87 TA question
 

A friend of mine has an 87 TA 305 tune port..wanting to swap to 350 ..what are the best options..do you have to change the computer can you get at 3:50 crate engine..not looking for anything crazy just a good driver with a little more power. any information would be helpful..thanks

GM usually used the 305 in the stick cars. At the time, the 350 had more horse but the 305 had more torque. You couldn't get a 350 with a stick. Kind of like when you couldn't get a stick in the Olds powered T/A because the Pontiac had more torque. I'm guessing PMD was concerned about "off the line" bog complaints.

With all due respect I believe you got this backwards. On paper the top rated 305 TPI and the 350 TPI horsepower rating difference was not nearly as great as one would think. The torque rating was where the greatest differences were. TPI was initially designed for the 305 to boost torque output with its long runner design but didn’t flow enough air to support airflow requirements of a 350. It was first used on the Corvette 350 only because GM couldn’t work out the issues with its Crossfire Fuel Injection. GM’s reasoning for not putting a 5 speed manual in 350 TPI F Bodies was they didn’t think the manual would withstand the 350’s significant increased torque rating. But we all can pretty much guess GM was protecting the Corvette from being beat by Pontiac’s lightweight Formula 350 which it pretty much did anyway until the ZR1 and the LT1 350 were introduced.

Knock module, prom chip, and injector size are the main differences.

Lots of info on the GM ALDL computers pariticularly DIY EFI. Looking at Ludis' stuff both the 87 F 305 TBI and the 350 TBI used the same computer 1227165 so just would need a different tune.

Think that computer uses a 27C128.

Moates.net has the hardware and C.A.T.S. should have the tune. I have a Xtronics programmer.

ps Pontiac limited the Pontiac 400 to manual transmission cars because they did not have many of them (79's actually got '78 motors).