Bill574

I have an 89 bird that someone swapped a TBI 350 (87-95 I believe) into at some point. The casting number on the heads is 14102193. Which my research tells me are junk. This car will never see the street and will only race 1/8 mile. I have a 750DP for it now which I want to swap in place of the poorly running TBI. (I’m somewhat familiar with the TBI - Carb swap). My question is what to do long term. I need to ditch the TBI manifold for a carb intake, however, the 87-95 manifolds aren’t cheap, and for a few extra dollars I can probably buy a used Vortec motor. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

If its going to be a race car then i would definitely atleast get better heads etc.

Bill574

Replacing the heads for sure. I’m trying to learn about the block and rotating assembly. The Vortec are roller motors. I need to figure out if I buy aftermarket heads for this motor, or just ditch it and swap the whole motor to Vortec. Trying to learn anything about the 87-95 platform. I don’t see many at the track.

TransamGTA350

iTrader: (2)

The short block of the 87-95 and the 96+ are pretty much the same. Only difference may be that all 96+ are roller lifter and some 87-95 are roller and some are flat tappet. The truck TBI motors were flat tappet, but the Caprice/Roadmaster TBI350 were usually roller. All of the TBI350's would have used the 193 swirl port heads you have. I would pull the intake to see if you have a roller cam or flat tappet.

If you're looking to make more power, I would agree with using a different cylinder head. Any head that works on a 96+ block will work on an 87-95 block and you'll need to use an intake manifold compatible with the heads you choose.