[mustangsoldier]

how difficult/expensive is it to go from a carb 306 to a efi 306? what all is envolved?

[mustangsoldier]

just wondering b/c i found a guy selling a beautiful 93 hatch but its carb and i don't know SHIT about carbs or where to even start w/ them

[ReverendDexter]

Carb's aren't that hard, though I'm certainly in the fuel injected camp. And, being in Cali, I couldn't legally have a carb'd '93.

The absolute easiest thing to do is to start gettin' learned on carbs. They're not that hard - think of a throttle-body intake setup, only instead of fuel injectors, you have holes with pots of fuel behind them, and as air gets sucked through the "throttle body", it sucks some of the gas with it. This will explain better than I ever could: HowStuffWorks "How does a carburetor work?"

The other thing to do will be to get everything from a fuelie car from the lower intake manifold up, plus the computer and wiring harness. You'll probably have to put some 02 sensors in the exhaust, too. Of course, that only gets you to stock, and only after you actuall do the whole swap.

[mustangsoldier]

yea i mean im sure i could learn how but id rather stick w/ what im somewhat familiar w/.

so basically get an entire intake manifold w/ rails, injectors, get a computer w/ harness and id be set? what else would there be?

finally lol, would i be better off power and money wise to just stick w/ the carb?

[mustangsoldier]

how big of a pain in the ass is to deal w/ a carb'd 306? like maintenance wise and performance wise? all my future plans are is heads, cam, exhaust and nitrous.

[ReverendDexter]

Originally Posted by mustangsoldier yea i mean im sure i could learn how but id rather stick w/ what im somewhat familiar w/. so basically get an entire intake manifold w/ rails, injectors, get a computer w/ harness and id be set? what else would there be? finally lol, would i be better off power and money wise to just stick w/ the carb?

Better money wise, power-wise it depends. Yes, you can make a lot of power on a carb. But, it's never going to have the full-on drivability of a fuel-injection system. It's also not quite as efficient (you generally pick up 1-3mpg switching from carb to efi).

I'm really not the best person to debate carbs versus fuel injection, I like them both, and I believe they both serve a purpose. I've owned good and bad of each.

Personally, I'd pick up the car, and use it as an excuse to understand carburetors better. Sticking with what you know means you'll never learn anything. If you decided you hate it, you can always take it back to stock later on.

[mustangsoldier]

well here's my situation, im on a pretty tight budget and this is going to be a daily driver/occasional pass at the local track car. would you have any idea how much it'd cost to take it back to efi? the guy is selling the car for 3500 and i have a 4k budget.

[superbean]

i have the rails, upper and lower intake, maf housing, and possibly the throttle body. All you would need is an engine harness and pcm and injectors (which i would upgrade while i was at it and get the calibrated maf for it.) Let me know if your interested i'd prob sell it for a fair price.

[BORDEN]

Originally Posted by mustangsoldier just wondering b/c i found a guy selling a beautiful 93 hatch but its carb and i don't know SHIT about carbs or where to even start w/ them

i would rather have a carb but thats my take on it. i have had soooo many problems with my computer and injectors.... but i know tons of efi 5.0s that are jus fine. it really depends on what you wanna do with tha car. but i always found carbs to be easier.

[mustangsoldier]

what am i looking at gas mileage wise? lol i know that sounds retarded but i mean yes i want performance but this is going to be a to and from work car so i can't have something thats going to get my 7 miles to a gallon either. here is the parts list.

V8 30 OVER 302 EAGLE H BEAM RODS, TRW PISTONS, X303 CAM, EARLY 351W 4 BBL HEADS(DOOE CASTING).NEW HOLLEY STREET AVENGER CARB, MSD IGN. SYSTEM, T5 TRANS. NEW KING COBRA CLUTCH, NEW MOTORSPORT FLYWHEEL, 8.8 REAR WITH 4.56 GEARS, AND MOSIER AXLES
edlebrock victor jr intake, southside machine lift bars(traction bars), bbk shorty headers, new alum radiator, new lincoln high vol. cooling fan, harland sharp roller rockers, fresh valve job with new valve springs, the exhaust has no converters, mufflers are a generic flowmaster. it has 4.56s but i will put in 3.73s.

[BORDEN]

Originally Posted by mustangsoldier what am i looking at gas mileage wise? lol i know that sounds retarded but i mean yes i want performance but this is going to be a to and from work car so i can't have something thats going to get my 7 miles to a gallon either. here is the parts list. V8 30 OVER 302 EAGLE H BEAM RODS, TRW PISTONS, X303 CAM, EARLY 351W 4 BBL HEADS(DOOE CASTING).NEW HOLLEY STREET AVENGER CARB, MSD IGN. SYSTEM, T5 TRANS. NEW KING COBRA CLUTCH, NEW MOTORSPORT FLYWHEEL, 8.8 REAR WITH 4.56 GEARS, AND MOSIER AXLES edlebrock victor jr intake, southside machine lift bars(traction bars), bbk shorty headers, new alum radiator, new lincoln high vol. cooling fan, harland sharp roller rockers, fresh valve job with new valve springs, the exhaust has no converters, mufflers are a generic flowmaster. it has 4.56s but i will put in 3.73s.

if your going with a edlebrock vic jr intake i think you have to be EFI. but then you say you want a holley carb..... i dont know what to tell you.

[mustangsoldier]

no lol, that is the parts list of items on the car already. im just trying to get a round about idea of how bad the gas mileage will be.

[mustangsoldier]

anyone lol?

[gotn20]

I had an 86 that the first thing I did to it was switch from a carb to efi. I never regreted it. The car ran better and it was 2 tenths quicker than when it was carbed. But I"m not saying efi is faster or that my carb was on cause I never even botherd with it at all! How ever it ran smoother, cold start was the shit I loved it, than i swapped all the body stuff off an 91 but I hated the interior and rather than swap all that shit to I sold it and bought an 88 cuase i realized i was just a four eyes hater lol.

[Tony_90fox]

so the car is 3500 and you only have $500 to change it to EFI? Is that what you are getting at?

Not worth changing to EFI if you ask me...a good aftermarket intake alone is close to $500. Then look at ALL the other fuel injection components you need! MAF, injectors, rails, fuel lines, ALL the wiring harness, new fuel pump, etc!!

for what it's worth, I'm putting a carbed 393w in my car here in a few months and I'll have all my efi stuff for sale...However, my ported gt40 heads and upper/lower explorer intake will be over $500.