thxone

Ok, without getting alot of "hey, that's a bad idea" or "your performance will suffer" I wanted to get some pointers and constructive ideas on a 4 barrel swap for a F/I L28E, 1982 model.

I have read a few post and I have been to HybridZ.com and I have not gotten the info I am lookin for. I also used the search button in here.

What I would like to know is if I went with the manifold from Arizona Z cars and the recomended 390cfm holly carb for it, what issues am I going to have to deal with?

1. Fuel pump..I will need a lower pressure one, correct?
2. With the lower pressure pump it wont need a return line right?
3. The ECU, will it still be needed?
4. What can you think of that I would need to do to make it run correctly without negatively effecting the car electronics wise?
5. There is no emissions testing here.

I ask these questions because I found some problems on my F/I setup that is going to cost me some big bucks and I am getting fed up with the injectors, TB, intake and the billions of vacuum lines and all the stuff isn't needed with a simple 4 barrel setup and at $35 per injector and having to wait for the parts to come in after ordering, it is just not worth it "to me" to have this car fuel injected.

I do like the "look" and "sound" of a four barrel and I feel much more comfortable working on such things. I really want to get suggestions from this site because you all are knowlegable, to the point and no where near as "bitchy" as some other sites I have been to, meaning I like you guys...and gals. I also love this car and I am not getting rid of it so it is prudent "to me" to do this swap, I am a bit depressed right now and this car is my only source of sanity and will keep me busy for a while to keep my mind off of things and as a bonus hopefully will have a decent outcome. Thanks everyone.

nick's81240zx

i have a friend how did the same thing that you are wanting to do, you are asking for info or pros vs cons well there are many. The first thing that you might hear is that you should use a side draft carb because fuel is heavier then air, so if the fuel goes down and then make a 90 turn then air/fuel mix isnt that great. also when use use that type of manfold the first and last cylinders run a little lean and that can make for problem later down the road. i was first going to use this type of setup and then found out that i can get the same power out of the older 240z S.U carbs (70-72) but if you want even more power then i say go to the tirple webers. Now the carbs are alittle $ but they are alot cheaper to rebuild (for the s.u.carbs) but the triples are alot of money to get and hard to find. o and stay away from the dual webers, i have heard of power loss. good luck and have fun

o when i went to carbs you dont use the ecu anymore just the ignition system and i used the holley redline fuel pump. And the efi head wont work as well as the older carb heads so i suggust that you use the e-88 head from a 240z or early 260z head (the 260 has bigger valves).

WildmaN

I personally like fuel-injected more than carb. And I use to be the other way around. I mean my '75 Firebird, is carbureted with a 750 Edelbrock. And it is nice runnning and all. But she isn't great on fuel, and that doesn't bother me. Because I have my fuel-injected Z's. And they are easier to work on. Of course I spent over $400, on new Beck Arnley injectors. But it was worth it to me.

But hey, if you want to go carbureted. More power to you man, but you will lose mileage. And that is one thing I love about fuel-injected cars. And the other thing is, I have no clue on rebuilding a carb. Or do I know, when it goes bad. But I can somewhat tune one by ear. I did it on my Firebird with no problems. Anyway, different strokes for different folks bro'. If you want to do it, I say go for it man. Don't let any of us stop you, but do some more research before you jump into this swap. And keep us updated, on what happens. And how this will turn out.

NismoPick

There is a reason cars don't have carbs on them anymore. Well... actually there are many reasons. Carberators are old technology, and much less efficient than F/I. Carbs are also less tune-able. You'd prolly spend more money (and time) converting to carb, than fixing your current F/I prob... and you wouldn't be super happy w/ carb results.

280zx F/I systems are fairly simple... and spare parts can still be found in junk yards. I say just fix & tune your F/I setup.

EatmyDust

e-bay is still around right? cause I bought 6 brand new injectors for like $100. they are awsome. with a carberator you sacrefice reaction, and if you are using a down draft you will be runing the #1, and #6 lean wille the closer tword the midle you get it will turn rich. the triple weber would be nice, but you can do about the same thing with su carbs. f/i is the oltemat way to go. superer monitoring, presise enough puls with modulation, I mean your not throwing just any given amount of fuel in, it is calculated by the position the distributer is in I think. The trigering device for fire also lets the computer know when to fire those injectors, even thogh they are bach fired that is besides the point. fuel injection will allways be better than carb action. you can allways do more with fuel injection than what you can do with carb.

jfairladyz

If you dont like the stock FI, and lets face it...who does, then there is always aftermarket FI. Mega Squirt for example is more then likely cheaper to convert to then carbs will be and you wont have any of the inconveniences of carbs or the stock FI system. You get infinite tuneability in a very cheap package. check out hybridz.org for a lot info on it...also, the megasquirt site has tons of info and has it's own forum. I dont have the link on hand though, I switched browsers.

But please, please, please dont get into the misleading mind set that carbs are simpler or trouble free. Far from it. Carbs are a headache and never ending battle. Unless you are VERY experienced in tuning carbs then there is a chance that you will NEVER get your setup just right. And for petesake, dont go with that four barrel set up if you are going to go carbs I hate carbs and I laugh every time somebody says they're tired of the headaches and complexity of fuel injection. Sure there is a lot of electronic crap involved with FI. But it's all very simple to trouble shoot with a small variety of electrical tools. You go ahead and slap carbs on and then come back and see if you still think they're are simpler then fuel injection when it comes down to functionality

thxone

Well it is raining alot here on my B-Day but yesterday I met up with a guy I met in a parking lot who has an 82 coupe also and he helped me ALOT with some of my F/I problems, which aren't problems now. When you all said these cars were easy to troubleshoot you weren't kidding. I had to reconnect some things that I had removed during my "valve adjustment thing" and reconnect some connectors that just fell off!. As it turns out I may just need to order a couple of new connectors as I have a few broken ones that like to just fall off. It is crazy how these little connectors can make the car run like crap when they fall off, one injector plug, one plug in front of the thermostat housing and one kinda below that. There was something else....oh yeah my oil filler cap was not all the way tight which also makes the car run wierd or shut off if you remove it while the car is running.

I am alot more calm now about my car....4 barrel swap......man what was I thinking..........sorry guys.

EatmyDust

Whats an oil filter cap, and why would you remove it wile the car is runing?

EatmyDust

sorry, I see now filler cap. stupid me! I need to get new glasses I guess.

thxone

I said " F I L L E R" LOL