Cascade Crew

Camaro350Z28 · Member Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 237

Ok my cousin has a 85 trans am its TPI... he asked me what heads and stuff are good i said that vortec would be good for the money...

Well his 305 is shot so he has been looking for a motor.. he purchased one that i didnt know about and is already bidding on vortec heads!
I'm like crap i was startin to help him and now hes gone spending crazy. So heres the motor
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7939680091&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

Ok.. this thing look decent for TPI? or i figured TPI might choke up? vortec heads good for this? i know i prolly going to have to get intake for those heads. What is a good cam choice? should i try to find him the converted LT1 intake?
Im not sure how to go about these TPI motors, i dont even know what year this block is. Just needin a little help guys, any would be great.

Wolffy · Member Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 375 Location: Spokane

unless somebodies came out with a new TPI setup Vortec heads dont work with the stock TPI setup, nor the HSR or any others that i know of, id heard that Holley or someone was supposedly working on a Vortec intake, but that was earlier this year.
Paul, Dewy, Schultzy or Brandon might know more recent info than I

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:59 am Post subject:

Scoggin-Dicky makes a TPI base manifold for vortec heads. It is $400 and if he wants to stay TPI I believe that this is the only option.

See the manifold here.

-Schultzy

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:56 am Post subject:

Personally when it comes to things like cyl heads/engine blocks/etc...... if I was to buy them, I buy them from reputable outfits that you know would honor a warrenty.

Most any block will work with TPI.. but that auction didn't tell you anything about the deck, and who the F*** puts forged rods on with hyper pistons? That's retarded, IMHO.

You need to set the compression right for the cam you want right for the TPI setup.

Camaro350Z28 · Member Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 237

yeah.. i wish he didnt just go on ebay and buy any motor that he sees fit.. he knows basicly nothin but saw the 375HP and was like ooo.

Personally he should have just got one remanufactured from right around here somewhere.

Gonna see if i can get him out of buyin that block and see if we can find somethin else, lil more cheaper maybe too. Hopefully he hasnt bought heads yet but if he did, maybe he will pick up that manifold and see how those vortecs run with TPI. THanks guys

chevymad · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:37 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a good motor. Good value if you actually get everything they say. But the shipping scares me. He says $39 flat rate. But if you look in his feedback theres a negative. Told the guy that $39 was just the crating fee.. the guy says it actually cost him $179 to ship.

Even more shipping problems if you go back further. And problems with the engines too. Looking at his feedback i'd say most of his good feedback is as a buyer, not a seller.

Camaro350Z28 · Member Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 237

yeah we were looking at his feedback last night and i wasnt really happy to see that either. Im going to see if i can get him out of paying for this hopefully i can..
if not i guess we got to inspect the block and parts. maybe change a few things.

alloy · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 8:02 pm Post subject:

Well I agree with brandon. Too many excuses from the seller. Buyer didn't do this, didn't read this, bad emails. Bull. I just checked my feedback and it's 967 with 100%. No negitives, and one neutral. I bend over backwards to keep it that way. If I were selling high dollar engines instead of $60 handlebar clamps, I'd do anything I could to keep from getting bad feedback. And the shipping clearly states $39. No mention of a crating fee. If he tries to charge more, turn him into ebay fraud. They will take action.

I think if I were you, I'd keep every single email and document everything. Print the auction out now and save copies of it just in case. Refuse to pay more shipping. Insist it be prepayed in full and only the stated amount. Do not pay extra when it gets there, and it they want more refuse it. And pay with a credit card. Do not send a money order or pay with paypal. With paypal you have only 30 days to file a claim. After that you have no recourse with them unless you use your paypal card as a credit card.

I've been around the block with ebay as you can tell from my feedback. If this guy tells you shipping is more, that may be your way out of this transaction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4511283798&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT

Flyte risk · Member Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 55 Location: Aloha OR

Don't discount a vortec HSR just yet, you never know when something may show up...

Thread with pics here

iansane · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:25 pm Post subject:

I vote vortec HSR. Very Happy

Camaro350Z28 · Member Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 237

Nice nice. That wouldnt be too bad, he was able to back out of the heads...

But the engine is on its way, he actually got the $39 for shipping and no more.

Now to know... whats a good head/cam combo for TPI? He dont really have all the money in the world to switch out the TPI... soo what will work good with it?

Going to be nice to get this car going for him.. also one more question... need to switch out his auto tranny for a different one.. it dont really work that great.. should i just find a 3rd gen auto? or would a 4th gen be better?

iansane · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:49 pm Post subject:

I don't know much else but I do know the 4thgen trannies are computer controlled. Not like out 700r4s...

rjmcgee · The Hammer Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2320

Twilightoptics · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:59 pm Post subject:

I disagree with Vortec HSR. The Vortec heads like port speed and semi smaller lift/dur cams to more completely fill the cylinders. For what they flow, the HSR is overkill and if not JUST right could prove sluggish in places. I wish I had bigger heads with my HSR. Think this way, the HSR flows 300cfm PER RUNNER out of the box. What do vortecs flow? 227CFM @.4 lift.

My heads claim to flow something like 270cfm @.5 lift. And I could benefit from bigger, with this intake.

For TPI, Vortec, I think, Would be sweet. If not, find yourself a set of PORTED 416 casting heads with atleast 1.94/1.50 valves in a 64cc chamber. My crap 350 ran 14.0 with a set of UNported 416s, slipping 700R4, and foulded plugs. I wish I would have seen what that combo was capable of.

Again this is just my experiance, though I have NOT run the vortecs. I see lots of XE262 Cam/Vortec Head motors with an easy 400flywheel horse, and lots of low end torque which the tpi should thrive on!

Camaro350Z28 · Member Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 237

hey paul, these the heads you were talkin about? this maybe a good buy and get some port work done to them?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7941678663&category=33617&sspagename=WDVW

Twilightoptics · Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:07 pm Post subject:

Yep, those are 416s... but you'll need to know the blocks deck height to know what size head gasket you'd need to keep your compression low enough, since those havn't had the bigger valves put in, and are 58cc. I'd get a set with atleast 1.94 valves. Mine had 2.02/1.60 valves. Call Cylinder Head Specialties in Portland they might be able to hook you up with a set of 416s the right CC for a good price. Remember everything has to be matched.... cam/head (Head CC, quench, valve springs, valve guide height,etc)/intake

IE my deck height is .025 (Thats the top of the piston to the top of the block deck)......... My head gasket is .015 (Most you buy aftermarket are .041)......

Quench is the piston to the top of the head which = .040 which is perfect... anything over .065 and you get start pinging. Anything lower and your head is getting mighty close to the piston with high lift cams, and you don't want valves hitting the piston.

If I ran a .041 gasket on my block... I'd be at .066, would ping, and lose half a point of compression.

Now with my setup if I had 58cc heads instead of 64cc heads, I'd go from 9.75:1 Compression to 10.6:1 compression. I'd need a HUGE cam to bleed off that pressure.