TBI - Cam / Vortec Heads / Upgraded Trottle Body - Any success stories?

[Mattchu60]

Hello All,

For the past year I have been researching upgrades to the TBI 350 in my 87'. There seems to be a lot of roadblocks to upgrading these engines. Mostly they are due to the restrictive Throttle Body, Heads and the ECM.

I am not looking for serious racing performance, I am shooting to get to around 240-260 hp. I still want my power band to be lower, as the truck is used for towing/hauling. Again - not a race car.

Sounds like Vortec Heads are the way to go and to find the TBI intake manifold to make it work. I have found that CFM Tech makes a ported Throttle Body which really increases airflow (I think it goes from 480 to around 620ish cfm, thats a guess from memory).

I was thinking about doing the vortec heads, the throttle body upgrade and also pairing it with a new cam and a pair of headers.

Any thoughts on cam choice? Recommendations?

Also - the big question for me - The ECM Chip. My understanding is that the computer will be very unhappy with these upgrades. There doesnt seem to be a clear choice on a chip burner/maker out there. I cannot program, I dont understand it and would probably mess it up.

I need some input/guidance about the ECM - what do people do here? I want it to work well, if this will be a thing where I am battling the chip all the time, I wont even start.

 

[Jims86]

Hello All,

For the past year I have been researching upgrades to the TBI 350 in my 87'. There seems to be a lot of roadblocks to upgrading these engines. Mostly they are due to the restrictive Throttle Body, Heads and the ECM.

I am not looking for serious racing performance, I am shooting to get to around 240-260 hp. I still want my power band to be lower, as the truck is used for towing/hauling. Again - not a race car.

Sounds like Vortec Heads are the way to go and to find the TBI intake manifold to make it work. I have found that CFM Tech makes a ported Throttle Body which really increases airflow (I think it goes from 480 to around 620ish cfm, thats a guess from memory).

I was thinking about doing the vortec heads, the throttle body upgrade and also pairing it with a new cam and a pair of headers.

Any thoughts on cam choice? Recommendations?

Also - the big question for me - The ECM Chip. My understanding is that the computer will be very unhappy with these upgrades. There doesnt seem to be a clear choice on a chip burner/maker out there. I cannot program, I dont understand it and would probably mess it up.

I need some input/guidance about the ECM - what do people do here? I want it to work well, if this will be a thing where I am battling the chip all the time, I wont even start.

That combo will probably get you closer to 300 with proper fueling and tuning, you should send a message to dave, at [email protected], or get ahold of Westers Garage up in Canada....either of them may have a file for a vortec headed tbi engine. Dont go too wild with the cam, as it will shoot your max torque into an un usable range.

 

[Mattchu60]

Looking for a very mild cam upgrade.

If that is going to push me to 300 hp, maybe I could cut out one of my items there. Although my thought is that I need them all as they will work together. Any thoughts - maybe the Ported TB is overkill?

 

[Jims86]

Looking for a very mild cam upgrade.

If that is going to push me to 300 hp, maybe I could cut out one of my items there. Although my thought is that I need them all as they will work together. Any thoughts - maybe the Ported TB is overkill?

Not at all.
for good low end, go with the roller ht383 cam, or, if you want to add some relly good mid range as well, use an LT4 cam.
Gasket match the heads to the intake an exhaust manifolds.

 

[GreaseDog]

stock l31, what some light TBI mods, a good carbed intake, and good exhaust. Get a custom tune, and smile.