A friend of mine has a TPI set up sitting in his garage he'd sell me cheap or barter for, I'm seriously thinking about it. All I know right now is it's off a Chevy 350, have'nt seen it or don't know the year of it yet.
You can fill my knowledge of TPI in a thimble, so here's my questions:
Since we travel ALOT in my coupe with a 350, will it give me mileage? Power? Reliability? What's the upside? Downside? Should I buy a new wiring kit for it or attempt to figure out the old one?( I think I know the answer to that one)
Right now I'm running a Edlebrock intake/600 carb.
Couper

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Lance B.

Couper,
You need to do some digging here...
Is your 350 stock? Lumpy cam? etc.
What year is the intake?
Do you want or need to spend 3 or 4 hundred dollars for a new computer and harness?
Does your 350 have all of the hookups required to make the new computer, harness and intake work?
As far as mileage and performance goes you could improve both with a swap to a Quadrajet carb. Simple afternoon job, no electronics to give you fits and will cost less then just the harness for the TPI.
I have an'89 Astro with a stock '79 350 truck motor in it. Quadrajet carb, single exhaust. It pulls down over 18 miles to the gallon around town, which is better then my '95 GMC Sierra does, and would probably do 21-23 on the highway.
Just something to think about but, if you want a COST EFFECTIVE way to better mileage, the TPI probably isn't the way to go.

Thanks for the info, astroracer,
The engine (82) is basically stock, dishtop pistons, iron heads, mild cam. The TPI came out of an 88 IROC Z, has computer. My friend said the thing to do is call 'Street Performance' in Mena Ark., give them all the info.on my car, rearend ratio, tranny, wheel dimensions, etc. and they'll calculate what I need in addition to burning a new computer chip. Just found all this out this morning.
Your right, I've got alot of digging to do. I've got a 200 dollar credit at a wiring company that sells harnesses for TPI so that might help me on total cost. This whole swap-over thing looks like a winter project anyway, when we're not in the middle of cruisin' season!
Time to do some research and head scratchin' and decide what I really want. Thanks again
couper
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Lance B.

In my honest opinion TPI doesn't look nor sound good for a rod. Stick with the carb

Your probably right, steve, it's hard to picture that under my 34's hood. I'm building a 350 for my wife's 58 chevy 2door wagon, I think it might be a better fit in that. I'll decide this fall after I've seen a few.
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Lance B.

Yea, call Street & Performance.

A properly set-up TPI beats a Holley carb hands down. Performance will be better and, now that computers have been around for a while, they're pretty reliable.

You'll need to put an oxygen sensor in te header pipe, BTW

Unless you're good at carburetion setup, an out of the box Holley will probably not run anywhere near as good as a TPI. The carburetor is a little more forgiving thanthe TPI but, in the long run, teh TPI will save you money in fuel and such.

If you listen to the pimply faced kid behind te counter, you'll wind up with one that's way too big for your engine, anyway.


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Early hemi s.m.e.
Street rod wiring consultant
Free lance rod & custom journalist

Thanks skip, I hope to see and talk to a bunch of folks this coming weekend about TPI. ( hope to see at least one 58 yeoman there too!) couper
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Lance B.

Hey Couper...good luck at seeing any '58 2dr Yeomans...they are scarce as hens' teeth. LOL. According to Late Great Chevies, the '58 2dr is supposed to be the rarest of the '58s. But, that's not why I bought mine. Where are you going this weekend??
Phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

You just can't beat the "driveability" of fuel injection. The power is there at any rpm. Better fuel mileage and less emissions. It's worth the extra work to install it.
Jerry

OK ALL MY RODDING FRIENDS,, I HAVE CHANGED MY 53 STUDEBAKER FROM Z28 302 CARB motor TO IROC Z LT 1 efi.. one was 4 speed the other t56 6 speed. major job. $8,ooo later it runs like a scalded dog. i used a complete i say complete
100% set up from a IROC 96 camero. i would not recommend any one piece meal a efi system together.....you are asking for trouble. the carb 302[ real one] would do 140 @6200.the IROC will also do it,easier to , because of 50 more ci, 140@3200 in 6th gear. efi is fabulous, but carbs are simple if there is a problem. i hate problems..tom
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pink rod ... tom