The V8 Owners Forum -

At present I have a new pair of Solex carbs on my 3.9 in my 110LR. The engine has a rattle which hasnt got any worse in 6 months but I have a replacement with EFI to fit while I either rebuild the current 3.9 or build a 4.6.
I have a Thor manifold I have been considering using with the Hotwire injection, a little bit of work but not impossible.
I am actually quite happy with the performance and running of the carbs though they are still factory jetted (86-91 3.5v8 carbs) maybe could do with a little richening up of the mixtures but seem quite close when I checked with the colortune.

I do like the simplicity of carbs and the fact there is no computer to get wet in case of any unplanned water ingression.

So carbs or EFI, and Solex or swap to HIF, are they really much better?

No contest - EFI everytime.

Even if you do not want the extra grunt, the extra economy you will get should make you consider EFI. Then there is issues such as no choke, no worn pesky carbs (especially Solex/Stromburgs) etc. If you go through the EFI system and install it well, in my opinion will be more reliable than carbs.

I have hotwire EFI in my 90 and I cannot fault it, much more power and economy.

Toby

Actually after an 800km trip and much town driving I am finding the economy to be better than expected, though if I richen the mixtures that may suffer a little, lighter oil in the carbs may be all it needs.

Since my carbs were brand new only about 2000km ago they will have minimal wear, a lot less than a 20 year old EFI system.

The reason I bought the new carbs was I had an LPG system on the 110 for carbs, but unfortunately it became dearer than petrol here so have removed it, but I still have it in case it becomes more economic again.

do people still buy carbs?? Im a little surprised at that to be honest, Id go EFI every time, even if its 30 years old. Just my biased opinion

Phil

MIke

Carbs! Would you buy a classic Maserati and fit efi?! They may be slightly down on potential power, but I think I am right in saying that a standard Eddy 500 on standard performer manifold will out perform a standard hotwire set up.

I just like them because they are traditional, easy to fix, and look right on an engine!!!

And yes Mike I know there is something wrong with me, (24 and would rather carbs than efi!) but on a V8 a big AFB looks right. On a Supra or Skyline, of course its gotta be injection by HKS

Hi
OK so I would not remove the existing carbs from a clasic Maserati, I don't have £250,000 to spend such a car anyway but such a car is normally out side what I would be interested in. They are an "investment" and have to be treated as such, not something that interests me one little bit, though having a brother in law and a cosin who are very into such stuff I know more about it than I really wish to. http://www.classiccarstorage.co.uk/ yes this is a very succesfull business and belongs to my cosin, however you won't see one of these at the Pod on Saturday
However if I had a mid '80s Aston martin vantage I would consider converting the 4 48 weber carbs for throttle bodies that had the same mounting pattern and keeping the Webers on a shelf.
Faced with a choice of a rover EFI manifold or or twin SU's again no contest, EFI. Likewise give me a choice of an aftermarket manifold with a throttle plate and drilling it for injectors, or a 4 barrel the carb the carb would loose out. For me it is a question of cost, time on the rollers setting an induction system up is what costs the money, EFI just saves so much time against carbs as any ECU worth considering can be fitted with wideband lambdas and data-logged on a laptop you can cut out hours of rolling road time.
The other big factor is that the way I like to see an engine tuned means that the fueling off idle is critical and a carb just cannot match an efi set up.
I used to agree with your point of view, I like the look of a bank of carbs and my aversion to anything windows makes my inscincts go for carbs, it is just that modern EFI is cheeper and far better. 4 barrel carbs are so cheeply made that there is a whole industry in the states making ones properly, SUs haven't been made in 20 years and Webers are silly money.
Best regards
Mike

Phil

Jenvey throttle bodies are the way to go

There are plenty of good reasons for sticking with carbs on an off road vehicle - it just depends what you use the vehicle for. If the primary purpose of the vehicle is road, I would go for efi. If you use it for serious off road purposes, I would go for carbs every time - they are simpler to fix in the field (I've seen several cases at competitive events where people have fixed carb systems so they can keep going, whereas the people using efi have had to retire from the event when they've had fuel feed problems)
My experience with carbs is that the HIF is a simpler unit to tune, and can give greater power than the solex, but the solex requires retuning less often. If you regularly use the vehicle in extreme off road situations, I wouldn't advise the use of downdraft carbs - they can cause under bonnet fires when used at extreme angles

Mostly the 110 is used on road at present, but some remote trips are expected once it is properly sorted.

I had planned a 4.6 to be built for it but am more than happy with the performance and economy from the 3.9, so am going to rebuild that. The EFI 3.9 I have doesnt run as well as the carb engine so will mst likely stick with the carbs.
Cheers.