I am lookin at buying a 86' Firebird with 5.0L Carb and Manual Trans, this will be my frist Project car. I will want to build up a 350 maybe add'ed on latter down the road Trubo or Supercharged but will not be useing NOS! for it. My goal for the car is Summer Driver, Street/Strip but Will not be a Drag only car!! Car will not have to pass Emmisons. What are the Up's and Down's of TBI, TPI and Carb?? Any Years good/bad? Convertions kits?? I Would like to find a Short block to build up, but if i found a good deal on a 350long block or Compleat Mortor. '
Any orther Moror Options are more than welcome!

Thanks
-Big C

 

the big questions are the e check laws in your state and how big is your budget

 

The Car it self will never see a Emmisons testing station! the Car will Be Reg'd in a County that does not require Testing. Now the Budge is another store being a College student. I am lookin for all options at this point where i can look into them all and see what kind of prices I can get. I have No Problem Slowly Building up a mortor. The Car it self i am lookin at needs alot of work in my option! But I can be **** about my Cars

 

It could be a good car to start with. But, you aren't asking the right questions. First, you have to decide what you're willing to sacrifice. Is being street friendly more important than being a strip killer? If so, you've already got the right induction, you just need to help other things. Forget TBI or TPI, that's just money spent that won't promote your goal. The factory computer-controlled carb is more than up to the task for good street/strip performance, other things need to be "helped" (exhaust, air cleaner, etc.) before you start looking at changing the engine. However, that carb is more than adequate for fairly healthy street engines (check out the magazine articles on this board that have "Stroke in the Desert" in their title, written by Steve Green - there are two articles).

If strip killer is the goal, then forget TBI or TPI. And, the engine is the last thing to do. First you need to make the car able to withstand the abuse, such as subframe connectors, polyurethane suspension bushings, boxed or tubular control arms, rear end upgrades or even high-dollar aftermarket 12-bolt or 9". You also are going to forget the factory transmission, going with a TH350 or TH400 if auto, T-56 or Tremec if you want manual. A Holley or Demon double-pumper is the only way to go for a strip car, if you ask me.

Supercharging - you're getting into a whole different realm. There's another forum about all that.

So, what do you really want to concentrate on? You really need to decide before any advice can be useful.

(BTW, you have the power to delete double posts. I took care of it for you this time.)

 

This being your first project car, and since it's carbed already, it's a good opportunity to learn about carbs.
Fewer tools are needed to work on a carb than EFI, that's a plus.
Also since you're not required to smog test it, you're free to upgrade using bolt on parts that will function pretty well out "of the box"
You can even get a performer RPM intake that will work with your Qjet, if your budget is limited and you can't afford an entire carb/intake system in one shot.
If you already have tools, for about $500 you could do cam, intake, headers and add 50hp or more without having to remove the heads.
Holley carbs seem to be preferred but there's all sorts if online info about how to do inexpensive mods to a Qjet. Did you know it's possible change the secondary jetting on one of those in about 2 minutes, without even spilling a drop of gas, or removing a gasket?

 

First thing to do when you get this car, look over the tune up list and try to determine what’s been done in the most recent order. When i get a new car, or any member of my family, i do a complete tune up, unless records show otherwise. This way, i know what’s been done and at what mileage. I know a very common problem on Q-jet cars is the fuel filter. So that might be worth looking into. It can cause problems that are most commonly thought of as faulty carburetor issues and they go seek new carbs and distributors and what not. And end up doing something that they really did not have to (spend hundreds of dollars for a brand new carb, intake, and distributor, amongst the small things) when all they needed to do is replace the fuel filter.

Other than basic tune up issues, I agree with streetiron. If you are willing to learn the ins and outs of the carburetor and how to tune it, it can be a fine platform to run. The Q-jet you have now, once tuned properly, will have plenty of airflow to supply mods (up to a point). They have very large secondaries and flow around 750cfm; more than enough to support a 350. Like stated before, there are intakes that are designed to be compatible with the Q-jet design. They also make Q-jet adapters if you wish to get a 'regular' intake so you don’t have to swap out if you do ever plan on changing carbs. That is your call, and would, like all things done to an engine, depend on what you wish out of your car and the budget you have to work on.

Cam selection is also much easier with carbs. They don’t seem to be as picky with overlap as EFI engines are. Larger durations on 110° lobe separations are very common. With EFI, custom tuning and knowledge of PROM burning is needed in order to run the larger cams. A carb such as a Holley or Edelbrock, sitting upon a good dual plane intake such as the Weiand Action Plus, I think it is or Edelbrock Performer RPM (AirGap, budget permitting) and a decent cam is a great way to get a little kick in the pants. If you have the tools and patience, getting a set of core heads such as the 416 castings (quite possibly what you have now) and doing some porting and polishing to them is a great way to get the most out of your work. Of course, the exhaust is the first place to look for gains. Headers and a high flow cat or straight pipe, if you desire, teamed up with a good cat-back exhaust such as a Hooker, Magnaflow, Spintech, amongst others, is a great start for more power and that added sound. If you perform a search, you could probably find sound clips of all the various setups.

In the end, as you page through your options, you will generally see that parts for carbureted engines end up being cheaper then EFI. If it starts out to be carb, I would suggest it staying as such. Swapping to EFI, whether it is TBI or TPI, you will need all new engine controls amongst the little parts. If TBI or TPI is what you desire, you will learn that it is much better to just by the car beginning as such, rather than swapping. I don’t know how involved you wish to be with this car or what the extent of your abilities are, but if you wish for some good power, just dealing with the 305 (5.0L) for now and building a non-computer controlled 350 on the side is the way to go. Most every part for a 305 can be used with greater success on a 350. Just keep that in mind as you think about your options and what you wish to do. Also, any part that bolts onto the outside of the 305 can be used in the 350. That includes your 305 heads and whatever intake you decide to run, if any. The same applies for the exhaust.

Just trying to make sure you look at all the options and what all can and cant be done (within reason). Happy hot-rodding