I have a generic 350 that I bought from the auto parts store with a 4/speed manual. I want to convert it from a carb to a TPI. They did not provide any specs for it though. I do know that it has 70s era iron smog heads on it and that at idle it pulls about 20inches of vacuum so it likely has a stock cam or near stock. Also it is running a hydraulic flat tappet cam. I am trying to figure out how to control it. In other words ECU/Wiring combo. I have all of the TPI intake parts. I also have a 165 ECU with a 165 wiring harness which I could make work. The harness would require some work though it is hacked a few places. However if I was to use the stock ECU I am not sure if it would work on my motor. Since it is different than the aluminum roller block with aluminum heads the prom is from. After reading it seems like the MAF ecus are more tolerant to changes so I think it might work. I would be removing the emissions/cold start injector since this is an 89 165 Prom. After reading some posts I don't think removing the emissions would cause an issue other than a check engine light. I also need a distributor I don't have a computer controlled distributor. If it is likely that I would have issues I have been looking at the Fast EZ EFI 2.0 or the Holley HP EFI 550-601. The fast EZ EFI does not have many reviews on it but it would be nice to have the dual sync distributor with sequential fuel injection/wideband o2. The Holley HP also looks good but it is pretty expensive. Seems like both need a CD box if you want to use a dual sync distributor which adds more to the cost. There is also the dynamic EFI and megsquirt but I think they are too costly and the dynamic efi is narrow band without buying a wideband o2 controller/sensor. At that point you are almost at the price of the Fast EZ EFI 2.0.

Sorry lots of info here I am just trying to figure out what I should do to run this TPI setup. I think the stock ECU or the Fast EZ EFI 2.0 is what I am leaning toward though. Any input would be helpful.

165 Computer: Cheap, narrowband o2, batch fire, but may not run right, VATS would prevent it from starting. Would have to learning curve for tuning and would have to buy the tools to tune.

Dynamic EFI: Somewhat expensive, narrow/wideband o2, need to buy wiring harness, batch fire.

Fast EZ EFI 1.0: Somewhat expensive, wideband o2, no timing control, self learn, handheld controller, and poor online reviews.

Fast EZ EFI 2.0: Moderately expensive, self learn, wideband o2, sequential injection, handheld controller, requires cd box for dual sync distributor.

Holley HP EFI 550-601: Very expensive, self learn, wideband o2, sequential injection, tuned via laptop, could use on ls engine in future with different wiring harness, requires cd box for dual sync distributor.

ECU: 165 MAF
Prom: APYP 3499 (Corvette 6 Speed Manual Prom)
Engine: 350
Cam: Likely Stock 350/Hydraulic Flat Tappet
Headers: Long Tube
Transmission: 4 Speed Manual

 

I've done a handful of 70s SBC conversions to TPI. MAF is easier if you do not want to spend a lot of tuning/programming time. Most of then were basically stock engines with varying heads, piston types, cam profiles, etc. All would start and run just fine on a stock MEMCAL.

The only unusual "tool" you might need to buy is a PROM writer/flash unit.

 

So to reprogram the prom chip on my memcal would the following two things be what I need for a stock memcal? That is only about $90 that is reasonable enough where I could buy them and play around with it and turn off VATS. Which will need to be done for me to be able to use the stock ECU.

http://www.moates.net/burn2-chip-pro....html?cPath=94
http://www.moates.net/hdr1-memcal-header-p-52.html

 

You need a g1 and a few sst eeproms

 

So I have been doing some reading. Looks like to erase the prom on the memcal I would have to hit it with uv light to erase it. That is why people use the G1 adapter with eraseable eeproms. That way they can put them in the programmer and burn them and put them back in the 165 ecm on the car easily. I found a link on moats for the G1 adapter with the zif socket and two 27SF512 chips. I think that should be what I need to burn a chip with VATS off and give it a shot to see if it would run on my motor. Does this sound correct?


http://www.moates.net/gp1-package-gm-adapter-with-2-chips-p-41.html?cPath=64
http://www.moates.net/burn2-chip-programmer-p-197.html?cPath=94
http://www.moates.net/hdr1-memcal-header-p-52.html

 

Look into the FiTech systems. The TPI is great but you will spend a lot more time getting the old 165 tuned properly if you have no experience. For about $1200 with the command center you get 400 HP capable self learning EFI. If my third gen wasn't already TPI I would swap it to a FiTech in a heartbeat.

GD

 

Yah I looked into the fitech systems already and the sniper efi. I really want to go with a TPI setup though. Mine is really nice it was cleaned and painted and I like the way the tpi setup looks.

 

Do you have any tuning experience or a good tuner familiar with older BLM based GM systems on your area? It's all about your level of ability and time investment to learn the tuning, etc.

GD

 

A zif socket isn't very reliable in a vehicle application. If you want a removable prom use a dip on the g1 or on the memcal d2 from moates. Some still us erase and use a pocket programmer. The 165 uses a 27c128 prom and sometimes the memcal has a 27c256 loaded in the upper area. If your not running aluminum heads you can easily remap the map table to a more conservative aujm sa table.

 

I got the G1, Flash and Burn 2, and two chips. So I can now disable VATS on one of the new chips. Not sure if this going to work but decided to try it. I found that the APYP chip was set to use an automatic transmission in tuner pro not a manual. I do have iron cylinder heads. I read that the timing might need to be adjusted iron vs aluminum heads. I am still new to tuner pro and it took me a while to figure out how to read the chip properly. I am fumbling my way through it. Still dont know if I have a 128 or 256 chip. I have read some 89 chips are 256 on the stock memcal. Also I would like to use the early 1985-86 large HE cap vs the remote coil I found my 165 wiring harness is set up for a large cap HEI not sure if that will work with the 89 prom though. I know all of the 89 proms would have been set up for the small cap distributor.