CadeFirebird

My dad and i have been restoring a 1989 firebird T-Top for my first car. The car came with a 305 TBI. We swapped this out with a 1984 305 motor out of a Chevy pickup. I bought a new Edelbrock 550cfm 4-barrel carb for the new motor. The car is currently in the body shop but looking back now, i wonder if maybe switching to a carburetor was a bad idea. I know it decreases fuel mileage, but how much more than throttle body? People keep telling me my carburetor will bog, and lag when I go to hit the gas, is this really true? The original reason why My dad and I did not keep the original 305 TBI motor is because we had no idea what was wrong with it, and because it had 150K on it. We switched to carb to avoid dealing with the whole TBI system, and didn't know if the computer worked. So the question is, Should I have switched to a carburator?


Another Thing I am doing with my car is running a Ignition system like MSD. I am planning on getting the MSD 6al box, and distributor, as well as all of the other parts associated with ignition. I am getting ignition regardless, but what are the benefits of running a ignition system like the MSD. VS a stock system?

sum_drummer_16

Having a carb has its ups and downs. If you were running TPI, I would say stick with TPI over a carb because it has more power than a factory carb set up with better fuel economy. A properly tuned carb will not bog or lag when you hit the gas, just take it to someone who has experience tuning them. Anyone who told you they will bog or lag has no clue how to tune a carb then. As far as fuel economy goes, with a stock cam and intake your fuel economy shouldnt drop too much at all as long as the carb is tuned properly.

As for the MSD parts, the idea behind it is that you maintain a more powerful spark across the board. The stock ignition module does not maintain good power at higher RPM's. Definitely ask around and talk to some more people to see if its right for you or worth spending the money on it with a stock motor. With a stock motor and being (maybe not a daily driver, but not a race car I assume) I dont think you will really benefit from it.

Tinbender59

all of this really depends on what you are planning to do, EFI is way cool as in dang near worry free, until is gives you trouble carbs were ok in the day but "in my opinion" unless you are blasting down the track - forget them move into the 21st century. there way to many of us out here that know our way arround the EFI systems to worry about what if's, surely someone will be able to help. swap it to a TPI ???

system155

it wont bog and lag i did a carb swap on my 89 camaro i had the same issue most bogs and lags come from timing issues and throttle bracket issue and a well tune carb will give u about the same mpg as a tbi system. if u do this here will help http://5finger.8m.com/tpi2carb/tpi2carb.html and if ur come from the tbi u can mod ur throttle bracket what u have now and if u need more help just email me and ill take some pic and help u out as much as possible and a well tune carb will give u about the same mpg