If you want to run a carb, and want to run it under a stock hood, you need this.

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284577

Shameless plug on my part i know, but it is needed and you likely wont find another one.

 

I have a carb on my 454 in my 1997, and I CANNOT WAIT to go back to fuel injection!

Top end power may be close to the same with the Speed Demon 750cfm I have, but the cold start warm up time before it will idle without having to give it throttle and the fuel economy is really bad (not just because it's a big block). Plus, although you can adjust the fuel mixture fairly easily and the base timing, if you want to do any work that involves removing the distributor cap (like recurving the distributor), then the engine has to come out so you can access the distributor. The cowl prevents the cap from coming off otherwise.

If you're smart you'll do what these other guys say and just take the time to learn about how the FI works and invest in a way to tune it yourself. Swapping to a carb seems like an easy solution, but like you say, it certainly is a downgrade.

-Dave C. '97 Z28

Oh yea, don't forget all the other things you'll need since you won't have the PCM anymore:

-New fuel pump (and remove the one in your tank, too much pressure for a carb), and power for the fuel pump since the PCM controls the relay.
-New fuel lines with fittings that can go to a carb
-New instrument panel because some of your gauges won't work (like speedometer if your car is OBD-1 or OBD-2)
-You'll have to re-wire your fans to turn on with a switch or something.
-ABS won't work
-Airbags might not work
-etc, etc....

 

-No biggie
-Cheap mod
-pretty sure the speedo will work just fine
-I've aleady got a manual fan switch
-I no longer have the ABS on my car
-I took out the air bags
-etc. etc.

 

The Edelbrock and GMPP carbed intakes are one in the same, and yes you would switch to HEI. Don't asume the dash will work you need to find out for sure.
Sounds to me like you have not done your research, there are many places that sell SVO injectors for under $250(U.S.) and there are several good tuners that could mailorder you a pretty good tune first try and that could be made even easier and perfection made less critical if you would go MAF.

My car is much milder than what you have planned but is sort of an oddball combo and pcmforless did a mailorder tune for me. When I went to the dyno just to see what she put down the operator about fell over the AFR was dead on perfect all the way across the board. His tuning cost me $75 for LIFETIME FREE emailed updates because I swapped to an OBD1 MAF pcm, then I bought a $65 cable to load it with. The problem here is not the injection but rather your lack of research and refusal to learn about the engine management.

 

I recommend against it because the only advantage you have let over a Gen I small block is the reverse flow cooling. Other than that head choices are alot smaller than regular small blocks.
Did you know that you can use Ford SVO injectors in an LT1? Same design and cost alot less.
I had a $75 madz28 tune and I was plenty happy with it. Not to mention he hasn't even dynotuned it yet for me. Another $20 plus cost of the dyno run.
I get 28mpg and I have a fairly big cam and dont even have roller rockers or a roller chain yet!
Why go carbed? I still dont see it except for something REALLY nasty. A GM847 in a 396 isn't hot enough to make me see it... I'm thinking drag race burn your eyes on race fuel 13.5:1 sub 10's N/A in the quarter nasty

I do have experience with the carb LT1 setup though. You need to plan on investing in a low-profile distributor, among other things, if you go that route. If not you'll still have the problems with the opti that LT1's often have. If you delete the opti you need to buy a plug from Scoggin Dickey to cover the hole; water pump works the same. Unless you go electric you'll still be spending alot of money on a timing chain and you dont want to go cheap if you're building a 396. Not to mention I'm not confident that the one intake I found (the GM intake) is sufficient to feed anything more than your average street motor 350 LT1... looks alot like edelbrocks performer to me. POS.

IMO you're best off just going to gen I and running a 400 SBC. Alot of the parts cost less, you're pretty much converting to a Gen I doing it anyway, and you're taking away the benefit of having an LT1 (except for the cooling)...so it makes little sense to spend more on it when you could sell what's left as a package to put toward a Gen I. Only reason we did is because we weren't building anything more than a mild motor and we wanted something different in a hot rod!

 

you also need heated o2 sensors and the bracket for the PCM. You will need to make a few modifications to the wire harness. I did this conversion to my 93,It was fairly easy.