TBI Set-Up for 2F FI - OEM or Aftermarket? (1 Viewer)

[Perovich]

Greetings! The time has come to get rid of one of my cars.

I have a 92 C1500 with the TBI 4.3 and 5-speed manual, that has minimal resale value at best (maybe 1500 at most)- would I be able to strip the harness, FI components, and input/output sensors from that and make it work as well as the Howell/AFI?

I went to school for automotive and unfortunately one of the things they no longer teach is carburetion of any type, and something about carbs freaks me out; it's way out of my comfort zone, and I'm way more familiar working with TBI - I find myself second-guessing everything I do on my carb tuning, and worry I may trash my newly rebuilt motor.

Would it be worth stripping the C1500 when I could sell it, or should I just opt for new and plunk the change down on the pre-assembled kits, which retail for almost as much? Are the base tunes between the two fairly close, seeing as how they're close in displacement, or do the differences between the OEM and aftermarket lie elsewhere?

 

[gilamonster]

I met a guy who said he brought all the tbi parts from a chevy 4.3 and did the same upgrade to the 2f in his fj40. I didn't ask to many questions, but he said it was a pretty easy swap.

 

[YotaJosh]

Yes, all those parts will work. Expect to find an adapter plate (or fab one) to adapt the throttle body to your intake. And expect to tune the ECM or provide all the inputs needed to make it run well, or just sing "This little light of mine" and enjoy the warm glow of a check engine light. Then you'll need to figure out how you want to handle ignition. You either use a modified dizzy so the ECM can control timing, or you leave it vacuum advance and you tune out all the ignition code in the ECM.

Since you have the parts, you can do the conversion far cheaper than a Howell or AFI kit, assuming you are comfortable with wiring harness, modifying dizzys, and tuning ECM's with a chip burner.

Edit: the 2F tune that the aftermarket kits have in their ECM's are based on a 4.3 ROM (so I've heard).

 

[OSS]

Once the original Aisin carb is rebuilt by a pro for a few hundred bills (Jim C comes to mind) there's no need to touch it for another 10 years at least. I ran the original carb for 20 years without ever touching it.

 

[SteveH]

I just installed the AFI TBI on my FJ40. Very pleased so far, and significantly increased performance and drivability. I would sell your old Chevy intact and buy a TBI kit. Installation is still fairly time-consuming, in spite of the kit being fairly complete. I didn't want to spend hours fiddling with a greasy wiring harness and the figuring out what chip to use, etc. Like all things - it's either time or money to get it right - and sometimes both.

 

[gregnash]

@White Stripe I believe did this where he scavenged his own parts. Do a bit of google searching and you will find a decent write-up from a guy that did it in his 60, Olympia FJ60 is his name I believe.

 

[erse]

Didn't @wngrog just do this or do I have the wrong person in mind?

 

[wngrog]

I did. Lots of info in the thread. Link in signature.