any one willing to talk 12a's/13b's advice needed.

[jtbshaw]

You would need a GSL-SE oil pan, GSL-SE front cover, and a distributor. Some say only use a GSL-SE, but a 12A distributor will work also. The reason the tranny won't just fit right in there is because it is longer. There is only a small adjustment needed to make it fit in an FB. And, you will need some type of stand alone engine management if you stick with the EFI. I just finished pricing out a complete setup for my son's 1983. Rebuild (with porting - all to be completed by me - huge savings), turbo setup, front mount IC and tubing (I will fab all of my tubing - another huge saving), and the parts that I mentioned above.....everything came out to be under $2k. Oh, and a bigger radiator was in there too.

There's ways of doing it and saving a pile of money. I guess you just have to know what to look for, and that's what you mentioning that you just need to learn.

On the tuning side of it, yeah you can go to the dyno and spend a nice amount of $$$ and get it dialed in. Then there's DLL (Data Log Lab). Most of the time, this is what we use, or a tuner that we work with, when we develop new parts. DLL is a in-car tuning process that works if you have access to a OBD (on-board diagnostic) port...something a stand alone will have. Many people don't believe in DLL, but every tune that we have had is within 1-3hp and 2-3 tq differences from a dyno. Now, as mentioned, there are plenty of people that discount the DLL, mainly the shops that have spent the tremendous amount of $$$ for dynos, especially the AWD folks. Regardless, our tuner is exceptional at this and DLL is nowhere near as costly. Here's a link to a decent read with a shop owner in the Bay area of Cali trying to discount DLL and our tuner (touring bubble) and other DLL tuners proving otherwise: http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=353581

That should give you plenty to read on for a bit. Let me know when you are ready for more!