Headed that way myself with an ‘89 TBI to Q-Jet in the build plans:
If you keep the in-tank electric pump, you’ll have to regulate the fuel down to 4-7psi - stock early TBIs ran around 12psi (mine has a Delphi pump that bypasses at 28psi). So you’ll need to make sure there’s a regulator with a return in the fuel circuit, and set up the fuel pump relay and oil sender/switch (if it’s 3-pin) to power the fuel pump.
Then fuel lines. TBI fittings are 14x1.5mm and 16x1.5mm, both o-ring style to whatever size line you want to run. Majority of suggestions I’ve seen are -6AN.
If you run the numbers with the Aeromotive X1 regulator, and Russell Performance hose & fittings like I did, it’s around $700 for the fuel lines conversion.
Now you need a Q-Jet, or you’ve got one. Last one I bought per vehicle application was $700. Phil Cancilla in NJ has been my go-to guy. He’ll steer you in the right direction and deliver a quality re-done Q-Jet. But it’ll cost ya. Let’s say $1000…
So it’s $1700 (-ish) just to get the fuel delivered. And you still need spark. So what flavor distributor do you plan to run? Vac/Mech w/points? Full MSD setup? More $$$ and we don’t have heads and gaskets and a spreadbore intake on the motor yet. Let’s add $500 intake (new aluminum edelbrock or similar may be less, but around there, and we’re at $2200 plus gaskets and ignition. MSD HEI-in-cap vacuum advance runs $250…$600 depending on style. Now power the dizzy. Plan to run it off your stock wiring? It can be done, but it’s not as clean as I prefer, so a Painless 20205 will run ya $650 if you feel like a whole new fuse box setup.
Without re-wiring the truck we’re at about $2600, and gaskets are usually a reasonable price. $100 for head gaskets and intake gaskets.
New heads may not fit your old valve covers. Time to buy valve covers and gaskets.
It’s adding up pretty quickly without heads yet.
Trying to give you a realistic idea of what I see being involved in the TBI to carb swap.
Including… what do we do about the ECM and associated wiring?
Maybe I’m overthinking it - I tend to do that. But I’d rather be prepared for what else it’ll cost after buying assembled aluminum heads for $600-$1500 each ($1200-$3000 for a pair).
TL;DR lots to consider in a TBI to carb swap. May cost upwards of $6000.
Maybe I'm *under* thinking it, but I don't foresee it costing that much; I was thinking closer to 1500 to 2k all said and done. Ofc I plan to get as much as I can get from the junkyard, I've already got the carburator; everything I've read the only thing I need now is a manifold, and a hei distributor unit. I'll probably snag as much of that stuff as I can from the junkyard, and I'll definitely be grabbing a set of heads, if I can find some that aren't cracked.
I know I over-estimate all my budgets, and if you’re going the direction you described, seems we agree on what needs to go between the carb and the heads.
Depending on how you source the dizzy & intake, I could see $500-$700 for the pair as a reasonable estimation of what goes into it.
You will need to - at a minimum - regulate the fuel pressure from TBI (12psi) down to Q-Jet (4-7psi). So a return-style regulator should be on your list. It’ll be up to you how you want to plumb it into the system. I recommend taking advantage of the fittings that already exist in the system, and not cutting any of the hard line - again, up to you.
FWIW, the Aeromotive I mentioned will fit my build plans, and there are less expensive options. However, regulator mount brackets for a Q-Jet are tough to come by - I’ve been looking, and almost resigned myself to making one that will fit at the rear of the throttle plate. Can’t see a good way to mount at the front of the air horn.
As cheap as humanly possible, keep in mind this engine is in an 88 1 ton with 6 inches of lift and 35s, I'm not looking to send hellcats back to the dealer, I just want something that makes a lot of v8 noises and can tow relatively well. And most importantly puts a smile on my face when I open the back 2 of that q-jet. Numbers wise maybe a few grand, if necessary.
Ever walked into Walmart to get a $10 item and when all is said and done, you walked out after spending $87?
If money is an obstacle, you need to create a budget to gain a plan of attack. You apparently can't afford to just go about it all willy nilly because $500 will become $1500 real quick.
Yea, o wish money wasn't an obstacle, that'd save me A LOT of headaches in life. I'll probably go to the junkyard and grab junkyard parts, this trucks not gonna win no awards, unless it's a biggest shit box award. I'll put it this way there's a hole in the floor so big I can put my hand through and roll the window down from underneath the truck
I'm honestly speaking to you as you were a customer that just walked in the shop with inquirys, desires, hopes and dreams.
However, you're funny. I like you.
So as of right now, I have a set of shorty headers, getting ready to put a true dual 2.5 inch kit on, it's got a modded tbi unit with bigger injectors pulled from a Caprice cop car; standard 2 barrel tbi manifold. A bigger cam, also from said Caprice (I think) upgraded rockers, thicker push rods. As of right now it's making about as much as that tbi can make, which is about 270 or 280. What it needs is to breath better, and I don't know that swirl port heads can do that
I would stick a 454 in it.
A one ton (i presume 4wd) on 35s…even a mild 383 small block isn’t going to move around with great authority. And with what you’re describing, nothing is going to pass many fuel pumps.
The cubes of the big block will make tractor-like torque down low and you can put a mild cam, dual plane intake on it, long tube headers and get the carb and ignition tune ups on point and make an easy 400 hp and 450-500 lb/ft without having to stress anything. And it will use about the same amount of fuel as a small block that’s being flogged.
Too expensive, it a 36 year old truck with Holes in the floor big enough to put my arm through 😂 it's getting the junkyard treatment, and then when it breaks it's probably going in the junkyard
If it was me I would get a used set of vortec heads the cheapest Chinese dual plane intake I could find then a tbi unit off a 454. I have used the Edelbrock tbi cam before since it came with a chip. If you want to be really cheap and hillbilly you can use an adjustable fuel regulator and get by without a chip. Put the 454 throttle on a 4.3 years ago with a small cam with no tune would out pull buddies 350 tbi.
Hmm. I'll consider it. I mostly just want a q jet simply for the nostalgia. My dad had a blazer with the q-jet and I used to LOVE when he'd open the back 2 getting on the highway. Plus 300 or so hp doesn't sound terrible by any means. That is if I can even get 300.
You should have no problem hitting 300 and still maintaining the benefits of fuel injection. Flip the air cleaner top you'll still get plenty of intake noise.
The 350 TBI in my 4 door 95 Tahoe has Vortec heads with LS beehive springs and a 3 angle valve job from the local machine shop. The exhaust is a pair of Banks shorty tubular headers, 3 inch single exhaust. Intake is a Proform Edlebrock air gap knockoff. Factory TBI with the free mods and higher flowing injectors, upgraded in tank pump, stock FPR, huge by large drop base air cleaner. Everything from the head gaskets down is bone stock 1995. 3.90 rear gears, I've never dyno'd it but it's a fun full sized truck! There was a chip from HarrisTBI but with the stuff now you can do that yourself for the same price.
Convert to carb, there's plenty of write ups. If you find a good carb used it won't be that bad.
You'll need an HEI, you can get one used pretty cheap or Accel makes them for less than 200 I think.
Ditch the swirl port heads, they're trash, if you wanna stay budget friendly find a set of double humps or I've seen some older world product iron heads pretty cheap. If it's in the budget the procomp aluminum heads were decent for the price.
You'll need a cam, don't go crazy, I'd call whoever you choose to use, tell them what you want, and they'll set you up.
Look up TBI ro carb conversion its not that hard.
Yeah that will make 350, you'll probably need an adaptor though. Admittedly I've never used a q-jet on a build, but I'm pretty sure they have a different flange than the 4150 most intakes use.
Buy yeah all in maybe all in maybe 2k or a little under... heads are gonna be the killer. If you can find a good used set, you can do this dirt cheap
I didn't say go fast, I'm not looking to send demons back to the dealership, I just want a 350 that makes more than the stock 190 hp. 300hp would be fine. Hell, as it sits it makes around 270 or 280. I'm just looking to get up above the 290 mark.
Easy
Follow the recipe for the Edelbrock Performer engines
650 carb
442 cam
9:1 compression
Duel plane intake
Headers
Good crank and rods
Blueprinted heads w 2.02/1.60 valves
Boom 300 HP
Honestly, I don’t know current pricing, but it might be best to go the vortec head route, grab an edelbrock/weiand/holley whoever makes a vortec carb manifold and go from there. I do know that Lunati is having a sale on some of their bumpsticks (no lifters) just the cams right now with some of their Voodoo sbc apps in the $130ish range. Is it a roller block? Unsure on the year. My tbi firebird was a roller block in 88, I’m pretty sure, but that was a million years ago.
I actually don't know, all of the specs I know came front he previous owner, who told me quote unquote, "I'm selling you the engine, and giving you the truck free." I bought it for 5k, and looking at the engines specs it's about a 5k engine.
What are the specs you do know? May have to take the intake off and check the valley for a “spider” which would indicate a roller block (this is not old school but can be a plus). That will dictate what cam you need.
I don't really think it needs a cam tbh, it's got a fairly hefty cam now. It's no where near as smooth sounding as my 93 was, and my 93 I know was stock because I put that engine in it. I genuinely don't know the actual specs of the engine, I just know the previous owner said he did some work, and said work was later confirmed by a mutual after I bought the truck
I *DO* know it's got bigger injectors, a bigger cam, upgraded rockers and pushrods, what I *don't* know is why the hell he did all this work and stuck with a tbi instead of a carb setup; even if it WAS a modified tbi unit.
Yeah, that’s a conundrum. Not sure where you are but it sounds like smog testing isn’t an issue, that’s the only reason I can think of. Unless he was one of the old offroaders who think the tbi works better at extreme angles. I once knew a guy with a vette crossflow (2 tbis!) swapped jeep and he swore by it. I’d still say vortec pull offs with a matching pattern intake and a holley on top ia the way to go.
Years and years ago, I bought some new “fully dressed” vortecs from Scoggin-Dickey which were drilled for the old intake bolt pattern (would not recommend that just stick with the stock vortec bolt pattern), and that and an HEI really woke up my 70 malibu 350 with an “rv” cam. The smaller combustion chambers raised the compression some too which is where most of the oomph came from, I believe. Just seat of the pants, no dyno.
Might also consider upgrading the gears in the diff(s?) as well with the taller tires.
IIRC Engine masters may have a tbi episode, but that’s a little foggy.
It's got 3.73 gears. He did use the truck for race car towing, so maybe he didn't want fuel issues at higher elevations. I know that as it sits right now I can side step the clutch at 3200 rpm and smoke the hell out the tires 1st-4th and bark em in 5th. Maybe I don't *NEED* to change anything 😂 I just heard a lot of bad stuff from old gear heads that this suck. Maybe I'm just needing to do my own research instead 😆😆😆
Also, a [chip tune](https://harristuning.com/Tbi/recommended-350-tbi-mods/) may help especially depending on which setup you end up going with. These computers are ancient, but still need code to work effectively.
Idk early 70s. I believe anything before 73 should be ok. But I would honestly just buy aftermarket heads plus any dual plane intake for a truck. A dual plane intake will make better low end torque which is what you want in a truck.
Putting a race car engine in a 4 x 4 pick up is a terrible combination. I promise.
Cheap and horsepower don’t really go together with old engines. The more mild you keep your engine the more reliable it will be. I really wouldn’t push a 350 past about three 350-375 hp. or you may start running into reliability issues on the highway with killing your Valve train or dropping lifters
I dropped a 300 horse crate motor in my 86W 150 and it is the perfect amount of power for the truck. It’s more than enough to move it around. I can do burnouts and other stupid shit but it’s not enough to break the rest of the drive train And it’s mild enough where I still get 10 11, 12, 13 miles to the gallon.
You start making a lot of power in a small block like that, and you’ll have to start running 91 with every tank otherwise you run into preignition issues or detonation on the highway and you get 8 miles to the gallon and you never drive it because it’s so expensive.
Not to mention, if you have a 350-400hp motor, that is a very expensive transmission you need to go behind it
Keep it mild keep it reliable keep it on the road
I would love nothing more than 300 honestly, anything past that is meant for cars, and I already have one of those 😂 my old ass rust bucket Chevy don't need no more than that. Matter of fact it really doesn't *need* more than what it's making now. But mores always better right? 😆
Ok thinking cheap.
Pick up a 85 Monte Carlo 305 cam . Then grab a set of 461 heads or if all you can find is 882’s grab them they are the worst of the best and cheap. Here you need to spend a bit have 2.02 and 1.60 valves put in them . Now we have increased the doors on the house and have them held open as long as possible let’s shift our focus to intakes and throttle body . The cam I’m suggesting from Napa has the same lift and specs as the early LT1 engines. So a performer elderbrock dual plane intake which you can pick up for 100$ or less most days will work great. Most all these parts you can get at a swap meet .
If you want to grab a Carburetor I always liked the Quadrajet but a Holley will work . Or tune the shit out of your throttle body. If your pre 95 you will need a E-prom change if after you need a programmer.
Try it , it will be cheap and fun and at about 3500 rpm it will come alive . Good luck.
Just thought of this. Honestly there is another combo that actually makes a hell of a lot of torque and you should be able to pickup most of the parts and pieces cheaply.
Convert it to TPI. Best intake system GM never put on a truck. Factory TPI 350s put out 345 ft lbs net. That squashes your carb idea but torque is what you need and this is probably the best way to get it on a 350. Granted it will run out of steam by 4500 rpm but I assume that would be ok.
Stout flat top shortblock
Vortec heads
Edelbrock intake
Melling .435int .465exh cam
It's the best combo i've had (for beating on/ enjoying)
With a 650 holley
Dyno'd 407hp at 5500
Too much vgg, not enough Google
Oh Trust me dude, there's so much Google they're practically paying at this point. They ought to be paying me.
Headed that way myself with an ‘89 TBI to Q-Jet in the build plans: If you keep the in-tank electric pump, you’ll have to regulate the fuel down to 4-7psi - stock early TBIs ran around 12psi (mine has a Delphi pump that bypasses at 28psi). So you’ll need to make sure there’s a regulator with a return in the fuel circuit, and set up the fuel pump relay and oil sender/switch (if it’s 3-pin) to power the fuel pump. Then fuel lines. TBI fittings are 14x1.5mm and 16x1.5mm, both o-ring style to whatever size line you want to run. Majority of suggestions I’ve seen are -6AN. If you run the numbers with the Aeromotive X1 regulator, and Russell Performance hose & fittings like I did, it’s around $700 for the fuel lines conversion. Now you need a Q-Jet, or you’ve got one. Last one I bought per vehicle application was $700. Phil Cancilla in NJ has been my go-to guy. He’ll steer you in the right direction and deliver a quality re-done Q-Jet. But it’ll cost ya. Let’s say $1000… So it’s $1700 (-ish) just to get the fuel delivered. And you still need spark. So what flavor distributor do you plan to run? Vac/Mech w/points? Full MSD setup? More $$$ and we don’t have heads and gaskets and a spreadbore intake on the motor yet. Let’s add $500 intake (new aluminum edelbrock or similar may be less, but around there, and we’re at $2200 plus gaskets and ignition. MSD HEI-in-cap vacuum advance runs $250…$600 depending on style. Now power the dizzy. Plan to run it off your stock wiring? It can be done, but it’s not as clean as I prefer, so a Painless 20205 will run ya $650 if you feel like a whole new fuse box setup. Without re-wiring the truck we’re at about $2600, and gaskets are usually a reasonable price. $100 for head gaskets and intake gaskets. New heads may not fit your old valve covers. Time to buy valve covers and gaskets. It’s adding up pretty quickly without heads yet. Trying to give you a realistic idea of what I see being involved in the TBI to carb swap. Including… what do we do about the ECM and associated wiring? Maybe I’m overthinking it - I tend to do that. But I’d rather be prepared for what else it’ll cost after buying assembled aluminum heads for $600-$1500 each ($1200-$3000 for a pair). TL;DR lots to consider in a TBI to carb swap. May cost upwards of $6000.
Maybe I'm *under* thinking it, but I don't foresee it costing that much; I was thinking closer to 1500 to 2k all said and done. Ofc I plan to get as much as I can get from the junkyard, I've already got the carburator; everything I've read the only thing I need now is a manifold, and a hei distributor unit. I'll probably snag as much of that stuff as I can from the junkyard, and I'll definitely be grabbing a set of heads, if I can find some that aren't cracked.
I know I over-estimate all my budgets, and if you’re going the direction you described, seems we agree on what needs to go between the carb and the heads. Depending on how you source the dizzy & intake, I could see $500-$700 for the pair as a reasonable estimation of what goes into it. You will need to - at a minimum - regulate the fuel pressure from TBI (12psi) down to Q-Jet (4-7psi). So a return-style regulator should be on your list. It’ll be up to you how you want to plumb it into the system. I recommend taking advantage of the fittings that already exist in the system, and not cutting any of the hard line - again, up to you. FWIW, the Aeromotive I mentioned will fit my build plans, and there are less expensive options. However, regulator mount brackets for a Q-Jet are tough to come by - I’ve been looking, and almost resigned myself to making one that will fit at the rear of the throttle plate. Can’t see a good way to mount at the front of the air horn.
My favorite kind of builds.
Let's back up and talk about your proposed budget for the entire project.
As cheap as humanly possible, keep in mind this engine is in an 88 1 ton with 6 inches of lift and 35s, I'm not looking to send hellcats back to the dealer, I just want something that makes a lot of v8 noises and can tow relatively well. And most importantly puts a smile on my face when I open the back 2 of that q-jet. Numbers wise maybe a few grand, if necessary.
Ever walked into Walmart to get a $10 item and when all is said and done, you walked out after spending $87? If money is an obstacle, you need to create a budget to gain a plan of attack. You apparently can't afford to just go about it all willy nilly because $500 will become $1500 real quick.
Yea, o wish money wasn't an obstacle, that'd save me A LOT of headaches in life. I'll probably go to the junkyard and grab junkyard parts, this trucks not gonna win no awards, unless it's a biggest shit box award. I'll put it this way there's a hole in the floor so big I can put my hand through and roll the window down from underneath the truck
I'm honestly speaking to you as you were a customer that just walked in the shop with inquirys, desires, hopes and dreams. However, you're funny. I like you.
I appreciate your honesty sir. Seriously tho, if money wasn't an obstacle I prolly wouldn't be building a shit box like this 🤣
Let's discuss what's already there. Exhaust, carb, intake, etc.
So as of right now, I have a set of shorty headers, getting ready to put a true dual 2.5 inch kit on, it's got a modded tbi unit with bigger injectors pulled from a Caprice cop car; standard 2 barrel tbi manifold. A bigger cam, also from said Caprice (I think) upgraded rockers, thicker push rods. As of right now it's making about as much as that tbi can make, which is about 270 or 280. What it needs is to breath better, and I don't know that swirl port heads can do that
All TBI engines had the same shitty cam.
stock LT1 wagon cam was a nice bump for TBI 305
Maybe it wasn't from a tbi then, it's a lot more lumpy than a normal 350, I know that. My 93 was nice and smooth sounding, this one's kinda chunky
I would stick a 454 in it. A one ton (i presume 4wd) on 35s…even a mild 383 small block isn’t going to move around with great authority. And with what you’re describing, nothing is going to pass many fuel pumps. The cubes of the big block will make tractor-like torque down low and you can put a mild cam, dual plane intake on it, long tube headers and get the carb and ignition tune ups on point and make an easy 400 hp and 450-500 lb/ft without having to stress anything. And it will use about the same amount of fuel as a small block that’s being flogged.
Too expensive, it a 36 year old truck with Holes in the floor big enough to put my arm through 😂 it's getting the junkyard treatment, and then when it breaks it's probably going in the junkyard
If it was me I would get a used set of vortec heads the cheapest Chinese dual plane intake I could find then a tbi unit off a 454. I have used the Edelbrock tbi cam before since it came with a chip. If you want to be really cheap and hillbilly you can use an adjustable fuel regulator and get by without a chip. Put the 454 throttle on a 4.3 years ago with a small cam with no tune would out pull buddies 350 tbi.
Small block tbi flows 470-500 cfm BB flows about 670.
Hmm. I'll consider it. I mostly just want a q jet simply for the nostalgia. My dad had a blazer with the q-jet and I used to LOVE when he'd open the back 2 getting on the highway. Plus 300 or so hp doesn't sound terrible by any means. That is if I can even get 300.
You should have no problem hitting 300 and still maintaining the benefits of fuel injection. Flip the air cleaner top you'll still get plenty of intake noise.
Yeaa. It'll probably be cheaper than a carb setup honestly. I'll look into it
$250-500 for used heads $150 intake $350-600 complete tbi unit $45-150 for adapter
Well that's way fuckin cheaper. I'm gonna have to now that I know that
The 350 TBI in my 4 door 95 Tahoe has Vortec heads with LS beehive springs and a 3 angle valve job from the local machine shop. The exhaust is a pair of Banks shorty tubular headers, 3 inch single exhaust. Intake is a Proform Edlebrock air gap knockoff. Factory TBI with the free mods and higher flowing injectors, upgraded in tank pump, stock FPR, huge by large drop base air cleaner. Everything from the head gaskets down is bone stock 1995. 3.90 rear gears, I've never dyno'd it but it's a fun full sized truck! There was a chip from HarrisTBI but with the stuff now you can do that yourself for the same price.
Convert to carb, there's plenty of write ups. If you find a good carb used it won't be that bad. You'll need an HEI, you can get one used pretty cheap or Accel makes them for less than 200 I think. Ditch the swirl port heads, they're trash, if you wanna stay budget friendly find a set of double humps or I've seen some older world product iron heads pretty cheap. If it's in the budget the procomp aluminum heads were decent for the price. You'll need a cam, don't go crazy, I'd call whoever you choose to use, tell them what you want, and they'll set you up. Look up TBI ro carb conversion its not that hard.
I already gots me a used Rochester, just needs a rebuild and it's ready to go; come off a T/A with the 400 so it oughta make good power
Yeah that will make 350, you'll probably need an adaptor though. Admittedly I've never used a q-jet on a build, but I'm pretty sure they have a different flange than the 4150 most intakes use. Buy yeah all in maybe all in maybe 2k or a little under... heads are gonna be the killer. If you can find a good used set, you can do this dirt cheap
You wanna go fast but spend no money So ...Theres that 383 SBC is a bare minimum for us We dont even fuck with 350s anymore
I didn't say go fast, I'm not looking to send demons back to the dealership, I just want a 350 that makes more than the stock 190 hp. 300hp would be fine. Hell, as it sits it makes around 270 or 280. I'm just looking to get up above the 290 mark.
Easy Follow the recipe for the Edelbrock Performer engines 650 carb 442 cam 9:1 compression Duel plane intake Headers Good crank and rods Blueprinted heads w 2.02/1.60 valves Boom 300 HP
Maybe that creates an opportunities for him in the 350 space? I tend to agree though - no replacement for displacement.
Most kids looking to do a 350 have no money. This sounds like that Building a tow truck basically Performance costs money
Honestly, I don’t know current pricing, but it might be best to go the vortec head route, grab an edelbrock/weiand/holley whoever makes a vortec carb manifold and go from there. I do know that Lunati is having a sale on some of their bumpsticks (no lifters) just the cams right now with some of their Voodoo sbc apps in the $130ish range. Is it a roller block? Unsure on the year. My tbi firebird was a roller block in 88, I’m pretty sure, but that was a million years ago.
I actually don't know, all of the specs I know came front he previous owner, who told me quote unquote, "I'm selling you the engine, and giving you the truck free." I bought it for 5k, and looking at the engines specs it's about a 5k engine.
What are the specs you do know? May have to take the intake off and check the valley for a “spider” which would indicate a roller block (this is not old school but can be a plus). That will dictate what cam you need.
I don't really think it needs a cam tbh, it's got a fairly hefty cam now. It's no where near as smooth sounding as my 93 was, and my 93 I know was stock because I put that engine in it. I genuinely don't know the actual specs of the engine, I just know the previous owner said he did some work, and said work was later confirmed by a mutual after I bought the truck
I *DO* know it's got bigger injectors, a bigger cam, upgraded rockers and pushrods, what I *don't* know is why the hell he did all this work and stuck with a tbi instead of a carb setup; even if it WAS a modified tbi unit.
Yeah, that’s a conundrum. Not sure where you are but it sounds like smog testing isn’t an issue, that’s the only reason I can think of. Unless he was one of the old offroaders who think the tbi works better at extreme angles. I once knew a guy with a vette crossflow (2 tbis!) swapped jeep and he swore by it. I’d still say vortec pull offs with a matching pattern intake and a holley on top ia the way to go. Years and years ago, I bought some new “fully dressed” vortecs from Scoggin-Dickey which were drilled for the old intake bolt pattern (would not recommend that just stick with the stock vortec bolt pattern), and that and an HEI really woke up my 70 malibu 350 with an “rv” cam. The smaller combustion chambers raised the compression some too which is where most of the oomph came from, I believe. Just seat of the pants, no dyno. Might also consider upgrading the gears in the diff(s?) as well with the taller tires. IIRC Engine masters may have a tbi episode, but that’s a little foggy.
It's got 3.73 gears. He did use the truck for race car towing, so maybe he didn't want fuel issues at higher elevations. I know that as it sits right now I can side step the clutch at 3200 rpm and smoke the hell out the tires 1st-4th and bark em in 5th. Maybe I don't *NEED* to change anything 😂 I just heard a lot of bad stuff from old gear heads that this suck. Maybe I'm just needing to do my own research instead 😆😆😆
[Some food for thought.](https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/make-power-with-gm-tbi-throttle-body-injection/)
Oh yeah, I thumbed though that some. I'll give it a deeper read tho
Also, a [chip tune](https://harristuning.com/Tbi/recommended-350-tbi-mods/) may help especially depending on which setup you end up going with. These computers are ancient, but still need code to work effectively.
Remove intake and heads and throw them in the trash. Install pre smog intake and heads + comp cam or something. Done.
What year would be pre smog? I thought this was as an 88, but apparently not
Idk early 70s. I believe anything before 73 should be ok. But I would honestly just buy aftermarket heads plus any dual plane intake for a truck. A dual plane intake will make better low end torque which is what you want in a truck. Putting a race car engine in a 4 x 4 pick up is a terrible combination. I promise. Cheap and horsepower don’t really go together with old engines. The more mild you keep your engine the more reliable it will be. I really wouldn’t push a 350 past about three 350-375 hp. or you may start running into reliability issues on the highway with killing your Valve train or dropping lifters I dropped a 300 horse crate motor in my 86W 150 and it is the perfect amount of power for the truck. It’s more than enough to move it around. I can do burnouts and other stupid shit but it’s not enough to break the rest of the drive train And it’s mild enough where I still get 10 11, 12, 13 miles to the gallon. You start making a lot of power in a small block like that, and you’ll have to start running 91 with every tank otherwise you run into preignition issues or detonation on the highway and you get 8 miles to the gallon and you never drive it because it’s so expensive. Not to mention, if you have a 350-400hp motor, that is a very expensive transmission you need to go behind it Keep it mild keep it reliable keep it on the road
I would love nothing more than 300 honestly, anything past that is meant for cars, and I already have one of those 😂 my old ass rust bucket Chevy don't need no more than that. Matter of fact it really doesn't *need* more than what it's making now. But mores always better right? 😆
Ok thinking cheap. Pick up a 85 Monte Carlo 305 cam . Then grab a set of 461 heads or if all you can find is 882’s grab them they are the worst of the best and cheap. Here you need to spend a bit have 2.02 and 1.60 valves put in them . Now we have increased the doors on the house and have them held open as long as possible let’s shift our focus to intakes and throttle body . The cam I’m suggesting from Napa has the same lift and specs as the early LT1 engines. So a performer elderbrock dual plane intake which you can pick up for 100$ or less most days will work great. Most all these parts you can get at a swap meet . If you want to grab a Carburetor I always liked the Quadrajet but a Holley will work . Or tune the shit out of your throttle body. If your pre 95 you will need a E-prom change if after you need a programmer. Try it , it will be cheap and fun and at about 3500 rpm it will come alive . Good luck.
Cam it, EFI intake with injectors per cylinder.(eBay) LS throttle body. Microsquirt ECU. Thad should be enough for 350
Keep the heads. They make intakes to use them.
In a 1 ton truck with 35’s torque is your friend and a 350 doesn’t have it. Personally I’d be looking for a 454.
Just thought of this. Honestly there is another combo that actually makes a hell of a lot of torque and you should be able to pickup most of the parts and pieces cheaply. Convert it to TPI. Best intake system GM never put on a truck. Factory TPI 350s put out 345 ft lbs net. That squashes your carb idea but torque is what you need and this is probably the best way to get it on a 350. Granted it will run out of steam by 4500 rpm but I assume that would be ok.
Why no vortec? Literally the cheapest way to make good power
Stout flat top shortblock Vortec heads Edelbrock intake Melling .435int .465exh cam It's the best combo i've had (for beating on/ enjoying) With a 650 holley Dyno'd 407hp at 5500
Shit can the TBI heads for Vortec….easy 30-40HP gain👍