86/87 MAF or LS/LT1?

[kaj]

so, it seems my MAF may be bad. i was looking to buy an '86/87 as i'm told they tend to work better. i have an '85 with an '86 ecu.
should i just upgrade to the ls/lt1 MAF? i'm not looking to make a million horsepower. i'll be doing bolt-ons and that's about it.
i'm thinking the 86/87 will be good enough for what i plan to do. cost is an issue, so is one much cheaper than the other? thoughts and opinions?

i see many brands of '86/87 MAFs. python.. ac delco.. is one brand better than another?

 

[BlackBandit]

Allot of the cost of switching to a late model maf is the translator necessary to run it. I'm not sure you'd see any real performance difference between the two.

 

[kaj]

Allot of the cost of switching to a late model maf is the translator necessary to run it. I'm not sure you'd see any real performance difference between the two.

That's pretty much what I figured. Thanks!

 

[norbs]

It will run much better not faster with the big maf, and translator, better throttle response and will allow you to tune it a bit even with a basic translator I highly recommend you upgrade.

 

[BlackBandit]

It will run much better not faster with the big maf, and translator, better throttle response and will allow you to tune it a bit even with a basic translator I highly recommend you upgrade.

good point. The upgrade is worth it. By you won't see a big differance between the two I meant between the 3" and 3.5" sensors. You will notice that it runs better than with the stock maf.

 

[kaj]

good point. The upgrade is worth it. By you won't see a big differance between the two I meant between the 3" and 3.5" sensors. You will notice that it runs better than with the stock maf.

hm. i am all about drive-ability .. so i'll look into it.

 

[GNICETRY]

You are better off buying a new MAF and translator than sticking with the old MAF or newer POS ones. Yes it is more $$$. But it is peace of mind too. Once you buy 2-3 'new-old or remaned' MAF's, you will be approaching the newer type MAF and Translator cost. And if you take into consideration the aggravation of when one goes bad and doesn't code and you are chasing invisible gremlins or when you line up to that car you finally caught up to race and your car starts bucking and a nice bright yellow SES light comes on, than you are really ahead of the game. Been there:redface:

 

[kaj]

i didn't plan to buy a re-man MAF. from what i can tell the ones i found were all new. but.. i really like the way the LT1 part sounds. i'm all about making the car drive better.

i'm currently researching what i need to make it work once i have the MAF in my hand.

 

[BlackBandit]

Once you have a maf you just need a translator. You plug it in and it works. It's a really straight forward mod.