Ok, so I am thinking I'll probably keep my car (was gonna sell) and I can register it in a no emissions county of NV now if I want. I already have the long tube/dual exhaust cased out, now I just started thinking of switching to a carbed setup.

Never really gave it any serious thought, but as I was sitting here trying my best not to do my homework I started reading a TPI VS. Carb thread and it got me thinking.

I never thought of it... but it seems as though I can swap to a carb for dirt cheap (if I buy used off eBay....) AND improve performance....? So here are some questions...


1) Right now its a totally stock L98. Lets say I remove A/C, all emissions, and leave the motor stock but add a carb setup and the long tubes and exhaust, will just switching to a carb setup itself add any power to my setup? Will it allow it to breath past the horrible TPI wall of 4,500?

2) How much can I realistically do this for (just the swap to carb.) on used parts? New parts? Probably can sell the TPI for the cost of the new setup?


Any other reasons? Please, try to convince me to swap and come to the dark side.
Thanks.

 

Not going to hear it from me. Yeah, I'm carbed, and say a lot on this forum; but if I had TPI right now, I'd spend my money improving it, especially for a daily driver.

 

Tim,
This is how much it cost me:
Intake-New-$170
Carb---Used-$150
FPR-----New-$80
HEI-----Used-$80-Including the Proform HEI kit
Fuel line-New$100-I used the Pushloc stuff, so it was more than regular hard line.
Jet Kit--New$35
Having a car with *****--Priceless!!
I love the setup I have now. E-mail if you want pictures.

 

Cool.

Also, I guess I should say this is definitely NOT my daily driver, thats what I have my Z71 for.

And I look at modding the TPI and think..... $400 for a Stealth Ram.....$200 for injectors...... new chip????$$$ etc. etc.

 

You can scrape alot of that with the help from junkyards and ebay.

Holley double pumper, exc condition, $20 used
Mainifold, $40 ebay
HEI, $15 junkyard +$5 recurve kit
Carter electric puel pump, $50 from summit.
Fuel lines/clamps.fittings, $20.
Gaskets, $20

It is doable if you look around enough, or it can cost $1000 for all new top of the line stuff with all braided line...etc.

 

Nobody else....?

 

With a carb you won't have the 4500rpm "wall" that TPI has. Here's a list of parts you would need:
Intake - $100 new, $50 used
Carb - $400 new, $50 for one that needs a rebuild, $100 for one ready to run
Distributor - $160 new (HEI), $50 used, plus $20 for a new cap, rotor, recurve kit if necessary
Plus you'll need a fuel pump, lines, and gaskets.
You'll also need jets and such to tune your new carb setup. I'm going to get rid of my CC Quadrajet and dist. pretty soon for a holley and HEI setup.

 

I just switched my 88 Iroc 305 to a Carb set up

Ive had some problems but i think i got it worked out i would definatly take the intank pump out
i know it sucks but it will help out alot, at least in my case it did

heres my cost


edelbrock used ((im borrowing it til i buy a new one)) so 187
Edelborck alum high rise intake 180
HEi Distributer, Cap, coil, 160
fittings, lines, clamps, Misc 60
Carter inline pump 50

so what is it about 675

compared to needing to buy new MAF sensor,8 new injectors, new computer, new eger, new sensors, and gaskets for the TPI

i suppose it close but not really considering i wouldve had to pay to have the TPI fixed and the carb we're doing

 

Here's what it's cost me so far:

Intake: Free-from a friend who went to a vic jr. from a Holley Street Dom.
Carb: Holley 4160 $150 on Ebay
FPR: (Mallory three-port) $80 from Summit
HEI Dist: $150 from Summit
Throttle Cable: $? Haven't gotten yet...probably <$10
Gaskets, Fuel Line, etc.: $20

This can definitely be done cheaper. Just be patient and look around the boneyards, and newspaper (and classifieds here). Selling your TPI Should more than pay for the swap. Selling tip: If you split the TPI into components rather than selling the whole system, you can usually get more money on Ebay. Don't forget to sell the Throttle cable and TV Cable, too. I bought a complete TPI for $600, but decided to go carb, and ended up selling all the TPI parts for about $750. Since the camaro isn't your daily driver, you could sell the setup first, see how much money it nets you, then use that in addition to whatever funds you have set aside to buy your carb setup.

Good luck!

 

I used to have TBI now im carbed. You can definetly breath past 4500rpm with a decent size carb. Hes what I bought

670cfm holley street avenger 300$ (on discount)
holley street dominator intake 170$
proform HEI distributer 160$
Mallory AFPR 80$
misc rubber fuel line/fitting ~20$

Total was around 750$ or so I figure. I could have done it cheaper im sure but I went ahead and bought everything brand spankin new. Why put old parts on a brand new motor?

At the time I added a GM goodwrench 9c1 lo5, hedman longtubes, true duals with flows, and switched to carb. I did all this for around 2800$. That isnt a whole lot of money considering the engine is brand new, exhaust is new (changing again), and induction is all new.

You can make the swap as expensive or as cheap as you want it. Like mentioned above id definetly stay TPI if it was my daily driver. Fuel injection is good. I miss it in some aspects. Cept TBI sucks

 

if you put a lil time and effort into it, and clean up some used parts, like an intake, a carb, and a distributor, under 400 bucks, easy.

Best thing as far as fuel goes. is getting rid of that intank pump, and putting either an inline one, or a good ole fashion mechanical pump....

I belive GM still left the extra lobe on the cam for the l98's

 

I am going to use the mallory FPR for now.

 

I thought about doing the switch to carb, but then again I have thought about everything to do with that TPI! I like the performance of carb cars. I changed a 92 Caprice to carb and performance changed wonderfully. My 84 Cutlass runs great, and for what it is(modded 307) the gas mileage isn't as bad as I thought.

 

Ok, so what are you guys doing with your TPI setups?? If you're just throwing them out, I'll take one!! I'd love to tinker with one, and see what I could do with it. PM me if you just have the parts laying around gathering dust.

 

i had a tbi setup (everything still connected cause i dunno if i'll pass emissions here yet), but now have a carb setup

holley 600 (way too small, but got from a friend cheap) $10
rebuild kit $20
intake have a performer and a single plane sitting around for playing $20 each used
distributor $30 through some luck and a core
accel supercoil $60

not too much. since my holley's secondaries arent opening for some reason (vacuum, anyone got any ideas? tried a new diaphram and cleaned everything up), i'm gonna give an old quadrajet a shot (also free from mechanic friend)

it really helps to work for a parts store, mechanic, or have a friend that works for one. find lots of good deals on used parts from friends or customers. check ebay as well.