Engine guru needed

[greygoose]

I was just offered a fairly new 87 crate motor by chey with about 10,000 miles on it,for a very very good price to go in my 71 .It's throttle body,so would it be easier to hook up the TB or change to carb?And out of the 2 what will I have to do to hook it up.

[mr48chev]

The throttle body setup would take the computer and attending harness along with a proper electric fuel pump and probably a return fuel line.
Not an impossible task and the effort would probably pay you back in fuel mileage and driving ease.
otherwise it would be easy enough to swap intakes and install a carb. Along with that you would want a pre computer distrubutor such as a late 70's HEI or one of the after market HEI style distributors.

[greygoose]

thanks mr48chevy,think I'll go with the easiest and the cheapest to get it running.And could you or someone elaborate a little more on driving ease.

[Elephanthead]

Go with the TBI, it isn't that hard and is well worth it. Even if you have to grab a computer out of the junk yard.

[68C15]

driving ease= turn the key and go. no fumbling with a manual choke or adjusting an auto choke. no guessing on the fuel trim or timing curve. and you can install a remote start as well. I plan to go this route with my 68 if/when I get all the parts.

[greygoose]

So if I go to the junk yard what cars or trucks am I looking for and what all should I get?

[greygoose]

Does anyone know of a link on how to convert the wiring of a throttle body to these truck,something step by step would be great.Thanks

[BluTrukker]

In my opinion, TBI does not equal driving ease. Yes it will start easier on cold mornings. I have owned 2 91 hevs both with TBI 350, one had around 100K, the other had a complete rebuild. Spent tons of money to hunt down gremlins that plagued that setup and they still never ran right. Both motors had issues leaning out the front cylinders, even after rebuilding the TB and motor. Neither one ever ran very smooth, always idled a little rough. Took it to a dealer, they went through the entire fuel/electrical/ignition systems and found nothing wrong, mechanic told me that is just the way they run. As far as mileage, I get 5mpgs more with my 68 307 than I ever did with those trucks. If you want EFI I would go with a later model setup. You could find that in a scrap yard or ebay as well. I'm sure there are people who have an opposite view, but thats my opinion. Sorry for rambling.

[greygoose]

thanks blutrukker,I was looking online last night and just to hook it up in my truck is gonna take a lot (for me ,that is) so I think I gonna just pass on it.And I also found out that it had spun a barring,the guy said he'll get that fixed but I think it'll be best for me to just leave it alone and just work with my 307...

[grayw0lf]

I hate electronics & anything even resembling a computer or related sensors on any automobile.

Carb!

[heavy71chevy]

Originally Posted by grayw0lf

I hate electronics & anything even resembling a computer or related sensors on any automobile.

Carb!

X2 way to complicated and expensive for me

[70clone]

http://howellefi.com/customer/home.php check these guys they are the masters of tbi go to the tbi section

[70clone]

heres some more info
http://users.california.com/~eagle/howell.html

[70clone]

as for woring you can send your harness to howell and they eliminate evrything you dont need

[greygoose]

Thanks 70clone but to be honest it's more money and work than I have right now.

[FourOhToo]

If that motors cheap and the fellas going to fix it, why not?
I never liked the TBI motors.

I would suggest buying the motor and swapping the stock heads and intake out with a set of rebuilt vortecs and a good intake that is setup for a carb.

This can be done fairly cheap, say 1000 bucks for the heads and a nice new intake.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by grayw0lf

i hate electronics & anything even resembling a computer or related sensors on any automobile.

Carb!

x 3

[Skirkpat]

307 is a good engine, same family as the 283.

[67_C-30]

The TBI engines are plagued by the issues others have stated as well as the terrible swirl port heads. The heads have what is essentially half of an intake port. There is boss casted in the port that restricts the intake runner runner width to a little less than .750". They will not rev effectively over 4000 RPM and power output is very limited them. They have decent low speed torque, but still nothing to brag about. They also notorious for premature vlave guide wear. I love the 86 - up 1 piece rear seal roller blocks, but I have about 5 sets of the swirl ports I'll never use. They also require a different intake than a 85 and prior SBC. I'll take older heads or Vortecs, but the swirl ports are worthless to me. A good fresh Q jet and older heads or Vortecs will make more power and better fuel mileage than a TBI if properly tuned. Adjusting a choke really isn't hard. Here's a few pics of the super restrictive intake ports.