Vortec heads and TBI?

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andy396

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Oh wait, you said stock TBI cam didn’t you? I take back my comment. You’ll likely not feel the full benefit unless you change out the cam also in conjunction with the heads.
 

Hipster

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Chips are easy. Just tell someone what you’ve got and you just pull the ECU out from under the dash. Pull the old one out and the new one in. There’s an appreciable difference in usable torque between vortec and TBI. Go for it! [emoji16]

I've come across quite a bit of information where doing the chip mail order can be a little problematic taking several times to get it close.
 

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Oh wait, you said stock TBI cam didn’t you? I take back my comment. You’ll likely not feel the full benefit unless you change out the cam also in conjunction with the heads.

A little would be good. It's a 4x and I do tow with it a little so not trying to make a screaming hot rod. The engine I have built sitting here I think cam was pretty mild 204/214 .421/.444 on 112
 

andy396

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Maybe see if you can find how that compares to a stock Vortec cam.

Update:

Found it.

Intake lift- .414"
Exhaust Lift- .428"
Intake duration @.050"- 191
Exhaust Duration @ .050" - 196
Lobe Centerline- 111
 
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Schurkey

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The lack of exhaust crossover ports in the Vortec heads means you're going to be playing games with routing exhaust to the intake manifold EGR port.

It's do-able with bolt-on parts...also expensive and a pain in the ass. New driver's side exhaust manifold with exhaust gas fitting, the high-temperature convoluted-metal "hose", a fitting for the intake manifold exhaust passage. All of it can be scalped from the Vortec 5.7L stock exhaust if you have a good Treasure Yard in the area.

There's also the throttle-cable bracket assembly that will need fabrication to fit the Vortec intake manifold bolt pattern and bolt angles.
 

PlayingWithTBI

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A little would be good. It's a 4x and I do tow with it a little so not trying to make a screaming hot rod. The engine I have built sitting here I think cam was pretty mild 204/214 .421/.444 on 112
Is the cam in your engine a flat tappet? Truck TBIs 88-95 came with flat tappet cams, Vortecs came with roller cams. Your 92 should have the bosses for the spyder but may not be drilled and tapped (no big deal). It gets expensive doing that. I went with a Lunati Voodoo 10120700LK flat tappet cam with Proform 1.6 full roller rockers (207/213* @0.50 and .466/.484" lift), again with my Summit Racing (made by Trick Flow) 170cc aluminum heads. I still need to pass emissions here in AZ. By de-tuning it for that I should pass - I'll find out next June when it comes up.
 

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Is the cam in your engine a flat tappet? Truck TBIs 88-95 came with flat tappet cams, Vortecs came with roller cams. Your 92 should have the bosses for the spyder but may not be drilled and tapped (no big deal). It gets expensive doing that. I went with a Lunati Voodoo 10120700LK flat tappet cam with Proform 1.6 full roller rockers (207/213* @0.50 and .466/.484" lift), again with my Summit Racing (made by Trick Flow) 170cc aluminum heads. I still need to pass emissions here in AZ. By de-tuning it for that I should pass - I'll find out next June when it comes up.

Yes its a truck tbi block with vortec heads, flat tappet. The engine was going to be a boat anchor, errr, I mean engine. lol .

Built this engine, pulled the boat engine out and realized the boat needs transom work.
 

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Is the cam in your engine a flat tappet? Truck TBIs 88-95 came with flat tappet cams, Vortecs came with roller cams. Your 92 should have the bosses for the spyder but may not be drilled and tapped (no big deal). It gets expensive doing that. I went with a Lunati Voodoo 10120700LK flat tappet cam with Proform 1.6 full roller rockers (207/213* @0.50 and .466/.484" lift), again with my Summit Racing (made by Trick Flow) 170cc aluminum heads. I still need to pass emissions here in AZ. By de-tuning it for that I should pass - I'll find out next June when it comes up.


I know neither block I have has the bosses for the spider or I would have went that way. I've been in quite a few 92-94 tbi truck engines and haven't seen one yet that had the bosses. I don't doubt they're out there, but it doesn't seem to be the norm.
 

PlayingWithTBI

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I know neither block I have has the bosses for the spider or I would have went that way. I've been in quite a few 92-94 tbi truck engines and haven't seen one yet that had the bosses. I don't doubt they're out there, but it doesn't seem to be the norm.
Yeah, my 88 has the bosses but, later years it was a crap shoot. I replied to your PM...
 

retorq

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My 2wd 95 4 door has Vortec heads, stock TBI cam, 4bbl air gap intake with TBI adapter and a hand full of other things. I was able to get a chip from TBIChips, runs really well. It ran high 15s in the 1/4. Very happy with the setup. I have a partially built new engine to go in it, used Vortec heads and plan on swapping over the TBI, intake and getting the equipment to tune it myself.
 
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