How to Vortec Swap a 88-95 Chevy TBI Truck Part 1

[@mikecondoluci53]

NICE JOB MAN, THATS A GREAT COMBINATION, MINE HAS A 5 SPEED SO MUCH FUN TO DRIVE, GOOD LUCK WITH IT BUD

[@T-Ray-AllDay]

What 5 speed did you end using?

[@danielcourtright5659]

Hope you have good luck with your swap. I am running a 5.7 vortec block and roller cam with the 193 tbi heads and intake to pass emissions in my state. Headers and a stage one chip. It runs good but idles low after warming to operating temp.

[@_chevy_stepside]

I did this the way I did because in Texas after 25 years you don’t have to pass smog. Sounds like you have an IAC motor problem and need the idle adjusted on the tbi unit

[@chadjennings3907]

I'm doing the same ish.... I have a 94. With a 5.7 that had the 810 heads. Blew a head gasket so I'm vortec head swapping it and adding carb intake with adapter plate

[@_chevy_stepside]

Vortec heads should work well for you. Good luck

[@theboycheef841]

How is it changing to vortec. I have 94 5.7L I would like to do it too. Any problems??

[@stevedriver1476]

Good Video Mate thanks. i have a 1992 tbi Lo5 engined 5.7 GMC c1500 sierra in Australia, my engine seems ok but i do have a 1976 400chev s block with stock as cast brodix alloy heads and a reasonable hyd cam.. i think i will run the holley 670cfm tbi on a summit duel plane air gap with a tbi adapter. the 400 was around 380hp with L31 vortec heads and i ran it in my camaro 15 years. the 400 is now a good 430hp daily driver engine and i hope to get it all in by feb 2023. I am on my own here as you dont see these trucks so any advice is great. i am hearing a big block tbi and a vortec fuel pump will bolt onto thr 400 and give enough fuel. the holley tbi is $900 omg.

[@_chevy_stepside]

I mean if I were you I would put a Holley 670 truck avenger carb and convert it to a carburetor it’ll run way better and make more power than that tbi unit ever will and will be much nicer on the pocket book, leave the hei distributor and add the hot wires for the fuel pump, distributor hot wires and gauge hook ups and get the right throttle bracket for your transmission (if it’s a 700R4) and have a monster for a motor in that truck, but to each their own.

[@michaelmerrill589]

Bow tie overdrives sells a carb adapter plate for throttle &TV cable plate goes on carb studs 4150 style.

[@_chevy_stepside]

This isn’t carbureted. The tbi wouldn’t work with that. The tbi needs all 4 bolts on the adapter in order to not have a vacuum leak. According to the third gen camaro guys who Vortec swap their stuff, you have to use the edelbrock 8032 throttle bracket. Watch part 2 and you’ll see it all fixed up

[@Jimmy72110]

Is it worth it?

[@adamkingersoll5185]

Thanks for this video. So, you were able to use the same throttle, kick down, and cruise control cables on the vortec mounting bracket. My cables on my 91 all seem too long.

[@_chevy_stepside]

No sir I did not, I had to use a custom edelbrock throttle bracket (part number and everything else is in part two of this series) and it bolts to the back of the intake and allows adjustment for your tv cable if it’s a 700R4

[@alexsparks6718]

I will be using this same setup, except I am going from a 92 TBI 4.3 to a 98 Vortec 350. Great video!

[@_chevy_stepside]

Thank you very much! One thing to note, if you’re keeping TBI make sure you get a 350 tbi computer so it can throw more fuel at it, I highly recommend a stage one or two chip so you can get the most out of the fuel system.

[@galenyoung8349]

@@_chevy_stepside my 92 s10 has a 2.8 tbi in it. I know the trans wont work with a sbc. Ive got a 96 LT1 sitting around with a 4L80E. Boiz if i just currently had a welder, welding skillz, & materials, I would be heyll on, wheels. My LT1 is in a 96 fleetwood & that big biatch is, retarded! 🤣🙈 I didnt real eyes what a biatch the LT1 swap is until i got the caddy home & learned all about that, swap? My LT1 will run off and leave a 5.3 in that big azz, Cadillac.. hahaha.

[@alchampion340]

GM makes a TBI intake to work on Vortec engines I know I have one works fine my 89 brackets work just fine you can break your bracket of the intake but it’s a nice project you’ve done well

[@travis-ic4kc]

How much does it cost?

[@alchampion340]

I don’t know at the time I’ve had mine for 10 years it straight off the GM parts list they also made the bottom part of the tune port injection manifold for the Vortech heads as well. I’m sure there is an aftermarket manifold offered by someone that would probably be cheaper? When I purchased mine I purchased the manifold and a set of Vortech head casting 906 at the same time

[@_chevy_stepside]

To answer your comment as well as the other guy’s there is no alternative aftermarket intake other than the gmpp intake. That’s why I had to go with a carb dual plane intake with a tbi adapter. In my state they don’t require smog testing after 25 and I don’t like egr to begin with as you’re allowing burnt exhaust gasses to come into the intake stream causing inefficiency. Gm makes the intake but it’s close to $700, you can’t even find them used anymore really. If there was a cheaper alternative I’d have found it by now. The carb intake was $110 at a swap meet, the tbi adapter I got from a friend for $40 and after gaskets and what not I’d be surprised if I had $350 in the intake, distributor, tbi unit and all. Imo the carb intake works better but I’ve never run a GMPP intake so I couldn’t tell you.

[@alchampion340]

If I remember correctly my intake may have been between 250 and $300. In my opinion you can probably find tune a carburetor better than the old TBI injection,

[@_chevy_stepside]

@@alchampion340 In all honesty I wanted to put a carb on this truck but the customer didn’t want to spend more money than we already had on this. She settled for tbi, it drives okay but not great, I’d prefer it if it had a Holley 650 truck avenger or something, not a crappy tbi unit from the dark ages

[@eddiebolt5781]

Did you have to have your ecm flashed or a chip burned to make this application run?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I used a Jet stage 2 chip

[@davidcollis4758]

You can include 1987 Trucks. They had TBI also. Thanks for the video.

[@_chevy_stepside]

I wasn’t sure because 87 is square body and the harnesses are different (I think) and didn’t want to confuse anyone

[@davidcollis4758]

@_chevy_stepside No worries.1987 is the last year for square bodies, as I'm sure you are aware of, and the first year for TBI. I also have a '95, which has TBI, and that is the last year in pickup trucks. Thanks again, and take care.

[@GuessWho785]

Awesome vid, doing the same swap. So get the melonized distributor gear, now how do I go about setting up the coolant bypass with a functioning heater core?

[@_chevy_stepside]

There should be a port on the back side of the intake, in the passenger rear corner. Just run your inlet to a barbed fitting on that, and then run the other heater line to the radiator. Just keep the bypass like I have in the video

[@garlandmoney9310]

I have an 89 C3500 dually flatbed. Took out bad motor, found a crate vortec motor that had been dropped into a 93 GMC K1500 4x4. The guy hit a fire hydrant, but motor is intact. Bought truck and all for $500. It has an Edelbrock aluminum intake and Power Tower. It has a TBI distributor, but like you showed in the video, no EGR. It was running with the same setup you have, but I was wanting to keep the 3 unit bracket that came on the 89. It came with a filter, the box you put on and hooked to the rear of the throttlebody, plus the flat wide hookup. Don't recall what it does, but it was stock on the 89, so I was wondering if there was any justification to keeping the filter, or should I abandon everything non-essential and strip it back to what you have in the video? He had kept the TBI setup, used a homemade transition plate. I'm going to bend the stock mounting bracket so I can utilize the closest hole through the transition plate as a mount bolt. I don't want the pieces laying loose, since I have that option available.

[@_chevy_stepside]

I mean if it’s not hurting anything I’d leave it as it sits. This I wound up putting an air cleaner and stuff on later on after I got it driving. I only left it like this because I hadn’t even gotten the truck drivable yet. I mean if it’s not hurting anything, I’d leave it be.

[@19jody72]

So did you have to tune it? Any power difference?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I did have to put a jet chip in the truck, but other than that it runs fine. Lots of power on the top end and more mid range torque. Totally worth it in my opinion

[@19jody72]

@@_chevy_stepside appreciate it.. I just bought. 90 350 sport v8 5 speed truck, not running. Just looking for simple power upgrades for the truck. It will be just a daily driver

[@untearly8212]

Did u use the same tbi rockers and pushrods when u put vortecs on

[@_chevy_stepside]

No, all I did was take a wrecked 96 Chevy truck Vortec 350, put a carb intake on it with a tbi adapter, I did nothing internal to the motor at all

[@frankmalpass8516]

Why didn’t you use the vortex accessories?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Because the stock tbi accessories worked fine and I didn’t want to have to change all my alternator wiring and stuff

[@carsonevans4252]

I apologize if you covered this in the video, but will a TBI distributer work with the Vortec cam?

[@_chevy_stepside]

You’re good, I’ll gladly answer it again. The tbi distributor will work if you change the cam gear to a mellonized gear or a roller cam gear from like a TPI L98 corvette (that’s the one I used) and its worked perfectly fine

[@carsonevans4252]

@@_chevy_stepside Awesome, thank you!

[@donriediger4095]

Why can’t you just use the cam gear off the vortec distributer

[@_chevy_stepside]

Distributors are totally different

[@donriediger4095]

Well I just took the cam gear off the vortec distributer and put it on the TBI distributor, works just fine

[@timothygraham8528]

Great video! Why did you run the tbi water pump and not the Vortec water pump? Was it due to pulley alignment?

[@_chevy_stepside]

When I got this motor from the junkyard they never gave me the fan needed to run the Vortec water pump (on the Vortec trucks the fan and water pump share the same shaft while on the tbi trucks they spin at different speeds) so I had to go back and use the tbi water pump since I didn’t want to go through all the hassle of finding a fan and all the stuff when the tbi fan worked just fine

[@deanwitt7903]

I have an 89 with same wheels as yours and I’m wondering if these wheels were original to the c1500 or are they off a 4wd model ?

[@_chevy_stepside]

This is a K1500, as far as I’m aware they’re the original 4x4 wheels

[@Michael-White]

Couldn’t you also use the stock vortec distributor?

[@_chevy_stepside]

The tbi distributor and Vortec distributor are completely different. The Vortec distributor is meant for Vortec CPFI injection, the tbi distributor is meant for tbi fuel injection. The advance mechanisms and timing curves are completely different.

[@ScottWraight-es8xg]

What do I have to do if I have heater hoses to avoid the over heating ???

[@_chevy_stepside]

What you could do is use your heater core as your external bypass, but what I’d do is use another coolant port on the intake (on this intake there was one on the back right corner that can be used as an inlet) and then run the other hose to the radiator like stock.

[@DG850post]

Got a part number for that intake? or is it just one for the vortec and the conversion happens with the adapter

[@_chevy_stepside]

It’s a Weiand Stealth if I remember right, the conversion happens with the adapter as this is a 4 barrel carbureted intake but you use the tbi adapter to make it all work.

[@dillionsummers-mu9ey]

So using the tbi water pump your not going to have ac or heat? I plan on doing this to my 94 and was just wondering, I might have just misunderstood you.

[@_chevy_stepside]

I didn’t phrase what I said correctly as this was my first ever KZbin video and I was kinda camera shy. I couldn’t demonstrate how to run the coolant lines so I’ll do my best to explain it. The ac will work no matter what, it’s not affected by the cooling system at all. On my black 94 with a carbureted engine (watch that video) you’ll be able to see where my coolant lines are routed. One side I ran from the water pump to the intake (as my coolant bypass), the heater line that would’ve gone to the back of the intake on the tbi motor I routed up to the front of the intake to a Barb fitting with a hose adapter, and the other line from the heater core went to the radiator like normal. Hope this helps!

[@LivingTheCountryLifeWithT.C]

I have a Vortec engine came out of a 99 or 2000 I'm putting it in a 1994 Z71 four-wheel drive I'm going to be doing the exact same thing you're doing here I don't think I have the 704 I have 4L 60e can you explain a little bit more about the distributor issue

[@_chevy_stepside]

The distributor just needs to be a mellonized or hardened cam gear. Other than that it’ll work perfectly, it’s easy to swap the gears out, they sell em online for like $20 I think

[@LivingTheCountryLifeWithT.C]

Thank you

[@TaylorMerges]

Did you have to get the ecm flashed did you have over fueling issues at first I did this exact swap but used the expensive intake with the EGR I installed a plate over the EGR and I'm not using it but my situation is that it idles very rich try to rev it up it will back fire any advice would be awesome thanks

[@_chevy_stepside]

That sounds like you’ve got something else going on like a bad set of injectors or a vacuum leak. This one idled fine but popped and backfired under hard throttle before I put the jet chip in it. Been fine since.

[@Sly.Therrin]

Did you gain any MPG with this?

[@_chevy_stepside]

If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t really care or check for mpg. This truck is 35 years old and fuel economy wasn’t really our main concern. But I probably did I’d guess, I just never checked for it

[@Sly.Therrin]

​@@_chevy_stepsideMPG is good no matter how you look at it lol

[@YordiRuiz-fh2nl]

What year starter did you use ?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I used the stock 89 truck starter

[@JTsMechanicShop5748]

Hopefully you can answer me soon as possible but can you give me the part number for the melonized gear

[@_chevy_stepside]

MSD 8561 EDIT: You’d probably just be better off getting a new distributor that already has the melonized gear on it, the gear is kinda expensive

[@JTsMechanicShop5748]

@@_chevy_stepside what they come with the melonized already now

[@_chevy_stepside]

Some do and some don’t, I know the hei distributor I bought from procomp electronics on summit racing did

[@Patrick-k7d6r]

Will a 95 front brackets line up?

[@_chevy_stepside]

They should yeah

[@oralroberts6836]

Does the position of the #1 on distributor change from the front to the side?

[@_chevy_stepside]

In my case it did because I was lazy and didn’t feel like fighting with the distributor so I just dropped it in wherever and where it fell in was #1.

[@oralroberts6836]

I did everything as you have and used the Tbi distributor and it runs as if the timing is off. It backfires when driving as well

[@_chevy_stepside]

@oralroberts6836 That’s what this truck did too, we got the timing dialed in and it still acted up. I didn’t have enough time to diagnose the issue as the customer wanted the truck back but from what I’ve read it’s a fueling issue. The Jet chip I had helped and reduced the backfiring significantly but I never had time to figure out the cause

[@mikey2k890]

Hey man, would you have any advice for doing the opposite of this video? Swapping a TBI motor into a vortec truck?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Personally, I wouldn’t do it. The Vortec engines are much more efficient, better running, and make more power than a tbi engine could dream of. Plus you’d have to convert the timing cover to a Vortec cover and without the correct cam and head combo it wouldn’t run right. Personally I wouldn’t do it simply because you’re taking 2 steps backwards in the wrong direction. I would try to find a low mileage Vortec 350 or if worst comes to worst, LS swap it. You’d be way better off doing that. Swapping the tbi engine into the Vortec truck can be done, but I’ve never done it, and personally wouldn’t recommend it.

[@mikey2k890]

@@_chevy_stepside ah ok, I was given a truck with a 350 tbi but the transmission and body were trashed. I bought a truck to put the motor in but didn’t realize that they went to vortec in 98 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@_chevy_stepside]

@mikey2k890 That sucks! I’d try to find a Vortec 350 and sell the tbi motor

[@mikey2k890]

@@_chevy_stepside yessir I do believe that’s gonna be the plan, thanks for your help man

[@kashmarbarnes4287]

how did you go about the crank sensor on timing gear cover?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I left it in there. No need to remove it and cause an oil leak. I believe there’s a block off plate for it but I’m not sure. It doesn’t affect anything if you leave it in there.

[@Michael-White]

Did you just leave the crank sensor in and leave it unplugged?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Yes. Didn’t affect anything and I didn’t want an oil leak if I messed with it

[@Michael-White]

@@_chevy_stepside thanks for the info!

[@_chevy_stepside]

No problem man

[@josuehernandez6759]

What did u do with the egr valve??

[@_chevy_stepside]

Bypassed it and removed it

[@josuehernandez6759]

Cool man thanks for the info im doing my 1995 .n i notice the adapter dont have tha base for egr

[@_chevy_stepside]

Nah this is a carbureted intake so it doesn’t have the egr. The computers are so primitive in these trucks it won’t affect runability at all, just sets the check engine light that comes and goes sometimes

[@josuehernandez6759]

Great on my im trying to keep the heater on it

[@davea5113]

What did you use for a chip in ecu?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I believe it was a JET performance stage 2 chip if I remember correctly

[@alphamaledriveshard]

Hey. I want to use the tbi AC compressor and alternator on my vortec. Can I use the tbi accessories but still retain the original vortec water pump?

[@Alobster1]

So why can't you use the intake manifold from the vortec and mount the tbi on it?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Because the stock Vortec manifold will not work with the tbi unit. It just simply won’t work. It’s a poppet style fuel injection intake. In order to make the tbi work you have to run a carbureted intake. Tbi on a basic level is a carburetor with fuel injectors. It’s a completely different system than the Vortec fuel injection

[@Alobster1]

​@@_chevy_stepside Is there anything stopping me from designing and casting my own adapter? I will have to look at a vortec manifold to see how different they are.

[@Alobster1]

@@_chevy_stepside Oh i just found a picture of one. That is going to be one hell of an adapter haha. Well I guess I need to buy an intake manifold

[@_chevy_stepside]

Yeah, to me it’s a better idea to sell the Vortec mpfi intake and distributor, if you play your cards right you should be able to get about $250 for the intake and distributor if it’s got low miles and in good shape. That would pay for the intake and adapter. I know jegs makes an intake for Vortec heads that runs about $180 if I recall. I got mine for $110 at a swap meet

[@Alobster1]

@@_chevy_stepside. Ok, thanks for the help. My 4.3 in my 93 is on it's last leg and I'm trying to figure out what route to take. I might just go with a carb since my ecu is acting up too.

[@Tacuache602]

Did you have to upgrade the fuel pump

[@_chevy_stepside]

No, stock one works just fine for now, unless you want to throw more fuel at it then upgrade to the Vortec 155 lph pump

[@codybunk2996]

Hey brother so I have a 94 blazer two door & A 99 Chevy Tahoe and I’m doing a swap where I’m taking motor from the blazer and putting it in the Tahoe and I believe that’s what you did in this video but I’m not sure but what all would I need to make sure that I could use the throttlebody off of the newer vehicle am I able to swap the intake and put it on the block from the 94 and I’m thinking the distributor might be an issue but let me know on your tots or your opinion

[@_chevy_stepside]

Okay, me and you are on two completely different pages. What I did was take a 1997 Chevy 1500 Vortec engine and swapped it into a 1989 TBI truck. In your case I would look for a low mile wrecked 1996-1998 Chevy Vortec engine. If you swapped the tbi engine from the blazer into the Vortec engine it wouldn’t work. The intake wouldn’t fit (since on a tbi engine they’re angled, on a Vortec they’re straight up) nor would the distributor (since the cam gears are different). It would also be a lot slower and run way worse. Look for a low mile engine from a wrecked 96-99 Vortec truck or a 96-03 Chevy express van. That would be your best bet. The Vortec engines run so much cleaner and better than the 88-95 tbi engines that gm in 1999 used the 99 model year trucks to gain back smog credits from the 1995 tbi trucks. They ran that good. That’s my thoughts on it.

[@_chevy_stepside]

In terms of the swap, I did the exact opposite of what you did. I took an engine from a newer model truck and retrofitted it. You’re trying to take an older model engine and swap it into something newer

[@ricardopadron241]

Do you have the ignition coil grounded with a wire? the reason I ask is because it usually grounds with bracket on the intake

[@_chevy_stepside]

No. I’ve had two different tbi trucks with coils not mounted to the intake with no issues. I think they’re grounded internally but I don’t know. Like I said I never bolted them in after changing them and never had an issue. The intake hole to mount the coil on this truck was stripped out so I couldn’t use it

[@JosePerez-of7oi]

Hey I’m doing the same thing to my obs I gotta a question though can I use the stock tbi push rods and rockers ? Or what do you suggest stock Vortec head from summit

[@_chevy_stepside]

Are you running stock Vortec heads? You could probably get away with the tbi rockers and push rods because I’m pretty sure they’re self aligning. However with the roller lifters of a Vortec roller cam I don’t think they’d work because roller lifters are taller which would mean you’d need a shorter pushrod. If you’re curious about summit Vortec heads call them and ask, their tech line is fantastic and they’ll give you all the info you need.

[@rickeygousha5801]

What about the crank sensor

[@_chevy_stepside]

When I replaced the timing cover (the one on my donor motor was cracked) it came with a little block off piece. I just used a bit of silicone around that and tightened the bolt up. Been fine since

[@rickeygousha5801]

@@_chevy_stepside ok I see thanks

[@zachster6086]

Alright I need some help, I got a 92 Chevy k3500 with the 350 in it and I swapped a vortec 350 into it and I need to get a chip for it to straighten it out but when I look chips up they say there’s none for my truck, and it’s got the automatic 4l80 in it

[@_chevy_stepside]

I got mine through JET chips. Try them first

[@zachster6086]

@@_chevy_stepside I checked them and they didn’t have any chips for my specific model

[@_chevy_stepside]

Try for a 92 1500 truck with a 350, all the computers should be the same

[@jcanfixall1585]

Hopefully I can get you pointed in the right direction without a long drawn out answer... Research using a diesel tcm for your 4l80e and run it separate from the ecm... The older diesel trucks tcm's only used a throttle position sensor signal and crank position sensor signal to control them... You can easily get those signals off of a vortec and the ecm will run the engine separately...

[@fredcolberg9783]

Reason why you don't have a heater is because the way you went about dealing with the bypass.

[@_chevy_stepside]

Noooo really? Heater core was bypassed before I swapped the engine because it probably leaked and I didn’t want to find out the hard way if it did leak

[@DUNEATV]

@@_chevy_stepsideLOL

[@truspirit1925]

Can u use an hei distributor from a carb motor

[@_chevy_stepside]

No, how do you expect the computer to know where the timing is to make the tbi work if it’s a carb distributor?

[@truspirit1925]

@@_chevy_stepside oh I see ....thanks

[@williamsmith9010]

How do run the fuel lines mine are curved instead of strait like on a t.b.i

[@_chevy_stepside]

So what I did is under the truck there’s a holder that makes the fuel lines curve upwards, I unhooked it from there, there’s also two hold downs on the bellhousing which can be unbolted and then the bolts put back in. Then I cut the fuel lines back where they’re metal and then used zip ties to hold them up on the fender and then mounted my regulator there

[@rs_angell]

hey, i have 94 350 tbi, but i’m not sure if it would work into an obs that had a 96 4.3 vortec

[@_chevy_stepside]

Anything will work if you try hard enough. Honestly on that I’d look for another 4.3 or a 5.7 Vortec

[@rs_angell]

@@_chevy_stepside yea bc i was seeing if i could convert the 1994 tbi to a vortec,

[@_chevy_stepside]

You can, just get a set of Vortec heads and a roller cam and you’d be all set. Or just get a complete junkyard drop out like I did from a 96+ Chevy truck

[@GhettoWagon]

TBI exhaust manifolds work right on this?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Yes

[@GhettoWagon]

@@_chevy_stepside my Fn 167k 305 just started making horrible sounds after running on old gas. Sad.

[@_chevy_stepside]

@@GhettoWagon Sad indeed. Imma make a follow up video to this here in a bit

[@GhettoWagon]

@@_chevy_stepside Ya but.. They all go dead this engine lived a hard life. HEAds are worn on it I can rock every valve around. But Never left me down even now it still moves around. I dunno maybe junkyard engine is way to go they want 2000 for a crate 305 and 4500 for vortec 350s now crazy rip off. The TBI to Vortec manifolds used to be 300 now $600 what are they doing to us. Who's getting that massive yacht or a new airplane Hows the TBI work with the vortec with the more flowing heads and slightly larger cam? No tuning issues? I might run a custom Eprom chip if I do this on my 94

[@_chevy_stepside]

@@GhettoWagon I paid $900 for the complete Vortec engine, with long tube headers from the wrecked truck and intake along with the front accessories. Sometimes if you mash the gas it’ll pop and backfire at you but it’s no big deal. Has loads more top end and mid range torque than with the tbi stuff. If the customer wanted I would’ve gotten the eprom chip but she didn’t want to spend the money

[@gameboy3800]

what's the advantage of sticking with the stock tbi setup? i thought that going for a normal oldschool carb setup would be better than tbi?

[@_chevy_stepside]

So carbs have their advantages and disadvantages. Main thing for this customer was cost. To buy a new carb and distributor for this truck would’ve been an additional $400 for the customer in addition to the fuel lines, fuel pressure regulator and all, she just didn’t want to do it, it’s a daily driver and tbi works well in stock form/mildly modified

[@gameboy3800]

@@_chevy_stepside i've got a 95 model with the big block. do you have videos recommending upgrades for that motor?

[@_chevy_stepside]

@@gameboy3800 I do not. I’ve never worked on a big block other than the Vortec 7400 in this suburban I got. I would do some research on what to do

[@scottolvera1420]

Hello I have a 1990 gmc tbi 350 that I swapped over with a vortec 350 . Did the exact same thing . Will I need a chip for this swap to work ? Or can I leave it as is ? And if I do need a chip, what do you reccomend ?

[@_chevy_stepside]

You don’t necessarily need a chip, but in this truck what happened was it would cough and backfire under wide open throttle so I had a jet stage 2 chip laying around that I threw in there and that helped a bit. Unless you have to go wide open throttle all the time I wouldn’t worry about it. As for chips I’d probably run JET performance ones, I’ve had pretty good luck with them

[@scottolvera1420]

@@_chevy_stepside did you upgrade your fuel pump ? I heard if you upgrade your fuel Pump , it helps with that problem . But I’m not too sure . I am fixing to throw the vortec I rebuilt in but was really confused about the chip . What stage of jets chip did you get ?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I should’ve replaced the pump but didn’t, no idea if the pressure was low. The chip was a stage 2 jet chip

[@scottolvera1420]

@@_chevy_stepside okay thank you so much .!

[@brianl6798]

Milage better or worse?

[@_chevy_stepside]

I’ll be honest, this truck is 33 years old, has heavy all terrain tires on it and true dual exhaust. Fuel mileage wasn’t our biggest concern. However I would say it probably gained 2-3 mpg on the road because the motor isn’t wore out, but to be honest I don’t know

[@elgordo9058]

Hey man if I have a 88 with 350 and a 96 donor with a vortec will everything just swap over?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Yes and no, watch part one where I explain how everything is set up and how everything works. The long block swaps over, the intake and tbi unit don’t. Watch part one please as it does a better job explaining it. Take the Vortec cpfi intake off, find a set of 92-94 aluminum brackets for your accessories, get a carb intake and a tbi adapter and a distributor with a mellonized cam gear for the roller cam and it all goes together. Let me know if you have anymore questions

[@nathantoth4185]

You probably already found out. But get the tins that protects the spark plug wire boot. I bought a truck with a jasper engine, it didn't have the tins and melted my wires every 60 days or so.

[@nathantoth4185]

Also I switch to straight plug wire ends on the spark plug side. Really helped stop wires melting.

[@_chevy_stepside]

I never had any issues with spark plug wires burning other than with short tube headers. All I did was zip tie the wires up and haven’t had any issues since. Customer has put over 4,000 miles on the truck since and with no issues. I’ll consider it next time

[@HeshAudio]

I have a question in regards to setting timing. In my situation when I have the timing at 0 it runs like dog water, advanced just alittle and it runs even worst. But when it’s retarded at 5 degrees it runs smooth and seems like there is good power. Only issue is it does seem to hesitate at times when going around 30-35mph. So I went ahead and retarded a couple degrees more and now there’s little to no hesitation at all very smooth and shifts are smooth. My issue now is when truck is at idle in park and I go into drive it will die. I start back up and it will go into drive fine but then starts to idle rough. I have new ecu and jet Perfomance chip which seem to help from the factor one. Any idea what this could be? It’s vortec swap just like yours. Changed every sensor you could think of, that has anything to do with idle, acceleration, power etc.changed distributor , rotor, plugs, wire. Check injectors as well and Tbi not sure what’s going on. I’m just kinda running in circles on what to do. Thank you

[@_chevy_stepside]

That’s weird, really weird. Seeing how the timing affects how it runs, I would pull the distributor out, find tdc and then reset it at 0. You may have a bad pickup in the distributor, they are known for going bad and causing a rough running/ no idle in drive issue. Just because the distributor is new, doesn’t mean it’s not faulty. If that’s not it, I’m not really sure what to tell you. It’s normal for it to hesitate a little bit (the red truck would do it if you stomped the gas, it would cough and then go, but the cop car injectors fixed that) but for it to want to die at idle makes me believe that the distributor is the problem. Hope this helps!

[@HeshAudio]

@@_chevy_stepside thanks for the response boss! Recently retimed it and it’s running a lot better still hesitates but I’m sure I need to update the injectors to the caprice ones. By chance would you have a part number of the injector your using? I was looking them up by I was only fining the 305 caprice injectors. Unless those are it

[@jacobsanford6379]

Swapping stock 305 with gremlins sat 7 years two owner 94.000 on smh but 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[@chadjennings3907]

What about egr

[@_chevy_stepside]

In Texas where I live there are no emissions requirements on vehicles over 25 years old, so no need for egr. If you live in a state that requires it you’ll have to spend money on the gm performance parts tbi Vortec intake that’s roughly $500. But if you know the right people you don’t need egr to pass lol

[@toxicskygaming5364]

hey i have a question i did this exact swap minus the chip runs good when you roll into throttle but when you smash it from a dig it Coffs out and stutters when you let off its fine should i try a chips??? its a vortec roller block with 906 heads bone stock with a jegs duel plane intake with a 1 inch spacer/adapter for the tbi

[@_chevy_stepside]

I would try a chip, tbi units are very finicky and when it’s not a bone stock engine you need the chip to tell the computer to send more fuel. This truck did the exact same thing until I chipped it and put bigger injectors in it

[@toxicskygaming5364]

Alright do you have any recommendations for places to order injectors I might just order big block injectors off of rock auto

[@_chevy_stepside]

@@toxicskygaming5364 don’t swap in big block injectors. They’re for a 454, not a 350. It will never idle right and they just don’t work well. Get a set of 9C1 caprice cop car injectors that have the LT1 and they flow enough

[@toxicskygaming5364]

Have any suggestion in where I should order them

[@_chevy_stepside]

Online anywhere

[@nollidredins6257]

Only reason i wanna swap to a vortec is because i hate the spider injection garbage 😆

[@bobhoffman5581]

Buy the Chevy Performance TBI intake manifold, keep the crank sensor in the block, change the distributor drive gear, deal with the water pump issue/accessories brakets, DONE... Carb intake? HUH?!? Smh... You also should have put the 4L60E behind it, with an aftermarket "brain" to help its operation... P.S. EGR? lmao

[@_chevy_stepside]

Bruh, I’m not paying 500 dollars for a stupid intake from GM when there’s numerous alternatives out there for it and more aftermarket support. I realized I could’ve gone with one but i couldn’t justify spending 500 dollars on an intake when I paid $110 for the weiand stealth and $25 for the tbi to carb adapter. If you didn’t like it I’m sorry. That’s not my problem. Customer is fine with it and in Texas if it’s 25 or older it doesn’t have to pass smog. So no egr or converters required. Why would I put a 4L60E behind it when the 700R4 was rebuilt 6 months ago? Seems like a waste of money and a good transmission to me.

[@ImOnlyDon]

I have a 92 I’m trying too add power to with a 5speed manual 3/4 ton. Any tips

[@_chevy_stepside]

Carb swap it. There’s a whole video about how to do it on my channel

[@rmmm6725]

If you do this with a cam your screwed. Even with a new chip from someone that knows what they are doing it’s a crap shoot. If you don’t cam it you’ll see zero diff in HP and Torque

[@_chevy_stepside]

How could you post something like this and be so wrong? If you knew anything about Vortec motors and tbi motors this is essentially adding an R/V cam, better heads and a better intake to a tbi engine. The Vortec motors stock made 255 hp with converters and the stock fuel injection. If you bothered to read the description you’ll see that I’ve modified the tbi a little bit and with the better heads and mildly bigger cam, jet stage 1 chip and dual exhaust with no cats, it makes about 240 hp. Now if you really wanted to cam it they do make computers for tbi trucks that can be tuned by hooking a laptop to it, friend of mine did that on a 87 R10 silverado. Now before you make stupid comments like this, please think before you type. Thanks!

[@charlescutler3982]

Ratio

[@HondoCalhoun69.75]

PCV valve on wrong side. You cant make it breathe backwards.Switch valve covers.People do it cause they dont like adding oil on rear right cover. Look it up. I made same mistake when I was a kid.

[@_chevy_stepside]

You’re dead wrong. GM from the factory on all tbi vehicles has the pcv on the passenger side with a baffle and the oil filler and breather on the opposite. I’ve tested it both ways and it made no difference at all in terms of drivability or oil usage. It’s been close to a year since this swap was done and almost 6,000 miles later it runs and drives just as good as it did the day I put it together. It’s not a mistake but doing the job correctly and how it was set up to begin with. No need to mess with something that works just fine

[@1SlowExtendo]

What thermostat did u use

[@_chevy_stepside]

Just the stock 195 thermostat

[@Thomas-qz8rq]

What spark plug gap you go with?

[@_chevy_stepside]

Uhhh I just ran whatever the plugs came with lol, I think they’re gapped to like .045 or something, it’s been awhile since I owned this truck

[@Thomas-qz8rq]

@@_chevy_stepside oh cool thanks. Did a conversion as well n wasn't sure. And left gap as it came outta the box as well. Thanks