I've been searching for "pros" for converting to carbs and...

[korijo]

I am confused, now. I was looking for articles and emails supporting the conversion to dual carbs, but there aren't many.
I keep finding DD's opinion to keep FI, but no "pros" for converting. Anyone got advice?
I also want know what to remove from the FI motor. (brain, runners, injectors, etc.)
Thanks
Korijo

[pbanders]

If your motor is stock, there are few pros for carbs, if any. Non-stock motors with "hot" cams have so little idle vacuum that carbs are essential for any drivability.

Take a look at my web page for a page on the carbs vs. FI issue.

There are many people here who can help you diagnose FI problems with your car, both D-Jet and L-Jet.

[campbellcj]

What is your planned use for the car? I concur with many of the other guys here, that the stock injection is the best setup for a relatively stock street car. Carbs have a "coolness" factor, but they are a compromise solution. Even for highly modified / race cars, the modern programmable EFI systems are coming down in price and complexity to where it's a tough call to go with carbs anymore. A good FI implementation will nearly always offer more power and better drivability, sometimes by a huge margin.

[bludden]

I bought my 914 2.0 with carbs already installed. Although I love the sound, and the look of the motor, I find that they require frequent tweaking. Also I'm sure my gas mileage suffers as well.

So if you don't mind tinkering with the carbs and linkage, and fuel economy is of secondary importance, you'll like the look and sound of carbs.

Myself, I'd like to get it back to FI someday but there's plenty of other things to keep me busy; instead of "fixing a running system".

[Bruce Allert]

I was thinking quite heavily on resorting to carbs until , with the help of Brad, Dave & many others, I was able to get my EFI along with the ignition dialed in so that the car runs so strong I now have no want to go to carbs with it being in its stock form. I'll go that route when I rebuild, bore & maximize my other engine that's on the floor! (saved alot of moolah, thanks guys)
bruce

[sammyg2]

This doesn't really address you question directly, but it does add a little to the arguement of F.I. over carbs. I wrote it a few years or so ago, sorry for the long windedness:

CARBURETION OPERATION AND THEORY
FUEL DELIVERY
The fuel pump pressurizes the fuel to around 3 to 5 psi for carburetors. The fuel flows through a filter (hopefully) and into the carburetor float bowl chamber. As this chamber fills, a float on a pivot rises with the level. As it gets high enough, it closes a valve, shutting off the flow of fuel. When the level drops, the float valve opens again and lets in more fuel.
IDLE CIRCUIT
The engine wants to run fast all the time. The throttle plate controls the engine by restricting how much air it gets.
The engine tries to pull more air in but the carburetor won’t let it at idle. This pulling causes vacuum, an area of low pressure in the manifold. There is a small hole in each of the throats of the carburetor just below the throttle plates. These holes are connected to a passageway that goes up, then back down to the float bowl. The vacuum pulls fuel from the float bowl, up through a restriction orifice (jet), and down into the manifold. Most carburetors have a needle adjusting screw that adjusts how much fuel flows into the throat. Many also have small holes in the passageway that let air in so that it mixes with the fuel and starts to atomize it so that it is well mixed as it enters the manifold. Some have idle mixture screws that adjust how much air is allowed into the passageway.
TRANSISTION CIRCUIT
As the throttle plates (butterflies) start to open, they expose a second set of small holes that are also tied into the idle jet passageway. As the butterfly passes these holes, the vacuum pulls fuel through them and mixes it with the higher velocity air that is rushing to squeeze through the small opening. Remember, there is low pressure below the throttle plates, but normal atmospheric pressure above them (except for full throttle high rpm conditions). Some carburetors have one transition port, some have as many as three or four. Their purpose is to try and correctly meter the amount of fuel so that the right ratio of fuel to air is maintained. Most driving is done in this circuit (Except for some sawz-all wielding friends of mine).
ACCELERATOR PUMP
When the throttle is opened rapidly, the manifold vacuum can suddenly drop to almost zero. No vacuum, no fuel gets sucked into the engine, no go. Just a big bog.
The accelerator pump is a band aid for this problem. As the throttle is opened, a piston or diaphragm is actuated, displacing fuel and pumping it right into the throat of the carburetor like a squirt gun. It mixes with the air and burns to keep the engine happy. Since the air is not moving very fast during this condition, the fuel has a tendency to puddle on the manifold floor or stick to the walls. V-8’S have this problem, but not as much as a single carburetor on a 914. The v-8’s use hot water or oil to heat the floor of the manifold to keep the fuel mixed up. It works, but is a major compromise. One of the hardest set ups to get dialed in is the Holley bug spray carburetor on a 914 4 cylinder engine. There is no heat riser to warm the manifold and the runners are long, so the fuel doesn’t stay suspended very well. Some people swear by this set up, some swear at it. Anyway, because the fuel doesn’t stay mixed very well during this low vacuum, low rpm condition, the carburetor has to add extra fuel so that we are sure to get enough into the motor. Not good for emissions or economy. Carburetor systems that have a single barrel for each cylinder and are mounted directly in line with the intake ports are the least susceptible to this, except for fuel injected motors. There are some problems with this type of carburetor set up (like reversion) but that is in the next class. Fuel injection is awesome.
MAIN CIRCUIT
As the engine rpm rises, the air that is flowing through the carburetor barrel has to go through a section that is a little smaller than the rest of It (venturi). The air really wants to get through, so it has to speed up a little so that all the air can get by. So it speeds up and squeezes though the tight spot, then the opening gets bigger again. The air is still going fast and straight. Right at the tight spot there is a small area that has lower pressure than the rest of the barrel. This is caused by the air trying to keep going straight, and the velocity makes it not want to bend back to fill the entire barrel. This is called the Bernoulli principle (I hope I spelled that right). Right there where the pressure is lowest, there is a small port, or passageway that is connected to the float bowl. The fuel is pulled from the float bowl, up the passageway, mixed with a little air, squeezed through the main jet, and goes into the carburetor throat. Some carburetors have a booster venturi, but they just do the same thing the same way.
Carburetors are simple things, but try to do an impossible job. That is, add just enough fuel to maintain a perfect air/fuel mixture, no matter how much the throttle is opened, the engine rpm, the air temperature, the engine temperature, The fuel level in the throat bowl, the list goes on and on. My father told me a long time ago that carburetor is a French word which loosely translated means “compromise”. He may be right. Early fuel injection systems had as much as 30 different "maps" or compensating circuits depending on input conditions, modern systems can have millions of "maps" due to the multiplication of all the variables.