heres the problem, i started with, what i was told, is a 91 firebird tbi 305. i didnt get much when i bought the engine off craigslist, but for 100 dollars it wasnt a bad deal. i tore the motor down and put it back together with new gaskets. heres the problem, i wanted to run the tpi setup instead of the tbi. i found an 86 tpi setup complete with wiring harness and ecu for cheap to go with my 91 block and heads, turns out that the 4 center bolts, (2 center bolts on each side), do not line up. the intake bolt holes go in at an angle where as the bolt holes on the heads go straight down. is there anythang i can do other than scrap the intake and look for another? any help would be great. thanx for reading

 

Common problem with mis-matching years. You need to oblong the intake holes. You can do it with an die grinder or drill bit. Be careful you don't hit the mating surface for the intake runners. Or, buy the correct 87 and newer intake. You will probably want to do the 9th injector delete. Depending what you put it in, your harness and ECM is for a MAF system. Your TPI is for a SD system. Something needs to be done about that. If you do SD then you need different ECM and harness and Memcal. If MAF, then that is more complicated and maybe needs serious thought put into it to see if you can assemble all of the parts needed to run it. No matter which way you go you probably will need a new or reprogrammed memcal for the ECM. check the for sale forum here for a memcal.

 

86 TPI is MAF but in any case the Intake doesn't know / care what system is running on.

 

thats the impression i was under, that the intake didnt care what system it was running under, as long as i was using the right ECM for the wiring harness. that looks like an aftermarket intake thats setup for both styles of heads. would a machine shop/head shop be able to do the modification? i was on such a roll with this project and this really pissed me off! i didnt even stop to think that the bolts would be different. this is my first engine swap and ive learned alot along the way, i guess this is just one more lesson. this motor im "frankinstiening" together is all going into a first gen s10. it just seems that the people in this forum are alot more helpful than the ones on the s10 forum plus ive also got my buddys 84 trans am in my garage getting some work done so this just seemed like a good fit

 

If you want to spend $$$
Some time with a coarse file will get the same results
As noted you can use the side of a drill bit (carefully ) in a drill as a tool to machine it out
Pays to use thick washers on those 4 holes to spread clamping

 

thanx for all the advice. tomorrow im gonna go done to the head shop down the street and see if they might be able to help. im kinda worried about messing up the manifold and rendering it unusable. id really be up s*** creek without a paddle! i guess the good thang is that i still got other thangs to work on with the truck to get it ready to run so in the meantime i can work on that while i contemplate what im gonna do with the intake

 

As I said, depends on what the application is. What injectors are in it? is it a 305 or a 350 setup? If you are putting it into a newer than 89 f body then you have problems. The manifold doesn't care but the correct one is cheap and doesn't look Bubba.

 

like i said before the whole thang is going into an s10 pickup. the block and heads are from a 1991 firebird, i looked up the casting numbers. the intake, wiring harness and ECU are from a 1986 camaro, from what i was told and have been able to find in my research. the block and heads were originally a TBI setup. i bought the intake long after i got the engine. the two components did not come together. if i can make the two parts work together itll be a nice little setup in a s10. oh i forgot to mention that the block is a 305, the heads came with and are stock, also i was told the intake came off a 305. the guy was selling the intake cause it wasnt gonna work with the 350 he was building

 

No 305 or 350 specific intake ; all exactly the same on the inside
Only difference in TPI intake bases is whether they are early or late F-Body ( different bolt angles)
or from a Vette.( has early bolt angle but different EGR setup )


read
http://www.hotrodlane.cc/Streetstories/choosetpi1.htm
http://www.hotrodlane.cc/Streetstories/choosingtpi2.htm

 

So your title is wrong
All you have is a 305 engine that USED to be TBI unit.
You have no TBI computer or harness so you are not doing a TBI to TPI swap.
Anything to do with TBI from the engine's past life and what car it came from are now irrelevant
and not worth confusing people with

What you are doing is installing a MAF TPI setup on a reg SBC

Swap info here
http://www.chevythunder.com/chevythu...troduction.htm

 

And, you never said it was going in a s10 pickup. You are also going to need to identify the Memcal in the ECM to verify it is actually for a 305 not a 350.

 

thanx for all the help. sorry for any confussion. like i said everyone on this forum are much more helpful than anywhere else. i really appreciate the help. ill try to post some pics if it will let me, im still a junior member so it might not let me yet.

 

You are also going to need to identify the Memcal in the ECM to verify it is actually for a 305 not a 350.[/quote]

where do i find the Memcal? is that the prom chip? or is it just the part number on the ECU?

 

You will get plenty of help here but you have to do your part. Forget you ever heard of TBI
When asking questions state you are doing a
MAF TPI install on a 305 in a S10 using a '86 ECM and harness
that tells anybody exactly what you are doing


Blue thing inside computer
Has a 4 letter "prom " code on it that identifies what it is for

 

vetteoz and utilityguy2, you guys have been very helpful and i appreciate all the advice you two have given. your right i should have been more specific in my thread. a good friend of mine, whos trans am is sitting in my garage being worked on along side my s10, has done some filing on intake manifolds and understands what we have to do to get my TPI manifold to fit right. so this weekend we're gonna get it done. thanx again for all the help

 

forgot to ask, is there somewhere on this forum to reference the memcal code?

 

Read the link I posted above and
http://www.chevythunder.com/

Lots of helpful info there including wiring diagrams and the Proms codes

Codes for '86
http://www.chevythunder.com/prom_bcc_1986.htm

there are links at bottom of each page for other years

 

picture

 

s***! didnt work, tryin to post a pic but aparently i need help with that too! lol