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86E TPI and ECM compatibility

W

Wisker

Guest
Greetings, the 85/86 TPI and ECM combo turns out to be one of the most touchy induction set-ups GM put on the market. It has very little tolerance for HP upgrades. Without going into the most obvious incompatibilities of Crate engines vs. 86 and earlier Vette engines the "not so" obvious deals with TPI/ECM limitations. I'll give details in future threads but, it's very safe to say that we 86E owners have our work cut out for us (maybe 87 too). If you're considering an engine swap like me, and you're the weekend enthusiast, whoa!! Those extra horses will not be so easy to come by. Approach your selection of an engine by starting with a compatible cam kit. Work out from there. Pay close attention to TPI and ECM limitations. Then, look closely into physical characteristic matches (like intake planes to baseplates, heads, compression limits, rear end ratios, and much more). This is starting to get expensive. More later. Steve
 
What if you swap ECM's with a later version, say an 88 or 89? Would that help?
 
engine swaps

I think your getting all upset for very little I have done 4 engine swaps in 85-86 vettes so far and if you change the cpu chip you can get good results the cpu will even work with a 400 sbc and crane 114142 cam with headers and afr heads (this combo runs high 12s to very low 13s depending on the driver)(used Hypertech off road chip and it still passed emissions check)
 

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