company.

If you do all that to your TBI unit, you can use it on your 355 and make some decent power.
Port injection will make more power, but you don't already own a port injection setup (in case you forgot)

 

STROY...

Is a port injection setup done with a particular manifold or fuel rails, or is it like a completely separate system like a carb?

 

From what I remember from my research paper on Fuel Injection (english 102)

Port Injection is a far more precise setup than throttle body/carb.

An individual injector for each port... hence the name port injection. I know that tuned port is batch fired like multi-port... and seqeuntial port is fired individually. You can tell the difference when someone hammers the throttle IE: In my Camaro I WOT and the car may take a split second to respond with WOT ratios. My friends 3400SFI car (Alero) responds with almost no delay whatsoever.

I can't answer about fuel rails cause unfortunatley I know little of that, but I think the lower manifold design would be significantly different from a TBI unit, or a carb for that matter. Port injection is usaully dual plane from what I know. An upper plenum flows air via some kind of runners to the lower plenum.
Where as a TBI unit or Carb unit has a single plane manifold with air passage built in.

How'd I do guys?

 

Sounds pretty good to me. Thanks.