I am planning to swap a TPI into my 69 307 glide. I have a line on a donor car, and I have read a bit. Who anyone done this or a similar swap? What surprises have you had to deal with? The donor I am looking at now is an 86 formula. I understand there will be distributor clearance issues, but there is a newer dist that will fit.


Does anyone have a complete list of parts I need from the donor?


Thanks,


Tom

The early TPIs used a large distributor. The later ones had the smaller diameter unit (the size of a point dist.). If it has the small cap, then there shouldn't be any firewall issues.
Painless makes a harness that you connect to a donor computer. They also have ecm/harness packages (with a programmable ecm) that uses a MAP sensor and does away with the MAF unit. I think MSD is also producing their own fuel injection electronic's packages. Get a harness that has all the necessary relays built in/wired in. The fuel pump will need its own high amperage, ecm controlled circut.
I've stripped harnesses from donor vehicles and done the transplant routine. It takes many hours to clean up a stock harness just to make it look presentable. A Painless harness will be worth the expense. It'll be a lot less hassle and save a lot of time.

Good luck.

There are a number of things to look for. If you are using a automatic make sure it has connections. Same for the oil pressure, neutral, pump, ccp, fan, and a/c switches. Some of the units are not 100% complete and you may pay with a lot of headaches. The dist comment is not 100% correct. The Corvettes came with the large dists and the 3rd gens came with the small dist. But you do want the small dist.

Another question same topic. Since I will need a fuel return line to the tank, do you know if the repro 1/4 inch vent line will serve this purpose?

Is the later smaller distributor compatable with the 86 system?

Thanks again,
Tom