Convert to TBI or stick with carb?

[newyorkin]

I need to swap out the motor on my K20, and the only replacement motors I have are TBI's, '91 and '93 police 350's.

I have to spend $100 and change to get a harness and ECM if I convert to TBI.
Or...
I have to spend $100 and change to get an adapted manifold to put a carb on the TBI motor.

The old motor is suspected of having a bent valve, so the whole motor swap would be pointless if I could just move the heads over, or I might as well just get a valve job done on it for $200 and change without swapping motors at all.

I have to have swap the motors in either case. Carb would obviously be easier and faster to stay with, but I hate carbs.
TBI would probably be a better running/efficient truck. Is it worth the little extra work and then who knows how many little gremlins I'll forget about?

 

[Cricket]

My personal opinion despite some of the problems I've had, go TBI. Once you learn more about the sensors and how they work it isn't that bad. I think going from TBI to a carb is like going from a 4L80E to a TH350.

Less complicated yes, but also a step backward.

 

[vortec]

tbi. there just aren't many drawbacks to it.

 

[wheels87k5]

Here's a little ranting on the subject of TBI:

If I had a dollar for every cuss word I spoke while working on building my 87 Blazer to where it is now, I could have bought another Blazer in perfect working order. GREMLINS? You want GREMLINS? You can't imagine the *()$% you go through to figure out why the @^$&* wouldn't run right. Replacing $&%^&# sensor after $^&*$# sensor, then it would run like $%#&^)@. Then seeing if it threw a $#&^@ code. And so on and so on............................
Rant over.

But I wouldn't give it up for anything.

I learned alot about all the sensors (and still learning), from the CK5 family. There is an abundance of help here, and it's priceless.

Go with TBI

 

[newyorkin]

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Bent77]

Went TBI on mine, some issues at first, but nothing a scanner won't find. My biggest issue was an aftermarket cam already installed. Make sure to burn a chip if you do that.

Never had any issues w/ the carb tho, other than it quits running when the tailgate hits the dirt.

 

[user]

wondering that myself

I've got a TBI in my 350, '90 'Burb - but a lot of experience w/the old Quadrajets, and I couldn't help wondering whether a TBI can be as efficient and as flexible as a 2-stage four-barrel? It seems to work, ok, but I wonder whether I'm getting as much out of the engine as I might (or viewed from another perspective, dumping as much gasoline as possible).

 

[70jimmy]

I vote for TBI, especially after seeing some of the problems a few of the carbed vehicles had in Moab. Some worked fine, others nope. Most had to alter driving style a bit to contend with the carb.

TBI although maybe not the power you can get out of a good carb on flat ground was priceless. Ho hesitation, no power band, no errattic rpm changes just smooth and consistent.

I knew nothing about TBI when we did the swap, still don't know a lot but don't plan on ever going back to something without fuel injection.