I recently purchased a 75 Jaguar with a GM 350 crate engine to swap into my 54 Chevy coupe. Its complete but with a Holley TBI and a edelbrock performer manifold. I was wondering if it was worth leaving as is or switching to a carb? Is there more problems with TBI? Can I use the same manifold if I go with a carb? Im a rookie with mechanics im trying to learn all I can to get my car on the road I would really appreciate any input, Thanks!
if you don't know anything bout TBI maybe (besides which it is more "traditional") you should get a carburetor. some of those Holley units fetch good money on ebay.
Back when those TBI set up's first came out i bought one and used it on my 57. Mine was the analog unit and although it worked ok, i wasn't happy with it. In fact, after having it on there for a couple year's it started giving me problems..leaving me stranded. Again, this was the first gen of that unit, before they went to a closed loop digital system.. My own thought's, sell the TBI set up and just run a carb.. Not saying you will have problem's with the TBI, but i know you won't if you run a tried and true carb with a mechanical pump. I alway's look at repair's on the road when i build something.. When the fuel pump on the TBI unit shit on me, i had to get towed home and waited for the new pump to come from Holley... That was the it for me. had i been running a carb with mechanical pump, i could have just gone to the local parts place and bought a new pump and been back on the road..simple and easy. My thought's. Tony
I agree with Tony, it may be a good system now but look at the side of the road downfalls. The good 'ol card does it just as well and its something most of us know like out own nut sacks............. What? You dont look at them in the mirror? You guys are strange.....
I cant locate a part number on the intake manifold, it just says Performer. From what im guessing I can use this intake with a carb
Yes. The standard performer was a spread bore intake, but should have both set's of bolt hole's for both a square bore (Holley- Edelbrock) or spread bore (Rochester quad). It's a carb intake.
As has been stated, TBI is good as long as it's working. If you break down in a small town just outside of BFE, you'll be hard pressed for parts. I think electric or manual choke is a matter of personnel taste. Both have an equal amount of pros and cons. A good pro with the manual choke is that you'll have a cool knob on your dash to play with.
if the holley throttle body is anything like a factory throttle body you can not use the intake for a carb, totally different, how many bolts hold down the body to the intake 3? edelbrock did make a preformer intake for tbi
That is right.. But i'm pretty sure the actual Holley TBI set up is designed to bolt to a 4 bbl carb intake. The set up i had had an aluminum plate, with the 4 mounting hole's in it to bolt to a normal carb intake that the TBI unit itself bolted to. The throttle body itself used the typical 3 bolt set up like the GM style but needed the mounting plate in order to be bolted down. At least i'm possitive the early one's did anyway. Mine bolted right where the 650 was.
I havent heard a ton of good about the Holley setup, and if it needs special parts, f that. Altho, my ol K5 and current Suburban have early TBI setups and they rock, love em. Great gas mileage (for what they are), dependable as anything.
I would say it's a toss up. EFI pumps are redially available now, EFI is great on those cool daysjust turn the key and go, Carbs are easier to fix on the side of the road but if you get stranded somewhere the local garage or parts place has parts to repair a efi unit and not a carb. Just my .02 Josh Personaly I would run a carb though.
I dont got much money to spend on my car I got full custody of my 2 kids and money is tight just want to something cheap and reliable
Cheap and reliable: Edelbrock 600 cfm Performer carb with electric choke. (Since you live in Las Vegas you can save a few bucks and get the manual choke model - in all but cold weather they run just fine without any choke at all.)
So you buy a Jag? With an engine transplant? Hell, just supposing you get it running and the engine and trans are dead nuts reliable, What are you going to do when the $300 master cylinder needs replacing? Or the $100 brake rotors? The freekin' little parts on that car will kill you. Dude, Reality Check. Seriously, you need something more mainstream.........
As long as we stay with all of the "TRADITIONAL" stuff our cars will perform like "TRADITIONAL" stuff.I have been running a Holley TBI on my 292 6 cylinder for close to 6 years, and not had 1 second of trouble with it or the computer. It's in a '58 Chevy pickup that run 12.70s on street tires and gets 16 to 20 mpg.I have had the best after market Holley's on this truck and after a great deal of tuning, the Holley's best was 12.90 and 12 mpg. A TBI with an air cleaner looks just like a carburetor and performs better. TBI's almost always run as clean as port injection, and will make just about the same H.P.Just about any properly tuned EFI will start and perform better in a street car than carburetors. There is a reason that there have been no carbureted cars built for over 20 years. Gemini EFI
i switched a sbc from a camaro that was tbi to carb, its easy depends on your heads, if their center bolt u need to buy a 87 + intake manifold
Bought it for the engine! $200 is a great deal even though im stuck with a Jag with no title, Maybe somebody will buy it for parts, they came with 2 gas tanks, crazy!
You have the TBI, why spend money you don't need to on a carb? Fuel injection isn't exactly new tech, a lot of money and time has been burned through sussing it all out. Drop the engine, TBI and all into your Fifty-four. Hustle those Jag parts, and by the time you have them sold off, get the kids some new shoes, and the Fifty-four a new carb if the TBI proves less than desireable.
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