Could someone tell me if it's worth it to convert an 87 lx over to a carbuerator? What are the pros and cons of the switch? What do I need to change besides the obvious parts? What about the computer? I thought fuel injection was indeed better, but I've heard otherwise. Thanks for your time.
You're very unlikely to recieve an unbiased answer from these forums reguardless what side of the debate the answer comes from (not even from me...lol) You're best bet is to do a search in the forums on the topic, which should have plenty of threads. The common answer is that in the end you can make just as much power with either setup, but you're more likely to get there cheaper with a carb, and if money is not a problem you should stick with EFI, also that carb is easier to tune. It all depends on your own know how and what you want to work on and how thick your wallet is.
Both will make equal amounts of power. Neiter one is friendly to mismanaged attempts to tweak and tune them. To do a good job, you have to really understand how they work
Carbs are simpler, but are not user friendly in changing weather conditions. Tune you car for Chicago and drive to Miami, and all of a sudden, performance goes down the drain. Typically carbs will not get as good gas mileage as EFI. On the other hand, the fuel delivery system is simpler and there is less demand on the stock electrical system. Carbs & intake manifolds are cheaper to purchase.
A properly tuned & maintained EFI works from Pikes Peak to Miami without any fuss, and gets good gas mileage while doing so. EFI is cleaner running, so there are fewer engine deposits. The gross full throttle EFI fuel/air mixture can be changed simply by turning the fuel pressure up or down. Adjusting the cruse & part throttle fuel/air mixture is much more complicated. It requires dyno time and some very expensive testing equipment to create the data for a custom chip to make the computer change its program.
There are good & bad points about both, carbs are great for making lots of power cheaply on the racetrack. But they are not so good on the street when it is cold one day and warm the next. EFI is the street champion, running smooth when it is hot or cold. Getting EFI tuned for max power with all kinds of wild mods may require some time and money. The key is what do you want to do with the car. If you live in an area that does emissions testing forget about changing from EFI to carb. You'll never pass emissions testing.