Hello all!! I am looking to do a CFI to Carb conversion on my '82. Does anyone have any suggestions on what TB and Carb to use? As well as anything else I will need to do/know.

 

Easiest would be 80 setup.

 

You'll need a distributor, carburetor, intake manifold, fuel pump or fuel regulator. Basically a complete redo of the entire fuel system tank to carb. A 80 and earlier style distributor. And of course the wiring to make that happen. And all the little things from fuel line clamps to airfilter.
And, ..... Do you want this to fit under the stock hood?
(Everyone on here always wants everything to fit under the stock hood!).

 

PM sent, I have everything you need. Listing the parts in the for sale section shortly. Pic of my 82

 

Just curious, is your current CFI working?

 

I do indeed.

 

It does not. It idles ok (or at least for the 10-20 minutes I let it while theorizing with my buddy about it) but it stalls when put into gear.
I do intend to try some repairs before going into the swap process but I'm not deadset on keeping it original. Besides who knows I may swap back in 20 or 30 years.

 

Get the lowest manifold you can, holey 600CFM carb., maybe a drop base air cleaner if needed to clear the hood. Get a Bypass Fuel regulator, You can and should use the existing lines but make sure you use the return, I used a Holey regulator with a gauge. New distributor-maybe MSD ready to run but not sure about the tach connection. You will need the proper linkage for your trans TV cable-I recommend BoxTie Overdrives. You will also need something to lock up the torque convertor in 4th, any thing from a simple pressure switch to B&Ms adjustable kit...

The throttle cable will be too long but just give it a gentle loop, mine works. I did not bother fooling around with cruise control and don't forget the PCV valve. If you do this and do it right, I guarantee you won't think about going back in 30 years...

60

 

I used the Trans Go 700-LU kit to handle the converter lockup.
As far as the fuel delivery, on mine I replaced the fuel tank sending unit with a 81 sending unit and installed a mechanical fuel pump.
My intake manifold height is 4.595" with a Holley carburetor and dropped base air cleaner. All fits fine under the hood after I removed the fresh air ductwork.


I repurposed the oil pressure sending unit electric fuel pump redundancy feature for the electric choke so the choke doesn't start to open until the engine is running.

 

Skids,
I cut a hole in the duct for my air cleaner and propped the door open, it works good and gives me fresh air. I had issues with carb peculation and vapor lock plus I have an air gap intake. Between that, the plate for the bow tie linkage, a plate to deflect the intake heat and a 1/2" phenolic spacer...My air cleaner is real close to the hood but it all worked out in the end...I also re-routed the fuel line well away from the engine and insulated it... All good now...
Some day I want to go over the oil sender redundancy with you, I went through the book some time ago looking that up, my sender was leaking and since I no longer use the ECM for much I wanted to see how it works... I ended up just replacing it and while it works, it now reads 10psi to high-(after market)... I just don't see the redundancy in either the trouble shooting chart or schematic....
My choke comes off the wiper motor, In the warm months I turn the ignition to on for 30+ seconds to warm the choke because it starts right away and really does not need the choke for long and does not need to idle so high with the oil just getting to the top end. Real cold winter months I use it right away.. I like having that choice...

60

 

1860Army, this is how I wired my electric choke. There's a pink/black wire in the engine management harness that comes through the firewall. That wire is part of the gauge circuit and powers various solenoids on the engine. It's only hot in the key run position. I connected that wire to one of the outer terminals on the oil pressure sending unit and connected the choke to the other outer terminal. Those are normally open. The center terminal goes the oil pressure gauge. This way if you're cranking long enough to develop oil pressure the choke won't start to open.
As far as fuel perculation, vapor lock I did not have any of those problems. I'm in Florida using a non air gap style intake manifold. I'm using a Summit fuel pump that's 8 PSI, 80GPH. My under the hood temperature is around 135 degrees using ceramic coated headers.

 

If your engine has a problem with Vapor Lock then you might try a couple things to improve your engine's cooling. I have a 427 BB that runs HOT due to the compression ratio and I got rid of the mechanical fuel pump and replaced it with an electric unit mounted in the rear of the car. Then I insulated the length of the fuel lines with DEI Tube Insulation and then put a Flame-proof silicone jacket over the front 10' of fuel lines. I ran the fuel lines inside the frame where I could and brought it up over the bell-housing. This allows me to feed the throttle body from the rear and avoid all the HOT air coming off the radiator or the exhaust.

I am using the Hedman headers with the silver ceramic coating inside and out. The standard coatings do not like getting very hot before burning off. On my engine the first several inches of the coating has been discolored due to the excess heat. The manufacturers suggest that you don't use the ceramic coated headers on a "new" engine that has been freshly rebuilt as they run hotter than normal. The break-in temperatures might exceed the abilities of the coating used. The point being that if your engine runs hotter than a normal engine then you need to upgrade the ceramic coating to a higher temperature rated material ceramic coating. I learned the hard way....

Under the hood temperatures are important but the one I really want to see is theIntake Air Temperature so you can see what is actually going down the carburetor or throttle body. The intake air should only a few degrees warmer than the ambient air temperature while driving. The L88 hood has a Cold air intake-air box built into them from the factory. This allows the high compression L88 engine to get a steady supply of "cool" intake air. I see below 100* air temperatures going into my engine most of the time and only once in a while does it get warmer. The cooler intake air "deters" detonation as does the cooler fuel and this is what made the L88 drive-able on the streets back when they had "real" gasoline. It will run fine on 93 octane unless the engine gets really hot and then I have to activate the water/methanol injection system to cool down the beast. The 116 octane and extra water really makes the engine purr while cooling it down. It is activated by the Holley EFI controller to only turn on when the engine is really hot and then you activate the injection based on engine loading. With cool air and cool fuel going into the engine you have the potential to make more horsepower.

Avoid high under the hood temperatures when your air cleaner is pulling from the surrounding area. After any long trip I open the hood and let the engine cool down just to avoid heat soaking any of the important parts. Some people think I am showing off the engine but in reality I am simply trying to cool it down.