Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Technical => Engine Tech => Topic started by: cleven on November 03, 2005, 02:48:15 PM

Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: cleven on November 03, 2005, 02:48:15 PM
Ok i wanna do a Carburetor Conversion on my 84 5.0 and i was woundering.Would it be cool to use like for the time being a intake and carb off an 80 or so thunderbird with a 2bl?
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: t-bird85 on November 03, 2005, 02:53:38 PM
Intakes arent expensive i would purchase 1 and if you need a carb i can ship you a holley 650, needs rebuilt but does work you pay for shipping.  I would use the edelbrock airgap intake or a performer RPM as a second choice.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: t-bird85 on November 03, 2005, 03:10:17 PM
but to answer your question yes it will work, prolly going see quite a bit of performance drop though.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: LJS30 on November 03, 2005, 10:28:06 PM
Why go to a carb?  Is fuel injection not easier and better at producing low end torque?
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: srv1 on November 03, 2005, 11:52:08 PM
FI sucks for the most part. Carb setup is cheaper and gets you more horsepower. I would recommend Edelborck RPM air gap, 600-650 Holley carb, 1" spacer, Holley blue pump, MSD distributor, MSD 6AL, shorty or long drop headers, some good exhaust, gears 3.73's(TC auto rear), and maybe a different stall convertor say around 2500-3000 a nice shift kit and there you have it. You would not believe it is the same car, trust me.

If you just want to make some extra HP, the a dual plane intake, Holley 600, some good exhaust and you will be set for now.

James
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: LJS30 on November 04, 2005, 12:18:08 AM
So why exactly does fuel injection suck?  Is it a personal preference or a matter of fact?
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: siscrew on November 04, 2005, 02:07:38 AM
I don't know why the carb setup would suck, I guess it's a matter of personal opinion, but there's a writeup of how I did my conversion in this post: http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=2984
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: t-bird85 on November 04, 2005, 06:50:19 AM
Its a fact a carb system will produce up to 10 Hp more than a FI, and if you use the correct manifold and spacers produce more torque as well,  Down side, constant tuning and gas mileage goes away,  If your new to carbs i would suggest an edelbrock tuing is minute and lots easier than a holley. rulle of thumb street edelbrock, strip Holley.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87 on November 04, 2005, 11:49:35 AM
Quote from: cleven
Ok i wanna do a Carburetor Conversion on my 84 5.0 and i was woundering.Would it be cool to use like for the time being a intake and carb off an 80 or so thunderbird with a 2bl?



84 so it has the cfi  a 2brl carb will bolt to the existing intake.

you will need a regulator with a return line  so you can turn down the fuel pressure. 


i would hunt for an aluminum 4 brl intake and grab you a 600 holley VACcumE secondary.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87 on November 04, 2005, 11:56:51 AM
Quote from: t-bird85
Its a fact a carb system will produce up to 10 Hp more than a FI.


this is a myth  it has been proven time after time both can produce the same power.


Quote from: t-bird85
and if you use the correct manifold and spacers produce more torque as well,


there is truth here but with spacers you have to worry with hood clearance


Quote from: t-bird85
Down side, constant tuning and gas mileage goes away,.


false, a properly installed and adjusted carb will be near trouble free.
and give good milage if adjusted properly



Quote from: t-bird85
If your new to carbs i would suggest an edelbrock tuing is minute and lots easier than a holley. rulle of thumb street edelbrock, strip Holley.


edelbrock is simple to adjust  but a holley will perform better and is easy to adjust also.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: t-bird85 on November 04, 2005, 12:37:38 PM
Quote from: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87
this is a myth it has been proven time after time both can produce the same power..

This is not a myth a vehicle with a stock carb will produce more that the same vehicle equipped with factory FI, Now with that said yes you can upgrade FI and get it equivilent but the cost vs carb are not compareable.
 
 
 
Quote from: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87
there is truth here but with spacers you have to worry with hood clearance.

Yes you have to worry about space. But most vehicle will handle a 1" spacer
 
 
 
 
Quote from: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87
false, a properly installed and adjusted carb will be near trouble free.
and give good milage if adjusted properly.

Some truth, I personally dont know your experience with Drag racing or carbs, any prof will tell you Holley for strip they are to tempermental for the street, have to tune them every season. where an edelbrock is a much more reliable carb for the street it does not perform as well on the strip
 
In general a carb will consume more gas being they are onlt controled by your throtle instead of a computer.
 
 
 
 
 
Quote from: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87
edelbrock is simple to adjust but a holley will perform better and is easy to adjust also.

I can post the adjustment procedures to both i own holleys and edelbrocks, Yes both can be easy, but holley's are far more unstable and will not keep the tuning so to speak.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: LJS30 on November 04, 2005, 07:15:25 PM
Numerous articles and books I have read have stated that fuel injection will time and time again produce more low end torque than their carb'ed counterpart.  Why spend the money on converting from fuel injection to carb, when you can put it into heads and exhaust mods?
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: t-bird85 on November 04, 2005, 07:25:30 PM
Quote from: LJS30
Why not spend the money on converting from fuel injection to carb, when you can put it into heads and exhaust mods?

Best statement yet.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: LJS30 on November 04, 2005, 08:41:10 PM
My mistake, typo.  I mean WHY spend it on that conversion when you can do something with the heads and exhaust?
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: t-bird85 on November 04, 2005, 09:51:35 PM
Quote from: LJS30
My mistake, typo. I mean WHY spend it on that conversion when you can do something with the heads and exhaust?

I knew what you meant, i think the money would be better spent in heads and exhuast.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: Haystack on November 05, 2005, 05:58:42 AM
Yeah you could get better miliage with a carb. Just find a weedwacker(prolly in the weeds in you back yard), slap that carb on there and you will get way better miliage then a EFI. Honestly, if you already have EFI, unless its the 85 year, it dosent make alot of sence to pull it all off and buy new parts, when most of the parts will handle/bolt in mustang ones for cheaper.
Basically they both have their perks. It is easier to get more power with a carb, if you already have one. If you are familiar with them, you will prolly like them better.
With a EFI, everything is already there, and there is no guess work, such as, what cfm carb size should I go with,(although there is the should I run 19lb or 24lb)

EFI is proven time and time again, and so has a carb. EFI is not tuneable, without deep pockets or some tricks. A carb, you can change lots of things. Like hey, my midrange is alittle rich, so you just turn the screw alittle and it is better.

Basically, if you like a carb, go with a carb, if you like EFI, go with EFI. If you dont know, use what is already in the car. I think that we can just leave it at that.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: 83Heritage on November 05, 2005, 09:50:20 AM
After I bought my '83 my dad and I (mostly my dad) changed it over to a carb. I like the carb better. Although I did lose most of the functions in the tripminder since the inline electric fuel pump was removed and replaced with a manual one.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: srv1 on November 05, 2005, 11:54:18 AM
FI is too  expensive. It is heavier and it can be a pain in the ass to tune. Carb's are easier even if you dont have any experience with them. Heck you can pick up one of those Holley books and it tells you how to tune them for whatever you want to do with the car.

Now Cleven has an 84 Bird. I assume that was throttle body EFI, right? So even if he did add heads and exhaust he is limited by the computer and that py throttle body injection. He would have to do an HO conversion with MASS air. So add up all the  he needs and time vs the carb setup and see which one you would choose.

FI you need:
Intake(heavy)
Mass air meter
injectors
computer(may need calibration)
new harness
new fuel pump
aftermarket throttle body(if you didnt want to use the stock one)
new distributor
throttle linkage
HO cam
Roller cam conversion

Carb you need:
Intake
Carb
electric fuel pump
Throttle linkage
fuel lines
convert rear sending unit for carb
MSD distributor with 6AL or use Ford's carb distributor out of yard
Can use stock cam

I may have left some stuff out. Now if he were to put heads on it and lets just say he was using stock HO stuff, he really wouldnt be gaining that much because the potential is there but limited with factory parts. That means he would have to buy aftermarket intakes, injectors, mass air and possibly a throttle body.

Now lets look at carb. Even if he didnt get any heads and just converted to carb, he would make more power by just switching to carb with his stock heads than he would by doing an HO swap. Even then he would have to upgrade everything I mentioned above if he decided to go with aftermarket heads. With carb he can use the same intake and carb if he wants to and still make more power with the carb then that of the FI. All in all carb would be cheaper route and make more HP than that of FI. It has been dyno tested before, NA carb will make more HP and torque than that of FI.

Another simple story. I have a 90 Mustang. Stock except exhaust and 1.7 rockers. Stock mass, TB, intake, heads, cam and so on. My friend converted his 95 GT to carb. Stock heads, cam, Victor Jr., 650dp and exhaust. Both cars are stick. I dyno'd at 207 at the wheels, he put around 230. Just switching to carb, he made more hp. I dont recall his torque but it was more than mine. The next year he added a cam and some Edelbrock heads. He reused his same intake and carb. Rejet the carb and some tuning and he was done. Now FI he would have to change all the FI  with aftermarket stuff just to get the most potentional out of his aluminum heads.

James
Title: Autozone Carb
Post by: cleven on November 06, 2005, 01:57:51 PM
ok i work at autozone right. They have a holly there i really like but it says on the box "do not use on AOD Transmissions" is it anyway to get it to work or would i have to use anotherone?
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87 on November 06, 2005, 02:05:37 PM
Quote from: cleven
ok i work at autozone right. They have a holly there i really like but it says on the box "do not use on AOD Transmissions" is it anyway to get it to work or would i have to use anotherone?


you have one with the ford kick down right? yeah it wont work


lokar makes a nice kit complete with cable to make the aod's t-v cable work with a carb.
Title: Carburetor Conversion Q's
Post by: 88SptCoupe on November 06, 2005, 05:16:15 PM
ok now what if i have all the  for a efi on my 88 but im having a horrable time tuning it and i may need to go to mass air flow to get it to work if thats my problem.

now i could go carb for about the same cost as i would to go mass air and sell all the  i have for my efi or come out close and it would be alot easier. the biggest thing to keep in mine is gas mileage doesnt matter to me everytime im in my bird its all gas all the time:) its fun if i wanted good gas mileage i would drive my tauras i just want a easier way to get my car running and running good.