What does the average conversion cost? And I want to know how much are TPI units going for, with computer, sensors, EVERTHING???

 

for this conversion you are gonna need a

new intake

carb

distributor

coil

aircleaner

and an idea about wiring .....

im sure im forgetting something

all in all its not a bad swap to do at all just time consuming it could cost as little as 400 bucks with used parts or as much as 1000+ with new depending upon brand and price ...

as for the used tpi it depends on where you are you shouldnt have a problem getting atleast 300+ out of it .....

 

what exactly do you mean?

 

Are you wanting to put a carb setup on a currently TPI engine?

Or, are you wanting to put a TPI setup on a currently carb engine?

 

I'll assume you want to recoup the conversion cost by selling the TPI setup. About $300 or so. Maybe more if you find a sucker, maybe less if you get desperate for a buyer.

Estimated cost of converting to carb:
Carb: New, $200-$500, depending upon what you get.
Intake: New, $125-$250, depending upon what you get.
Air cleaner: New open element drop base (if you're willing to settle for the reduced performance), $30-$75. Used dual-snorkel, $100-$300, depending upon condition, completeness, and your patience finding one.
HEI distributor: Summit has them on sale right now for $140 complete with cap, rotor, & coil.
Gaskets: ~$30.
TCC lockup: $15-$160, depending upon the route you take.
Little things that always come up that you didn't think of, like thermostat housing, throttle & TV cables & bracket, etc.: $10-$200.
Gas mileage: 2-4 MPG less, perhaps worse, factored by the number of miles you drive a year and the number of years you drive it.
Wishing you hadn't done it and kept what you had: Priceless.

 

I don't understand why so many people want to do away with tpi and replace it with a carb. I have done all there is to do with a carb and there is no way I would replace my tpi with one. The only way I will put another carb on is for an all out race engine and even then I would rather have an injection system that is non computer controlled. Don't get me wrong, I know it cost more to get the performance out of a computer controlled engine and I am on a very low budget.
Just my

 

There is such a thing? I always though the only way you can control injectors is by a computer. How does this thing get injectors to spray at right times and with right amounts?

 

check out ronsfuel.com

 

I agree with five7kid in saying the switch over is a waste of money.

Your gas mileage will be disgusting and most likely the car will run bad, until you get everything worked out. Throttle response will also suffer until you upgrade the igntion.

I went from computer controlled carb to none and it was the stupidest thing I have ever done. $1500 bill for lower performance and worse gas mileage.

 

if it were me and i had a tpi unit on my car already i wouldnt get rid of it id just leave well enough alone i know there are alot of little tricks you can do with tpi to make it better....

but if he wants a carb then ill take first dibs on the tpi if your interested in getting rid of it my 66 impala would look lovely with it under the hood

 

mechanical fuel injection.. and yes theres such a thing.

FI has been out since the 50s.

 

wasnt the corvette the first to recieve this injection? ....i know they put it on the early impalas too..

 

1957 Corvette was first GM car with FI

 

As a guy who's recently done the swap, I can say that if there's nothing wrong with your TPI then leave it alone...but mine was a mess from coming on and off of 3 different motors. And after 2 dealerships and a performance shop couldn't figure out what was wrong, I ripped the TPI off in frustration and got an RPM manifold, a new 670 Street Avenger carb, a new dizzy, and all the miscellaneous hardware (water neck, kickdown linkages etc.)
End result - very happy. Yes, mileage has gone down a bit, not that much though, and hardly at all on the highway. Driveability is excellent, and above all, any problems can be dignosed and fixed much, much easier. Now it comes down to spark and fuel, and both can be inspected by an amateur (me).

It cost about $1100 for all of the parts and I recouped $400 from selling my TPI and computer on ebay.
Net cost - $700, and I have an all new induction and ignition system that works great.

Would I rather have a perfectly working TPI system? Yes. Could I have gotten to where I am with TPI for $700? No.

My.02$

 

Now in your opinion, since I have a blown engine in my t/a, and I plan on building an engine from the bottom up for a basically a weeked warrior/racer...would carb be the right direction? I am trying to make horsepower at a somewhat reasonable cost...and I know building EFI up can be rather expensive...am I looking in the right direction by going carb?

 

For a weekend warrior then YES, go carb. All the advantages of EFI revolve around improved cold weather running, better mileage, etc. Basically draiveability....but carbs can make as much or more power and are are much easier to diagnose and service.

GO CARB!

 

yes for what your describing you are wanting i would simply put a carb on it .

 

I can't believe all the people that are wishing they had kept their TPI's.

I think switching was the best thing I have ever done. Tuning is so much easier and cheaper. With a vacuum secondary carb you can get pretty good mileage.

Best highway mileage I ever got with my 235HP 305 TPI was 28MPG. I recently got 24MPG with my new 400HP 383 carb.

My car fires right up on the first crank and I can immediately start driving without waiting for it to warm up if I want to, with the electric choke.


If you wanna make lots of power and you race the car at all then go carb. In the long run it will cost you a lot more to get a bunch of power from a FI set-up.
If you drive the car alot and just like the torquey feel of the TPI you might want to keep it.

Another plus for the carb set-up is that there are fewer sensors to have to replace, less wiring to go bad, no PROM burning equipment or after market computers/chips to purchase.


CARB = make lot of power for less total investment
FI = Better emissions and some will say better mileage. I believe my decrease in mileage comes mostly from pushing the go pedal so much more than I used to b/c I love the power my new set-up makes.

 

My Wife's Camaro just underwent a swap from TBI to carb. For it's intended purpose as a weekend fun car it was definitely the right decision. For a true daily driver, maybe maybe not, depending on how screwed up your FI system is currently and what it would cost to put it back to good running condition.

The actual cost of the swap in my case was a grand total of about $50 for a Mallory fuel pressure regulator. I already had a used carb, intake and non-computer controlled HEI distributor becuase I do a lot of projects and always have some stuff laying around that I can recycle onto fresh projects.

I also replaced the factory 305 with a warmed-up 350 at the same time along with a good exhaust system with headers, so I can't comment on how much of a difference the carb conversion by itself would have made on top of a stock factory 305 with no other changes.