from efi to carb

[portdizzal]

I know you guys are going to give me crap for this, but i decided ill be swapping to a carburated 351. im pulling the fuel injected 302. my engine bay is too cluttered for a show car. i recently picked up another daily driver so i am not too worried about the loss in mileage. does anyone have any links to somebody that has done this swap? or maybe even any pointers. im not sure if my ecu i have now controls the automatic or what.....im a good fabricator but im only mediocre at mechanics.

[DuceAnAHalf]

i made a 351 swap article somewhere. and the transmission is controlled by a rod or a cable that runs to the throttle body/ carb not by the computer

[portdizzal]

so does that mean i can go computer-less? i need to find that article i guess.

[Wray-Wray]

im not sure as well im swapping for a carbbed explorer motor myself my tranny's non-electric idk if that has anything to do with it or not might want to find out if yours is non-electric or not....

[DuceAnAHalf]

there is a carb swap articlke around somewhere also.
you will need at least a HEI coil, a duraspark box or a MSD box to control the spark. but someone will come in here and say to use a points distributor

[portdizzal]

why would i need a msd? correct me if im wrong but doesnt the distributor control the timing? if that is so then if the transmission is controlled by the carb then the only thing i have to worry about is fuel delivery. i could use my current fuel pump for efi and just run a fuel pressure regulator. i wont have any emissions shit on it. i want the motor as bare and clean cut as possible.

[DuceAnAHalf]

a distributor , just distributes the spark. you still need something to tell the coil when to create a spark

[mrltd]

The computer comtrols the timing. The correct regualtor for using the EFI pump is very expensive. Just run a mechanical pump and pull the stock EFI pump out and replace it with a piece of metal fuel line.

[P72Ford]

DSII (Duraspark 2) ignition control is very simple, but its also easy to use and MSD 6A, or 6AL. That being said, you could just buy a GM HEI style distributor (but its made to fit the Ford) for it; other members have done this. They aren't all that expensive. The other option is a D.U.I. ignition (Davis Unified Ignition), which is similar to the HEI setup, with a one wire hookup. The DUI is like 350 though.

You can buy a DS dist for $45. The DSII control module I bought was 20. There is some basic wiring, but nothing serious. Maybe get a new coil, and a good set of wires to complete the ignition. A new MSD box is over 200, and you still need the dist too (you can use a regular DS dist.).

The cheapest route is the DS dist. and DSII control.

[Wray-Wray]

A new MSD box is over 200, and you still need the dist too (you can use a regular DS dist.).

not always true the one im getting for my car is only 125

[P72Ford]

not always true the one im getting for my car is only 125

6A, or 6AL? Or one of those 5 series, or blaster ignition controls? If its a 6A or 6AL, you are doing well. I have seen used ones go for less that 200 (Ebay), but most new 6A's go for around 175, while the 6AL is a little over 200. Either way, its a moot point.

I was looking at DUI stuff last night; I think its just pretty much a glorified HEI setup; I'd limit the choices to a DS distributor, with either the stock DSII controller (I used that, because it plugged right in when I did my 4bbl converion; carb was already carbed), or an MSD control, or a straight GM HEI style distributor. Seneeb and someone else have used the HEI style setup, IIRC. These are less costly options, and just as effective. The HEI is arguably simpler, and it is stone reliable, as opposed to a stock DS, where the control box has been known to cause issues. I haven't had any trouble though...

[1987cp]

All I can say is, don't be afraid to try it. The things that bugged me the most were of course how to supply fuel and spark. For the original stage of my project I bought a '79 fuel tank and whittled up a stock-style 3/8" fuel pickup, though for now I've substituted a real '79 5/16" fuel pickup just because the sender works more smoothly. I actually have an extra nearly-new 20 gallon carb'd wagon tank now that the '79 is gone, if you want to go that route.

For spark, I went the creative route and wired up a crossbred Duraspark/HEI setup using a '79 LTD Duraspark distributor (comes with 20 deg. mechanical advance and you can speed up the curve using Mr. Gasket PN 925D spring kit) and a Mallory HEI module mounted to a computer heat sink. Works rather well, but it's still looking much less elegant than I'd like, even after completely rewiring it when I got rid of my bushbutton-start "feature" (probably an artifact of my having removed most of the under-dash wiring in addition to the stuff under the hood).

I had definitely considered getting a Duraspark box, but talked myself out of that option because of a) the inavailability of new stock-style wiring harnesses, b) allegations of the modules not being very reliable, and c) the price of replacement ignition boxes ... would have probably been more economical to just get one of the cheaper aftermarket boxes like that from Summit Racing, so I opted for the much cheaper $25 cost of the Mallory HEI module. Mopar ignition modules are also supposed to work well.

[gadget73]

If you do go carb, remove the ECM harness in one piece. it all comes out fairly easy. Unplug it from the ECM and just trace it around and unplug the connectors and remove the parts as needed. Don't cut anything, it will be much cleaner if you remove it in one piece instead of leaving "leftovers" from the old wiring.

[1987cp]

I forgot to mention, on the highly modified blue Squire it might be worth considering converting to a fuel cell to simplify some aspects of the project. I was rather tempted to do that myself when I had such a hard time finding the tank I wanted and zero luck buying a pickup.

[gadget73]

its easy enough to just make a pickup. You sub the fuel pump with a piece of brake line and mount the sock on the bottom of it.