Before I get started I would like to state that this conversion is being done and I'm not changing my mind.

This past deer season I drove my stock EFI, 1990 F150 (302) to my hunting spot 200 miles from my home. Did fine on the way there, but left me stranded 100 miles from my house on the way back. I do not carry diagnostic testing equipment, multimeters or test lights with me and only a few tools. I had to call a family member with a trailer to come and haul me back home. So PLEASE, save all of your "why would you convert to carb?" comments out of this post. This is being done. PERIOD!

From my point of view, if being "reliable" means breaking down in the middle of nowhere, guessing at what is wrong with their truck and spending an entire weekend trying to test every single electrical and emissions component on the damn thing, then I don't want reliability. Besides, I only use this truck for hauling stuff around the house and hunting and I am NOT concerned about gas mileage.

With all of that being said, is there a comprehensive guide out there somewhere or has anyone in this group performed an EFI to carb conversion? It seems pretty straight forward, but I would like to see a solution that is both simplistic and functional. And I would like to know where I can find the parts I need to get it done (i.e. throttle cable, coil bracket, etc.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I think you may have gotten a response by now if you were a little less....whiny irritating. Great story though. I have a few also, and turns out that most were something that only cost 10 bucks to fix.

Have you even searched the forum yet. This topic has been beat to death.

You need
Carb and intake
Distributor (just get an hei style all in one)
Low pressure return style regulator.
Throttle cable from an 86 and older carb truck

Find power source with power while key is on while cranking and hook that to the fuel pump relay and distributor.
You're done.
Now, depending on what trans you have, is wether or not you want to afford this swap. If you have the e4od trans, you'll need a 400+ dollar trans controller. If you have a manual, c6, or aod you don't need this controller.

With this info, you should be able to do the swap... If you can't, maybe that's why you couldn't fix your trucks efi when it broke down.
You gotta ask yourself, Is this something you can tackle alone.

 

I just love all the "my truck broke down once, time to make it less reliable" posts. I fail to see how completely removing an EFI system and putting in a carb setup is less work that checking for codes and doing simple diagnostics... After all, the computer tells you where to look for your issue...

I bet if people spent as much time trying to fix their EFI system as they do posting about carb swap's, this topic wouldn't come up half as often as it does.

 

And it's so much simpler to rejet, clean, and adjust carbs all the time. This OBDI system is very basic and simple.

 

I'll stick up for the OP here. Keep in mind, if all that was important to us was reliable, high power and good mileage none of us would be driving trucks that are at least 17 years old. Newer trucks are better at all of those things. But we do all drive old Fords. Don't knock someone else's choices on how and why they do if they are a little different than yours. It tends to make people sound whiny and irritated when they know they're going to get stomped on.

UNTAMND gave you good advice, so I'll just add a little. I got the HEI style distributor in my Bronco from Davis Unified Ignition. It's simple and straightforward. Definitely good advice.

I had an aftermarket TBI on my Bronco that I replaced with a carb. The one significant downside to that for me was cold starts. It's tough to get a choke to work as well as the factories used to. I'm not sure if there are any head differences that affect intake manifold choice, and you won't have the same exhaust manifolds as an older truck, but if you can get all of the various things that hook up to an older carb and can get all of the factory warm-up hardware in place you'll probably be happier with it than you will with any aftermarket choke kit. On my Bronco I settled for a manual choke and a hand throttle. It gives me enough control that I can always get it started and running well, but it's too complicated for anyone else in my family to drive cold. EFI has spoiled us!

 

At 24 years old, the EFI and emissions components on my truck are tiiiiired! I can no longer rely on it. I got my truck running again (EGR position sensor this time), but I won't be taking it on anymore hunting trips. I just don't know what's going to break next. So, my choices are to spend a few thousand to make the current system like new or spend a few hundred and have the most basic form of fuel delivery and spark generation that has been know to man for over 100 years.

THAT I trust!

Evan - I'm not trying to imply that you're wrong about this, but I implore you to go browse around the 73-79 section of FTE, then the 80-86 section and finally this section and get a feel for how many people are having issues like this. I think you will find that the aggravation level from one forum to the next multiplies as you get closer to the 87-96 trucks. Ford's early attempts at EFI is fuel injection in its most basic form, but it is, nevertheless, FAR more time consuming and irritating to own. I would like to own my truck instead of it owning me.

"blk" - Prior to this truck, I owned a 78 Bronco. I drove that truck for 6 years without even once re-jetting or adjusting anything on that carb. Once I installed it, I forgot about it. To my knowledge, the guy who bought it is still driving it with that same 650 Holley sitting on top of it.

I think I'll go troll the Mustang forums now. LOL! They LOOOOVE their carb's over there.

 

I made a living with carbs, I love them and I'll always help with a swap when I can.
I just really like my overdrive automatics, which require efi, and I hate it when someone says it costs so much money to fix the efi and so cheap to install a carb... It isn't either of those. It all depends on your resources. I can carb a truck cheap if it's a manual or c6, but the e4od (like I said) requires an expensive controller. So your "cheapness" just went out the door. If you're buying new parts, 300 for carb, 200 for intake, 50 for regulator, 200 for hei distributor, and whatever else you need. Or if you buy china junk, or used stuff, you don't know what you're getting or how it's been used, or how long it will last.

Mustang guys just don't like the technology.
I run dual carbs on my mustang. I love it. And I'll go fire up my car at -10 in the dead cold Maine winter, and i would almost bet it would idle just fine with my "summer" tune.
I have a shortbed 77 f150 daily driver with a carb. Freakin runs great at every temp. 3 plow trucks are carbd.
Reliability is how you take care of your crap. Not the technology that makes it operate.

 

Honestly why not have the best of both worlds?
Reliability and simplicity.
http://www.fuelairspark.com

 

I've actually considered going to carb just so I can mod my 300 without my speed density crap maxing out. As far as reliability goes, efi is better so I'm trying to find a way to address my desire to mod without going carb.

 

Dont forget about the AOD, no efi required

 

I didn't want to rewrite everything I said, but I didn't forget, it's in my first post.

 

You should just beast a 5 speed.

 

Swap to mass air. Not too difficult and quarterhorse can tune it. Probably even tweecer can also.

 

Finding maf stuff for the 300 is hard.

 

Huh
You source maf stuff from any truck and buy a maf ecu from parts store or eBay (which has 5 that I counted for under 60 shipped)
You're just being a slacker. LoL. If you really wanted it you'd spend the 5 min on eBay and the awesome 2 hours at a junkyard getting parts.