I have a 95 GT I've thought about carb swap as to have a more modified engine without spending thousands, so many are like it's dumb stay EFI but to have a stout engine with EFI your talking a aftermarket intake $800+ new, injectors, throttle body and once that's done a programmable ecu and a tune... Talking well over $2000! and cam choice is important with efi. Vs intake and a carb little tuning and done with $500 brawler carb and used $100 intake. I know t's been discussed a zillion times but I'm tired of looking just to see the same responses anyway, I've looked at carb swap discussions and they always are very in depth with a ton of modifications and ripping and tearing to the point of no return. but is there a reason you couldn't just take the entire EFI assembly off (just leave the connectors intact computer up n running just let the car think the EFI is still there) put any wiring not used off to the side as so it could be re installed down the road if need be, drop an intake and carb on and toss a one wire hei and be in business? This is for function not looks, Only part that seems to be involved is the fuel supply method but that's fairly straight forward im assuming a modified pickup and an inline pump. I was even wondering if you put a TPS kit on the carb if you could retain the cruise control...? May be a far fetched idea or inst it. Any input is appreciated.
Carb swap question
- Thread starter AA wALtZ
- Start date
Here is my take, money aside, it takes basically the same parameters, thinking, to build a well running carb setup as it does EFI. HP goal, vehicle use, trans, gear and matching all this to cam, heads, intake and fuel delivery to fit the intended use.
If it's a 'look' you want
I can see it, if it's just some performance gains the EFI (electronics) stuff in stock form can support 275 HP (maybe some more) without a chip or tuner. Easy to do with a carb, and yes, pretty inexpensively too, I won't get into the extras like cruise or devaluation or that gob of wires that are now bundled up in a corner of the dog house.
As with EFI you start getting over 300 HP you need to be more selective on parts. At this point air, fuel needs change, go big too soon ie; carb selection, injector size and you need to tune, you ever tune a carb? You can't plug a carb into a computer and 'tune it'. It's almost a lost art.
Oh, and that HEI distributor is flat the cats azz for carb swaps, easy dependable strong like moose. I can guarantee it will light the sparklers.
Now you have to deal with cruise, cooling fan, gauge function, and that damn CCRM, I don't know what all it 'controls' but they can be a nightmare on their own.
Oh, and that gob of wires, there's that.
Either way you go, I say make it look like it belongs there and makes you want to drive it.
If it's a 'look' you want
I can see it, if it's just some performance gains the EFI (electronics) stuff in stock form can support 275 HP (maybe some more) without a chip or tuner. Easy to do with a carb, and yes, pretty inexpensively too, I won't get into the extras like cruise or devaluation or that gob of wires that are now bundled up in a corner of the dog house.As with EFI you start getting over 300 HP you need to be more selective on parts. At this point air, fuel needs change, go big too soon ie; carb selection, injector size and you need to tune, you ever tune a carb? You can't plug a carb into a computer and 'tune it'. It's almost a lost art.
Oh, and that HEI distributor is flat the cats azz for carb swaps, easy dependable strong like moose. I can guarantee it will light the sparklers.
Now you have to deal with cruise, cooling fan, gauge function, and that damn CCRM, I don't know what all it 'controls' but they can be a nightmare on their own.
Oh, and that gob of wires, there's that.
Either way you go, I say make it look like it belongs there and makes you want to drive it.
Hi and welcome to the site. I want to encourage you to go ahead with the carb swap. I bought a single plane intake online for $165 and I already had a Holley demon 750 carb with the goggle secondary.
The fuel pump in the tank can be used if you regulate the pressure down to between five and nine PSI, the one I bought has a return feed from the fuel rail.
You can adapt the throttle to the carburetor with an aftermarket mount. Don’t forget to plug the vacuum line from the brake booster into the back of the intake manifold and that’s basically it. No muss/no fuss, no computer problems, no surging, no bucking, no more idle issues, just smooth Performance.
I know the EFI purists will always downplay the simplicity of a carburetor but I don’t wanna keep working on this darn car anymore, I’m done.
Good luck, have fun, still a 5.0 but you can actually drive it.
The fuel pump in the tank can be used if you regulate the pressure down to between five and nine PSI, the one I bought has a return feed from the fuel rail.
You can adapt the throttle to the carburetor with an aftermarket mount. Don’t forget to plug the vacuum line from the brake booster into the back of the intake manifold and that’s basically it. No muss/no fuss, no computer problems, no surging, no bucking, no more idle issues, just smooth Performance.
I know the EFI purists will always downplay the simplicity of a carburetor but I don’t wanna keep working on this darn car anymore, I’m done.
Good luck, have fun, still a 5.0 but you can actually drive it.
A daily driver, pleasure cruising anything I want now without worrying about on road problems.
It has a supercharger installed which I may hook up again at a later date using a throttlebody fuel injection system with on board computing. That’ll be a $1500 swap.
I’m into budgetary concerns not spending a lot of time wrenching. Complex computer systems that handle multiple fuel injectors and calculate air fuel ratios is way too much involvement for me I just want it to run right.
Here’s a final thought if they dropped an EMP that kills electronics I could stick a set of points into a distributor on my carbureted engine and still keep driving whereas injection cannot.
It has a supercharger installed which I may hook up again at a later date using a throttlebody fuel injection system with on board computing. That’ll be a $1500 swap.
I’m into budgetary concerns not spending a lot of time wrenching. Complex computer systems that handle multiple fuel injectors and calculate air fuel ratios is way too much involvement for me I just want it to run right.
Here’s a final thought if they dropped an EMP that kills electronics I could stick a set of points into a distributor on my carbureted engine and still keep driving whereas injection cannot.
Mcmahst
5 Year Member
Very true my friend I was just using that analogy as to why I have a preference for carbureted engines.
Mcmahst
5 Year Member
Yea, I understand the irritation. For me, I went the other way; convert a car with a carb to an engine (5.0) with factory EFI. While I’d admit it was a bit of a vanity build (I wanted to see if I could do it), I find not fiddling with it a welcomed benefit. I just drive it. So, as I’ve always read on these forums; your car, your way. Good luck in your carb swap.
Mcmahst
5 Year Member
Me personally, i would probably do an A9L swap (not sure the level of possible it is now, but it used to be a thing) or a terminator X.
Carb setups aren't exactly cheap either and i think they are short sighted. Whatever you save up front you will lose double (or more) on the back end if you land up selling the car. It's going to turn off 99% of the buyers.
The A9L easily puts up with most modifications. Just need a few other things like a fan controller and swap some wires around.
I guess you could sell your EFI on facebook, but honestly, but i see little demand for the EFI setup from a 2 year run that was already EFI. If you were going to pay for fuel injection for a model that came with a fuel injection, i don't see why they wouldn't just do a standalone.
Carb setups aren't exactly cheap either and i think they are short sighted. Whatever you save up front you will lose double (or more) on the back end if you land up selling the car. It's going to turn off 99% of the buyers.
The A9L easily puts up with most modifications. Just need a few other things like a fan controller and swap some wires around.
I guess you could sell your EFI on facebook, but honestly, but i see little demand for the EFI setup from a 2 year run that was already EFI. If you were going to pay for fuel injection for a model that came with a fuel injection, i don't see why they wouldn't just do a standalone.
I agree with this and will add when I come across a carb from EFI swap I walk away, not my thing. Most of us see this as the person that did the swap couldn't fix whatever was wrong with the EFI.
That said, if you want to run a carb (in my opinion) it needs to be visual like a high rise or tunnel ram stick'n through the hood with a moderate cam with lots of overlap so it shakes and sounds all angry, but then you gotta be able to tune that setup too, if just a basic driver you likely are not gonna need much 'tuning' to get it to go, same with EFI where the sensors take the readings and the computer works it's magic, same with a carb only fewer 'sensors' and they are mechanically ajusted, on both most everything is based on airflow into the engine.
A carb can live a long and happy life but don't fool yourself say'n a carb swap is easier, better or faster.
I will say a carb setup tends to be a little easier on the wallet,
But it's yours, just make it look as tidy as you can then enjoy the ride.
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