i have a 72 400 sbc,looking at a complete tpi system to put on it.
has wiring harness,computer and so on,supposedly a "bolt on"
i have an 80 k5 w/ 265 4 speed
anything to watch out for? i don't need a money pit.
any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

i was looking in to doing the same thing. i curently have a 5.0 tpi set up in my toyota. My friend has a mildly built 400 long block he wants to sell me. i have been reading into this subject in my swapers guide it sound like the computer would have to be reprogramed, new injectors, fuel regulator. i am planing on giving the guys at TPIS a call they are supose to be the best source for info/parts on these and the lt/ls series motors. http://www.tpis.com/index.php?module=default

what is the TPI system?
name brand?

need more info

The biggest question is what year TPI? On 89' and newer the center four intake bolts are angled differently. I ground and elongated the holes and made it work but I had to weld up the EGR port. Also the lower intake interfears with non-center bolt valve covers. Having done a TPI swap and building my own harness I would do TBI if i had it to do over. It was allot of work!!!

Also do the intake ports on a 400 match a 350?

http://www.chevythunder.com/index.htm

damn good site for tpi, ive been looking at it for awhile to. Seems like the prom reflash and injectors are going to be the biggest expense. besides the random bs that is always associated with any project:D

find a complete system also, ive been seeing them on ebay going for 400-500 bucks.

http://www.chevythunder.com/index.htm

damn good site for tpi, ive been looking at it for awhile to. Seems like the prom reflash and injectors are going to be the biggest expense. besides the random bs that is always associated with any project:D

find a complete system also, ive been seeing them on ebay going for 400-500 bucks.

good find, that site is now in my fav's:smokin:

no need for bigger injectors, just increase the fuel pressure with an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. a custom prom would be ideal but not even necessary. you can run your stock chip and still be o.k. if you stay with a mild cam or the stock cam, you stock chip will be able to manage the extra cubes. what ever heads you plan to run on the 400, be sure to ahve the steam holes drilled into them, if you don't you are going to have overheating issues. while you are having the steam holes drilled at the machine shop, ahve the shop redrill and tap the four center holes that are on the 89 and later intakes. this was the first motor i did on my vet. i fried and hauled a lot of ass.

tpis did a motor just like you are building a few years back. 305 tpi system complete with stock prom and injectors and stock 400 cast iron heads. the build up of this motor is in their book called, "tpi secrets revealed"
with thier flat tappet cam, this motor made about 500 foot pounds of torque at a ridiculous 2400 rpm, or something like that.

no need for bigger injectors, just increase the fuel pressure with an adjustable fuel pressure regulator.

tpis did a motor just like you are building a few years back. 305 tpi system complete with stock prom and injectors and stock 400 cast iron heads. the build up of this motor is in their book called, "tpi secrets revealed"
with thier flat tappet cam, this motor made about 500 foot pounds of torque at a ridiculous 2400 rpm, or something like that.

is there a link to the buildup online? hard to believe that they used only a 305 system for a 400 making 500 lbs/ft. from what i read, the fuel pressure regulator can be turned up but only so much. the 305 injectors flow at 19lbs/hr and can only be turned up so much, which is no where near what a 500 torque monster 400 sbc needs. they say that the stock 350 injectors are good for a 383 with the fuel pressure regulator turned up all the way.

bbwag what steam holes are you talking about?:confused: I'm having overheating issues with mine. I figure I need a bigger radiator but I've never heard about drilling steam holes?

all 400 small blocks came with small steam holes in the block. if you have the stock heads that came with original block then the steam holes are already drilled in from the factory. if you use any other 350 head, factory or original, you must have a machine shop drill the steam holes for you.

this only applies to 400 sbc's only. if you look at the head gasket of a 400 sbc, you will notice that there are six extra steam holes between the bores, compare if you can with a 350 head gasket and you will notice that they do not have the extra holes. for all out drag racing the holes do not need to be drilled since the engine is only used for short bursts. but for a rig or car that sees street duty, if you don't do this you are going to have a hard time keeping the engine cool. my vet currently sports a 400 sbc, fast burn heads with the steam holes drilled (75 bucks to do at a local machine shop), tpis miniram, and a nice lumpy cam, with a dewitts double one inch core radiator. on a 105 degree day with the car sitting in traffic, my temp never goes over 215.

Thanks for the tech bbwag, I was hopeing I wasn't missing something on my 350:D

Sorry for the hyjack.

lets get this back to the top,

bbwag, do you have that link?

on my 77 400 with the stock heads I'm hoping to do some port and polishing to the heads, and a nice cam this winter. anything to look out for? besides a chip and injectors. also any companies anyone would recommend for the chip?

thanks:beer: