this is my situation...

i have an 85 trans am, originally had a 305 w/ tpi, i swapped it out for a '72 350 bored .060 over w/ single plane intake, 850 CARB., ported iron heads, decent cam, etc.... i am interested in doing a mild single turbo set up, because of the simplicity of adding quick power, i have a chance to pick up a TPI 350 (with the rest of a crashed T/A) for $500 or b/o.

would i be better off swapping the TPI 350 in for doing a single turbo set up with like a t03/t04 or t04 with somewheres between 6 and 10 pounds of boost???

or am i better off staying with the carb motor that already has cam, decent heads, and good top end, and just do something like a 100shot of juice? --im eventually looking for mid 12's
(i have a 700R-4 witha holshot 2400 converter, shift kit, and 3.42's for now, if i stay w/ the high revving carb motor im swapping for 4.33's with a 27" tire)

PLEASE HELP!!... ive got three freinds currently running in the 13's with turbo'd mitsubishi's and i NEED to kill their cars in the spring

 

There are an increasing number of people on the boards runing a TPI set-up on a 350 with aftermarket parts that run high 12s low 13s with no power adders. A turbo 350 might be good for 11s. I know Willie's supercharged 5.0 TPI puts out some good times. Search the power adder boards.

For the cost of a turbo rebuild though you could go Mini ram, stealth ram, or super ram (what is with all of the ramming?) and a good set of heads and achieve 12's.

 

Yeah I'm with the kid on this one ,A built up 350 should run easy 12's N/A..what you have as it sits could run very well with a good head/cam combination...you mention you have decent head cam,but did not list there specs...swapping your current setup for another/then trying to tune a turbo setup on top of it is a lot for "just"12's..(I would be very happy with "just 12's though!!!!LOL)...If you have no emission worries i would go to town on that 350 you have in your car right now...

 

Yeah I should have said that too. A carberator set-up can get you into 12's also. Make sure you get a vacuum advance for cruising though. You could probably save a little money by sticking with a carburator. Then spend the money on more parts and a pity party for your slow friends.

 

thanks for the advice, i think for now, i will stay with the carb set up (maybe add some juice)

i talked to the guy who i sold my TPI setup and harness to, and he said hes moving out of town and is going to be getting rid of all his car parts so if i wanted it back i can have it for real cheap...
i guess i will pick it up and keep it on the shelf for someother time down the road...

as soon as the snows here and gone i will post times on my current setup (the track is closed here(lebanon valley))

the heads on it currently are 305 heads with a 58cc combustion chamber fully ported/polished, i had the 'camel hump' heads from a 69 chevelle on it but one was cracked. -and the cam i am ashamed to say.. i dont know the specs, all i know is its hydrualic and barely poduced enough vaccuum for my brakes and has a rough idle around 850-900rpm.-the cam was already in the short block setup when i bought it.
the engine has unreal throttle response and extremely fast revving, i swear the response is better than fuel injection and pulls hard from 2500/3000 up to 6500rpms...