Ok i am building a 350 to swap into my 87 iroc which currently has a 305 tpi. Im a newb in this field, so i was curious if i should keep my tpi setup or switch to something like the stealth ram. i have the money to spend for a new intake, so any ideas on another setup (still FI) would be greatly appreciated. I have heard the name stealth ram alot though, so if someone could elaborate more on the pros and cons of it that would be great.

 

Do a search on the mini ram stealth ram blah blah there's a plethora of info on them.
You can even upgrade your tpi if you want to keep the stock look.

 

Personally, I'm a fan of the TPI setup. Just replace the Intake manifold and runners, do some porting and you have a strong engine that will be very streetable. Great take off and plenty of passing power when needed. As far as drag racing, I have gone 12.87 @ 106 with my current setup... nothing done to suspension yet... just for an idea,

My setup is Stock snorkel, Stock size MAF, 58mm TB, Stock upper plenum (hand ported), SLP air runners, TPIS Big Mouth intake manifold.

Runs great and Im shifting ~5500.

 

Hey what heads and cam you running?

 

The cam and heads have no casting number on either... its weird.

Cam has L98 hand engraved into it. its a hydraulic roller. (corvette maybe)

I was under the impression the heads are corvette heads... took them for a valve job and was told they look like lt4 heads, posted the heads on ls1tech and was told about 5 times that they are trick flow twisted wedge.... So honestly... I dont know on this one...Have a look http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showth...255&highlight=

 

I wouldn't take anything back to where you had the valve-job done if they thought those were LT-4 heads. They are Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads. Hard to say for sure if they're the G1 (170cc runner w/13-degree intake) or the G2 (185cc runner w/15-degree intake). Based on the picture,,, I couldn't tell if the springs have a tan or white stripe on them. If it is tan, they're probably K-motion springs and they only used those on the G1s because of the failure rates. As long as your lift is around .450" lift, they would hold up OK, but they claimed .500 lift and if you ran anything close to that,,, they had tendencies to snap. So,, while they're good heads,,, I'd routinely pull the valve covers and check the springs,, or better yet,, if the springs have the tan stripe,, replace those K-motions POS springs the first chance you get.

 

It depends on what you're looking for and what modifications have been done to the 350 you're installing. Stock or near stock, I like a ported stock TPI base (not siamesed) and SLP runners. Modified engines, either the FIRST or StealthRam depending on what you're looking for out of the engine.

 

Well im actually going to be building this engine from the block up. Im not looking for the most powerful engine and it wont be a drag car (looking for decent fuel economy). Im a stop light to stop light guy, not saying that i wont bring to the track on occasion. So to answer your question nothing will be stock and i am looking for around 350-400 hp but still would like to A LOT of usable torque. I don't want to high of a shift point, ~5500 or 6000 max. Ive read a lot about the stealth ram, and am fairly convinced, but i would like to hear a few more ideas (with pros and cons) before i make this decision. Also could you elaborate more on "FIRST".

 

LOL... I like the tpi,,,, if you change 90% of the parts and modify the rest.. ... 89txiroc is totally right, the tpi setup is the coolest(imo) looking efi system ever, but its very restrictive at anything over 4400rpm , you can port the lower intake with good results and not cost you anything but still be restrictive, or do what 89txiroc said. The holley stealth ram seems to be the most cost effective efi system for our cars,, but the first efi system looks so much better and is very good for a broad power band http://www.firstfuelinjection.com/redmanL.htm

 

You can do a search for more threads, but here is one with a good bit of information. I'd definitely go the FIRST route over a complete upgrade on the stock type TPI,,, especially if I didn't already have a throttle body. At $1000 complete with t/b,, it is cheaper than the upgrade parts, will out perform the upgraded system, and has HUGE potential to be ported for large or heavily modified engines.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tpi/...ighlight=first

 

[QUOTE=89TXIroc;3805647]
I was under the impression the heads are corvette heads... took them for a valve job and was told they look like lt4 heads, posted the heads on ls1tech and was told about 5 times that they are trick flow twisted wedge....

LOL, Lt4 heads. Def trick flows stupid geometry.

A worked or improved tpi setup does make some nice tq, there was an article posted on this forum about all the intake comparisons. It was called TPI shootout. Check it out.

The stealth ram did well, superram was good, but the best all around I believe was ASM's tpi setup. Made lots of tq, good hp, would be fantastic for a street car, but was a good bit more pricey than the stealthram.

 

So you are saying that if i am building this motor from scratch, you would suggest the FIRST system over the stealth ram system?

 

I'd go with the FIRST over a complete TPI upgrade, meaning TPI base, TPI runners, and throttle-body.

Your plans for how you'll use the engine or where you want your power band will determing if the HSR or the FIRST would be best for the application. I ran the FIRST and the HSR on an engine capable of making a little over 400 horses (with a carb) with a TH350 transmission, 3.23 gears, and a 3000 rpm stall. I like the FIRST for that combination, but it is entirely possible that if the car had a 5-speed and 3.73 gears that I would have liked the HSR better.