carbs vs. fuel injection
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From: Honkytonkville
Probably the two biggest reason are emissions and fuel economy. Those happen to be two things I don't really give a rat's a$$ when I want to gain power. Cost economy for power comes via a carburetor, end of story. He did say he was wanting more power. Just my $.02 you can take it or leave it, but I'm stickin to my story. Don't get me wrong, fuel injection IS a beautiful thing, I use it everyday. BUT, when i want to tinker with power I go to my old carb trucks, and as far as I can see I always will 
. And yes there is definitely a reason factorys got rid of it, but there is also a reason that a HUGE majority of motorsports still use carburetors.....
. And yes there is definitely a reason factorys got rid of it, but there is also a reason that a HUGE majority of motorsports still use carburetors.....
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From: kirksville mo
I also will vote for going carb. I also drive a fuel injection car every day and love it. I took all the fuel injection suff of the 86 motor I put in my truck for 1 it was easer with it being a 1980 and 2 Imo the carb set up is easer to work with.Jmo.
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From: fargo, nd
on the mileage issue- you really dont get better mileage with efi than a carb... just look at the 460 for an example... in efi form youd get 10-12 mpg... in carb form 8-15... it all depends on the tune... if you tune a carb system for mileage you can get better mileage than the efi, if you tune for power you can get better power from the carb... efi is just the best average they could find between mileage and power, and still meet emissions
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: oregon
As far as the post about having to replace the fuel pump twice and three injectors in an 86 car, thats nothing considering the thing is 20 years old. How many carbs would you have gone through in that time or mechanical fuel pumps? So I think complaining about those few items is ridiculous! Also if you know what you are doing with fuel injection and have the tools, time, money to do so fuel injection can net more power. Unfortunately efi is still newer in vehicles, been in mass production 20+ years now, unlike carbs which have been around since the first cars came out. Just my .02
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From: fargo, nd
those fuel pumps and injectors i had to replace all over the course of 2 years and about 20,000 miles, and the car only had 130,000 miles on it when i gave up on it. my grandmother gave it to me because she said i needed a reliable car... so much for reliability... my 1969 mercury monterey was a way more reliable car- and it got better mileage and had more power with a 390 than the grand marquis with a multiport 302
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From: Honkytonkville
Originally Posted by darrin1999
on the mileage issue- you really dont get better mileage with efi than a carb... just look at the 460 for an example... in efi form youd get 10-12 mpg... in carb form 8-15... it all depends on the tune... if you tune a carb system for mileage you can get better mileage than the efi, if you tune for power you can get better power from the carb... efi is just the best average they could find between mileage and power, and still meet emissions
Originally Posted by buckethead5k
hey I say go with the carb and sell me you efi system for my 72 f100, HEHEHE
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From: Honkytonkville
Originally Posted by 77traded
As far as the post about having to replace the fuel pump twice and three injectors in an 86 car, thats nothing considering the thing is 20 years old. How many carbs would you have gone through in that time or mechanical fuel pumps? So I think complaining about those few items is ridiculous! Also if you know what you are doing with fuel injection and have the tools, time, money to do so fuel injection can net more power. Unfortunately efi is still newer in vehicles, been in mass production 20+ years now, unlike carbs which have been around since the first cars came out. Just my .02
) don't run exhaust back through the engine, therefore saving it a little. I guess CA, PA, and NJ, and maybe a few others, still have to have that stuff on late model carb'd vehicles though.
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New User
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: texas
no i wasn't goin to go stock. i pretty much think this is all on people's opinions. ya'll all talk about how efi is good on gas. but i promiss you with the older fuel injections they dranked the gas. my grandpa had a 92 302 with efi and it got 13-14 and my 86 302 with efi gets about 11- 12. i don't think ford really figured out efi till the later years. idk seems to me that a 302 should be better on gas when its not that big of a motor. and its not like there is anything wore out on my my trucks motor, because it only has 41000 miles on it,and i've had the injectors cleaned, new plugs, new plug wires, all that kinda stuff. and as afsocmech said," Take it for what it's worth, there's a reason the factories got rid of carbs." i think the reason that the factories got rid of carbs was for more money, and to complicate things. there is more stuff to go wrong on efi and it cost more to get it fixed. same reason all the new trucks run off computers, to make them harder for the average person to work on when somethin goes wrong.
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From: fargo, nd
nah they did it for emissions, and one big reason your truck gets crappy mileage is your engine just isnt big enough- yes i know it may be counter-intuitive, but consider your engine's workload... lugging around a 5000+lb body takes torque, something a 302 really doesnt have much of. a 300 i-6 has alot more torque and gets about 3 points better mileage a 351w has alot more torque, and would get about the same mileage if not a point better, once you go to a 460 thats more engine than your truck needs, so it doesnt have to work as hard... and you still get 11-12 mpg properly tuned
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Originally Posted by scottie2hottie
Probably the two biggest reason are emissions and fuel economy. Those happen to be two things I don't really give a rat's a$$ when I want to gain power. Cost economy for power comes via a carburetor, end of story. He did say he was wanting more power. Just my $.02 you can take it or leave it, but I'm stickin to my story. Don't get me wrong, fuel injection IS a beautiful thing, I use it everyday. BUT, when i want to tinker with power I go to my old carb trucks, and as far as I can see I always will . And yes there is definitely a reason factorys got rid of it, but there is also a reason that a HUGE majority of motorsports still use carburetors.....
. And yes there is definitely a reason factorys got rid of it, but there is also a reason that a HUGE majority of motorsports still use carburetors.....
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Enid, OK
I had a 1985 1/2 that was fuel injected with a 302 auto overdrive. It was a long bed regular cab. That thing ran circles around every 351HO I ever lined up against. The mileage was better than any pickup I have owned before or since. On the highway it could get in the low 20's. We traded it off at 181K and it still ran well. I sure miss that old truck.
