Intercontinental greetings,
I ran into a tpi problem over here in Germany. I cleared a barn and found a 305 LB9 1987 drivetrain wraped with a jaguar body. straight lump conversion, harness uncut, cooler, air filter, TH700. The LB9 has the 9th injector, the narrow dizzy, cast iron heads and center bolt covers, it should be 1987 Camaro or Firebird.
Unfortunately the guy removed all the electronic bits and the MAF prior to welding and then died. Engine bay seems complete less MAF. I know for certain that the car had been a runner because he had the tpi emmissions tested and officially registred before the strip down.
in the two pictures maybe someone can tell me to what the connectors should connect to.

on the first pic I think the lower two go straight into an ECM, and the two above into the VSS-box?

What the one in the second pic is for I have no idea.

Thank you
patrick

 

You are correct, ECM and the 4-out buffer box.

It is the ALDL connector. Mostly used to plug a scan tool into to read the ECM sensors and such.

RBob.

 

That was quick, thanks a lot.

So basically I will need a 1987 ECM from a 305 auto, the MAF and that 4-out buffer box.

parts are hard to get over here, only one 305 tpi untested engine without electronics is on offer for 1000 euro on german ebay. the fun is in the chase ...

could you tell me what that 4-out buffer box does?
cheers
patrick

 

The VSS buffer accepts the electric speed signal from the transmission then converts & splits the signal to various accessories. ( ECM, Speedo, and Cruise Control. ) Those VSS connectors indicate that your TPI harness is from a Firebird.

This schematic is from an 88 Firebird and should be very similar ( if not exactly the same ) as the system your working on.

 

I’m pretty sure I have a used Vss buffer box and 305 memcal chip.
you might be able to get a used 1227165 in the classifieds here or eBay USA or there is rockauto.com

 

Thank you very much. So no VSS-buffer, no instruments.
If I find a 1227165 or a 16198259 ECM I should be good then? If the ECM came from a manual, will it still run with my th700 setup?
Choice over here is very limited.

 

You will want to source a 305 automatic memcal chip and a Vss buffer to so tcc lockup will occur.
the 165 ecm was used in 4 cyl, tpi v8 305 & 350 manual and automatic transmission.
to get lockup look for a 86-88 memcal for 305 automatic.
some of the late 88 chips had vats enabled though.

 

There are a few differences in the wire harnesses. A Camaro would have employed a speedometer with a pulse generator whereas a Firebird would have a pulse coder (VSS) in the tailshaft housing of the transmission and an extra connector for that sensor. A Firebird harness includes a connector like this:



There would also be relays for the headlight doors which are absent in the Camaro, a slightly longer MAF pigtail, and some other minor details setting the two apart.

 

oh, cool. i planned to jack it up and have look under the car anyway, now i know what to look out for. we have rain and sleet at the moment and the car is sitting on the lawn , it might be a while until i can do it.
thanks
patrick

 

As previously advised, the ECM itself will make little difference. The MEMCAL is what is necessary to operate the system properly.

However, if the wire harness was from a manual transmission vehicle, it will lack the necessary connector for the 4th gear switch input from an automatic transmission and also lack the output for the TCC lockup solenoid.

Once the weather clears and you can inspect the vehicle more closely, check for those items as well. No hurry, since we've been here over 20 years and aren't going away anytime soon.