TPI worth it for SBC 40?

[bikersmurf]

Don’t get me wrong, I like purity. However, I’m also practical, and purity went out the window when the original motor was going to cost twice what another 40 would have. So now I’m building a sleeper that sounds stock... and has power to spare.

TPI is a 65 hp gain over stock if there’s any truth in published numbers. While burning less money at the pump. That’ll put it close to diesel mpg... now if only gas wasn’t $0.60/gal more than diesel. Not that economic and Landcruiser belong in the same sentence... but now that gas is $5 US / US gallon, every bit counts.

 

[bikersmurf]

Another member traded me a couple large Rubbermaid bins of '87 TPI parts. I now have an OEM harness, a spare manifold, plenum. tubes, etc, etc. The spare 8274 that's in pieces will be dug out and headed his way.

For amusement, I did a quick economy test on the carb... about 21 L/100km (about 12 mpg us). Not as good as I'd expected... so I had a look at the idle mixture screws... turns out they were way rich. Leaning them out made a big difference to performance under 2k rpm. I guess it made sense since I'd not tuned the carb on this engine, and scarcely on the last. It won't make a big difference, but it would some. I wanted to have some sort of baseline to compare to.

More to learn, and more to source. The stock distributor I have needs a new pickup and module... or to be replaced with a new one. I need a 45 psi fuel pump. And likely a surge tank... possibly with submerged pump inside it. As with many other projects, I don't want to spend money twice... but I'd like to get it running and see how well it works without breaking the bank. Reliability is a must... bells and whistles not so much.

 

[jim land]

I like my surge tank set-up , I build it to use a stock 87 camaro pump ( carter brand ) it is feed by a mechanical pump from my previous engine , no modification on the main tank needed.
I run this since 2010 , this summer the electric pump give up, 35$ on rockauto, not bad after 9 years of service

 

[bikersmurf]

I picked up a pump equivalent to this one. It’s a Spectra pump, but I don’t have the P/N. It’s an OEM reply for an ‘88 E series Van pump. 45 psi and inline. It needs a pump to feed it... but that’s what I had planned.

I’m planning to use a large fuel filter between the two to act as a reserve. I haven’t determined how best to run the return lines to bleed off possible air, etc. I’m still working on the exact details and parts... but the plan is coming together.