EFI or Carb? What should I do?

Hey guys,

I'm clearly a newbie here trying to get some feed back. I have a 1976 EB with a 66 289 that was rebuilt in 2003. It was bored out from a 289 to around 296. It has an edelbrock intake with a holley (p-80?) 4b carb. I'm contemplating putting an EFI to it and I wanted to hear what the EB enthusiast had to say. Which one is better or is it just preference. thank you all for your opinions.

If you're into hard core rock crawling, the kind that rips up sheet metal, or if you find pumping the gas pedal in the morning before starting traumatic, or drive to and from high elevations, efi is the way to go.

If the carb serves your driving style, keep it

Since you have to deal with CA smog inspections you might want to keep it stock.

also the cost, EFI is going to cost you waaaay more. and then there is the trouble shooting aspect.

also the cost, EFI is going to cost you waaaay more. and then there is the trouble shooting aspec

wow, didn't know how much trouble with cost I was going to get into.. I thought it was going to be an easy swap..I have no problem pumping the gas in the morning. Thats what I grew up with. (Carb). As for EFI, I thought my engine would be running smoother and also with less gas consumption.

Since you have to deal with CA smog inspections you might want to keep it stock.

I just read up on the CA exemption rules for a 76. Anything 1975 or older are exempt. sucks. So it would be a hassle to cross over.
Do EFI run cleaner than Carb or am I wrong?
thanks!

No, you're not wrong. Better and cleaner (assuming it's done right) and it can pass smog too. The trouble lies in what engine/donor you choose to use parts from. Right now they don't bother to check that your '76 is actually sporting a '66 engine (a big no-no), but they will as soon as they see the EFI stuff and send you to a referee station to get a certificate of compliance. You might even have to change your engine block at that point.
You're only allowed to use the same year or newer engine in your rig, so a '66 engine (even if it meets the emissions tests (which it obviously has in the past?), it won't meet the visual.

The reason you need to worry about which donor you use, is that you have to use literally everything from that engine system to be legal. Member 904Bronco here just did it recently and his Mustang donor became a small nightmare when he had to use the exact airbox and exhaust system from the Mustang. That meant 4 catalytic converters and three trips to the referee to get it passed. Big hassle, but it got done. Runs like a champ too, and probably gets better mileage and makes our air easier to breathe.
He'll probably see this soon too, and chime in with corrections/additions to all that.

Then again, at least part of that hassle was the referee being a butthead. There's no reason he should have had to keep the exact Mustang-specific airbox/filter arrangement. Nor the vacuum reservoir that feeds nothing on the Bronco, simply because it was original to the Mustang. Just being a butt.

So pick a donor that gives you what you want. The least amount of under-hood junk, and the fewest cats. Not because it's better, but because it's less of a hassle. And 4 cats can get damn expensive!!!!! Not that you necessarily have a money issue. It's just that, why spend it if you don't have to, right?

Good luck. It can be done. Just read up big time. Do a search here for EFI threads, or specifically those started or contributed to by 904Bronco.

Paul

luckieschmuck said:

...wow, didn't know how much trouble with cost I was going to get into.. I thought it was going to be an easy swap...As for EFI, I thought my engine would be running smoother and also with less gas consumption.

Click to expand...

Forgot to touch on this too.
The swap itself is very basic. The Ford EFI stuff literally bolts right to what you've got, for the most part. Not sure if there are any differences worth noting between a 289, vs a later 302 for example, but the basics are usually the same.
Where the trouble and hassle come into play when tuning, depends a lot on just what stuff you leave off. Most conversions delete things like air pumps, EGR systems, A/C systems, catalytic converters, and stuff like that. Plus often the cams are different from what was programmed into the computer from the factory, plus the air intake is plumbed differently, and the heads are different sometimes too. Though you're better off using the later model heads probably, as they're more efficient and would have every hole where it's expected to be. But you get the picture.
So the computer has to "learn" some of the new stuff, but some can only be manually programmed in with special tools and knowledge.

Other than that, piece of cake!;D

It sounds bad, but a ton of us are doing it. Including me. But I'm pretty sure the majority doing EFI are doing it to pre-'76 rigs too. Which eliminates a whole world of interesting possibilities.

Paul