Classic Car Mods- EFI Conversion, Bad Idea?

These EFI conversions are all the rage these days, but are they the best choice for the way you intend to use your vehicle?

[jwelchon]

I'm ashamed to admit it but I am old enough to have owned many carbureted cars. EFI has an advantage on idling and cold weather starts but once you get going the carb works just as well.

[mikehagen]

Most newbies do not understand how archaic pre OBDll can be, also the lack of parts availability at the store( meaning I need it NOW, not tomorrow when the incorrect part shows up and delays it another day). Plus the same people who claim you don't know or are afraid of EFI, are the people who are terrified of a carburator and a timing light

[countrylife]

Nice to see a ramcharger saved from being scrapped or hacked up into a mud truck ! 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[oldsman]

Couldn't agree more! I'd rather carry a handful of small basic parts in the trunk and basic hand tools rather than having it towed and paying hundreds to have it diagnosed.

[larrylentini]

I would only recommend this on pre OBD2 fuel injected cars. The computers on those are so dumb that they'll kill the engine on their own when things start getting old. I've been down that path before.

[farmerted]

One of my favorite acronyms: K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid!

[eddydavismusic]

Love this dude!! Man after my own heart. Old school shit is my thing. Mechanics. Not electronics.

[fomobros]

Tony you’ve worked on more imports and EFI than most tuners and you are definitely entitled to work on and build what YOU like. Your opinion definitely carries some weight when it comes to cars, great vid.

[ericheine]

It's nice to be able to look at something and know what's wrong with it. The mechanical alarm no batteries, you wind it up when you go to sleep. Set it and forget works every time. Even if the power goes out.
I drive a 40 year old truck.
Dodge ramchargers are the same as the pickup trucks from the edge of the door to the front bumper.
If you have a straight frame and a VIN number, and it's clear at the DMV. What makes the old cars worth fixing is the chassis #, the VIN, and the paperwork. Look at the price of a new truck. Does everything a new truck does and it does it for less.
The most bang for the buck.
That's a go Blue Eagle

[The_Impulse]

I get K.I.S.S. And that’s all fine and dandy. And to expand on the video is personal preference as well as usage. I’ve owned carbureted vehicles and tuned many more, their simple and mostly reliable. Hence why their still a popular option for cheap reliability. I also am not afraid of a wire harness. The beauty of a clean well thought out harness with clean plugs and monitor hardware is soothing. With modern obd1 expandability and the ability to catch a problem before it becomes a scattered engine intrigues me. To add to his point of break down, I would like to say with modern Efi systems. Reliability is much improved and most parts are easily obtainable that might have questionable reliability. I think the argument mostly revolves around the specific knowledge of the person using either system. I like both systems for their strengths but certainly prefer injection.

[cfmechanic]

Well I love my holley sniper efi. For 1200 for a complete efi setup is decent wiring is actually very minimal and its so easy to use I love it. The sniper uses the iac from a dodge I already replaced it new one has lifetime warranty.

[YurMom]

I have put aftermarket EFI on MANY classics that originally came with carb. If John Q lawyer (my base) just wants to hop in his car start it and drive it. EFI is the way to go. The quality of my finished restorations Vs. this truck couldn't be farther apart though. It would be an apples to oranges. I like the simplicity of carbs. I am not anti-carb. They have their place. I understand with what you're saying. To a degree.

[rumrunner]

What a beautiful truck. How could anyone part that out? So glad that you saved it and hope that we will see more of that beauty in the future Tony. 👍☮️

[Tk-ouec]

I totally agree mate. Here in Australia I have a 1980 Chrysler running a 318. Mildly worked. I have had a number of guys tell me now to drop on a fitech tbi system to which I say WHY??? I can only see potential issues with that. My car has no computer now. As you say it’s analog and easy to fix and tune running the edelbrock carb. I say don’t mess with what’s working well and will continue to do so. Don’t complicate things.

[Cutlassnv]

I like certain things about EFI, mostly small fuel mileage increase, cleaner emissions, however I feel much more confident going on long trips with my quadrajet carb, mechanical fuel pump and very few parts that can fail, exactly as you said.

[jasonpeizer]

But exceptions frequently take the day. I'm running Megasquirt on an obd1 car without touching it for two years. From the coast to skyline, no problem. Highway from dc to the illming NC, same. He'll pretty much every drive is 100mi plus.
And if I've brought a laptop I can pretty much make ecu accept any replacement sensor, coilpack, injector(by cylinder), fuel pump, radiator fan I find in a pinch. Carbs are great at home though.

[EarlSinclair]

If the previous owner(s) hadn't hacked the crap out of the engine wiring, it may be easier to maintain the TB setup. But, in this case, a carburetor conversion IS the easiest and most sensible solution for the purpose Tony indicated. Besides, everybody's opinions notwithstanding...it's Tony's truck and he can do whatever the hell he wants with it.
Just my 2 cents.

[armitage]

I bought a stock 48 Plymouth last year- had to redo all the wiring but haven’t so much as touched the carb since I brought it home. The engine now sits in a 41 Plymouth coupe. Starts every time, even on 6v. It worked perfectly fine 70-odd years ago, no need to change it now.

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’

[MrCrackers]

Would love to see a whole episode about distributors, from choosing the right one and setting the points correctly

[njwebste]

You can limp a flooding carb by breaking and hitting the gas at the same time so it doesn't die, if your fuel injector gets stuck open, you will probably hydraulic a piston, if it even runs. Good video uncle 👍