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Rocket Power
03-13-2004, 06:35 PM
My brother and I are going to put a Grand Prix together for his first car. I have a 305 for it already and we were talking today and I thought it would be cool to TPI it for him. He's 14 so we have some time;)

Anyway as I am an Olds guy and all.... What years of TPI intakes will fit on a 1982 block. I remember they changed intake bolt patterns on the SBC's in the 80's but don't remember when.

Thanks guys

:thumbsup

BadAzzGTA89
03-13-2004, 11:27 PM
simple fix would be change the heads i think

PB86MCSS
03-13-2004, 11:58 PM
A TPI GP would be sweet! :D.

The Chevy heads went to centerbolts in 87' so finding a 85'-86' TPI intake would be key...not hard to do really but most are the centerbolt style. You can if need be use a centerbolt and slightly modify the bolt holes from what I hear as well. Al's has a 86' TPI motor sitting outside, or did for quite some time...I robbed the TPI TB plate off ;) and was tempted to just rip more off since they were wasting it. Maybe they still have it?

I will have my 86' L69 for sale pretty soon for cheap if interested by chance ;). 122k and runs fine...not sure on your 305 build up plans. A roller block(87+) would be cool too. I might even have my LS's roller 305(minus TPI) for sale by next year if a good deal for a 87+ 350 shortblock pans out.

If you need help with the conversion I'll be glad to help. I have the wiring schematics to use the GM harness and the GP's should be similar to the Montes with minor differences probably..best bet is to find a complete TPI car as a parts car if possible, or someone parting one out that isn't missing anything yet. They can be kinda cheap too, mine was $900 for a fully loaded 87' WS6(GTA wheels/digital dash, etc)...and can be had for less. Make the money back and maybe a profit while keeping all the parts you want.

*Edit: In 86' Corvettes got centerbolts....a decent budget upgraded head would be the aluminum ZZ3/ZZ4/Corvette heads 88'+ from the 350's...they work ok with the 305 with some mill work apparently.

PB86MCSS
03-17-2004, 01:25 PM
I would also recommend getting a 86' or 87' for wiring purposes. 85' is somewhat inferior so I wouldn't bother going with that.

88' I believe is the first year of the VATS so that is another obsticle to get around....and 89' ish the harness' were no longer stand alones...making it more of a pain from what I understand, if you were to use GM(I would). Some like Painless harness but I know alot of people who hate them as well. Howell apparently makes a better quality aftermarket harness. Plus using a MAF setup is nice as you do not need custom burned PROMs for basic mods. The MAF kind of self adjusts :D. MAF is 85-89 and SD is 90-92 btw.

You also will want an EFI g-body tank and sending unit(get a TPI application pump, swaps right in). 85'-88' TBI 4.3 Montes or 84'-87' TR's have the same tank. I have a 85' TBI one just re-finished but not sure if a friend of mine will be using it or not. You can use the carbed tank but without a baffle make sure the level isn't too low with the in tank pump.

There are so many options on how to do a swap, for the fan setup, what TPI setup and year, how you want to wire things(to an extent), fuel delivery system, etc.

I'm replying to myself so either that means I have no life or really bored. :haveabeer

Rocket Power
03-22-2004, 10:33 PM
Thans for the info. I'll have to run it all by him since he'll be footing the bill. I got my own projects to fund:goof


Now if I could adapt some of the TPI stuff to an Olds.....;) :D

PB86MCSS
03-23-2004, 02:09 AM
I'm sure you could rig up a custom intake base! Might take a long time but anything is possible.

Thinking about it all that would need to be custom in addition of the swap to a SBC g-body would be getting the intake to work ;) :goof .

Everything else *should* be ok...hehe. I'm assuming the sensors are basically the same between g-bodies.

Rocket Power
03-23-2004, 10:39 PM
Before i looked more into it, I thought I could machine the plenum to work with an Olds tunnel ram base. But all the stock TPI plenums I have seen pics of have a passage of some sort on the bottom that looks like it would prevent me from milling it flat to work with the T-ram base :(

..and there won't be any SBC's going in to my Olds G-bodies:D :flamet

They can go into Pontiacs though :goof

Although maybe I'll buy a Monte and put an Olds in it:nutkick
Just kidding.:D

PB86MCSS
03-26-2004, 06:10 PM
Blasphemy! :D

There is a guy on montecarloss.com who had a Buick 340 in his 84' SS before he wrecked it. Plus quite a few of TR drivetrains and I know a Poncho motor or two :).

You can purchase a plenum for kinda cheap, probably $20-30 or so to play with :). Or even cheaper if someone else messed up their porting project.

There is a plug on the bottom for the air temperature, maybe you could re-locate that.

Would be cool to have an EFI Olds V-8, non Aurora ;).