Vortec Heads on TBI - need info/help

[Mattchu60]

Hello All,

I have been looking for ways to get some more power out of the old TBI in my 87' Silverado with the 5.7/350. It does fine but really struggles on highways to keep moving.

I have done a lot of searching and found some information on the vortec head swap, but still have questions.

- If I were to just swap out the TBI heads with Vortec heads and also the GM TBI/Vortec intake and leave everything else the same - will it work and work well? My understanding is that the heads breathe a lot better and should add 30-50 hp.

- If I do the above, will I need to get my chip tuned - I really want to avoid this as the chips are expensive and sounds like they may not work all that well anyways. I have no idea how to tune or burn chips, so avoiding that would be great.

 

[Jims86]

The biggest headache is the tuning, but you are on the right track.
The 906 heads are the ones you want. Get the EGR kit, and plumb it into your manifolds or headers, retaining EGR will allow you to run max timing.

old school EFI would be the guy to tune it, you will need a laptop, and an aldl cable.Stay away from TBIchips.com.

 

[bucket]

Stay away from TBIchips.com.

Why? I've had Brian do a couple TPI chips for me and the car has always run well and been efficient... only issue has been MAF troubles that have got worse over the last 10 years.

 

[Jims86]

Why? I've had Brian do a couple TPI chips for me and the car has always run well and been efficient... only issue has been MAF troubles that have got worse over the last 10 years.

A lot of his customers are flocking to gearhead EFI for help after multiple try's...but they are all tbi vortech. Straight up TBI, I have heard some good, some bad. Dave at old school has a tune on the shelf for TBI Vortec combo. You would think that Brian would too, but it seems not.