So I finally found what can only be described as my dream truck, a 1990 W150 Reg. cab long bed. The only problem that I'm having with it is that the current owner swapped from efi to carb, long story short I live in one of those areas where it's either humid as hell or under zero most, if not all, year. How hard would it be to switch from carb to either tbi or mpi? Or should I just save up more and buy a complete project truck?
Carb to EFI
- Thread starter TheNewGuy
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Jimmy68
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You a mechanic? Probably not. Best bet? Buy a truck that is not someone else's nightmare.
He monkey'd with it and wants to sell it. You buy it and get to dump loads of cash into it trying to get a mechanic to fix it back to stock and never be satisfied.
Buy stock and build your dream truck.
SO much easier. Possibly cheaper. Done right. Done YOUR way.
He monkey'd with it and wants to sell it. You buy it and get to dump loads of cash into it trying to get a mechanic to fix it back to stock and never be satisfied.
Buy stock and build your dream truck.
SO much easier. Possibly cheaper. Done right. Done YOUR way.
TheNewGuy
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Nowhere near mechanic, but if there's a written plan I can follow it. After the 1 reply and 2 others agreeing I will wait for a good project. If you guys don't mind answering some other potentially stupid questions so I can look back on this when I find one to do: 318 vs 360 not as worried about power as I am reliability when stock, since most w150s I've seen have some sort of lift is there anything I should know before dropping to stock height (I know some oldish trucks/suvs can be nightmares if the lift wasn't done exactly right), or any other advice for when I purchase and/or slowly do a rebuild/get it rebuilt?
hemihustlin
Senior Member
Thats the thing, with these kind of project trucks there is no written plan. All in the guys head.
It may or may not be well done and you could end up having a nightmare on your hands, or it could be great truck, who knows.
My boss is in the middle of restoring a dakota r/t that he bought from some guy that dropped a hot stroked 360 and 727 with a 3.92 rear from a ram 1500 oh and a fuel cell in the back of the box.
Awesome truck but the guy ripped out all the computers and cut the wiring harness with what seems like a hacksaw at times lol. Only the headlights worked when we got it and the goal is to drive it on the street.
Now the head gasket has started leaking a bit so i dont think we will get it to the drags this season lol
All that to say you never know what you are getting into with a non stock vehicle. Buyer beware lol
It may or may not be well done and you could end up having a nightmare on your hands, or it could be great truck, who knows.
My boss is in the middle of restoring a dakota r/t that he bought from some guy that dropped a hot stroked 360 and 727 with a 3.92 rear from a ram 1500 oh and a fuel cell in the back of the box.
Awesome truck but the guy ripped out all the computers and cut the wiring harness with what seems like a hacksaw at times lol. Only the headlights worked when we got it and the goal is to drive it on the street.
Now the head gasket has started leaking a bit so i dont think we will get it to the drags this season lol
All that to say you never know what you are getting into with a non stock vehicle. Buyer beware lol
Jimmy68
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318 or 360 is up to you. Same engine, different CI. That is basically all.
Stroker kits out there to make any 318 into a big boy. Plus, 318's are cheap and plentiful as everybody wants a 360.
Cambell Enterprise, for one, sells stroker kits up to 396 CI for a 318. Anybody that says a 318 isn't worth building is wrong.
318 LA to 402? Very nice.
Sure, a 360 can go to 416. Not too shabby.
Given a 396 is 78 CI bigger than a 318 and a 416 is 56 CI bigger than a 360. You'd think you could do more with a 360.
I'd love to tell people I have a 396 or 402 SB under the hood.
Stroker kits out there to make any 318 into a big boy. Plus, 318's are cheap and plentiful as everybody wants a 360.
Cambell Enterprise, for one, sells stroker kits up to 396 CI for a 318. Anybody that says a 318 isn't worth building is wrong.
318 LA to 402? Very nice.
Sure, a 360 can go to 416. Not too shabby.
Given a 396 is 78 CI bigger than a 318 and a 416 is 56 CI bigger than a 360. You'd think you could do more with a 360.
I'd love to tell people I have a 396 or 402 SB under the hood.
crazzywolfie
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it is really up to you in the end but to me either carb or efi are fine. both have there advantages and disadvantages. i like the fuel injection especially in the winter since i can fire up and drive immediately no matter if the engine is hot or cold. carbed engines usually require about 5 minute warm up when cold even in the summer and about 10-15minutes to warm up in the winter. now when if comes to repairing issues tho the carb engine is usually cheaper to repair if you know what your doing. the EFI engines can be a bit more difficult and expensive to trouble shoot/fix since there is more sensors
DodgeAddict
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If it runs good with a carb, buy it Swapping one (especially a 88-91) from EFI to carb is no big deal, being it's a carbed engine with a standard Holley EFI system anyway to begin with
Most of the time those engines run better with a carb as far as making power
I've done the swap & know of a bunch who have done the swap All with positive results
Most of the time those engines run better with a carb as far as making power
I've done the swap & know of a bunch who have done the swap All with positive results
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