Glad you came around to what a bad idea a carb would be on a tbi original truck,personally I love the tbi engines,and they are simple once you understand the system,and not really expensive in my opinion
CK5
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Its official, I'm going carborated
- Thread starter Alex guadalupe
- Start date
I watched one of those "Horsepower TV" shows this morning--tuned in about halfway through,but they were dyno testing an LS engine with a Holley 850 carb and some aftermarket distributor,and it put out 490 HP...I'd be happy with that...
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I don't know much about anything, but I know this. I drove from my house (about 1200 ft elevation) to Ely, NV, (about 6500 ft elevation). Got up the next morning and drove to the summit of Mt. Washington, NV (about 11,400 ft elevation), and back down. I never felt one difference in how the truck ran. At all.
Sign me up for TBI.
Sign me up for TBI.
Yeah,I suppose its self adjusting features do shine,when everything is working right..
The highest elevation I lived at was my hometwon,450 ft above sea level--where I am now is much less,more like 80 feet...highest mountains I drove up were in NH and VT,and I do not recall feeling a dramatic loss of power,but their elevation was under a mile most likely..
Foe a guy like me who wanted a newer engine but doesn't like miles of wiring and a computer,sensors,etc,I think a carb and distributor would make swapping an LS into an old square body easier and less complicated..seeing I've been used to how a engine runs with a carb,and not having owned an EFI gas powered engine yet,I probably wouldn't notice the "step backwards"..
The highest elevation I lived at was my hometwon,450 ft above sea level--where I am now is much less,more like 80 feet...highest mountains I drove up were in NH and VT,and I do not recall feeling a dramatic loss of power,but their elevation was under a mile most likely..
Foe a guy like me who wanted a newer engine but doesn't like miles of wiring and a computer,sensors,etc,I think a carb and distributor would make swapping an LS into an old square body easier and less complicated..seeing I've been used to how a engine runs with a carb,and not having owned an EFI gas powered engine yet,I probably wouldn't notice the "step backwards"..
Except it costs a good chunk of cash to convert the LS to carb...and it still needs a controller for spark seeing as it has no provision for a distributor.
I think putting a carb on the LS type motors is a cool idea for an old hot rod. A fun mix of old school and new school. And sometimes you do things like that "just because" not for any real practical reason.
Another time I could see it being is if you got one hell of a deal on an LS block without the FI. Or you wanted a brand new motor but wanted to save some money on the swap so you just buy a new or reman long block.
All that being said, all the new aftermarket EFI systems are making it even easier to ditch the carb.
Another time I could see it being is if you got one hell of a deal on an LS block without the FI. Or you wanted a brand new motor but wanted to save some money on the swap so you just buy a new or reman long block.
All that being said, all the new aftermarket EFI systems are making it even easier to ditch the carb.
I've had a few free LS engines offered to me ,ones that were pulled after a blown head gasket or being overheated bad..one was a 5.3 around 2002 vintage..
I passed on a 6.0 he had,from a 2000 something pickup, that probably only needed head gaskets and a water pump,but the original harness,intake and injectors had to go on the "good used" engine the owner decided to buy, rather than risk having the original engine have a major dilema that went unseen ,if they just put on head gaskets in the vehicle..the salvage yard engine came with no harness or injectors--so I'd have had to find the correct harness,intake,injectors and ECM , or figure a way to cob a carb and distributor to it...
Another customer saw it sitting in the rear of his bay and offered him 300 for it,so he sold it..said he was going to rebuild it and put it in a newer Mustang GT..
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My friend's shop replaces quite a few engines,here its usually cheaper and better off just buying a low mileage salvage yard engine to drop in such a vehicle thats been overheated,run too low on oil,etc..
--he has had too many comebacks after replacing only head gaskets due to coolant in the oil eating the bearings a few weeks after he put new head gaskets on an engine,despite flushing the crankcase good--and its a tough job doing head gaskets "in the truck",he'd rather just yank the engine out,swap the original wiring harness and intake on the "good used" engine on the floor, and drop it back in..
A few weeks ago he had a perfectly good running 4.0 straight 6 Jeep engine he said I could have--out of a '97 Cherokee..
I probably should have taken it..
The customer had bought a parts Jeep for his Cherokee that had a good engine and tranny but was badly rottted--he only needed the tranny ,and my friend swapped out the transmission,then the customer tells him an unexpected expense meant he couldn't pay him the full price they agreed on--so instead of paying it full in cash,my friend offered to keep the rest of the Cherokee for the balance owed,and sold the doors,fenders ,diffs,and kept the engine..ended up making much more than if he'd been paid in cash..but took a few months to sell it all..
I actually listed the engine on craigslist for him--no one called about it after being listed 2 weeks for 150 bucks,so the next time the scrap guy came around,he sold it to him for 20 bucks..
...wish it was a Chevy straight 6,I'd have snatched it right up...
Its not uncommon for him to get a vehicle in from a used car dealer who bought several at once at auction,that wouldn't start,real cheap--"as-is"---only to discover one has a bad tranny or other major issue,like rotted frame or unibody..then the customer tells him to either "keep and scrap it" rather than pay him for getting it to run..so he ends up with a lot of other good parts he has no use for,and he scraps the converters,--sadly many just get scrapped "whole" if no one takes them for cheap or free..
There are at least 3 of the newer LS engines listed on craigslist "complete" with the wiring,ecm,etc,for 500-600 bucks..
You cant buy a decent running old school carbed 350 for that here,they are getting scarce..
I passed on a 6.0 he had,from a 2000 something pickup, that probably only needed head gaskets and a water pump,but the original harness,intake and injectors had to go on the "good used" engine the owner decided to buy, rather than risk having the original engine have a major dilema that went unseen ,if they just put on head gaskets in the vehicle..the salvage yard engine came with no harness or injectors--so I'd have had to find the correct harness,intake,injectors and ECM , or figure a way to cob a carb and distributor to it...
Another customer saw it sitting in the rear of his bay and offered him 300 for it,so he sold it..said he was going to rebuild it and put it in a newer Mustang GT..
..My friend's shop replaces quite a few engines,here its usually cheaper and better off just buying a low mileage salvage yard engine to drop in such a vehicle thats been overheated,run too low on oil,etc..
--he has had too many comebacks after replacing only head gaskets due to coolant in the oil eating the bearings a few weeks after he put new head gaskets on an engine,despite flushing the crankcase good--and its a tough job doing head gaskets "in the truck",he'd rather just yank the engine out,swap the original wiring harness and intake on the "good used" engine on the floor, and drop it back in..
A few weeks ago he had a perfectly good running 4.0 straight 6 Jeep engine he said I could have--out of a '97 Cherokee..
I probably should have taken it..
The customer had bought a parts Jeep for his Cherokee that had a good engine and tranny but was badly rottted--he only needed the tranny ,and my friend swapped out the transmission,then the customer tells him an unexpected expense meant he couldn't pay him the full price they agreed on--so instead of paying it full in cash,my friend offered to keep the rest of the Cherokee for the balance owed,and sold the doors,fenders ,diffs,and kept the engine..ended up making much more than if he'd been paid in cash..but took a few months to sell it all..
I actually listed the engine on craigslist for him--no one called about it after being listed 2 weeks for 150 bucks,so the next time the scrap guy came around,he sold it to him for 20 bucks..
...wish it was a Chevy straight 6,I'd have snatched it right up...Its not uncommon for him to get a vehicle in from a used car dealer who bought several at once at auction,that wouldn't start,real cheap--"as-is"---only to discover one has a bad tranny or other major issue,like rotted frame or unibody..then the customer tells him to either "keep and scrap it" rather than pay him for getting it to run..so he ends up with a lot of other good parts he has no use for,and he scraps the converters,--sadly many just get scrapped "whole" if no one takes them for cheap or free..
There are at least 3 of the newer LS engines listed on craigslist "complete" with the wiring,ecm,etc,for 500-600 bucks..
You cant buy a decent running old school carbed 350 for that here,they are getting scarce..
