I know of a few NA f-bodies going low 10s on GM casting intakes and heads(ported obviously) with factory engine and tranny managment and frankly I don't even pay much attention to that stuff. My interests lie more in cars that can be enjoyed everyday and in most weather.

I know the stock eliminator guys go damn fast with just factory parts matching.

 

i agree totally on a mild or even a fairly serious street car, but all the mods it takes to go 10's N/A could be done cheaper and easier by using a carb, imo. that's why some people do it, not because EFI is so mind-boggling. if anything there are fewer and fewer people out there that know how to tune a carb right. i know alot of guys who can tune their car with a laptop but couldn't tell the difference between a Holley carb and an Edelbrock carb. in case you couldn't tell i don't care for electronics, they are not as reliable as mechanicals, imo. the more electronics the more there is to go wrong and the more money it costs to fix it or maintain it.

 

Thank you for proving you are one of the closed minded refusing to learn about EFI.
Exactly what extra mods do you think it takes to make injection go 10s, given similar engines what extra cost is involved in making the injection work over a carb. Injectors cost less than the carburator maybe similar to a big set of jets to play with, stay injected and you just port the stock intake rather than replace it. Larger TB cost less than a carb would. Fresh cap and rotor for the opti cost less than a whole new HEI. I could keep going but you aint listening and hopefully this is enough to show others injection is not so bad for racing.

 

i'm willing to learn, i'm wanting to learn. you tell me what mods it takes to go sub 10's? but please, there's no need to be a smartass about it.

 

Im thinking about going for carb, mainly because I hate the 10 pounds of electrical wire all over the car. I want my car to be clean and simple.. I remove things like ac/radio/speakers ect. And it takes 10 hours to trace the wires and get them out, so I just got rid of half the wiring harness. Now I think why not get rid of the injectors and the computer all together. At the point im at, it may be worth it..

 

A carb will NOT make any more peak FWHP than EFI. The EFI has more drive ability and power under the curve with a big cam than a carb.It will tame an engine that is barely drivable with a carb.
Seeings it's not cost effective for everyone to have chip burning or flash equipment ya have to pay to get it tuned. That's not all that bad either. If ya know modified engines and know what each set up is capable of and know what ya want it to do ya don't HAVE to know but the very basics of EFI. The dyno tuner will know and if it don't do what ya think it should tune some more. That part is just like a carb 'cept ya do it with buttons instead of wrenches.

 

PLEASE, don't do it! About 3 months ago I pulled the stealthram off my pro topline/CC306 350 in my 91Z, because I couldn't get it tuned right. Well after an afternoon with jets, screwdrivers and gaskets, my car has much better driveability and power. But every time I open the hood I want to THROW UP! I feel like I quit on it and that kills me! So I'm going back to injection, this time armed with a commander 950.

 

I've been noticing things about his board that is very wrong. Why would you slander something someone wants to learn about? Yes I know its a dumb quess....fi is better, fi is faster, fi can be tuned more accurately. The dude wants to know why can't he use the opti!

I've got a carb on my lt1...gosh I must be a stugot. My lt1 was ripped apart, no intake manifold, exhaust manifolds. Just a top end and bottom end. For the price, a 400 dollar carb is a lot better in my opinion than an after market fi system on the wallet.

I believe the answer to your question is because the optispark sends signals to the pcm and then the pcm controls the igintion and fueling. When you put an old school carb in there...the pcm still controls fueling but the carb is mechanical and there is NO WAY that fuel can be introduced. So in order for everything to work, change it all out or you can still run a dizzy in the back of the intake manifold (crab cap style) and use the opti as a trigger. But thats another story.

 

Top fuel cars make more HP then any other car out there.... they are fuel injected.... Pro stock is talking about going fuel injection in the next few years.... think about that....

 

yeah, i wish i had their budget, don't you? money is not an object for those guys.

 

An LT1 with a carb is little more than a gen 1.

 

See...this is exactly why I have all but given up on this board and many others. If you can't answer the question then shut the heck up. He didn't say "hey I would love ya'lls opinions on this". Keep it simple, stay to the point of the thread and not run off on self-glorifying tangents. I'm not exactly sure if some of you have enough experience to be giving advice and that is proven by the bickering. There are obvious upsides and downsides to both. Uses for both.

 

I've owned two carb and two fuel injected vehicles...I'd rather pull and replace a sensor when the check engine light comes on (after proper diagnosis, of course) than rebuuld a carb when an accelerator pump goes bad...

A $500 carb that Weber doesn't make anymore versus a DPFE sensor for the Ranger or whatever I may need for the Camaro....no contest. My money goes farther for longer with the newer stuff.

 

i've been thinking about this for a while too, the way i look at it you can pick up an intake and a really decent carb for under 700 (im talking swap meet prices here haha) however to get new injectors, throttle body, aftermarket lt1 style intake manifold, and have the computer tuned is gonna run you a ****load more
just my two cents

 

If you were starting from scratch and building just a race motor I would say hell yea go with carb. Its cheaper from that standpoint. You already have FI on the car, just leave it that way and learn about it. Yea it can be confusing at first but the computer is pretty smart and you can teach it new things. It gets better gas millage than a carb will and even adjusts itself when the weather changes.


As far as the cost of new injectors, TB, aftermarket manifold, and a tune

1. You don't need new injectors until you are over 350whp.

2. The stock TB will support at least 400whp

3. People are making plenty of power through ported LT1 intakes.

4. A mail order tune will cost you $180 or so. See how much it costs for you to take your car somewhere and have someone tune your carb.