I have an 83 z28 with cross-fire injection right now. I just put in a new gm 350 crate motor. It's a universal 350 for any 1986 and older chevy. I want to get rid of CFI and put on TPI, the mass air flow style. Do I have to buy a system from a 85 or 86 chevy to make it work with my heads? An 89 iroc setup wouldn't work right, because they had different heads? There are so many used setups out there. I just want to make sure to buy the right one. Thanks for the help.

 

The easiest way is to get the right parts, but you can modify the base so that it works with the older heads. Its just the center 4 bolts on the base that are at a different angle, the holes need to be elongated and either you need some angled washers/spacers or you should machine the area where the bolt fits so that its at the right angle (which is what I did). You can also pick up an aftermarket base, most if not all of those have both patterns.

 

You need a pre-87 tpi setup or do what madmax suggested. I still have an intake and plenum from my old one. Thats a sweet looking car you got there. What color is it and what kind of rims are those?

 

Thanks for the help guys. Thanks for the compliments CaptPicardsZ28. The car was painted before I purchased it, not sure on the color. I would call it light gun metal gray metallic. The bottom of the car is very light silver metallic. I bought the wheels from America's Tire Co. They are MB Motoring wheels, about $120 each. Thanks again guys.

 

Your best option is a setup from an 86. The 85 has a different ECM and is less desireable. 86 through 89 all use the same 165 ECM MAF system, but there are differences. 86 intakes fit the older heads. 87 up intakes fit the later heads. 87 was the first year for the divorced coil. 85 and 86 have the coil in the distributor cap. 88 was the first year for the serpentine belt, and as a result the hard fuel lines going to the fuel rail are different. In 89 the cold start injector was eliminated, and therefore the intake and driver side runner have no provision for it.

 

Thanks for the info cdartz. Still have not purchased a setup yet. Still trying to make up my mind, but your info makes it easier to do so. I will be getting a setup in about a week or so for sure. Oh, if I purchase a 85 setup, couldn't I always find a ECM for a 86 and up and update the system? Thanks for the help.

 

Yeah you can use the hard parts from an 85 with an 86 ECM, but keep in mind you'd need the wiring harness from the 86 too. You may end up cobbling together a setup from different year parts. I did that on my 87.

 

Thanks, this helps out a lot.

 

Here's a pic of one of the cars I converted to TPI. This is an 87 Camaro LT originally equipped with a V6. Currently it has a 1992 305 LB9 block and heads. The TPI is a frankenstein setup I cobbled together. The ECM and wiring harness are from an 86. The PROM (chip) is a modified 89 that a friend burned for me (89 code eliminates cold start - but 89 has VATS so my buddy modified it to remove that). The intake base is from an 89 and driver side runner is from a 90 (no cold-start provision) which fit the 92 heads. The passenger side runner and plenum are from an 86.

 

That setup looks sweet. Looks like it came from the factory that way. Glad to hear you can interchange and modify parts for these cars. Makes the switch to tpi a lot easier.