Carborated vs Fuel injected.

[gk666]

economy is a useless argument, and as long as iv been around cars iv never seen anyone shovel out enough money to get an efi system that responds faster than a perfect carb which it should be mentioned that a perfectly tuned and functioning carb with no mechanical hangups like cables or etc, is a **** load cheaper than even moderate electronic management...

electronic development in the automobile industry is exactly whats killed the automobile industry and its been like that for 40 years....

 

[Peter]

You say you might be dropping a 350 in it and there is no reason (other than a mean cam) that the engine should vibrate the car a hell of a lot. Im guessing you have a 307 in your buick now and I woul dimagine some of the computer related technology tends to be fickle and needs to be tuned correctly but because the carb is computer controled your kinda sh*t outta luck with the 307 unless you can pinpoint the exact problem if your timing is set correctly and you dont have anything like vacumn leaks. With a correct tune comes a loss of the gas or exhaust smell to some extent but either way you could run a high flow cat which would help in that department some if it was still an issue

I run an olds 350 in my car with magnaflows that i stuck a rebuilt quadrajet on from summit and timed it and got it all tuned correctly and it runs plenty smooth, doesnt smell compared to the shitty mustangs driving around, and I have been managing gas mileage I can live with out of a V8. I recommend carbuerator because you dont have to be a scientist to tune one properly, their cheaper and in many cases i think EFI tends to be more of a cool factor than anything else

 

[custom442]

electronic development in the automobile industry is exactly whats killed the automobile industry and its been like that for 40 years....

hmm :? don't dig yourself a hole, they'll pounce on you like hyenas

 

[FE3X CLONE]

EFI is not a cure for a poorly running engine. If it's running poorly with a carb because it hasn't been tuned, then it's going to run poorly with the EFI if you don't tune it properly.

That being said, the debate between which is better completely depends on what your going after with your vehicle. There's no doubt that bolting on a carb and running it as is would be the simplest way to go. Where EFI really shines is in it's tuneability, throttle response and economy. You don't necessarily have to settle for just one of those like you would a carb.

I just bought an Accel Thruster EFI system for my '87 with a dual-sync distributor that allows full sequential control. It's going on my fairly radical 11.3:1 455 and will help to tame the engine down so that you get the best of both worlds. Big compression, cam and cubes along with driveability. Would my engine run with a carb? It sure would and it would still be loads of fun, but you won't get the dual personality that the EFI has with a carb.

 

[MissPontiac]

There was a lot of responses. The reasons weren't really due to the shaking but because fuel injection is more modern and easier to upgrage in my opinion. Carbs are more simple. FI has replaced carbs. The GTO was thrown into the convo for comparison because he's had a lot of upgrades, it's loud and it shakes. It's FI though. I saw the comment about your car controlling you and all that jazz. I'm not to keen on computer's either but after experiencing an LS1 motor it's fantastic. I am more twards keeping it original due to the fact that the 3.8v6 turbo is a classic.

I'll keep reading but thanks for the opinions.

 

[MissPontiac]

Oh, and the engine is solid it's running fine, the shaking (also needs a better steering wheel), the smell and all the problems are because of the exhaust and where it's located. The idiots who owned the car before me did everything they could to **** this car up and they almost succeeded. So I'm not trying to swap motors because there's issues with the carborated engine.

The 350 idea was to put a v8 in it and do a v8 build and get more power out of it at the end once all the performance parts were added on.

 

[Bonnewagon]

A turbo? Keep it like that, or you ruin the value. Sort out the other problems and then have the carb rebuilt if it still points to that.

 

[-83MONTESS-]

A turbo? Keep it like that, or you ruin the value. Sort out the other problems and then have the carb rebuilt if it still points to that.

x2!

 

[crucial118]

If your worrying about value, keep the turbo in a shed or something and put in what you want. Then when comes time to sell put the turbo back in. Don't drive something your not happy with, just because of value. If that's the case put it in a museum or something.

 

[custom442]

... I'm not to keen on computer's either but after experiencing an LS1 motor it's fantastic. I am more twards keeping it original due to the fact that the 3.8v6 turbo is a classic.

for a turbo 3.8 I can see fuel injection being very beneficial. ls1 ecm vs a custom efi setup for your engine are not comparable. with the turbo you rule out the easy things like the bolt on efi kits from summit/jegs and the big name manufacturers.

basically two reasonable options, the first is an ebl from some place like dynamicEFI and upgrade manifold to tbi injection
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26959&p=210782&hilit=buick+ebl#p210782

the second option is to put together your own system, the cheapest options here are megasquirt and SDS. If you want a more complete "kit" then use SDS. None of it is complete and all require tuning. Megasquirt has a lower upfront cost, there is the option of using sensors specifically for your application vs something in a kit, in the end the megasquirt setup will likely be more expensive of the two for a turbo motor.

Don't expect to spend less than 1000-1500$, fabrication and options to the computer systems will make the price go up, I'd budget 2000$+ for something like this

Most of the systems out there will give similar WOT open loop results. To have something on par with ls1 ecm its going to get expensive, look at autronic or FAST electronics. Even then its not going to have nearly the same safety features and fine tuning for emissions/idle open, or closed loop. Motec is about the only thing out there better than a stock/upgraded GM system imo. Do some reading and looking around before jumping into something like this, personally would visit the turbo buick sites for fabrication/manifold ideas.