I have a 400 sitting in the garage and i dont want to goo tooo wild with anything on it, but i want to get some Dart Motown heads or something similar. and a slightly larger cam with the stock TPI system and 1 3/4 headers with punched cat and edelbrock exhaust... if i seimies port the runners and do some porting to the upper and lower plenums do you think i will be able to make enough to run 12's with drag radials or slicks and posi w/ 373ish gears? what would i have to run for chip....i have to race and beat my brothers 13.30 (88 F-bird X-v6)with his Carb.ed 400 w/ slicks(both cars 5-speeds) im deffinately getting a AFPR and 350 injectors(my setups an 87 MAF 305 5-speed setup) would i be able to make it?

 

You can do it. You're going to need to really work on the TPI stuff tho. It is going to boil down to exactly how much porting you do. You have to siamese the base - and the upper plenum. However, the stock runners should go. SLP runners would be good for this, you can siamese those way in - the stock runners can't be siamesed without mutilation/welding. SLP runners are 250.00 new.

 

Well i know Arizona Speed and marine TPI sells larger diameter tubes and larger diameter tubes already siemesed. just the larger ones alone said to gain approx "25hp and 30lbs of torque" also i have a January of 92 Car Craft Magazine, that tests 9 different FI systems compaired to a Carb.ed setup, they have dyno's for each. for example they have "BDS-Blower Drive Service", Cutler/Haltech EFI, Fuel injection Specialties(stock TPI), Street And Performance, Holley Pro-jection 4, Tuned Port Induction Specialties, Accel,Electromotive, And Arizona Speed And Marine TPI, i can try to scan these pages and see if i can post them or what not. or i can just give you the numbers, they tested it on a almost stock 350 with a eledelbrock RPM cam, Crower Sportsman rods. and just a rebuilt motor. but if anyone wants to know info on any of these and the numbers over carbed. or what not let me know. but the Arizona Speed and Marine TPI came out with the highest Torque production (50lbs of torque over a 750 vacum secondary and RPM intake) and 6HP more,but more hp over the whole range exept past 5300(328HP 402torque). also higher torque earlier in the band. i just want to make a 12 second TPI car i dont care if i have to port the crap out of the lower and upper plenums and buy those runners because i dont want to put tooo much money into it, iv got plenty of time tho for porting, it shouldnt take to long with sanding bits but is the heads and cam and all that gonna get me into the 12's? with the intake like that? also any info on the chip or programming.

 

Aren't the SLP runers already half siamesed? I was reading an article on them in GMHTP. I have them on my new 350, I just can't remeber

 

Taken from GM high performance.

"Certainly not overlooked is the Z's powerplant. A .030-over 400 that was originally meant for his 1980 Camaro street car provides the thrust. Once the boys at Custom Design Performance in Columbia, Conn. were done with the short-block, Rob bolted up a stock TPI unit, which sits atop the 406 and breathes for aluminum Trick Flow heads. Thanks to the torquey mill under the Harwood hood, this Z has run 12.7s in the quarter with the factory chip still in the ECM. The abundance of low-end torque provided by the TPI's long runners also helps him overcome the inability to select his own gears, as a built TH-700R4 with a lock-up converter handles the Z's shifting."

 

Heres a pick of the engine if you have doubts. If this guy has done it with a stock tpi and chip imagine what you can do with porting and a custom chip.

 

Wow that is awsome! 12.7 id def. be happy with. what kind of chip would do you think i should run? also that is a complete stock TPI unit? well anyways woult it be better with a little porting to the TPI and the SLP runners and chip? much better? imgonna use 350inj. w/ an AFPR obviously that should support it. but do you have anymore engine specs on that 400? mine is gonna be almost stock. exept heads slight cam 9:1-10:1 comp. probably and and some TPI upgrades. what do you think. and this will be with my 5-speed.

 

i wouldnt recomend putting that kind of power in front of that 5 speed T-5. GM didnt make 5 speed 350 IROC's for a reason. i bet the tranny would come apart after racing half a dozen times or so,depends on the shifting.

 

My tranny lasted all summer, racing every weekend.

U will need to upgrade your injectors, the 19#'rs will run WAY to lean for the 406.

I got a stock TPI on my 383 and it does fine. Not optimal but it works. A HSR or a Mini Ram would work alot better.

 

Here is the page i got the article from. The car is the second article.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...mhtp_warriors/

Im pretty sure from the jist of the article the intake, runners, and chip are untouched. From the pic you can clearly see that it has stock runners.

 

my brother is running 13.30's with his 400. now he has a spool in the car hopefully that wont bust like his 7.5 posi did. iv got an extra tranny too plus a T-56 is out of my price range. any other things i do to the tranny so it wont bust? no too expensive? any info about chips, can i just buy an aftermarket one(not a cheapy one) to put in for the 22lbs. injectors im going to get. or what not. i hope this car really goes after this. so far iv spent about 400 into the TPI setup(370 TPI-30 Knock sensor) i had one but i couldnt seem to find it after the trip home. total was 470 but i minused accordingly for the Extra non TPI parts(tranny, grille w/fog lights, and headers) and free motor, so i dont think im doing too bad so far.

 

I have my doubts 22# will cut it, I was borderline with my 24# Injectors and I only got a 383ci.

Id go with these 25# from SLP at the minimum. At least there $ is good
http://www.slponline.com/view_produc...RTNUMBER=23051

As for the trany, I wouldnt worry about it untill u blow it. Mine lasted the whole summer and I got 315hp and 470TW at the flywheel.

When it does go, just get a rebuild from here, they're rated to handle 600hp and 500tq

http://www.g-forcetransmissions.com/tran_gt-5.asp

 

my friends 87 vette has a 406 afr 195s edel.base tpis runners,ported plenum,svo24 lb.inj.,that crappy4+3 manual trans and 3.08 gears this car runs 12.70s small hydr.flattappet cam so i would say 24 lb inj.set at 48psi work well......

 

Say you had that 12.7 TPI car. Anything you do to free up CFM in the stock TPI at that point will help soooo much. Ditto for chip burning. I would say that with a good chip (you must burn it yourself - or have someone do it for you, because off the shelf chips are not good at all) 12.7 turns into 12.4 at least! Then, you port the upper and lower plenums out, and put on SLP runners (clean them up, they are sloppy out of the box) you would be looking at high 11's... this is my opinion, but I think others will agree.

 

i know i can get the injector (24#) for 99.bucks maybe its that link that you gave me. and as for the AFPR i know Crane Cams makes one, but not sure if it has the easy dial as the Holley.($67) and the BBK one is $60, but im going to steer away from those. and about the chips i guess i will see if i can have someone on this web board help me out or what not. i think this car will come together pretty good. i have a spare tranny anyways so if i all of a sudden win the lottery then ill send it away. lol i guess only time can tell on this. but thanks alot guys and if you have anymore to add please do!

 

Yuppers, like I said. It will work, but its not optimal. Its a good starting point though, and theres room for great improvements after. Anything that will help that beast breath will help hard core.

 

 

So in other words if i slap on a good set of heads get some SLP runners and do some porting w/ 24lbs inj. and ill find someone to do my chip for me. (with good traction components) i should be in or close to the 12's? i think my brother doesnt beleive in the TPI cars or something he told me it wouldnt fit a 400 cause someone around here tried it and had problems . but once i get this car going and he still has his, i want to see what he's got.....:lala: anyways, any of you burn chips? cost? i want to get everything settled when i sell my other car on e-bay.....

 

Ed Wright (fastchip.com) does a pretty good job of chip burning without the car actually there to strap on the dyno. It's a mediation between off the shelf (CRAP) & dyno tuning... not a bad idea I hear a lot of people on these boards like the chip he has made for thier car. You just need to let him know everything you have done so he can burn as best a chip as possible.

Correct me please if I am inaccurate but - there are big inch small blocks and then there are big blocks. The person who tried to fit a TPI onto a 400 probably had a 400 big block, not a small block. TPI is a small block intake (its about compatability to the heads).

Am I wrong here guys?

 

well the closest thing to the 400 is the 396 and the 402(396 .030 over) and i know it was on a small block because he got it running but i guess it wouldnt run right and crap (blow black smoke) and i was thinking if it was like that then it could possibly a speed density setup and the map sensor hose wasnt on, that would be my opinion on what happened. but anyways as for heads.....http://store.summitracing.com/partde...L%2D014150%2D2
but i think they'd go pretty well on my car. anyways ill check and see what i want over all and how much money i have for mods and let that guy know about the chip and see what happens from there, i thank all of you guys for your help, i wish you could help me on my little wiring problem...... i have another post that goes over it. it looks long but its not really, i posted that one first so then i figured id post this one after. oh and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

I have a 400sb bored .030 over in my "Z." I put the stock tpi unit on it and modified it. I still have (at the moment) the stock intake but it is ported now as are the plenum and slp runners. I also switched from MAF to speed density MAP. I know I have some kind of GM heads and the motor was built for 450hp. Some of what I have on the engine is in my sig. I still need a 3.73 posi rear end. My mechanic who has been racing since he was 16 says my car will run low 12's the way it is set up. I am currently looking into HSR instead tho. I am not sure if my intake is causing problems for me. My fuel flat lines at 4500rpms and we are trying to figure out why.We think it is a chip issue. I believe my 30lb injectors are going static and possibly leaking. They are Accels and only have 1500 miles on them. I am returning them and purchasing SVO's. I am getting it to a dyno soon. You will hear others tell you that putting a stock tpi unit on a 400 will choke it. Maybe thats true but mine is all modified with custom chip, speed density and porting etc... So far I am pleased and I am anxious to get it to the track soon.

 

Sounds cool, i am not going to go all out with my motor, just a basic rebuild probably, slight cam, but a good set of heads, and some TPI work hopefully, even if i run close to my brother's car ill be happy, but not satisfied! lol im almost done figuring out everything on the wiring, probably another day or 2 and i COULD put it all in but im getting a set of heads and i also want to get that WS6 hood, i think thats F'n sweet! but anyways, what do you guys think about "Rock Crushers" muncie 4-speed tranny's i know they can handle the power because i dont think i can go from 5-6speed ill have to step down. lol let me know on this as well, i dont want to slaughter my transmission every time i take it out for a spin. that would majorly suck. and a 6-speed is way out of my price range! oh and heres a pic of my baby! notice the firbird in the background(when it was going from V6 to 400!)