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aftermarket EFI for Carb?


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you might also look at FAST's EZ-EFI, affordable fuel injection, Edelbrock's MP-EFIMSD's atomic EFI and FITECH's Go street EFI as well.  Someone made a marine specific EFI conversion kit a few years ago but I cannot seem to locate it now.  There are a few companies that make o2 adapters for marine exhaust systems like Howell EFI.  I looked into this rather heavily when I first bought my carb'd '94 echelon but every system was going to run me upwards of $2k.  With my carb running just fine (knock on fiberglass) I never got to the point of getting serious about making the jump.  You can have a carb rebuilt several times over before you get to the price of an aftermarket EFI system.

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1 minute ago, nosnarb said:

you might also look at FAST's EZ-EFI, affordable fuel injection, Edelbrock's MP-EFIMSD's atomic EFI and FITECH's Go street EFI as well.  Someone made a marine specific EFI conversion kit a few years ago but I cannot seem to locate it now.  There are a few companies that make o2 adapters for marine exhaust systems like Howell EFI.  I looked into this rather heavily when I first bought my carb'd '94 echelon but every system was going to run me upwards of $2k.  With my carb running just fine (knock on fiberglass) I never got to the point of getting serious about making the jump.  You can have a carb rebuilt several times over before you get to the price of an aftermarket EFI system.

Agreed.  Or, you can swap it out for a remanufactured one that is pre-tuned and you simply bolt it on to your manifold, for around $300 I think.

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Well, if you are going that route you might as well swap out the intake to an Eldebrock Performer.  You can also improve your air flow out of the engine and knock quite a bit more weight off with some ETX aluminum exhaust manifolds.  To really feel the results of that air flow capacity it probably would be a good idea to upgrade the cam, since you this much tore off of it anyway.  I assume your exhaust is original?  It's like 2.8" inside dimensions.  Punch the guts out of your silencer and glass some 3.5" barbs on the in and out, and replace your hoses to the transom with 3.5".  Your flappers will not work with that, so might as well go STE's back there.  It's only money....

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6 minutes ago, Michigan boarder said:

Well, if you are going that route you might as well swap out the intake to an Eldebrock Performer.  You can also improve your air flow out of the engine and knock quite a bit more weight off with some ETX aluminum exhaust manifolds.  To really feel the results of that air flow capacity it probably would be a good idea to upgrade the cam, since you this much tore off of it anyway.  I assume your exhaust is original?  It's like 2.8" inside dimensions.  Punch the guts out of your silencer and glass some 3.5" barbs on the in and out, and replace your hoses to the transom with 3.5".  Your flappers will not work with that, so might as well go STE's back there.  It's only money....

wait, this all sounds familiar.....

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11 minutes ago, Bozboat said:

wait, this all sounds familiar.....

The good news is that the rabbit hole does have a bottom.  It took me a while, but I eventually got there.

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The advantages of EFI for a marine vessel are much less than on an automobile that operates at various throttle openings, our boats pretty much operate at constant or close to constant throttle opening.  If you feel the price tag is worth the improvement in cold starting then I would think about it.  A properly tuned carb delivers as much power as a FI system, it is a myth that EFI gives you more power applied to an existing carbed engine, several dyno tests have documented that.  It is simply a matter of atomizing the fuel, and either a carb or EFI will do that just fine.  Just a note, the base manifold on most small block engines is the same as the Edelbrock Performer RPM, the Performer is a little lower and optimized around a slightly lower RPM range.  I also got to an acceptable stopping point down the power rabbit hole, just so happens I found a different one to dive in to...

@moparandy:  why are you considering the change, if for more power you need to work on the air side (heads / cam / exhaust), pretty easy to bump one of these to 400 hp using the existing carb (assuming ~700 cfm) and if you go with some aluminum parts drop the weight at the same time.

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Save your money and time. i have a 96 Response that had EFI, after the ECM went out for the second time, i converted it to old school carb. It runs stronger, pulls harder and also gained about 2-3 MPH.  Saw no loss in fuel economy either. You will miss that reliability and ease of trouble shooting if something is to cause running issues. Not allot to go wrong when you are running a carbed engine.  Carb. engines make just as much or more HP than EFI engines of that era. Just my .02 cents. 

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@nosnarb:  I had done some battery research last year on light batteries, the race car application is good because of the vibration levels those cars see and the batteries tend to be mounted pretty low in the chassis.  At the moment, my battery is actually moved outboard to balance the driver.  Thanks for sharing the link.

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On 3/20/2018 at 3:10 PM, 96Response said:

Save your money and time. i have a 96 Response that had EFI, after the ECM went out for the second time, i converted it to old school carb. It runs stronger, pulls harder and also gained about 2-3 MPH.  Saw no loss in fuel economy either. You will miss that reliability and ease of trouble shooting if something is to cause running issues. Not allot to go wrong when you are running a carbed engine.  Carb. engines make just as much or more HP than EFI engines of that era. Just my .02 cents. 

I converted my last boat from EFI to carb for the same reason, the ECM wouldn't keep alive. The response from the engine improved and never had a starting problem. I did an Edelbrock marine carb, performer manifold, and updated to Mallory marine ignition all at the same time. So I am sure that had to do with the better performance, but all of that was cheaper than a new ECM.

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19 hours ago, Falko said:

I converted my last boat from EFI to carb for the same reason, the ECM wouldn't keep alive. The response from the engine improved and never had a starting problem. I did an Edelbrock marine carb, performer manifold, and updated to Mallory marine ignition all at the same time. So I am sure that had to do with the better performance, but all of that was cheaper than a new ECM.

I used the same swaps except i used the Pertronix marine Dist. No one had the Mallory at the time and I didn't want to wait and miss out on any boating so went that way. So far , I'm Happy with this distr. It runs really well and no difference in fuel consumption at all. Starts up cold with out any problem at all. Have to crank it a few revolutions when hot but still starts well. 

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Carbs are the bomb.  With a $50 core charge and $250 for parts and labor you can order a rebuilt/tuned unit.  Just mail the old core back to one of the 10 companies doing swaps.  

 

I'm all stock on my 94 with 350gm merc. Heaviest guy we pull is 250 lbs but we can rip him right out of the water at 5500ft elevation. 

I have a little equation for my boat.  I start at 90 degrees with no choke on start.  At 80 degrees, one pump.  At 70 degrees, 2 pumps.  Etc. 

She fires right up on 40 degree mornings with 5-6 quick choke pumps.  

Non ethanol 93 octane and stabil blue to keep moisture out and it runs like butter.

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Mine doesn't even have a choke.  On the first start of the day I give her 2 pumps, pull the neutral button out and put the throttle forward just a hair, then I reach back and hold the linkage to shut the butterfly.  Fires right up.  The rest of the day I never have to touch it.

I do need to put an electric choke in though, one of these days.

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5 minutes ago, Michigan boarder said:

Mine doesn't even have a choke.  On the first start of the day I give her 2 pumps, pull the neutral button out and put the throttle forward just a hair, then I reach back and hold the linkage to shut the butterfly.  Fires right up.  The rest of the day I never have to touch it.

I do need to put an electric choke in though, one of these days.

I'm doing the same thing when I say choke, haha.  Wrong terminogy likely.  Switching to non ethanol has really made cold morning starts a breeze, and I find my "formula" being less accurate as it just wants to run.

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8 minutes ago, Pra4sno said:

I'm doing the same thing when I say choke, haha.  Wrong terminogy likely.  Switching to non ethanol has really made cold morning starts a breeze, and I find my "formula" being less accurate as it just wants to run.

Haha!!  Now I don't feel bad.

I must say, on even a cold 40 degree day that 454 MEFI that I had would start on the second revolution of the starter, it was pretty amazing.  But, after I get thru the first cold start, mine starts the same as that 454 did, literally the second revolution.

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46 minutes ago, MadMan said:

You're out on 40 degree mornings? I'm impressed!!

Gotta get the glass before the wake surf boats are out!

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