L31 motor swap questions

in the never ending saga of projects...
My brother has a 91 Z28 convertible that we recently returned to being an automatic.
We are now starting the process of figuring out how to swap in an L31 5.7 Vortec motor while keeping it as stock appearing as possible.  
Does anyone know about the water pumps?  The vortec pump has 2 metal heater lines coming out of it, the original one did not.  As far as I can tell those metal lines just are you used for the heater hoses rather than having a fitting on the manifold and 1 on the water pump.  Can anyone confirm this?
We plan on using the Vortec TPI manifold to keep the intake appearing stock.

We already have the complete L31 long block from a 2002 with supposedly only 80k on it, but a dead cylinder #8 on an apparently already rebuilt motor (go figure that out).  
We do have a complete LB9 out of an 89 IROC with accessories on the floor to donate accessories to save time when the swapping comes due.  It's also for sale (the LB9).

Use A Water Pump from the Correct year as body. Find out why the Cyl. is dead Before Ya Put it in.

You will need a aftermarket lower intake to get the TPI to fit onto the vortec heads.

https://sdparts.com/i-23896057-sdpc-sd3816-tpi-vortec-lower-intake-baseplate.html

GTXVette said:

Use A Water Pump from the Correct year as body. Find out why the Cyl. is dead Before Ya Put it in.

so we should use the stock LB9 pump?
we are tearing into the motor and redoing things before it goes in.  Heads are going to be sent out for cleaning and checking.  2 machine shops said not to worry about the block when we told them the issue.

make sure the water pump you use is designed to spin the direction your belt system is going to spin it.

edizzle89 said:

You will need a aftermarket lower intake to get the TPI to fit onto the vortec heads.

 

https://sdparts.com/i-23896057-sdpc-sd3816-tpi-vortec-lower-intake-baseplate.html

yup, knew about that.  Edelbrock used to make one part number 3817.  I wonder why they would have that similar of a part number...

AngryCorvair said:

make sure the water pump you use is designed to spin the direction your belt system is going to spin it.

Sticking with the stock serpentine setup, so they stock pump should spin correctly.

Brian said:

edizzle89 said:

You will need a aftermarket lower intake to get the TPI to fit onto the vortec heads.

 

https://sdparts.com/i-23896057-sdpc-sd3816-tpi-vortec-lower-intake-baseplate.html

yup, knew about that.  Edelbrock used to make one part number 3817.  I wonder why they would have that similar of a part number...

 

Edelbrock makes the intake for them. Edelbrock also makes some of the GM performance cylinder heads for Big Block Chevys, and maybe other engines too.

Use the LB9 accessory drive and all the parts including the water pump, it will spin correctly. SBC stuff is very interchangeable.

81cpcamaro said:

Brian said:

edizzle89 said:

You will need a aftermarket lower intake to get the TPI to fit onto the vortec heads.

 

https://sdparts.com/i-23896057-sdpc-sd3816-tpi-vortec-lower-intake-baseplate.html

yup, knew about that.  Edelbrock used to make one part number 3817.  I wonder why they would have that similar of a part number...

 

Edelbrock makes the intake for them. Edelbrock also makes some of the GM performance cylinder heads for Big Block Chevys, and maybe other engines too.

Use the LB9 accessory drive and all the parts including the water pump, it will spin correctly. SBC stuff is very interchangeable.

Edelbrock discontinued their intake.  At least according to all the major vendors.

Yea, Edelbrock stopped selling their version, but they probably still make the SD one. Or maybe SD has someone else doing it now.

Seems like the people who have tried it says it does make a bit more power, but not worth the cost. I haven't tried it so I can't say either way.

Just use the water pump for the TPI motor.  The vortec pump is likely a serpentine drive which means it is made "backwards" for the opposite rotation.

Vortec intake bases for TPI are rare.  Possible to use the TPI dress plate on top of the Vortec intake and paint the black intake aluminum to simulate TPI runners?

Plenty of Vortec carb intakes out there and you could run a TBI, but it's going to be hard to cobble things together to look like a TPI.

You can hog out the holes in the intake and get it to physically bolt up to the heads, but the ports are higher on the Vortec and won't match up.

If you want a Vortec carb intake, look to Marine salvage yards.  Volvo, Mercruiser, and OMC all sold versions of the ZZ4 carb intake as a marine carb intake.  Great intake for salvage price with the added benefit of bronze-lined water passages.  You can also upgrade from your plastic spider injectors to real injectors with a Vortec marine EFI intake.

Fire up the welder and make some tubes to connect your TPI runners directly to the heads?  Then make a plate for the valley?

81cpcamaro said:

Yea, Edelbrock stopped selling their version, but they probably still make the SD one. Or maybe SD has someone else doing it now.

Seems like the people who have tried it says it does make a bit more power, but not worth the cost. I haven't tried it so I can't say either way.

We aren't looking for the intake to make extra power, just to keep the motor looking stock.  The base is $400 from SD

Curtis said:

Just use the water pump for the TPI motor.  The vortec pump is likely a serpentine drive which means it is made "backwards" for the opposite rotation.

Vortec intake bases for TPI are rare.  Possible to use the TPI dress plate on top of the Vortec intake and paint the black intake aluminum to simulate TPI runners?

Plenty of Vortec carb intakes out there and you could run a TBI, but it's going to be hard to cobble things together to look like a TPI.

You can hog out the holes in the intake and get it to physically bolt up to the heads, but the ports are higher on the Vortec and won't match up.

If you want a Vortec carb intake, look to Marine salvage yards.  Volvo, Mercruiser, and OMC all sold versions of the ZZ4 carb intake as a marine carb intake.  Great intake for salvage price with the added benefit of bronze-lined water passages.  You can also upgrade from your plastic spider injectors to real injectors with a Vortec marine EFI intake.

Fire up the welder and make some tubes to connect your TPI runners directly to the heads?  Then make a plate for the valley?

we're keeping the factory plenum and fuel rail for the Z28, not the vortec.  Not going carb because he wants the drivability of fuel injection.  Only the long block will be Vortec, everything else is from the Z28

The options I found with mine were the previously mentioned vortec base manifold. Or just put a pro flo on it and be done with it.