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Help me decide folks...

Burbdood 74

Burbdood 74

Giver of not a single damn...
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So, while at my daughters T-ball game today, I started talking to another dad about my Suburban. He told me about his parents' 85 1/2 ton Suburban that was for sale. He told me it has a crate 350 and rebuilt 700R4 with around 13,000 miles on it, same color interior as mine, power windows/locks, AC, etc. etc. etc.

Anywhoo, he told me he's selling it for $1500. I immediately thought I'd buy the Sub and just swap motor and tranny into mine which is already lifted and, frankly, mine. Problem is, my Sub has EFI and his is carb'd. However, my rig has had a surging idle for 3 years now and I just cannot find the problem no matter what I do. It's got me right on the edge of sanity.

So my dilemma is: should I buy the "donor" Sub for the carb'd motor and tranny, (along with some other goodies), or should I just keep trying to find the problem with my TBI and forget it? I know if I went with the carb'd motor I'd be going backwards as far as technology goes, but it's very tempting given the problems I've had with the TBI. I'm trying really hard not to make a rash decision here so any and all opinions are really appreciated.
 
I should also mention that along with a fault in my TBI, the previous owner swapped out the 700R4 for a TH350 so I would be losing EFI but gaining overdrive. Oh I'm soo tempted....
 
1500 for a good/clean doner, no brainer. :waytogo:
Wait, is this one of those signs of hording?:doah:
 
surges are almost ALWAYS an IAC issue with TBI's...


anyway... you could just dump the carb'd motor in, run a hot ign wire to it and run it, leaving all the tbi harness, etc intact... but it seems a waste to spend 1500 on a running rig, to just pull an archaic mill and put in your current rig...


buy it, have 2, and fix the TBI.. ;)
 
ryoken said:
but it seems a waste to spend 1500 on a running rig, to just pull an archaic mill and put in your current rig... ;)
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That's kind of what I'm thinking. The other Sub looks to be in pretty good shape actually, (I drove past it this afternoon). So to me, it seems a shame to gut a good running, good looking rig just for the parts....on the other hand.....:dunno:
 
I find it tough to part out a vehicle that still drives,runs OK,and has a fairly decent body...more than one truck I bought as a "parts truck" ended up being a daily driven,better than what I had already truck!..:doah:

I bought my '85 Suburban cheap,and at first I was thinking of it mostly as a parts truck,it has the 6.2 diesel and a new radiator,heater core,and many other parts I could swap--but its in a lot better shape than my 82 pickup is in ways,and since I got it I added a Fisher plow setup I got in trade for some unused yard equipment,found a almost rust free tail gate for it for 40 bucks,and the only major ailment is its 700R4 supposedly loses reverse after a good ride and wont shift into OD..
I assume its on its way out..but I am leaning towards driving it now,rather than parting it out...

I'm a bit of a hoarder so I'm inclined to say buy the '85 and fix it up and drive it...and I like carbs too,I dont see why all of a sudden anything carbed is labeled "archaic"..it worked well for 50+ years,after all...
 
diesel4me said:
why all of a sudden
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wouldn't consider 25+ yr's to be "suddenly"..... :rolleyes: I'm soooooooo glad I only have a few carb'd boats in my marina anymore... sh*t is archaic.. and that's coming from the marine industry which is 15 yr's behind the times and still has carbs kicking around... and from someone who built TON's of carb'd hotrods in the day, rebuilt thousands of quads, etc...

they suck.. couple pumps, make sure ya warm em up, choke working right, blah, blah... EFI does EVERYTHING it can to stay running, carbs do EVERYTHING they can to stall..... :haha:

when your moving/docking boats in windy conditions, I'll take that EFI any day of the week... light it off and go...

is the carb easier, sure, especially with a hot motor... especially to diagnose/repair, but EFI certainly isn't rocket science....


I say buy it, and keep it as a back up.. need a door or interior part for the current rig, you'll have it..
 
I wont argue that EFI or fuel injection does beat carbs by miles when its cold starting and running time,I like the instant throttle response of EFI or my diesels no matter what the temps or weather conditions are..its great when it works right...

I grew up with hand chokes,and knew all about having to pump twice to let the automatic chokes shut before cranking,and yes,some do tend to be a pain the first few miles till the engine warms up--and I had a few that dam near killed me when they liked to ice up under cool foggy conditions..

But for the most part after I rebuilt most of the carbs I had,they ran pretty darn good,got decent gas mileage,and most of all,I understood how they worked and they dont rely on a bunch of sensors and a computer to work--and no pesky check engine light that wont stay off !...
I also miss that cool 4 barrel wide open sound too!..

Someday I'll have to move up to the 20th century,but for now I like staying with things I know and understand fully..I can comprehend how my diesels mechanical fuel injection works,but the EFI on computerized gas engines is still black magic to me to some degree..

I think the fact many people today who were not driving when carbs were still used is why they get dissed so much now,todays vehicles you just stab in the key and go--they never learned the proper procedure to start a carbed engine right,dont know how to "un-flood" one,or anything about accelerator pumps and choke pull offs..yes,it is a different world out there now,than when I grew up..
 
I ran manual holley's on many of my 340 mopar's, I preferred them.. I remember my bud borrowed my 71 challenger one day, called me a few hr's later and said it died.. he was curious and had pulled the choke out, didn't know what it was.... :haha:
 
I've got a carb'd 1972 Pontiac Ventura II and when I drive that and then drive the Sub, the difference is night and day. That's why I'm kind of hesitant to throw a carb in the Suburban because the EFI is so damn smooth and even though it idles like crap.
 
Well I thank everyone's input here. When the guy was telling me about it, I was ready to throw the money down right then and there but, I think I'm going to pass on it. It seems a shame to buy it only for parts since it really is in good shape. I'm going to try to get mine running top notch and stay with the fool injection and maybe, just maybe swap in a 5.3 or 6.0 one of these days.

And diesel4me, I totally agree, the "waWAA" is the coolest sound you can get from a carb'd vehicle. :thumb:
 
More like "Twooo- HOOOOOOOOOP!"...:D...sweetest sound on earth!..

EFI sounds like a shop vac when you punch it...or a big fan...no thrill...:(
 
Don't step back to a carb'd motor. Please.

Yes, EFI can be tricky sometimes, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Figure out why yours isn't running right.

My "tough to track down" TBI surging was bad EGR solenoid. It was acting like a big hidden vac leak right off of idle.
 
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