How many guys out here have gone to carb setup and scrapped the FI. After figuring my build with the cost of LT1 reverse heads, intake porting 58mm TB, and 42lbs injectors Timing chain and all the other supporting crap I figure I could build more horsepower at a cheaper price by going the way of carb setup and not have the added expense of dyno runs and any PCM tuning head ache.. Could the guys that have swapped chime in and let me know what you think...

 

You figured wrong IMHO. Running a quality carb, dist. and intake with converted bolt pattern will cost you roughly the same as just running FI.

 

Maybe you figured wrong there ole'buddy


let me rephrase what i meant scraping, the whole platform and going back to gen1 I've aleady got a 383 shortblock gen1 on the engine stand.. How do you figure it will cost more money I can buy a 4150 holley for half of the cost of the injectors and TB alone, and I also wouldnt need to spend money on comp programs cable's etc etc heck an LT1 timing chain is 300 bucks! gen1 is about 60bucks and as far as the quality distributor the old gm HEI you can get from the junk pile for about 30 bucks throw in and rebuild HO coil and msd box you may have 250 in the whole rig... I think you need to go do some figuring.. My whole point is if I'm building a drag/street car what is the advantage of staying with the LT1 platform and not just going back to the Gen1 stuff...

 

If you have the means why not? Just make sure you have a big enough hood.

 

LOL, I didn't figure wrong.

If you are doing a gen1 swap and already have the shortblock more power to you, but unless you are planning on making some serious power it's pointless. There have been plenty of posts about Gen 1 conversions so do some searching.

If you actually sat down and thought about it the LT1 will be cheaper and make more power. You don't need a whole new gear and chain set, just a chain and those are like $30. No need for a dist. because you already have a working opti so no money needed there, plus they are WAY more accurate than an old GM HEI. If you are going to get an old 4150, HEI, coil and timing chain for $250 for your gen 1 then there is no chance that you are planning on making enough power to warrant a 58mm TB or 42lb injectors and could probably go with a ported stock TB (52) and stock injectors which you already have or 30-36's which are $200 and less in the for sale section all day long. LTx heads aren't anymore expensive than Gen 1's and ported castings will put you ahead of out of the box kickass Gen 1 heads.

You're frustrated or scared about modifying a LT1 and that's fine, but at least say that instead of saying it's too expensive to modify a LTx.

 

I converted to carb and I love it, its a simple and cheap way to go. The hardest part was designing a timing marker and pointer. Go for it you won't regret it.

 

I just bought the GMpp one that replaces the opti. And I have a ATI balancer with 360 degrees of marks.

I love it, car fires right up and ready to go...very consistent too.....I mean deadly.

 

Did you make it to the track this weekend? How'd it go?

 

You figured wrong IMHO. Running a quality carb, dist. and intake with converted bolt pattern will cost you roughly the same as just running FI.


Im not going to get into a pissing contest with you but try reading a post a little closer next time I said that I could get a 4150 for half the cost and injectors and a Tb.. And you made reference to a quality Distributor and I said that a Gm hei is all you need in a gen1 and you can get them for about 30bucks if you dont already have one laying around think ive got 3 stuck somewhere, and none of the opti crap problems to go with them..
And I dont know about you ,but I am not about to put a new chain on a gear set with 180k miles, on a engine I just spent 9k to build talk about stupid gee whiz..

And no I'm not scared of working on a Lt1 what the hell makes them anymore complex than any other engine other than tuning the ecm and all the pita opti problems they have maybe your the one who can't rap his mind around an old gen1 motor making more power for a third the money..

Also have you priced any reverse flow heads lately there chief $1,409.95 for a set of lt1 heads vs $1,025.95 for the same spec head for Gen1..

As far as making power most of the lt1 platforms I've seen here that are properly tuned with a stoker kit, ported heads and cam seem to hit ceiling at around 400 to the occasional 500 solid roller setup, thats not a problem to hit with a non LT1 platform hell you can by a GM crate engine 383 that puts down 425hp at the crank for 5k thats a complete long block!!

 

If gas milage is not an issue, if I was you id go carbed. However since this ain't the 50's id stay fuel injected. And im not saying you are, but it does sound like you are "intimidated" about fuel injection. Not saying you are, just sounds like it. Like I said though, if gas milage is not an issue, and you want carbed I think that would be best for you.

Just a suggestion, I do not recommend useing "junk pile" parts on a new build.

 

posted twice

 

I know, just sounded like it. Do you plan on driving this thing alot? Because in the ends your fuel alone may pay to make it fuel injection.

 

Where is it that anything I said is about being intimidated about fuel injection, Its about Cost You know bang for your buck...Gezz I wonder sometimes about the hamsters and wheel in peoples heads they call brains...They dont read between the lines they add their own crap in it....Brother I know fuel injection is the way of tommrow but carbed motors aren't from the 50's go look under the hoods of 98% of your drag cars and your gonna see a carb, look at nascar and they are the cutting egde of R%D .. And really on a dyno most carbed motor will turn a few more hp's than a FI setup.. I'm going to let this thread die out because its not going in the right direction I can see theirs alot of carb haters out here..And people who can't see the woods for the tree's Later

 

I'm pretty sure in my orginal post I said it was going to be a drag/street car which basic means driving it to the track and a few cruise in's.. When I build a hot rod fuel mileage is the last thing on my mind because if I was worried about mileage I wouldn't be at the track beating the hell out of it.. It just doesn't make sense to me why people want a 10 second drag car at the track and ford focus getting 32 mpg to drive home.

 

i would leave it fuel injected unless you want a strip only car.. but at the end of the day you should do what you think is best.. from reading this thread you have already decided whats best....