I am building a "cheap"TPI 400 right now and i was seeing if there was any way to possibly get an estimate or anything on how much HP or what 1/4 mile id be running...here is what i have

400-Birthday gift
Edelbrock RPM heads-$650
Edelbrock Pushrods-$45
Edelbrock Cat-back-$250
Crane 216/228 454/480 "Emissions" cam kit-$155
rebuild parts-$280
1.6 Stamped steel rockers-$65
complete TPI setup-$300(gas tank+s-unit,charcoal canister, wiring harness, computer, complete intake, ALDL wiring, serpentine setup, dual fan setup, air intake, ect)
7 5/8ths posi w/4:11's-$130
9.5:1 CR ish.....

i will have:
1 3/4 slp headers.
24lb. injectors
SLP runners(Maybe just swap to an HSR later)
plenum porting.....

im going to run a carb for the first few weeks to brake it in just in case i cant hook up the TPI right and not be able to brake the motor in. i will be running this with a 5-speed. any thoughts on this?

 

Put some more cam in it, a 400 can take it. General rule is add 5* duration for every 25ci of displacement and go with a real intake or it will be just another huge @ssed tpi fed terd. That 400 will need some AIR and it will not be getting all it needs with a TPI. I'd guess 300-320 rwhp with all sorts of torque. Mid to high 12s if you can put it to the ground and not scatter the 5 speed all over it. It will need tuning too, and that is a big variable.
Good luck,
It should be fun,
Charlie

 

about the cam, thats why i got the 1.6 rockers, i had it calculated to 488/512 with 1.6's also i was thinking of the HSR maybe if i can get my hands on a cheap used one. im not sure but i read that itll give 20-30hp on a stock 350. and id obviously have to have a chip burnt. so right now im looking for 1 3/4 headers, 24-25lb. injectors. and i need to order a holley FPR. unless i get a big chunk of money from selling my other car ill buy the HSR and hook that beast up! that would be awsome. but id probably buy my WS6 style hood first. but who knows. i cant wait for my car to be done. i might borrow my cousins 800cfm carb to run on it for a little while for when im breaking it in, but the edelbrock cataloge says the "RPM Package" made 420hp and about the same in torque, thats 1 3/4 primaries, RPM Cam(488/510), RPM heads, and im pretty sure a 750 carb. on a 350. and thats not at the wheels obviously. but id say with the extra cubes it would make a difference on that. ..my main goal is to run 12's

 

i'd run the carb with a decent intake till you can get a HSR, or since you have a TPI get a converted LT1 intake. That stock TPI baseplate is gonna choke the #$%$ outta that motor.
Oh, and i have that same cam with 1.6 rockers. TPI intake will choke the crap outta that 4 sure. that's why i'm converting to LT1 intake.

 

I dont know much about the LT1's but what do you mean when you say "converted"? and i am not even sure what id be able to run with that(stock TB,Rails,ect?) my knowledge of that is very little. if the price is less than an HSR and isnt a hard thing to hook up then id do it. plus my system is a MAF (87) system off an iroc-z will i still be able to run it? id probably just go with the HSR if i can swap my carb. to TPI in the first place. i actually need a little help figuring out 2 of the wires.

 

converted lt1 intake to fit a standard small block.
www.lt1intake.com
no harder than swapping to a HSR, maybe easier. Probably cheaper. But i may be biased

 

Which wires? the ones that go to the distributor?

 

no actually i bought the complete setup and the guy gave me the plug for the ALDL and theres a whip that goes past it....and goes into the fuse box, i got all the ones that say crk,fan,inj1,inj2,control module, ect but there are 2 wires that i dont know, one is black and one is green, it goes somewhere on the fuse box, ill be off to bed now cause its 230 here but let me know if you can help me out on that too.......also i sent the LT1 guy a e-mail. thanks!

 

cant help me ? well i looked into the LT1 intake it looks pretty speffy but about drilling the hole for the distributor....thats alot of crap that has to be very accurate to run it. but anyways, im not sure what i want to go with. because i want low end torque and i want a good amount of HP but i dont need any power really over 5k. maybe the MOST 5500rpm so do you think a highly ported plenum with SLP runners will be fine?i kinda want to go with the HSR but i dont know.

 

My motor doesn't go over 5500 either, i didn't build it to. I'd go with the HSR, if anything, over a stock type base and runner setup, if only for cost reasons. Like i said, i might be biased on the LT1 setup, but my major reason for choosing it was actually for hood clearance/strut tower brace clearance reasons.

 

well i dont have tons of money so ill end up buying used SLP's and port my own base and plenum. and go from there. i want tos ee the difference from running my car with the stock TPI then upgrade and see what that nets me. might be a good idea to getl people some times, or what not, i might borrow an intake and carb from someone and see what ig et from that(RPM intake/750+CFM carb)

 

see if you can scare up an aftermarket base (edelbrock, accel) before you get the runners. It tends to be a major restriction, and a stock base wouldn't even seal a gasket onto my sportsman II heads, which use a felpro 1205 intake gasket, a pretty standard size performance intake gasket.

 

do you think i should port the base first then later on test the runners and port the plenum and such?

 

well, you have the heads and base, right? bolt the intake up to one of the heads and see if it'll seal. Then find an old intake gasket, match it up to the heads, then match it up to the stock base. I think you'll see that you can't even port it to match your heads.

 

actually iv got my heads in the house with an intake gasket kit so i could actually check it out now, just have to go get the base outside....brrrr 10 below isnt my idea of a good time....

 

Well, this might help. Edelbrock says the ports on their RPM heads are matched to a fel-pro 1205 gasket. Your stock intake definately does not have enough material to port match, if it'll even seal (mine wouldn't with the same gasket). If it'll seal on your heads, it'll still be a huge restriction, even if you port it out to the maximum.

 

what do you mean seal? as in butt up against it? or do you mean like the ports being so far off?

 

OMG the gasket i have....(purchased in an 87 TPI intake kit) is SMALLER than the ports of the edelbrock heads!!!! wow that totally shocked the **** outta me!im gonna run out and compair this gasket to the stock 400 heads...

 

that's what i was tryin to say...Go buy a fel-pro 1205 intake gasket (the right one for your heads) and match it up to the intake like shown. I bet it won't cover the ports properly.

 

cover the ports of the base you mean? and your talking as in the gasket is way too big for the ports right cause i must matched the gasket that i have up to the base and the base is about 1/8 of an inch or more all the way around. and the edelbrock was about an 1/8 well more like 1/16th more all the way around also the intake runners are pretty smooth on the edelbrocks. boy i went and compaired them also to the 400's heads....the heads are off about as much as the TPI base is....plus it tapers in a **** load after the opening of the port. no wonder the 400(73 caprice vert. 2bbl) was rated at 175hp lol i cant wait to run this sucker.... for what i want to run(12's) do you think im running a good amount of cam....( i know its not alot for the 400.) but the rockers make up for it a little...i think......

 

but that's a stock gasket. that gasket is too small for the edelbrock heads, correct? Do you have the correct gasket for the edelbrocks?

 

" the base is about 1/8 of an inch or more all the way around. and the edelbrock was about an 1/8 well more like 1/16th more all the way around "

sorry that must have been confusing. but the port is 1/8th in smaller than the gasket. and witht he edelbrock heads its about 1/16th larger than the gasket. but yes its a felpro gasket # 90314-1