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Quick (hopefully) TBI 350 swap in my "Jeep"

mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
Bart said:
Good progress
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REALLY wanted to have the engine sitting in the Jeep with the motor mount and bell housing bolts attached for my Saturday. Just thought I HAD to do the oil pan gasket. Broke the first of the FelPro oil pan gaskets trying to stretch it around the dipstick tube. Lost at least an hour (and $30) scrounging up another one. I was pretty happy with how clean the interior of the oil pan was. A little sludge but nothing alarming at all. Didn't smell nasty or anything so I might have a decent runner?

I think I'll have some time tonight (work will dictate that) to sling it in the Jeep. Then I've got all the plumbing and wiring to re-attach. With the donor came a harness (might be worth the cost of the engine right there). This could come in way handy for a few broken clips out of my original '89 Suburban harness. I have some exhaust studs to purchase before slinging the motor in as well.
 
TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
Greg said:
the biggest gain with the Vortec heads is the quick burn combustion chambers. I believe the intake runners flow better too
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Those are two of the differences, yes. The intake port flows way better on the Vortec heads. There are even more rerasons why the Vortec heads blow away the similar-looking TBI heads, though. Dave Freiburger goes into great detail about this exact comparison in this video. Skip ahead to 4:55 for the relevant information.

[video=youtube;f7mvgf6_p1g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7mvgf6_p1g[/video]

Greg said:
I'm fairly certain that during the crossover years, GM built TBI engines with Vortec heads so it's not like it's that much of a stretch.
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Because the TBI heads also used center-bolt valve covers, a lot of people think that. Sadly, unscrupulous online sellers occasionally take advantage of this situation and advertise TBI heads as Vortec heads to get more money for them.
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
TurboMinivan said:
Because the TBI heads also used center-bolt valve covers, a lot of people think that. Sadly, unscrupulous online sellers occasionally take advantage of this situation and advertise TBI heads as Vortec heads to get more money for them.
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I'm pretty sure that in 1 year there were some Chevy Vans (3/4 ton or 1 ton, '96?) came with TBI and Vortec heads, I'm not going off valve cover bolts. Long ago I had a TBI 350 I was going to put in a YJ and was doing research on head upgrades, had all my parts but wanted better performing, factory heads. There is a GM Van with a factory aluminum intake that is set up for TBI and has the right bolt angle/pattern for Vortec heads. They were around if you looked hard back then, probably very difficult to find at this point.
 
TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
Greg said:
There is a GM Van with a factory aluminum intake that is set up for TBI and has the right bolt angle/pattern for Vortec heads.
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That would be intriguing. I'm sure it's not gonna challenge my Edelbrock intake for power output, but I find it fascinating all the same. If you can find any info on this, please share it.

EDIT: I found this Chevrolet intake:

nal-12496821_pe_xl.jpg


This will let you bolt your TBI to a pair of Vortec heads, though you'll need to fork over $470 for the pleasure of doing so.
 
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Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
TurboMinivan said:
That would be intriguing. I'm sure it's not gonna challenge my Edelbrock intake for power output, but I find it fascinating all the same. If you can find any info on this, please share it.

EDIT: I found this Chevrolet intake:

nal-12496821_pe_xl.jpg


This will let you bolt your TBI to a pair of Vortec heads, though you'll need to fork over $470 for the pleasure of doing so.
Click to expand...


Found some info - https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/336915-1996-g30hd-vans-vortec.html

Post # 6 -
It uses the L31 block, minus the timing cover, the heads were vortecs. The intake was like any other TBI intake I have seen, aluminum. Keep in mind not all 350 TBI vans were vortecs.
Click to expand...
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
No exciting pics today. Cleaned up a few loose ends on the wiring harness. Finished (I think) prepped engine to dive in the bay. Hopefully slinging that in tomorrow night. Get the bell housing and motor mount bolts in and go from there.


i do think I'm going to try out those spark plug wire organizers in Dempsey's video above
 
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