I am planning a motor for my 4x toy and am looking for input from anyone with experience with TPI and vortec heads. I have a 2 1/2 ton axle Tube frame buggy. It will finish up around 4500 Lbs. I just picked up a marine vortec motor that had 2 spun rod bearings...boat motor..double stacked oil filter gaskets...insurance buys a new long block for the guy and i buy the old long block. So now i have a good 2 bolt block, vortec heads and a set of pink rods. I am looking to build a motor with Tons of torque to spin 4-44" tall tires with 6.72 gears through a th350-np205. I have no experience with TPI but what i have read i understand it makes more torque than TBI. So what im looking for is anyone with input/experience with these parts.If you need more info please let me know.
Thanks
Mark Causey
I also have a 100% complete 200,000 mile TBI 350
The vortec head motor or the TBI motor?

 

I know a few people have recently finished vortec TPI buildups. You may want to search for threads by Mike Crews and 1bad91Z. Those are two that I can think of off the top of my head. I'm not sure how their exact builds would work for your application, but you are correct about the torque produced with TPI setups.

 

I have searched and have a hard time deciphering the info. Can someone explain the differences between a super ram, mini ram, stealth ram and super ram......who makes each of these? What intake is available for tpi on vortec heads other than the SDCP intake.
Thanks
Mark

 

The FAQs on top of the TPI board will answer some of the questions you have about the super ram, mini ram, stealth ram and who makes them. A short explanation would be that all of the above make more horsepower in the uper RPM ranges above 4500 RPM where the stock style TPI stops making horsepower but sometimes loses bottom end torque. Some people say that the TPI engine was the best engine for a truck that Chevy ever put together due to its pulling power. I would definitely say scrap the TBI engine and use the vortec headed engine instead.
It almost sounds like for the gobs of torque you are looking for that a stock TPI system with the Vortec baseplate and heads may be your answer. The aftermarket TPI Vortec base is only made by SDPC/Edelbrock and by itself will extend the powerband to above 4500, even if the rest of the system is nothing more than stock components. If you were unhappy at that point, you could always upgrade to aftermarket runners (many available) or superram plenum/runners. By your description of what you are looking to accomplish, it does not sound like the miniram or stealthram would be totally beneficial.
Hope this helps some!

 

Thanks for the info....i will check out the FAQ section again. What kind of gains do you think TPI would have over TBI?
Thanks
Mark

 

I don't know if you've done the research on minirams, super rams, stealth rams, etc yet, but they are generally for higher rpm use. The reason that I mentioned those two guys buildups is that they are both using a stock style TPI system. They are using the SDPC vortec style baseplate (the only TPI intake that will fit on vortec heads besides a miniram i believe), aftermarket runners, and ported stock plenums. Since you're going purely for torque, I'd stick with that rather than a miniram, super ram, or stealth ram. I can't say what kind of torque increase you'd have over a TBI setup, but it will be more. I don't recall what the stock TPI engines were rated at, but i'm sure the hp and torque ratings are in the FAQ secion of thirdgen.org, or in the technical articles section. That would give you some sort of idea what kind of numbers you'd be looking at as a minimum.