As of right now my 85 SE does not want to start after a few months of trying after an apex seal seized and a rebuild was done...me and my friend have been trying to source the problem but cannot find anything....so i am deciding to convert to carb cause its less of a headache, easier to work on (less mess in bay), and its not my dd i have a completely original red 85 SE for this...

my question is what do i need to convert to carb using a holley 600....
i know i need a mani, FPR, new fuel lines...but thats what i know....any one know what else i need and at least a ball park price for each part?

 

Why go low tech, keep the FI and find the fault, plenty of help available in here....or go Megasquirt.....

 

My converted GSL-SE runs well. I didn't do the conversion, but had I it would have been done a lot better than this hackjob.

My setup is the RB Intake Manifold & headers, Holley 600 vac secondary, purolator fuel pump (Carter is in the mail), holley 4.5-9psi FPR. OMP has been scrapped (running premix), and oil injector holes are plugged, along with the fuel injector holes. I'm using the stock line with no return. No need to replace the lines, the fuel injection lines are fine, so long as they're not all clogged up.

If you go through RB you're looking at probably over $1000. Manifold from them is $250, you can get a used Holley on ebay for $50 or so, and rebuild it yourself (another $50 or so). My Holley FPR was $15 IIRC, the carter fuel pump is almost $60. You'll also need to get the Fuel Injector blockoff plate, and the OMP blockoff plate, or fab your own. If you are scrapping the ECU and everything, you'll also need to install a jumper to turn the Fuel pump on when you turn on the key. You could also run new wires and a relay to the pump, this way it gets 12v straight off the battery thru a relay. If I think of anything else, I'll add them as well.

 

go with the carberator, unless your planning on going 700hp,

you dont need the CPU. I have my fuel pump going everytime I turn the key, you dont need a fuel pump relay. it goes right back into the tank. get good fuel filters all I can say for carb.

 

My fuel pump won't come on without a jumper. It's all stock wiring, but the EFI harness is long gone. YMMV

 

RB Holley intake is like what $225? Carb, well you could spend a lot on a nice Holley. Holley Blue Fuel pump with regulator from Summit - $105, Fuel Pressure gauge - $15 to $189. Fuel line is pretty cheap. I actually use the oil jets on the block with this conversion, but I still run premix cause you cain't have too much in there!

 

Even with the harness, it wont work IF you dont hook-up the factory ground wire.

 

I'm sure there is more to this than I can see. I'm not sure whether to take it as a stab at my car or a joke you learned from personal experience.

Either way, I didn't do the conversion on my car, the PO did. I'm just fixing the hackjob he left me with.

 

keep EFI if you can, carbs are a mess...

as for what you need:

intake manifold from RB
holley 600, also perferable from RB, or mod one yourself and have even more headaches
RB throttle cable mount, or fab one yourself.
holley red fuel fuel pump
RB injector blockoff plugs
fuel pressure regulator good to 6psi+
fuel lines you wont need, maybe like 2 feet of rubber hoses to replace the old rotten ones when using the holley pump.

thats about all i can think of, its really simple to swap to a carb setup, but in no way is it better, EFI is the way to go, 800hp or 130hp. i kind of regret going carb now since my swap but looks like im going to a EFI setup soon so its all good.

just bypass the wiring on your fuel pump to a toggle switch, you'll need it, so relays are no worries.

g'luck

 

Can I have ur FI stuff? ^_^

 

neither. Its an FYI to everyone. The ground, mounted near coolant catch can, must stay grounded for F/P to work. This is in addition to the jumper wire.

 

Don't forget you'll probably need a 12a throttle cable. My buddy did this swap back and forth on his streetported fc. Bottom line, the thing ran best with the EFI. If this is a daily driver just get your EFI fixed up. I'm an old dog who's comfortable with carb tuning and the carb works great on my s/c, but for a smooth daily driver I would definitely resolve the EFI issues. Many feel the carb setup will unleash more power, but this is only at the very very top end. My future recipe for a nice 6 port setup would be a streeport on all 6 ports with the addition of an aggressive bridge on the 5,6 ports, working actuators and pineapple sleeves. I would combine this with a mild but rich 50 shot of nitrous that is throttle and rpm triggered, this would help compensate for the limitations of the factory efi keeping up. More money, standalone to ditch the afm. This would make a smooth, streetable daily driver with 200+ rwhp on tap (occasional nitrous use only, at 50hp limited use you could get tons of short hits out of it).

 

I have a street ported GSLSE with a RB 600 double pumper.

It's quick, but not smooth cruising. Very happy at WOT.

The setup cost me nearly $1,000 from racing beat. If I had it to do over again I would have spent a little bit more and gone with a standalone.

If you get a double pumper, you can forget about the omp. trying to make the linkage work properly with a duel feed rail in the way is nearly impossible from my experiance. Not to mention the water pump housing being in the way of most commonly available fuel rails.

{rant}
I would buy as little directly from RB as possible, as every transaction I've ever had with them has completly sucked. Their "modded holley" is a joke (runs like **** out of the box). if anything, just buy their manifold, premix, and use a cheap standard holley.

 

Ahh cool. I wasn't aware of that part of it, and assume since mine works it's still grounded.

When I get my new pump, I'm going away from the stock wiring. I'd rather not have the jumper on the harness to be able to drive my car. I'll still have a switch or something and a relay, that way I can turn it off, similar to what I am going to do with the DLIDFIS when I set it up.