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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Performance => Topic started by: 87GMC2WD on November 18, 2008, 06:15:51 pm

Title: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 87GMC2WD on November 18, 2008, 06:15:51 pm
I know there are probably posts on here about his question already, but i couldnt find anything that helps me. I have a 87 that came stock with fuel injection, obviously. and i have an edelbrock carb with an edelbrock performer manifold. now i my motor going to be rebuilt and i just want to know what is better, im not worried about fuel economy, i just want the most power. i also thought about getting a TPI set up out of a camaro and trying to make that work, idk if it will or not, just a thought. But since i had the carb and manifold i figured i would ask the question. if im not going to use it then i want to sell it now. thanks for any input.
Kyle
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: VileZambonie on November 19, 2008, 04:58:54 am
well if drivability and fuel economy aren't your priority then you'd probably be better off with a carburetor over a stock TBI. Stock TBI's are better for daily driving. If you do remove the tbi and harness and wanna get rid of it let me know.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 78 Chevyrado on November 19, 2008, 05:11:02 am
x2
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: SUX2BU99 on November 19, 2008, 11:31:37 am
x3. TPI conversions though have been done countless times on non-EFI vehicles over the years so everything is out there. But as with most anything electronic and custom installations, there are always bugs to work out to some degree. Search for posts on here from Pugsy123. He just did a TPI swap on his truck and CaptKaos, the administrator of this site, is doing one as well.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 87GMC2WD on November 19, 2008, 04:38:42 pm
i would think that the TPI would do better than a carb right? and i would think that my stock computer than ran my TBI wouldnt run a TPI system?
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: Captkaos on November 19, 2008, 05:02:29 pm
TPI is limited to about 4800-5000 rpms in stock form.
The TPI and the TBI use different pinouts and there isn't a chip for the 7730 (TBI) to work with the TPI setup.  I would get the ECM and the wiring.  You would be going from 2 injectors to 8...

Personally, I hate carburetors, so my opinion is going to be biased unless you are building a drag truck then I am more open...
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 87GMC2WD on November 20, 2008, 04:59:10 pm
this isnt a drag truck or a show truck. im 18 and i got this truck from my gramp when i was 16. now that i have another truck, im taking it off the road and redoing it. i just want some get up and go and i have time to play with it. so i figured if i got rid of the stock 2 barrel tbi i could get some more power.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: Captkaos on November 20, 2008, 05:29:03 pm
Replacing the injection system won't give you more power.  Going to a carb is going to kill your responsiveness and you are still going to have the same motor with a carb on it, nothing else.
If you don't plan to go into the motor, keep what you have (TBI)  Or you could make small changes to the motor and still keep the TBI, and have decent power.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: dunedigger on November 20, 2008, 06:01:17 pm
If it were me I would keep the tbi.  That's what I love the most about my 87.  I try and keep it as stock as I can and that system is so easy to work on.  Especially if you are comparing the tb to a carb as far as working on them.  I really like the economy the injection system adds.  My 87 gets 19 mpg hwy.  It doesn't compare to hp and responce some of my carb trucks but that took a lot of money.  Buddy of mine built a tpi motor and had a lot more money in it than a carb motor and had a lot of bugs to work out to get it to run right, but when it did, it was nice too.  Just my 2 cents.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 87GMC2WD on November 21, 2008, 05:52:07 am
alright, i appreciate all the input. i am planning on rebuilding the motor now that its off the road. im not sure how much money i have to put into it so im not sure what exactly im going to do yet.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 85MudMonster on November 21, 2008, 10:40:53 am
I personally like the set-up of the TPI, it makes good low end torque cause of the intake design. The down side is that I don't have the money to buy the ECM & the harness to compete my set-up right now. But, I've got most everything else...Then I'm gonna build a 4 bolt main TPI 350. Should perform pretty well.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: tusk on November 21, 2008, 11:43:22 am
for those that have a harness or need one,check out Jims Performance in maryland,he thinned my harness for teh 4.3 vortec i put in my cj-7,cut out over 3lbs of wire,he gets it where all the unnesscary stuff is cut out,just 4 wires and my stuff was up and running,cost less then 200.00
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: 85MudMonster on November 21, 2008, 07:08:56 pm
for those that have a harness or need one,check out Jims Performance in maryland,he thinned my harness for teh 4.3 vortec i put in my cj-7,cut out over 3lbs of wire,he gets it where all the unnesscary stuff is cut out,just 4 wires and my stuff was up and running,cost less then 200.00

What's the web address? or phone number or something....
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: Captkaos on November 21, 2008, 07:32:42 pm
http://www.jimsperformance.com/
He built me my billet Vaccum setup for my Hilborn.
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: fitz on January 04, 2009, 02:45:58 pm
Vile.
I was reading this old post and I see you are interested in the TBI set up. I have a 91 Suburban I plan to strip over the winter. You can have the TBI parts for free if you want to drive to Mass with your tools and remove them.
                             Fitz
Title: Re: fuel injection or carb?
Post by: VileZambonie on January 04, 2009, 03:07:48 pm
Hey thanks for the offer. Let me know when you're ready to strip it!