TPI harness and MS ...

[Slamson]

I'm planning on running MS on my Wagon with an Iroc TPI ... What harness would be the best to use with MS? ... Factory Z28 TPI harness, Painless universal TPI harness, Or the Howell plug and play TPI harness? ... Can I use an '86 TPI with a '90 speed density harness? ... Should I use MS1 or 2? ...

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

I'm planning on running MS on my Wagon with an Iroc TPI ... What harness would be the best to use with MS? ... Factory Z28 TPI harness, Painless universal TPI harness, Or the Howell plug and play TPI harness? ... Can I use an '86 TPI with a '90 speed density harness? ... Should I use MS1 or 2? ...

When I converted my 86 Cutlass to TPI I used the Howell harness. Seems to a fine job.

The 85-89 TPI setup used the MAF to measure airflow. The 90-92 SD system did away with the MAF and used only a MAP sensor to calculate airflow. You can convert your 86 to the SD system and do away with the MAF but you'll also have to change some of the 86 sensors to the 90 SD sensors. I can't remember what all needs to be changed. But, it can be done.

At some point in time the factory intregrated the injection harness into the engine harness. Also depends on if the wiring is from a Camaro/Firebird or Vette. A lot of people have used the factory harness to do there swaps but remember the newest versions of TPI systems and thus, their wiring harnesses and nearing 20 years old.

The Painless and Howell harness would be a brand new harness. Since I'm satisfied with my Howell, that's the one that gets my vote.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

By MS do you mean Megasquirt? If so it would be better NOT to abbreviate it in the original post as most people won't know what the heck you are talking about (about 90% of this forum runs carburetors). Assuming that is what you meant, I would use a stock harness and modify it as needed. After all, the MS will not be a plug and play operation, but will use the GM sensor array. You need enough wire to bring it to your Megasquirt and relay board. From there, it is up to you how you set it up. If you are not comfortable with building your own harness and all the custom stuff needed to run it, I would think twice about starting such a project. It can be done at home, but it requires sufficient technical knowledge and ability to be able to custom build it to suit your needs. There is no easy right and wrong way to do it, only many permutations of right and wrong. Al that being said, it is pointless to use a expensive aftermarket harness for Megasquirt. All you really need is the wiring for the sensors used (I think it would be: TPS, O2, MAP, CTS, and MAYBE BAR, but I think BAR is built in to the motherboard). That can easily be used off the donor TPI harness, and then all you have to do is solder about 30 connections to make it work right. If you can't solder, you have no business having anything to do with a Megasquirt setup. In that case, use a GM ECU and be done with it.

I would also post this on the boards at Megasquirt as you are far more likely to find someone with experience using a TPI with a MS ECU there than here. I know of it, and researched it for a bit when I was planning a ghetto turbo setup on a Nissan GA16DE in a B14 Sentra, but never went through with it.

 

[Slamson]

By MS do you mean Megasquirt? If so it would be better NOT to abbreviate it in the original post as most people won't know what the heck you are talking about (about 90% of this forum runs carburetors). Assuming that is what you meant, I would use a stock harness and modify it as needed. After all, the MS will not be a plug and play operation, but will use the GM sensor array. You need enough wire to bring it to your Megasquirt and relay board. From there, it is up to you how you set it up. If you are not comfortable with building your own harness and all the custom stuff needed to run it, I would think twice about starting such a project. It can be done at home, but it requires sufficient technical knowledge and ability to be able to custom build it to suit your needs. There is no easy right and wrong way to do it, only many permutations of right and wrong. Al that being said, it is pointless to use a expensive aftermarket harness for Megasquirt. All you really need is the wiring for the sensors used (I think it would be: TPS, O2, MAP, CTS, and MAYBE BAR, but I think BAR is built in to the motherboard). That can easily be used off the donor TPI harness, and then all you have to do is solder about 30 connections to make it work right. If you can't solder, you have no business having anything to do with a Megasquirt setup. In that case, use a GM ECU and be done with it.

I would also post this on the boards at Megasquirt as you are far more likely to find someone with experience using a TPI with a MS ECU there than here. I know of it, and researched it for a bit when I was planning a ghetto turbo setup on a Nissan GA16DE in a B14 Sentra, but never went through with it.

Yes, I meant Megasquirt ... Automotive wiring is nothing new to me (I use to install mobile electronics for a living) ... Thank you for your reply, It was very informative and I will go to the MS forums and ask there also ...

 

[joe_padavano]

In that case, use a GM ECU and be done with it.

In my opinion, I'd just use the GM ECU anyway. They run $20 each at the local wrecking yard and you can get the PROM emulator/burner and software for your laptop for what you'll pay for the MegaSquirt.

 

[Slamson]

In that case, use a GM ECU and be done with it.

In my opinion, I'd just use the GM ECU anyway. They run $20 each at the local wrecking yard and you can get the PROM emulator/burner and software for your laptop for what you'll pay for the MegaSquirt.

The plan is a DIY budget twin turbo SBC in a Malibu Wagon ...

 

[joe_padavano]

In that case, use a GM ECU and be done with it.

In my opinion, I'd just use the GM ECU anyway. They run $20 each at the local wrecking yard and you can get the PROM emulator/burner and software for your laptop for what you'll pay for the MegaSquirt.

The plan is a DIY budget twin turbo SBC in a Malibu Wagon ...

I'm impressed that you used "budget" and "twin turbo" in the same sentence and kept a straight face.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, twin turbo and budget don't usually go together unless you are the optimistic sort that buys a 1987 Maserati BiTurbo off of Craigslist for $500 and thinks they can get it running with a few parts from the U Pull It, and a switch to Megasquirt to rid it of it's Italian electrical demons. There is no such thing as a good cheap twin turbo SBC. To me, cheap is less than $1,000. To you, cheap may mean $7,000, in which case it is do-able.

 

[Slamson]

Yeah, twin turbo and budget don't usually go together unless you are the optimistic sort that buys a 1987 Maserati BiTurbo off of Craigslist for $500 and thinks they can get it running with a few parts from the U Pull It, and a switch to Megasquirt to rid it of it's Italian electrical demons. There is no such thing as a good cheap twin turbo SBC. To me, cheap is less than $1,000. To you, cheap may mean $7,000, in which case it is do-able.

To me it's about a two year project doing all of the work myself ($7k sounds pretty close) ... Maybe longer if I decide to body drop my Dually ...