Thread: switching to carburator

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I have a 350 sb and I want to take the TBI off and install a carb. I know people think I'm CRAZY but I have had nothing but trouble since I put this motor in my truck and it all keeps going back to the TBI. Can anyone give some advice?

Originally posted by silver88
I have a 350 sb and I want to take the TBI off and install a carb. I know people think I'm CRAZY but I have had nothing but trouble since I put this motor in my truck and it all keeps going back to the TBI. Can anyone give some advice?

the only advice i have is fix you TB, not much to it.

lt1s10 is probably correct, and being more modern than I tend to be. I'm just old fashioned, and hate fuel injection, computers, and all that stuff. I realize this is the 21st century, and all that jazz, but I just like things simple, automotivewise.

So, I will take the other side of the discussion. I too pulled all the fuel injection and computer stuff off of the Mustang 5.0 I installed in my Jeep truck. I installed an Edelbrock carb and intake, used a Unilite distributor, and ran a electric fuel pump, because my engine had no provision for a mechanical pump. I tore out every bit of wiring associated with the computer and fuel injection that the Jeep had, and treated it just like a street rod, wiring wise.

You will have to do the same, unless the truck you swapped it into was pre all this modern stuff. You will also have to eliminate the fuel injection fuel pump if it is tank mounted. I tore mine out of the tank and built a simple pickup in the tank to run to my Holley Red electric pump.

Is any of this the smart thing to do? Probably not, in light of how well cars with modern stuff run and get great fuel economy. But mine has been on the road for 3 trouble free years, and I do NOTHING to it, ever.

Maybe if I were born 30 years later I would give you a different answer, but I wasn't, so that is what I think.

Don

TBI is very simple to repair, its actually more simple than rebuilding a carb, but if you're having computer/sensor problems, it can be a living nightmare... GM computers are a lot more sensitive than ford computers, and require you to have everything your using for the matching year and vehicle that that computer is for.... also a pain when you gotta figure out which card you need in your scanner, to properly check things out

The motor i installed is out of a 93 model. But Im like Itoldyouso I like the old stuff. So how did you go about making the pick up tube for the gas tank? Did you put some type of filter on it and does yours still have a return line back to the tank? Im thinking edlebrock carb and intake and my engine block has a place for a mechanical fuel pump. Thanks for all the info.

All I did was remove the old electric in tank pump and I modified the part that goes down into the tank to act as a pickup tube. I forget exactly, as it has been over 3 years, but essentially you are creating an extension on the plate to go down to the bottom of the tank, and suck fuel up that tube. I put a "sock" on it that I removed from the old pump (I think), or maybe I just left the filtering up to the spin on filter I installed before the new electric pump.

As for the return line, at first I just slipped one of those vacuum block off tips you buy on a card with various sizes on it at the auto parts store. You know, the ones you use to block off unneeded ports on carbs and intakes. However, after a year the gasoline that splashes on it ate it apart, and I got a bad leak out of the old return port. So now I slipped a piece of fuel line over it and stuffed an appropriate sized shouldered bolt into the hose and put two clamps on it. Not the best way to do it, but it is now holding ok.

Make sure your cam has the eccentric on it to drive the mechanical pump. Sometimes the block has the provision, but the mfr doesn't put the eccentric on the cam as it is not needed for fuel injection. A flashlight and looking into the hole will let you know,

Like I said, I know fuel injection is better, newer technology, but I can fix a carb, and when a computer controlled injection goes haywire it stops me in my tracks. My ex-wife had a Lincoln Continental that NO shop or Dealer could make run right, and I was ready to pull off all the injection stuff and make it carbed, but one shop finally kept the car and drove it for a few days and solved the problem. But it was close to having an aluminum intake on it.

Good luck,

Don

PS, I just drove my 302 powered Jeep truck 6 hours today to pick up the new project, and it got 17 MPG on the highway, so carbs aren't all that bad.

use the fuel pump you have and put a pressure reg. at the carb. you can hook up the return line or block it off. you dont need the computer to run the fuel pump.

Thanks for all the info. Can't wait to get started on it. Just one more question. Correct me if I am wrong. All I need to to start it is to run a wire from my ignition to distributor and my computor/ TBI problems are over? thanks again Jim

put in a hei dist., hook up the elec. fuel pump to the carb. 5 lb. pressure, run a ign. wire to the dist. and it should run.