Ditch the EFi and go carb?

Been really flip flopping between keeping the EFI (Megasquirt, 52lb/hr injectors, 95mm TB) or going to a carb like a 1050 Dominator or really big 4150.

The simplicity of a carb setup is really tempting... getting kinda tired of all the wires and the "what ifs" that come with EFI...

Just seems like there is too much electronic garb going on. Too much for my stupid little brain to have to worry about for a truck I hardly get to drive. It's got more electronics than the first lunar landing and it hardly gets off the damn pad.

Don't get me wrong, I like to tinker with the MS, but I just don't have the cubic time to fart with getting the tune nuts on. That will eventually bug the hell out of me I'm sure. The thought to plopping on a 1050 or 1150, hooking up a couple of fuel lines, and a throttle cable like I used to do is starting to sound nice. At least with the carb I don't think I will be obsessing about the tune being 100% spot on all the time. lol

Input?

No way, Jose.

1) It's primarily a street truck (right?)
2) It's already all installed.
3) If you were contemplating the reverse (installing efi) I'd suggest you think harder about the decision.


But that's just me in the peanut gallery. My plans are on efi when I get that far down the road.

I'm one of the few guys here who knows the right way to start a Model A with the hand crank....and not jerk my shoulder out of joint. So you know I'll go with the carb, 'cause I'm kinda "old school". There's a comfort zone there. This being a street truck, I'd also suggest that it's easier to diagnose/repair/limp home with a carb when you're having troubles on the road. I' guess that a custom EFI system is a little more likely to come home on a rollback.

All that said, the BBF's that I've run sure did like a Dominator, and carbs don't come much simpler than that.......unless it's on that Model A.

I'm kinda old school too.When i see a 30's-74 muscle type car,I like to look under the hood and see a banging motor with a carb.Also can't stand to look uner the hood and see a POS chebie motor in a FORD product.Now don't me wrong, there's nothing like going out in 25 degree weather getting in my Expedition and hitting the key and pullin it in gear and driving off.Just no hot rod of mine will ever have EFI on it."Give me carbs and a teeth ratteling cam or give me death".And I prefer it to be BBF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm with Windsor here. You have it on already, it runs good. I thought the throttle response was amazing in your first start-up videos.

Have you been having trouble with it?

It would be a bunch cheaper to just tinker with what you have (if you have the time, lol). The drivability of EFI is going to be hard to beat.

You could call a carb builder and get a carb built and bolt it on and go. But your drivability may not be ideal.

Not much help I guess, but I thought your efi build was really cool.

my .02

Bill

If you can flip the efi system for a reasonable price then id say go with a 2x4 with a pair of 600s on top, that should give you better fuel distribution as well as up the overall badassery of your motor by about 10 points, lol. Im also a sucker for dual quads when a motor can put them to use.

My experience: I had a healthy 383 LT1 SBC w/ afr 210's and a big solid roller in a late model pontiac formula (w/ th350 & 9"). I was burning my own e-proms for its factory computer. Then I went to a F.A.S.T. system. The car really picked up, but after months of almost nightly tuning I never really felt as though I had the car up to its potential given the parts under the hood. I switched to a Victor JR I had to modify to work on my LT1 and an 850cfm dp. It was a night and day difference immediately. I was kicking myself for not having done it sooner. I'll leave the EFI to daily driver type rides from here on out.

What would be more economical? a chassis dyno tuning session, or a new carb?

It would be a wash considering I would sell the EFi stuff to fund the carb stuff. My thinking today (which seems to change every few hours) is that the EFI is super cool, but since it is so adjustable and so easily adjusted, I find myself jacking with it all the time and wanting to mess with it. I'm getting to the point with this truck that I just want to plop on something, tweak it a little, forget about it and drive the snot out of it.

BigBlockRanger wrote:It would be a wash considering I would sell the EFi stuff to fund the carb stuff. My thinking today (which seems to change every few hours) is that the EFI is super cool, but since it is so adjustable and so easily adjusted, I find myself jacking with it all the time and wanting to mess with it. I'm getting to the point with this truck that I just want to plop on something, tweak it a little, forget about it and drive the snot out of it.

If you ask me, you just described a Dominator.

I say keep the EFI with the MS but look into the Mass Air function you can add to the MS. It will help your tuning a great deal vs just using the Speed Density only. I think with the Mass sensor you don't have to be spot on with the tuning it will self adjust as to how much air your brining in. Of course you have to add the Mass sensor but it could help.

One day I will get my EFI convertion completed one day...

I'm thinking about a 950hp or 1000hp 4150 and snagging one of those super cheap FRPP manifolds from Lem.

Then just sell the whole EFI manifold/tb/elbow/reg/rails/injectors as a package.

It sounds to me that it's not the EFI causing a problem, and the carb won't cure it. The owner has a bad case of tinkeritis, and until that's cured, there are no parts that will not cause the hood to be up most nights during the week.

maybe so ha ha!, but at least it will be with wrenches and not a keyboard!

We had to padlock the hood pins on a friend's 5.0 stang cuz of tinkeritus. Everytime he'd get under his hood, his ET would fall off several tenths. Then we'd have to work to get it back.

I'd probably consider running the present setup on a roller dyno for an afternoon to see where you are at and possibly wring some more out of it. If nothing else and you are still dead set on swapping back to a carb, you can see what kinda gain/loss you made before selling the EFI. Just a thought.

START WITH PART NUM 8896 HOLLEY,