TPi

[aitch]

I just bought a 92 Z28 TPi unit for my 69 GMC stroker project.
Problem is, the guy would not part with the harness and ecm.
Now I'm searching for these items. I've looked at stock but am told I need a chip burned for my application. I've also looked at aftermarket but Accel units start at $1600.
I'm not looking for a drag truck, just a good performing daily driver.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Jason915]

you have a few options with the ecm chip and the harness, 1st option is go to the salvage yards and find the ecm and harness. It can be hard to find a good harness because people always chop them up behond useage in salvage yards. You can find ECM's on ebay. Personally I would find a used ECM in a salvage yard or on e-bay or perhaps some f-body fourms. Then go aftermarket for your harness like painless wireing. The chip you can get custom taylored for under 200 buks try tbichips.com. I am building a TBI project right now and one thing I can recommend is deffently do your homework, search all over the web and get as much info as you can that is what I have done. In fact I have made a big 3 ring binder for all of my conversion information that I can refer to. I plan on posting my detailed TBI information as soon as mine is on the road.

Good luck

[Sgt.Booya]

Jason, That sounds great, can't wait to read your post on your TPI conversion. If you can, just remember to dumb it down for guys like me.

[Ackattack]

Go with a painless TPI wiring harness. Pretty easy (as long as your power wire gets constant power while cranking....ask me how I know )

I think you can pickup a ecm from the parts store for like $100. I wouldn't trust a salvage yard junker....they're somewhat fragile.

I'm running an 87 tpi engine, so I didn't have to deal with vats....but...another thing that you can do is get an "emulator" that plugs in to where the chip goes and you can esentially just reflash the emulator with the use of a laptop. I'm planning on getting one eventually once I get to doing some engine mods (cam, heads, etc). Go to thirdgen.org to read up on all of the computer chip BS you could ever dream of!

Good luck!

[aitch]

I've got a shot at a Accel Gen 6 ecm (74022) and harness but understand it's DOS based.
Anybody have experience with one of these?

[TugOwar]

why do i get the feeling all this pci, tbi, ecm, chip stuff will forever and always be over my head?

good luck with the conversion you guys.

[red71cheyenne]

Personally, I would go with a custom harness and ECM. I had mine done by Jims Performance. Its a little more expensive, but there's the whole warranty thing. My ECM crapped out after a year, and he replaced it for free. The harness is custom to your application and you just plug and play. Mighty easy. Good luck and keep us posted. Jeff.

[CochinoFilipino]

You can buy a new or used ECM here: http://tpiparts.net/82_92_ecm_and_prom

They also have programming services. So you can have them eliminate the VATS,and whatever else needs to be done.

[aitch]

ackattack, I have not heard of the emulator, sounds interesting, I'll check the thirdgen web site.

red71, Custom would be nice but what I'm seeing is $1600 and up for a harness and ecm. Not really prohibitive but well beyond what I'd budgeted.

CochinoFilipino. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

Still like to know if anyone is running a Gen 6 Accel ecm???

[red71cheyenne]

If you go to Jimsperformance.com I think the harness is $250 and the ECM is about $300 depending on the prom you need. Jeff.

[red71cheyenne]

Oops, sorry the ECM is $110 and the Chip is $125, so $235 for ECM. The one you are talking about he sells for $795. Good luck, Jeff.

[Deuce]

I used a painless harness and it was truely................Painless. You'll love it once it's done.
As stated earlier................make sure you have a FULL 12 Volt supply to the computer, not just a ignition hot wire.

[chevymad]

I beleive you can buy a commander 950 ecm/harness from holley for less then a grand. They have alot of pre-programmed setups and you can customize it yourself with a laptop.

[Russell]

You have a PM

[mocwon]

You will very likely need a chip burned for your application. The '90 and later setups that are speed density, like yours, are very picky about the motor specs being quite close to what was stock. The stroker motor likely puts you far enough out that a stock chip will not work properly.

I went with Painless harness; '87 Z-28 TPI and stock GM chip. I think I'm going to have a custom chip burned given that I only get about 13mpg. Fixin' to change gears from 3.08's to 3.73's with the 700R4 which everyone tells me will help gas mileage.

[aitch]

mocwon, now that's a thang of beauty. Rams horns look great!
What I have a hard time understanding is why aftermarket harnesses would be better than a stock harness that has been maintained and removed properly.

[mocwon]

Originally Posted by aitch

mocwon, now that's a thang of beauty. Rams horns look great!
What I have a hard time understanding is why aftermarket harnesses would be better than a stock harness that has been maintained and removed properly.

Thanks.

Stock is fine if you can find one that's in great shape; I didn't have that choice since the one that was on the parts car I bought was mangled. I'd take the tape off and hunt for nicks and such and perhaps ohm it out.