I am about to swap out my TBI for a high perform carb... I have a 92' camaro 305 tbi5.0...any suggestions, tips for me to know. This is my first major high-perform modification to my car.

 

my suggestion to u is to, buy some headers, get full exhaust,and gears, and see how u liek the car, then if u still wanna switch to carb go ahead but u will get worse gas milage and driveability. also i woudl do the other things first anyways cause there things u need to do so u mine as well get them outta the way. good luck with wuteve ru choose

 

i agree, the gains you get from a full exhaust and gears can free up some power and gearing that might hold you over for a bit, and might want to keep it that way before you sacrifice driveability and gas mileage with a carb..

 

thanks...i did order a full cat-back system with headers...gears (3.73) and posi-track...i want a lot of performance, and it just seems that i can't enough with tbi..i cant afford tpi...so i really thought my only affordable option is carb, intake manifold,cam,lifters...u guys have any other suggestions,opinions?

 

i say search. then get a carb and enjoy!

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/carbswap.shtml

read that, it might help a little with the basic understanding of it

 

yea...good article. however, now its not so much how to install, but if its really worth it ya know? tough decision

 

ok well ask yourself this, do u have any experiance with carbs? can u tune one? if not u will get very fed up with it very quick. also gas prices are going up and carbs don't really care so does that matter to you? also are u gonan drive this everyday? cause its not leik a fuel injected car at all. u must let a carb warm up. also do u know a guys who can get u inspected or do u have to go threw the legal way? cause with a carb its not gonan happen. and what kind of goals are your trying to reach here? do you want to run 14's, 13's 9's?? let us know. if u do anyting i woudl suggest tpi.

 

wow thanks..but isn't tpi expensive?..i would much rather buy a tpi system but i heard they run a lot more than carbs. I live in a city that doesn't really havea junkyard you can find a camaro in...ive tried many times. If i went tpi,it would have to be online..or ordered new..any suggestions>?

 

oh..i live in in a county that does not check emissions, but i will be shipping out aug 12(air force)...gas prices are not a problem, but time to maintain would be. i honestly want my camaro to perform well beyond its original capablity. I'm prob around 200 rwhp...but would love 300+ and any 1/4 time 13's and under. It would be daily driven, but very few miles a day(if any)

 

yes tpi is expensive and a good project. I have coverted from tbi to carb and thats no easy tack either. a carb will give u beter performance and ease of adjustment to big mods. You say gas really isn't an issue so i woudl say go with a carb then. Another thing to think about is that you have a 305 and without major mods you will have a hard time reaching that 13 secound mark. A nice crate 350 with little mods will get u into the 13's easy and u will have a great base to work from if u woudl like to make the car really serious. just some things to think about.

 

yea, i agree, but a crate engine costs money. No doubt about it, i WILL be getting a bad-*** engine when im in the air force..but for now im in high school and just wanna play..ya know? I wouldn't do that for a few years..so i figure a tbi to carb would be good...i am thinking about holley carb street avenger series...the whole carb, cam/lifters/intake manifold..and have a whole cat-back system and headers..im new to this..so all ur help is greatly appreciated

 

ok then, i'd say go with a holley street avenger carb or a edelbrock cause there good street everyday carbs. also something like a edelbrock performer intake. don't forget your will need a HEI dist. so ge a nice one and get a nice coil also. you coudl geta ignition box but thats really all up to u. I don't want to recomend any certain cam cause its a 305 and i am more a 350 guy and cam selection is totally different. oh yea and u will need to get a mallory 3-port fuel regulator to regulate your fuel pressure down to around 5psi. also if u are **** like i am you will not want any part of a computer cause u have a carb. see i ripped it out and all the wires that went to it. very time consuming but i think worth it. but in that i had to supply power to many different things. for example. fuel pump, alternator, wipers, fan, my choke. and many others i refuse to remember lol. oh yea and your strarter. well its a big project so don't take it on in a weekend cause it won;t happen. well good luck and remember to have fun and do burnouts cause they are what makes it worth it to me lol

 

yea..that is probablly what i will do...but, what if i installed a used tpi system? How do you think that would compare to a new carb setup??(i love the burnouts)

 

its hard to say cause the used prices usually vary. nut i think your coudl get most of what u needed for aroudn 500 bucks. would be a project but not to bad, the thing that keeps me from doing it is u will need to drop the tank with means u gotta drop the rear, to put a new fuel pump in cause they run real high pressure and TBI is onlke liek 12 or 19 or somthing. currently with my setup in my sig i am looking to go the tpi route and a small cam just so i can drive it cause the way it is i get liek 8 miles to the gallon and even worse usually cause i drive it like it will never break lol.

 

yea i undersand..i would much rather go tpi, because i do enjoy it when my car starts easily. I think ill head the carb way..then when i drop a block...itll be an efi system most likely..thanks for the help

 

I'm a tbi man myself and if you're talking about getting anywhere near low 13's or 12's you're most definitely going to want new heads. Those LO3 heads are possibly the worst flowing heads produced as well as the LO3 having about the worst cam too. It would be very hard for you to get in that kind of 1/4 mile range with a stock LO3 longblock even with a better cam and then if you changed heads it would be more cost effective to go the 350 route. Just my .02.

 

better heads shouldn't cost more than a tpi system. And doing anyhting preformance with those heads is like trying to teach a dead dog new tricks. There are about a gazillion threads about good factory heads and a set can be had for little money. Than with larger injectors and ultimate TBI + chip would be alot better preforming than carb or TPI + doggy poo heads.

 

dont' i have more potential if i go the carb route? i could stay tbi...but i can't i get wayy more power if i go carb?...what is the ultimate??? is it the open air element? I have done that will little difference in gains, but that gold spacer thing is still installled

 

not with l03 heads. You will have more power potential with a carb but it is moot since the l03 heads will kill what ever gains you get. IMO i would get new heads and injectors and keep the TBI untill you get something that will actually need more than the TB can give (think 350 or greater).

the ultimate TBI is a group of mods to the stock TB - lookin the tech articles section.

 

how much would i be looking at..for heads(new) and what kind of gains would i be looking at (hspwr)?

 

World products torquer s/r 305 head are like 500 and change. Any head will work you just need 58cc chambers to keep your compression. If you check ebay you can find rebuilt 416 and tpi (don't rember the castings) heads for cheap. 64cc 350 heads will work but they will have to be milled downto keep compression. There are also plenty of junk yards that will sell rebuilt heads through mail order.

and good flowing heads will add 20-40 horses.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33617
those are 416 305 heads. Although that casting should be a 58cc head. the guy prolly made a mistake in selling 'em.