Hello,

There doesn't seem to be a "general" board, so this seems to be the best place to post.

I just sold my 90 Mustang GT H/C/I/E etc, etc. and want to get a TransAM GTA w/ a 350

I'm wondering what is the best route to go? Get a GTA with a blown engine and throw in a carb'd 350, or get a TPI. Is the TPI system really THAT bad, and THAT un-reliable???

I don't want a fast car top-end wise, just a torquey sonnovabitch. Looking for a balanced street/strip car, leaning more torwards street. In other words, a FUN car

Fuel mileage is important, I will be driving it daily. that also means reliability is of huge importance as well. Oh, and it will def. be an auto

So, which is gonna the best route to go??
A 11-10 second car would be awesome, but 12-sec is more reasonable

 

the TPI is torquey, just doesn't breathe at very high RPMs very well from what i hear (i've never had mine higher than about 3000). but if fuel economy, less emissions and reliability are important to you then i say go with TPI. there is no question fuel injection wins on those 3 things over carbs. but others will tell you there are also advantages to carbs over TPI when trying to make a fast car.

 

It's always cheaper to build a fast carbed car than a fast EFI car.

But 12s from a TPI or generically, port fuel injected thirdgen is getting nearly common for people with any real work and knowledge in their cars. All you need is some decent heads and a decent intake set-up on a decent tune. If an auto, a nice converter always is a big help.

Any 350 car is going to be TPI. 87-89 are MAF, 90-92 are speed density. SD is really the way to go if you want to get into programming the chip and/or really go fast. MAF can be decent too, especially with mild goals like 12s, and tuning can be a bit simpler. Although sometimes problems are harder to figure out with MAF, plus it's another expensive sensor that can go bad for you.

Best bet at this point is to do some searching and see what other people are doing. Also, try this link: https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/for...=1000&x=10&y=7

It's simply a long listing of the threads from this board, sorted by views. Most threads with any meat about a fast car, or good parts wind up somehwere near the top of it. Some is junk, but a lot is almost required reading.

 

Can the TPI system be put on different blocks? Like a ZZ4 350 HO? Will the TPI reduce the HP/TQ ratings of the block?

I'd like to purchase a GTA w/ a blown engine and swap a crate-motor in off the get-go.

I gotta take a break from searching and printing... my printer ran outta ink

 

the torque would go up, horsepower down on the ZZ4, you just have to drill out the two intake bolt holes to the correct angle for the zz4 aluminum heads