I'm cheap

[wil1980]

Hi everyone, new to the site and forums in general, looking for some advice.. I've worked with tbi conversions in the past but never tuning.
I've recently found myself with a 1990 shortbox chevy 1500 4x4 which is old and tired and gutless... I've been given a decent 1993 ish engine, which I was hoping to put vortec heads on and keep the tbi, I've done this swap before with a complete vortec engine to carb, so I know whats involved, but carbs absolutely suck...
I am not looking for huge power gains, something that gets near a 98 chevy would be adequate, but I'm planning on this being a one off change (but you never know), So my question is how cheaply can I burn a chip for this, I know I need a chip burner, but is there an existing file for this set up I can just burn to a chip , do I really need tuner pro software etc.
Basically if this runs into hundreds of dollars I would prefer to put that money towards a sniper efi or similar, as despite best intensions I seem to find myself with chevy smallblocks a lot.
My plan here is a stock 350 engine, vortec heads, dual plane intake with tbi adapter plate, headers, dual exhaust, vortec fuel pump with some regulator fiddling.
transmission is 700r4. How cheaply can I make it work?
Given that the goal here is just to make this thing decently driveable, am I better off rebuilding the original engine and tuning that rather than spending money on intake manifolds for vortec heads?
Thanks in advance guys

[space387]

a chip and burner from Moates will set you back about $140. I highly recommend tunerProRT, the registration fee is optional but recommended. The question here is how much of the TDI system do you already have? If none then yea getting a stand alone kit will probably be the better way, but if its mainly there give burning a try. To get a really good tune you should look into a wideband O2 sensor. They range from $100 to about $300 depending on the brand and sensor used.

[wil1980]

Thanks for the response. I actually have all the hardware involved other than the chip burner. I also have a box of TBI chips (approximately 15) and multiple ecms, the small ones from early trucks, 1227747 ecm I believe. I see the moates Burn2 doesn't take these, there is a company up here in Canada making a burner that accepts these. Is trying to make use of these more hassle than its worth, should I just throw them in the garbage and get the Moates stuff with the adapter and flash chips?

[steveo]

im also cheap. i really liked my minipro chinese programmer. they are on ebay for way under $100 and come with socket adaptors for everything. probably your best option for cheap.

[wil1980]

hey Steveo, is that this one,

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/USB-TL866II-Plus-EPROM-EEPROM-FLASH-Programmer-MiniPro-BIOS-AVR-AL-PIC-SP-MCU/163945012256?hash=item262be25c20:g:OVwAAOSwn0VdzhP Z

if not see if you can send me a link, Thanks.
The Moates stuff seems pretty cheap but when you add the shipping and convert it to Canadian , it starts getting pricey

[PlayingWithTBI]

[QUOTE=wil1980;The Moates stuff seems pretty cheap but when you add the shipping and convert it to Canadian , it starts getting pricey[/QUOTE]
Another route you can go is the ZIF socket and 27SF512 flash chip with compliments from dave w. Or he maybe able to do one for you.
http://www.gearhead-efi.com/Fuel-Injection/showthread.php?172-7747-Flash-Chip-Conversion-(27SF512)

I know you said you're cheap, I totally understand but, here's another option...
https://www.dynamicefi.com/EBL_Flash.php

[wil1980]

Thanks, I did look at the ecm's but as I'm hoping this will be a one off kind of thing, I don't want to get too involved, first kid is on the way so I'm assuming car nonsense will be on the back burner for a while. I'l probably go with the Burn2 as it seems pretty simple and reliable, but I'm open to cheap Chinese ebay crap if theres one people have had good luck with that allows me to use all these useless chips I already have.
The problem with Moates is the shipping and import is a bit much

[steveo]

hey Steveo, is that this one,

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/USB-TL866II-Plus-EPROM-EEPROM-FLASH-Programmer-MiniPro-BIOS-AVR-AL-PIC-SP-MCU/163945012256?hash=item262be25c20:g:OVwAAOSwn0VdzhP Z

if not see if you can send me a link, Thanks.
The Moates stuff seems pretty cheap but when you add the shipping and convert it to Canadian , it starts getting pricey

yep thats the one! it wont let you down for light usage.

[wil1980]

Cheers Steveo, I’m buying this thing, so expect some messages when it shows up in 3 months with Chinese instructions...

[steveo]

i don't remember what the software looks like even but just plug the thing in and figure it out. honestly i beat the living crap out of that thing with many hundreds of flashes during eehack's development, and tuned a bunch of tbi engines for myself and other people, it never complained about it. the assortment of chip sockets it comes with really covers you for future projects, and they are perfectly fine quality.