If I get the carbed tuned good how much power would I be leaving on the table?

 

fully customizable fuel and timing curves/tables...allows for absolute optimization of any particular setup. exploring limits would be dyno pull after dyno pull (or street test after street test), making adjustments until its a finely tuned masterpiece on the brink of detonating to death or melting the engine down. of course, once limits are reached, back it off a hair. . .with a carb youre stuck inside certain parameters. inside those parameters, you can fine tune to make it run its best, in a similar fashion you'd tune efi (dyno pulls and/or street test), but you wont have the ability to definitively change or alter an entire fuel or timing curve. you can do it all with efi...and do it precisely.


Couldn't you still do street test after street test with a carb?



I don't want to sound like carbs aren't worth having, because they are when the situation dictates their use. they work and work well when tuned properly...its just that you have options with efi in the form of variable input that just cant be done with carbs.


What situation would dictate a carburetor use?

 

It has nothing to do with the carb, but the intake. The longer the runners, the lower in the power band the engine will make power. EFI intakes only have to flow air where carb intakes have to deal with fuel also. That's known as wet flow. The problem is that the fuel can drop out of suspension if the manifold isn't optimized for wet flow.

 

This is some good information on the motor mounts. Being I have to replace the motor mounts on my F150 (fell apart when I pulled the engine) and I need motor mounts for the mustang build this information is coming in handy.


Also to the OP being a member since I was 14 these guys like to mess with you but once you get to know them better they all are great (not that they stop messing with you) LOL


Personally I am an EFI guy but all the years of helping my dad I learned working on dreaded Chevy carburetors (quadrajet on a 305 that has gone twice now). Once you figure out the tricks to EFI you never worry about it. My buddy keeps trying to talk me into doing a carb set up on the mustang build but I just love the EFI to much.
Sometimes all the sensors and wires drive me nuts (especially on my mom's 04 GMC) but you get use to it fast.


As Big Chief from street outlaws says carbs are out EFI is in. May not be fun working with the wiring but the dependability and such that EFI has is so much nicer.


Anyways sorry to keep this thread derailed.
Trav

 

It depends on how well it's tuned and what else you give up. Generally you can do pretty well on power, you'll leave a lot more mileage and driveability on the table. The point is that it's lot harder to optimize everything with a carb.

Yes, but with a carb you have a relatively small number of things to adjust to try to get everything working perfect. Adjusting to improve one thing often ends up hurting another. With enough time and expertise you can set up a carb really well. But with EFI (assuming you have access to a programmer) you can change exactly what you want and only what you want.

Also with an O2 sensor EFI can fine tune the mixture, making it less critical that you get it perfect anyway. they made feedback carbs in the '80s that tried to do that. But those ended up being the worst of both worlds, all the complexity of EFI with the performance of a carb.


I'm not the one you are (directly) asking, but for me the answer is that carbs are the right tool for the job when you don't already have an EFI system and you're looking for a quick, easy, inexpensive way to get something pretty good.

 

Seeing that this efi system is supposed to be one of the easiest ones to learn on I probably will finish the 351 with a carb and put it in the truck. Then the 302 efi that's in it now I may build up and possibly put that in the truck again adventually (pretty unlikely though) but I will build the 302 and put it in something else

 

Thats what Im looking for. Especially since I already have a new intake and carburetor I'm not going back on this motor now

 

carbs look allot cooler then efi with all them dumb wires and fuel rails going everywhere. and about 20lbs of sensors and injectors.

 

Yes they do.. I can barely see my motor with all the wires

 

Ok, reviving an older thread here. First, I want to thank the OP, and everyone who has already provided input here, this thread has been very helpful so far.

My story goes likes this. My '87 Bronco is used only for mud racing. I run in the Sportsman class, which is one step above stock class. ZombieStomper currently runs a factory based 351w with a QuadrajetRacing.com built and tuned Quadrajet sitting on top of an Edelbrock Performer manifold, exhausting through open headers. As for the tranny and T-case and the rest of the drivetrain, she is all stock (C6, BW1356, 8.8). We are currently running on 33" Boggers and hope to upgrade to 35" Boggers sometime next year.

This Winters engine projects include a complete rebuild of the factory heads, including grinding down the thermactor humps while they are on the bench. We will be upgrading the ignition components but nothing wild, keeping with better built OEM style parts. A new mild/moderate cam will be installed as well.

Winter drivetrain projects are to rebuild or refurbish all aspects of the tranny, t-case, front and rear-ends, and replace all u-joints with HD Spicer offerings. I have been lucky enough to receive a partial sponsorship from Royal Purple so all of the fluids in the truck will be synthetic.

Hopefully this is good enough information so far to help you with my inquiries here. I am thinking about solid motor mounts, with noise and vibration not being an issue here in the least. I am open to Window Welding my passenger side and going solid on the driver's possibly, as well. My goal is to help get as much of the torque that my beloved 351w motor can make delivered to the rest of the drivetrain.

Is the OP still around? What did you end up going with, as far as your mounts are concerned? Can we get a review maybe? To those other than the OP, with actual experience with solid motor mounts....would you please chime in here as well with your experiences.

Thanks in advance,
Pyro Chuck

 

theres another thread about a guy who launches his truck and was tearing mounts due to the impact, he was going to go solids after a short discussion on the options, also discussed here.


I don't think there was an end result posted, but that's probably a more focused thread to check out than this one. not to say there isn't good info in this one, it just bounces all over the place.


bottom line; solids will be most reliable in the form of mounts, but put a lot of strain on the rest of the vehicle. they can also tear engine blocks and transmission housings if things get too extreme.


poly's survive almost anything, but are not invincible. it is possible (but not typical) to require replacements after being subject to long periods of extreme use.


stockers are good for the street, with stockish power level trucks.