I was just wondering if anyone is running a TBI setup on their 455? would a dual TBI work ok? I just thought it might be a cheaper way of switching to FI. my-78
MY 78, Check out Turbo City at http://www.turbocity.com/ContentMisc/Content.htm - they offer all sorts of TBI and other EFI stuff for single and crossfire (chevy) setups. They should be able to help you out with a dual TBI setup - or at least send you in the right direction. BTW, what's your name? It's always nice to know who we're talking to.:TU: Dual TBI on an Offy intake would definitely look COOL - should be very streetable too!!:bglasses: Keep us posted if you do it!
HI Scott. I got the Idea from turbo city a couple of years ago. One of the car mags did a story on a dual TBI setup for a SBC. Just thought it would be different. I thought it would be nice to put a buick motor in my 78 Skylark. It still has the original 305. I found a stage 1 motor and tranny in the junkyard for $150. The problem is I know very little about buick motors, so any ideas on how to build a mild street motor would be appreciated. Paul
I ran a Holley Projection for about 7 years, not a bad way to go. About 75% the benefits of a full port FI system, at about 30% of the cost. (This was the first version, the "analog" version with knobs on the side of the ECU for tuning, no laptop or anything) -Bob Cunningham bobc@gnttype.org
Well Paul...you certainly came to the right place!:TU: Just give us some idea of what you're looking to get out of your Skylark (performance wise) and what kind of 'budgetary constraints', and I'm sure you'll get all sorts of good advice!
Hey Scott I need to do a complete rebuild on the motor, so I was thinking just a mild rebuild useing speed pro pistons, performer intake, TA 212 cam, msd ignigtion, and some sort of fuel injection. although the offy setup would have the wow factor when you open the hood, I also plan to run a 2004r. Is 400hp reasonble with minor mods? The only issue is monetary. so while I work on that I might as well draw up a battle plan. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Paul
Hi Paul, A true Stage1 engine with tranny for $150????? Any idea what year and if the tranny is a "BB" code (if automatic TH400)? DO NOT let that deal get away....run and grab it now!!!!!:grin: Even a "standard" 455 with tranny is a good deal at that price........:TU:
Paul, With the TA 212 cam, you should have a good, high torque street motor. I don't think 400 hp should be far off. Torque is king on the street anyways! If you blow the budget on any one particular item, make it the heads. Make sure you port match that performer intake to the heads! Should make for a killer driver, especially with the 200-4r!!:TU: *Make sure you take 'good notes' regarding the Buicks' 'oiling needs'.
Hi Kerry s. As far as I can decipher, it is a stage1. maybe someone can help me confirm it. Motor is out of a 74 RIV, with a TH400 long tailshaft. Block # 1241735, CYL HD # 1241860, INTAKE # 1245061 CARB # 7044540, serial # 4Y87W4H468003 Not sure what letter designated the stage1 [V-W] for that year, or car? The RIV had the stage1 emblem on the grill, it was last on the road in 1990. How do I confirm the heads without taking them off? Also I can't seem to find the block number, or code. I understand where they should be. any ideas? Paul
Thanks Scott. Sounds like I'm headed in the right direction. Plan was to mill the heads to help bring up compression, and port match the intake. was not sure of the cam though. car weighs 3100lbs, also hope to run 3:23, or 3:42 gears. Paul
I had this same combination for a while- TA212, ProJection, MSD, stock heads, etc. It ran well but I don't think it was 400HP worth. To get me to 400HP took some head work. If you are truly budget limited, then FI is hard to justify. If you figure you go from 10 MPG (carb)to 13 MPG (FI), then it will take you like 30,000 miles to make up the difference. And a 30% mileage increase is a lot. Now if you are going "budget" everywhere else and are going to splurge in one area, quite honestly I'd consider some head porting (by a qualified Buick guy!). Having said that, FI is nice to have, and is certainly a cool thing to show off to friends! But you will probably sacrifice some HP (with a simple system, at least), have a lot more wires floating around, and can be frustrating when you have no where to go for help. Best of luck! -Bob Cunningham bobc@gnttype.org
Hi Bob. I was originally thinking of a dual TBI setup on an offy intake. useing factory TBI's, like Turbo City. service and dependabilty would not be a problem, but performance would. my other choice would be to go with the Edelbrock 750, or one of the new Holley's street avengers. What did you run for an intake, compression, and what did you switch to? Since buick motors are not my forte, I need lots of help and advice . Paul
Paul, Compression was 9.5. I started out with the Poston aluminum intake (yuck) but had to use a spacer with the Pro-jection. Eventually I gave up the Poston and went to a TA manifold which fit great and picked up about 10 HP for me. You will probably lose about 0.1 second in the quarter mile with TBI compared to a carb. FWIW, I don't think the TA 212 was a smart choice for 9.5 compression. Now I still use the TA manifold but I had someone custom-plumb it for port FI with fuel rails and the whole works, and have the FAST controller. It's a LOT more $$ (about $5k total investment), and it works great, but I'm not gonna say it's worth your money to do that- I had other reasons (the controller will watch my A/F ratio and correct if I go lean, which is crucial on nitrous!). It's a far cry from anything you're looking at, so don't worry about what I'm doing now... It took some fiddling to get the Projection tuned right- initially it was only about a couple of days, but I kept fiddling with it and was never quite happy. Turbo City may provide a better setup. -Bob Cunningham bobc@gnttype.org
Hi Bob Thanks for the imput. from what i've been reading sounds like the 455 likes bigger cams. and it seems like everybody's motor is streetable?, even with 10:1 compression. sure makes it tuff to decide on how to do mine. Oh yeah. Nice car you have Bob. Paul
Hello, Holley has a newer laptop programmable TBI system called the Commander 950. It is very versitile and has all the adjustment you will need even for a cammed big block.We offer enough stuff to do a 1X4 or even a 2X4 TBI setup if you can get a 2X4 intake. There are people using these kits on 6-71 blown small and big block Chevys and Mopar Muscle just did a custom install on a Hemi with a stock 2X4 intake. Of course you would need one complete kit and an aditional throttle body and the linkage will have to be custom fabbed. If you wanted to use two 2 barrel throttle bodies it will work also. We use the Commander ECU on almost all of our injection kits. It is all real time adjustments and as we come up with different fuel maps they are post on Holleys web site to be down loaded for free. For more info contact Holleys Tech Service at www.holley.com or 270-781-9741. We do not sell direct so we have no prices, but most of the 4 barrel kits go for $1200-$1500 from most Holley dealers. Ever thought of a custom MPI kit? We offer enough components to do it if you can find the single plane intake. When properly tuned they will usually make 30-40 HP over a carb and the throttle response is awesome. Thanks, Mike
The Commander 950 MPFI is what we use for our Buick 455 fuel injection systems. Michael Tweedy xsperformance@iwon.com
Thanks. Michael kise Some interesting products Holley has there. And seems to be reasonably priced. Mike T Can you give me some idea on what kind of setup you have used the 950 on? mild- wild? Paul
We offer 1 barrel TBI kits for engines up to 140HP, We have 2 barrel TBI kits one with a 400cfm throttle body for engines up to 225HP and a 670cfm kit for engines up to 275HP.We also offer 3 different 4barrel TBI kits. 650cfm for engines 150-300HP,700cfm for engines 225-400HP and a large 900 cfm kit for engines350-500HP. These are all universal kits setup for single throttle body applications. We also offer MPI kits for Chevy and Ford (of course no Buick engines) from 350-850HP. For a custom Buick MPI kit we offer all of the individual components to build one. Once I get the 144 blower together for my 350 Buick I am going to do a custom MPI kit for it. I am thinking I will be able to drill the adapter plates for the small block Chevy intake/ to Buick heads and install the injector bungs we offer. There is not enough room in the intake with the blower bolted to it. I have tuned on this system in a limited manner( since I mostly deal with the blowers). It is not bad to tune. It does help if you have some knowledge of fuel injection( I have delt with factory GM systems quite a bit in the past, I am an ASE Master tech and worked at a Pontiac Dealership for 5 years before Holley). All of these kits include a 100 page tuning manual we just came out with. We set it up so the President of the company could install and completely tune the kit( He knows nothing about FI) You can check them out on the website. I would send you a catalog, but we are out of them until the new catalog comes out. Thanks, Mike
Your 350 Mike, What is the build up of your 350? Are you going to use a carb first? Will it fit under a stock Buick GS hood? Thanks, David
Dave, I am still in the begining stages. The adapter plates are being made right now. They are about an inch thick. One side will be 23 degree to fit the SBC intake and the other side will be cut at 45 degrees for the Buick heads. The port alignment is only about 1/16" off from the SBC to the SBB. The blower will be fine even in the thinner longer port of the Buick head (hence Forced Induction). I will not know the total height of the complete blower with carb on the engine until I get then fit up on the engine. I have a cowl hood on my Skylark so hood clearance is no issue for me. I will check it with a flat hood after I get farther along. I have modified a Holley carb to get the engine up and running when I get it done. I am in need of a set of the 73' or later connecting rods that I can get good bolts for. I have 3 engines, but they are all 70'-72' with the weaker rods. I only plan on running 7 psi boost so the stock bottom end will hold together. I will run forged pistons and I have a lunati campicked out that will work well with the blower. I am tired of how easy the Chevy guys have it, but with Buicks it makes for a good challange!!!! Thanks, Mike
