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Probably some differences, depending on the year of engine/vehicle.
For all out torque, I would venture to say the powerstroke is what you want between the two (And this is coming from more of a GM guy, when discussing American vehicles). But really, either one would work for heavy duty truck uses.
TBI is a simple, easy fuel system to maintain/work on. But if you're looking for gobs of power, it requires modifications (I want to say a stock 454 TBI is factory rated around 230-240 hp, and 370-390 lb/ft of TQ or so). The 350 engines w/TBI only made around 200-210 HP stock (mainly because the stock heads make for good paperweights...the vortec heads from '96+ are far superior).
Probably some differences, depending on the year of engine/vehicle.
For all out torque, I would venture to say the powerstroke is what you want between the two (And this is coming from more of a GM guy, when discussing American vehicles). But really, either one would work for heavy duty truck uses.
TBI is a simple, easy fuel system to maintain/work on. But if you're looking for gobs of power, it requires modifications (I want to say a stock 454 TBI is factory rated around 230-240 hp, and 370-390 lb/ft of TQ or so). The 350 engines w/TBI only made around 200-210 HP stock (mainly because the stock heads make for good paperweights...the vortec heads from '96+ are far superior).
Can I take off the heads off TBI 350 and put on some vortex heads?
Can I take off the heads off TBI 350 and put on some vortex heads?
Absolutely. But they require a Vortec specific intake manifold to install. There are lots of manifold options available for the 350, but I'm not so sure about the 454 engines.
Getting the TBI to supply enough fuel for an engine making more than ~250 HP or so will require some additional mods with a 350 (higher flow fuel pump/fuel pressure regulator, etc.). The 454 TBI can probably support up to 300-325 HP or so without additional work.
Would this engine be for a project/hobby vehicle, or a something for daily use?
Absolutely. But they require a Vortec specific intake manifold to install. There are lots of manifold options available for the 350, but I'm not so sure about the 454 engines.
Getting the TBI to supply enough fuel for an engine making more than ~250 HP or so will require some additional mods with a 350 (higher flow fuel pump/fuel pressure regulator, etc.). The 454 TBI can probably support up to 300-325 HP or so without additional work.
Would this engine be for a project/hobby vehicle, or a something for daily use?
Look for mods to TBI units. The 454 is as big as it gets in stock stuff. There are injectors you can swap. Really easy FI system to work on. Get a adjustable fuel pressure regulator and a higher volume pump. The factory ones can be weak. Put a fuel pressure guage on there. Shave off the horns and smooth out the TBI. I think you can bore the 454 unit out a bit more.
Not many places work on those old TBI trucks even though GM made a crap ton of them. But they are relatively rare anymore. Most of these trucks have been trashed.
There is a place in Arizona the builds TBI engines and has some chips for it.
Understand that you're not gonna see huge hp out of a TBI truck. They really don't make much hp in the upper rm range. They are torque low rpm motors simply due to the TBI design gets stuffed and can't flow air fast. They are reliable as is.
If you wanna make better mods go find a wrecked 96-00 454 EFI. And put that in. Or jump to a GM performance 502 with a carb and dump TBI altogether
How much power are you looking for, exactly? How important is fuel mileage? (Since it's a daily). Is it going to be used to tow/haul things? Or is the desire for power mainly for a more fun driving experience? How much are you willing to spend on mods?
Like Electrician4you said, those old TBI motors are mainly torque machines, and not so powerful in the upper RPMs. The biggest limiting factors are the factory heads (they're one of the worst-flowing cylinder head designs ever made by GM), and the factory fuel delivery/computer (It's not very modification-friendly, when it comes to tuning).
Many folks who do TBI engine builds end up using aftermarket systems like EBL Flash to tune engines that have significant work done to them, such as head & cam swaps.
If you don't want to go to that kind of trouble (understandably) for a daily use vehicle, you could always throw on a good exhaust/header system to wake up a TBI motor. Like the TBI heads, the factory exhaust manifolds also make fine paperweights and doorstops (some people report a 15-20 HP gain from headers alone on stock 305 and 350 TBIs...)
How much power are you looking for, exactly? How important is fuel mileage? (Since it's a daily). Is it going to be used to tow/haul things? Or is the desire for power mainly for a more fun driving experience? How much are you willing to spend on mods?
Like Electrician4you said, those old TBI motors are mainly torque machines, and not so powerful in the upper RPMs. The biggest limiting factors are the factory heads (they're one of the worst-flowing cylinder head designs ever made by GM), and the factory fuel delivery/computer (It's not very modification-friendly, when it comes to tuning).
Many folks who do TBI engine builds end up using aftermarket systems like EBL Flash to tune engines that have significant work done to them, such as head & cam swaps.
If you don't want to go to that kind of trouble (understandably) for a daily use vehicle, you could always throw on a good exhaust/header system to wake up a TBI motor. Like the TBI heads, the factory exhaust manifolds also make fine paperweights and doorstops (some people report a 15-20 HP gain from headers alone on stock 305 and 350 TBIs...)
Not looking for alot of power but some with fuel efficiency. And I was thinking about headers with straight dual pipes
Last edited by Blackandgold51; 01-04-2016 at 08:51 AM..
In my opinion they both are good. It really depends on what you want to use them for.
Except that the 7.3 was made by Navistar. The 7.3 or 444 was installed in Ford pickups and Internatinal trucks and buses.
One is gas, the other is diesel. So which is better is like asking in you like bananas or oranges better.
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