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To run a Carb or not?

TJ1978

TJ1978

I have MANY questions
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just wondering what the % is of people who run Carburetors as opposed to an LS fuel injection set up on their Blazer.

And of these two options what makes for the best off road type fuel systems?

I know about the EFI stuff, if you run that set up why did you choose that?

If you run a carb, why?
LS, why?
EFI, why?
TBI..

Anyway...

Personally, I have 350 with an edelbrock 650 AVS.
In regards to older trucks I have only had Carbed vehicles. I have this set up because I can’t afford an LS swap and I can navigate around this set-up easier with my limited knowledge.

So, Carb or no Carb?
 
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to many times have i had a engine stumble and stall or flood out in heavy off road use with a carb .

so i went gm tbi on my last truck . and now i have built another truck and went bigger engine so i went edelbrock pro flo 4 efi . ( i did do 500 miles and 3 months of hell in a holley sniper pile of SH!T )

but its all in what you want to use it for and your budget .
 
I spent a pretty penny on my LS swap, but I didn't do the install myself either so a lot of labor cost went into mine. As far as daily driving I would say LS swap it. I get way better fuel mileage vs the old 350 that was in the blazer originally. I know some people who have gone to a junk yard and found a good motor and transmission and had to do very little work and swapped their trucks for under 5k.
 
I have a fitech unit on my sbc w/ hei. As stated above TBI has much better driving manners. I get decent fuel economy too. I live in the mountains in CO and large elevation changes are common so fueling based on that is a plus
 
I've had my old K5 with a 350/q-jet and my latest with a 5.3/fi. Hands down without a shadow of doubt I will not do another truck with a carb again.

It isn't worth my frustration over with crappy starting hot or cold, changes with elevation and off road situations.

Yes, if the carb is in need of a rebuild it's going to behave worse. A carb in good running condition should start pretty easy regardless of temp. Mine was in pretty good shape. However, it wasn't driven daily. Sitting with ethanol laden fuel just kills carbs. White powdery crap is left after it evaporates. That crap clogs passages, tears up seals and wipes out accelerator pumps. Plus as a bonus the crap causes the needle and seat to stick.

My 5.3 sits a week between drives and fires right up every time. Runs the same at any elevation and I live at 4,800 ft and have driven it to 13,000 feet many times. No issues at all. Mine gets 13mpg with the camper loaded for a trip (6500 pounds easy).

It's not the cheapest way to go and if you were trying to justify the cost for the upgrade on fuel savings alone it's going to take a while. However, the better driveability alone is worth the expense for fuel injection. I can hop in and go anytime and not worry about it. It's reliable to the point I would not hesitate to tell my wife or son to drive it if need be and that couldn't happen on the old K5 with the carbs picky issues.
 
I think that you have to make the decision about induction after you consider how you are going to use the truck, what do you want most from it, and what are you comfortable working with in the future when problems arise.
A factory TBI system, even set up by a tuner, (Howell did is nice job on the one I had) won't have the top end power of a well tuned carburetor, but the other improvements in driveability may be enough to loose a little on the top. And it will still be pretty easy to work on. If your engine is fairly stock, and you are planning on keeping it that way, I would go TBI. I wouldn't use the aftermarket TBI.
I have Edelbrock Proflo 4 on my '90 but it isn't cheap. But my engine isn't stock.

I had TBI with an adapter on this '72 small block before, and it was really good. Howell chip, Edelbrock performer intake, Edelbrock cam, stock TBI parts.
 
Main reason I started this thread was to see what you guys use and why. I want it to have a daily driver- ish reliability, get in and go. Plus I’m off today, kids are out on a walk and my mind is wondering on how to best spend a little money. Hahahahahahah

My 350 is stock with an RV cam. Nothing fancy.

I’ve read Howell is good. All Id have to do is swap the intake for TBI one get a the Howell kit and go? I’m more than happy to sacrifice a little power for reliability

I’ll hold off and wait for more comments and not blow this thread up
 
6872xtc said:
I think that you have to make the decision about induction after you consider how you are going to use the truck, what do you want most from it, and what are you comfortable working with in the future when problems arise.
A factory TBI system, even set up by a tuner, (Howell did is nice job on the one I had) won't have the top end power of a well tuned carburetor, but the other improvements in driveability may be enough to loose a little on the top. And it will still be pretty easy to work on. If your engine is fairly stock, and you are planning on keeping it that way, I would go TBI. I wouldn't use the aftermarket TBI.
I have Edelbrock Proflo 4 on my '90 but it isn't cheap. But my engine isn't stock.

I had TBI with an adapter on this '72 small block before, and it was really good. Howell chip, Edelbrock performer intake, Edelbrock cam, stock TBI parts.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, mainly the aftermarket tbi. GM TBI is pretty stout and from the looks of it has room to be upgraded (like 400hp safely? Don't quote me i don't have much research). But overall I don't think you can go wrong with a factory GM system, especially if its your truck you drive everyday that you'd like to depend on
 
if your thinking holley sniper you beeter read up . . . :whistle:

there is lots of guys jumping to other brands after all the problems and other stuff with the holley sniper and there after sale service be it forum or phone in .

this one is a good read and lots of data in it to back it up . holley sniper problems

and lots of info on efi in here the injection section
 
sweetk30 said:
if your thinking holley sniper you beeter read up . . . :whistle:

there is lots of guys jumping to other brands after all the problems and other stuff with the holley sniper and there after sale service be it forum or phone in .

this one is a good read and lots of data in it to back it up . holley sniper problems

and lots of info on efi in here the injection section
Click to expand...


I just finished a few articles/reviews about this and came back here and saw your post. Lol...
That was also 2 years ago, maybe it’s changed?

That edlebrock pro flo 4 isn’t cheap
 
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yes its not cheep . but its a master kit and works as such .

the sniper problem are still there . lots of video's on youtube . lots of guys over on edelbrock web site forum switching over from the sniper .

you cant compare the carb style fuel feed to port injection in the price points as there 2 different style units . the master sniper kit is within 200-300 bucks of the holley kit . but you still get the tiny 3.5" screen . no fuel pressure read out unlike p.f.4 does . still a wet from intake like a carb unlike the p.f.4 port injection sequential fire .

even when my crappy sniper ran the best i still got better fuel mileage with a used 750 cfm edelbrock carb i installed waiting for my edelbrock kit to show up . then the way the edelbrock kit runs just dont hold a candle to the sniper . way better / smother / factory feal gas pedal tension unlike the sniper cinder block push of the 1:1 pedal ( all 4 butter flys open at one time ) p.f.4 is progressive like factory or everyday carbs have been for years .

go read my whole thread so i dont need to re type this stuff . its all in there :popcorn: from the brand new bad parts multiple times to the crap service from them .

heck go over to the holley forum and search around and see how they help and treat people . and search my screen name same as here . very few guys truly helped me and when they did it was in private pm's or emails .
 
sweetk30 said:
yes its not cheep . but its a master kit and works as such .

the sniper problem are still there . lots of video's on youtube . lots of guys over on edelbrock web site forum switching over from the sniper .

you cant compare the carb style fuel feed to port injection in the price points as there 2 different style units . the master sniper kit is within 200-300 bucks of the holley kit . but you still get the tiny 3.5" screen . no fuel pressure read out unlike p.f.4 does . still a wet from intake like a carb unlike the p.f.4 port injection sequential fire .

even when my crappy sniper ran the best i still got better fuel mileage with a used 750 cfm edelbrock carb i installed waiting for my edelbrock kit to show up . then the way the edelbrock kit runs just dont hold a candle to the sniper . way better / smother / factory feal gas pedal tension unlike the sniper cinder block push of the 1:1 pedal ( all 4 butter flys open at one time ) p.f.4 is progressive like factory or everyday carbs have been for years .

go read my whole thread so i dont need to re type this stuff . its all in there :popcorn: from the brand new bad parts multiple times to the crap service from them .

heck go over to the holley forum and search around and see how they help and treat people . and search my screen name same as here . very few guys truly helped me and when they did it was in private pm's or emails .
Click to expand...

Haha. I read that epic was reminiscent of my type of marathon threads. I will hold off on swapping out my carb

Still Curious what others are running here.
LS
Tbi
Efi
LS
 
if i had to do it all over again for a sbc based build i would do a ls engine .

but if i was doing bbc build it will be edelbrock pf4 hands down .

glad you are asking and reading up and not just jumping in the pool like i did and got hurt .
 
TJ1978 said:
Haha. I read that epic was reminiscent of my type of marathon threads. I will hold off on swapping out my carb

Still Curious what others are running here.
LS
Tbi
Efi
LS
Click to expand...
I removed a Holley sniper and went ProFlo 4
 
I’m running a Megasquirt I built on a tpi intake.
It’s not for everyone, but it was cheap back when I was building them, and I’ll keep running it until I blow something up and swap in a L86.
 
TJ1978 said:
Haha. I read that epic was reminiscent of my type of marathon threads. I will hold off on swapping out my carb

Still Curious what others are running here.
LS
Tbi
Efi
LS
Click to expand...
If you get bored some time let me know

I ran 2 different carbs and TBI on one engine, a Qjet, TBI, Sniper, and the Proflo on a second engine. All in the same truck

I have a few opinions on the Holley. That’s why I pulled it off after 4 months.
 
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