89 Lx With 94 Cobra 302 Swap

thread moved to the fox section

Is your 89lx ready to accept a carb'd engine? Or are you buying this motor with the intent of converting?

ohhhhhhh, I see. I'd be less concerned about the HP of the engine and more focused on how well it was converted over to carb. A lot of hacks out there looking to polish a turd just long enough to pawn a headache on to somebody else. Inspect the wiring and fuel delivery thoroughly.

@jrichker has a write up regarding efi to carb conversions.

Run, don't walk away from any car that was originally EFI that has been converted to carb. Most carb conversions are done by people that are not smart enough to figure out EFI or are too lazy to do the homework to figure it out. Hack jobs to the wiring, no mechanical advance in the distributor, using the high pressure EFI fuel tank and fuel pump and a whole bunch more of things that typically are done with an EFI to carb conversion.

I have been fixing cars for 50 years now, and 22 of those years have been on 5.0 EFI Mustangs. I will say this, that the Ford EFI system beats any carb system I have ever worked on for performance and reliability.

A word of warning on EFI to carb swaps: don’t expect to pass emissions in any state that does comprehensive smog inspections, because it won’t happen. Some states will not title or issue license plates to cars that have been converted from EFI to carb. Be aware that you are violating several Federal laws concerning the removal of pollution control equipment. If you operate the vehicle on public highways and get caught by state or federal law enforcement (doubtful, but possible) you could be subject to fines and imprisonment. You won't get any more power from a carb than you will from EFI.