5 Reasons You NEED To Install A Carb On Your LS Swapped 5.3 4.8 6.0 LS1 Lm7 Lq4 Engine|Carb LS swap|

Carb ls talk again and this time why you need to install a nice little fuel mixer on top of your modern ls engine. carb 5.3 engines are pretty common now and not to many people feel they are competent enough to install on their 6.0 ls. depending on your engine combination, doing a carb ls swap with a standard 4150 or 4160 carb might even save you some dough in the long run. this is going on my ls swapped dodge so kick back, relax and enjoy the show! Ls swaps are fun, and a carb ls is even better! I now have a carb ls Dyno video for your guys to check out!

[@arireid1245]

You can't go wrong with a carb ls.

[@NightWrencher]

I guess not :)

[@glennmanchester1568]

For any older swap theres no doubt it's much more cost. Effective to carb and much easier to tune and the power levels are comparable and any losses negligible in my opinion

[@erikturner5073]

I'm a professional master auto technician by trade and I have to agree with you on all points. Plus for me after working on today's technology during the work week, I don't need to be tracking down drivability and electrical issues on my hotrod during the weekend. That's why do carb builds hands down for simplicity, and they are way more economically friendly. Especially with the cost factor, buying a used carb and modding it for your needs, EFI can't compete. Plus I like the mechanical aspect as well. Always been a carb guy. Contrary to the social media BS from EFI guys, plenty of power and good drivability can be had with carbs as well. Plus a clean carb setup looks more nice to me under the hood than a EFI system.

[@NightWrencher]

Exactly right! Cant really beat a clean carb set up!

[@nobullshiit5682]

It cost more to do a carb set up , I got to buy a intake and a carb, MSD ignition controller . plus I have to change up the fuel system .Im not against Carbs but I'm on a budget so when I crunch the numbers it just cost too much money .

[@erikturner5073]

@@nobullshiit5682 depends on what vehicle you have. Plus there's are people selling used carbs and intakes. Also it also depends on your mechanic ability as well. If you can turn wrenches as well as rebuild and tune carb setups, EFI can't compare as far as cost. Plus you don't have to depend on someone else with tuning software to get you setup right. Again it all depends on ability and weather or not your willing or able to referbish used hardware to save money and still have awesome results. So I'll have to disagree, most applications EFI cost way more. I have EFI friends who have more invested in their fuel system than I have in my engine build, and I can still hang with them in the quarter mile. As far as value/performance, carb is still king. Thats why manufacturers are making carb swap intakes for Ford mod motors, GM LS, and the newer, Dodge Hemi engines. There are many people choosing to go the carb route. If you have an EFI car with everything there and your goal is a modest low 13 to somewhere into the 12 et, then you would probably want to work with the EFI system on the car. Although building a car or piecing a car together that was cannibalized under the hood, and turning it into a street runner, the carb route is gonna be the best economical route in most cases. Especially with the old school small block, and big block engines.

[@rotorr22]

I've been running carbs since the 70's. Back then, it was an AFB, Rochester or Holley. Today, the choices are numerous, the carbs far more tuneable and many shops capable of tailoring a carb to a particular application, especially with blow thru power adders. I run a QFT on a Holley dual plane on my marine LS3 and have never looked back.

[@anthonypesqueira7540]

I'm going from a tbi 350 that runs great to a carbed and cammed 6.0. Reason being, I want to keep my trans in my blazer.

[@WBOS72]

All excellent reasons - exactly why i am going that route.

[@NightWrencher]

Both options work very well but I tend to really like tinkering with the carb as well!

[@WBOS72]

NightWrencher me too, plus I like to keep an older vehicle carb’d.

[@K1LL3R_M1LL3R]

I had a nice LS2 intake with 92mm throttle body, all set up and tuned. It had a ton of wires! I built the harness and everything. In my 69 Corvette. Check out my videos. I traded for a single plane intake and MSD box. It is tons easier, less wiring, and reliable. Even compared to my friends Holley Terminator X Max, the carb setup is easier and more reliable. There is always something going on with the Terminator X Max setup. From drive by wire not working right, trans control often forgets to shift out of 2nd, it loses its tune if you unhook the battery out of the truck (every single time), inputs and outputs not working correctly on nitrous setup, wideband wasn't working correctly out of the box. Each time I would say "Man, I am glad I went MSD and carb! I don't have those problems!" I can jump in my Vette, fire it right up, and go bust some ass!

[@NightWrencher]

I checked it out, you've been busy! I love my carb set up, it took a while to get it dialed in, but I've got it pretty much perfect now.

[@K1LL3R_M1LL3R]

I got a wideband setup I am putting on it tonight. And I've got an E85 Billet metering block kit. But, probably wait to put the E-85 kit on it and just focus on getting the Air/Fuels dialed in to go racing this weekend. Also, I have a Maximizer 5 progressive nitrous controller, and my plate can go to an extra 600 shot of nitrous. Ready to play with it for street racing.

[@K1LL3R_M1LL3R]

Thanks

[@NightWrencher]

Thats gonna be insane! good luck!

[@michaellee6762]

Man believe it or not ur comment kind of eased my curiosity on my situation. I'm restoring a 68 impala fastback and I just recently picked up a 04' 5.3 vortec and I want to go carb..with just a alternator too. I dont need p/s, a/c...I just want a clean ass engine compartment.

[@codyfeatherstone9682]

I’m definitely going to use A carburetor to begin with. Might try fuel injection later

[@NightWrencher]

Good luck man! I'm running the Daytona Sensors box right now that replaced my old MSD box. So far so good!

[@johnparrish9215]

If you trying to get a big LS cheap you need to look for 6 liters with Rec Port heads out of a Van or Truck that has burned. On Co-Part you can find them occasionally and you can buy the entire vehicle, transmission and all for around $500. The fire will not have hurt the long block so your carb conversion will be cheap and easy. Mine is a cathedral port 6 liter with a 4l80e trans that I got from a one ton van. I bought the entire van and sold what was left for scrap.

[@NightWrencher]

Very nice. I never though about getting burned vehicles. Out here 6.0s are really hard to get because people buy them to resell them so finding a good engine is almost impossible. Ive gotta start looking online for this stuff.

[@pmotorsports8276]

Why burned not wrecked?

[@johnparrish9215]

@@pmotorsports8276 check the prices and you will see why. But remember I was looking for a swap to carb not injection, that makes a big difference.

[@NightWrencher]

Exactly, all you need is block and heads for a carb swap

[@K1LL3R_M1LL3R]

Exactly. I bought my 6.0 needing to be rebuilt for 600, but that was before everyone went crazy for pricing. For heads, I saved up and got a set of Dart Pro1 heads for 1000. It runs great.

[@MrDeano-bm8qg]

Welp if you do some research and have some knowledge picking injectors is the same as picking the right carb. But you have a lot of issues with carbs to. Floats, jets, vapor lock, flooding, ect. As far as tuning you can always learn to tune it your self. Just like learning to tune a carb. But that's just an opinion. I agree with the simplicity. Alot less sensors and its pretty straight forward.

[@NightWrencher]

I think I'm pretty good at tuning a carb and I agree that both styles have their quirks, but. There is one thing a carb will do way better than EFI. Once you max out your injectors, you need to spend several hundred on a new set and then adjust the fuel curves. On a carb, if you need more fuel, you buy a $10 set of jets and you're good to go. You pick a carb based on how much HP you wanna make and then tune it. The carb is almost never the limiting factor on power production.

[@177SCmaro]

A lot depends on WHAT carburetor or EFI system you use. If it's some old crusty carb or a pieced together oem efi system you're going to fight it either way - many, many things can go wrong either way. But if it's a good new or used carb or proper efi system either can work well too. It really comes down to a matter of preference. Do you want the less expensive simpler option that you're going to have to tinker with a bit to make make it run perfect or do you want the more expensive option that, after a steeper learning curve, offers much more control and options over fuel and spark? I have one of both. I can appreciate the simplicity of the carb and the speed control of the efi.

[@theredwedge9446]

Honestly it’s just... removing all of the electronics and potential issues is so nice. No more chasing ghosts about what might be wrong and why is the engine not running.

[@NightWrencher]

I agree with you partly but the electrical gremlins will always be around, I help people with their swaps almost every day because something wierd is happening through the wiring.

[@theredwedge9446]

@@NightWrencher It sure will be a lot simpler than a full EFI system. Just look at all the hell the people who have Holly snipers deal with. When something goes wrong it’s a much simpler fix with a carb / distributor set up. Just my preference of keeping things simple.

[@NightWrencher]

yes, exactly right. The more you add, the more problems you can have

[@gregsmith332]

@@theredwedge9446 So explain why does your Firebird has fuel injection instead of a carburetor. Do you really think that most people wants to do with cold start issues, chokes, jets, needles, floats, power valves and bowls?

[@theredwedge9446]

@@gregsmith332Are you trolling ?

[@godblessthisnation8386]

My son lost his 96 k3500 crew cab because an injector line popped off and the truck went up in flames so fast he had just enough time to jump out before the truck was engulfed in fire. Total loss !!

[@johnkirby6216]

I get better gas mileage with a carburetor on my 1981 Ford LTD I used to have efi I got 20 mpg now with a carburetor I get 28 to 30 mpg

[@NightWrencher]

Thats pretty impressive, my corolla barely gets 30mpg and its a 1.8L!

[@K1LL3R_M1LL3R]

I don't believe that. Must have other mods to help mileage, or had the tune for fuel injection bad off. I have a carb on my 6 liter in my 69 Corvette. I had it with a LS2 intake, 92 mm throttle body, I liked it. I never drove it like that. I traded all my fuel injection stuff for MSD box, carb and intake. I love it. With fuel injection, there were tons of wires everywhere! And, I have nitrous plate already, MSD box comes with 2 step built in, can ramp and control timing. For me, carb is better. I really want to go Holley Terminator X max to control my 4L80e, and it has all the gauges, tidy, but it is going to be a very costly swap. Not only the X max is @ 1300 to 1500, but new intake, throttle body, bigger injectors, nitrous plate for F.I., fuel pump and filter. Alot. But, I would rather have all that than spend 1400 for digital gauges in my car.

[@johnkirby6216]

@@K1LL3R_M1LL3R I’m just driving a basic Ford 302 Cleveland with a stock 2 barrel

[@michaellee6762]

Great video, I'm currently installing a 5.3 vortec into my 68 impala fastback and I want a clean engine compartment and I'm also not a pro wiring a lot up. So carb it is...will just a good old fashioned external inline electric fuel pump work? And do I need to regulate it?

[@NightWrencher]

My latest video has all the info you'll need for a carb swap!

[@toxictryhardtommy7251]

I’m going with the Holley sniper efi on my 5.3 with a 6014 msd ignition controller because I want everything to be simple

[@pmotorsports8276]

Your injector scenerio is also true for jet's

[@NightWrencher]

Well not exactly. Since theres only 1 jet per bank on the primaries and secondaries, if one side is plugged, you'll lose power at 4 cyls not just 1 which is way more noticable.

[@suicidal_racing]

you must not of looked hard,theres threads on ls carb setups with timing info on both ls1tech an yellowbullet.com ,then you have the fb group lsx carb swaps.

[@NightWrencher]

I have gotten into many convos with guys on lsx carb swaps. The majority runs 13 at startup and ramps to 32-35 total from 1500rpms. Since every engine combo is different, the timing maps will have to be custom as well. The best thing to do is get it dyno tunned and have the guy make multiple runs with different settings. But we all do things differently!

[@Harold16785]

Besides the carb change, could a old school electric fuel pump be used? I'm not a fan of the fuel pumps that GM are using.

[@NightWrencher]

Yes you can. Just make sure it has enough flow and use a regulator on it

[@nobullshiit5682]

It cost more to do a carb set up , I got to buy a intake and a carb, MSD ignition controller . plus I have to change up the fuel system .Im not against Carbs but I'm on a budget so when I crunch the numbers it just cost too much money .

[@NightWrencher]

exactly right

[@SKYENET-zy2cn]

Carbs seem to work fine for the last 100 years. Right?

[@NightWrencher]

Depends if you let them sit 😂

[@MrJeep75]

Carb a better way to go in a modified application

[@NightWrencher]

For NA drag racing or even for a daily its a great way to go. For turbo or serious rock crawling, EFI is probably better due to more consistant AFRs

[@marcorivera8585]

Gracias amigo

[@NightWrencher]

Con gusto

[@ShaunOconnell]

Or do a Holley sniper instead...

[@NightWrencher]

Idk, If I was going to stick to EFI, I would just keep the stock stuff

[@joshuathomas4602]

Great video

[@NightWrencher]

Thank you sir!

[@Dannymclovin]

Had a carb on my z with an ls ,being a millenial I couldnt figure out how to work the damn thing made me sad as I really wanted to own a carbed car doing another ls swap soon and itll be with a carb and I intend to make it work this time around

[@NightWrencher]

Oh man that would have been awesome. Did you have enough hood clearance for the carb?

[@Dannymclovin]

@@NightWrencher no unfortunately I had to cut the the hood lol you should look at it it looked like i had cut it with a toe nail clippers it kinda worked and tbh it sounded way better while it idles then it did efi if you got instagram you can take a look its posted under @mrmt86

[@NightWrencher]

Ill check it out man!

[@Dannymclovin]

@@NightWrencher hey thanks man I really appreciate it 👌

[@Dannymclovin]

@Morning star Garage thanks I appreciate the advice but I just had a revalation I actually just yanked out the ls swap in my nissan because it's so expensive to run speaking of old school I'd figure I'd just throw in an chevy 350 because it's been sitting for the past year and I just wanna drive it

[@chevyrellstraightdropracin0603]

Nice

[@NightWrencher]

Thanks man!

[@glennmanchester1568]

Put that hei in right on that sbc

[@NightWrencher]

Huh? What SBC?

[@glennmanchester1568]

Theres a sbc In that video lol w the distributor off about 2 teeth lol

[@NightWrencher]

@@glennmanchester1568 oh, lol thats not my footage

[@Bossman-cf6rj]

Did you hook your pump up to ur ignition switch along with your msd box ?

[@NightWrencher]

Yes I did. They're wired up to relays in my fusebox. I try to keep high current away from my ign switch so itll last longer and be safer. Check out my setting up MSD 6014 video for a close up of my set up.

[@jorgeortegasanchez7263]

Hey i have a 92 suburban k2500 i want to put a ls with carb and keep my 92 4l80e 4x4 but do i need a new torque converter with a bigger stall or can i use the my stock torque converter

[@NightWrencher]

I think you just need to find the right flex plate. Im pretty sure you can keep the same converter. It depends on the year and size of the engine too. So get an engine first and then find the right flexplate to match the engine to the torque converter

[@jorgeortegasanchez7263]

Thank u

[@NightWrencher]

👍

[@liveandletlive2894]

If your running a carb so no efi, what computer runs the trans? What trans dont need a comouter

[@NightWrencher]

I'm running a manual trans so no trans computer needed. You can run a th350, th400, 700r4 and early 4L60 as a direct bolt on with no computer. 96+ 4L60e and 4L80e require a trans controller

[@liveandletlive2894]

@@NightWrencher ok thanks. If I go efi, how do all the car electronics work. Lights dash etc. Doing research for my 1st swap I'm pretty lost

[@NightWrencher]

It depends on the application. Like on my truck I'm running a toyota cluster with a carbed LS so I ran the stock toyota sensors on my engine with power and ground in the right spots to make it work. If youre doing an efi swap youll need a GM cluster that works with the PCM youre going to use or GM compatible aftermarket gauges

[@Angelface11]

@@NightWrencher you can get manual kit for a 4l80e

[@macman9094]

Do you have issues with fuel burning rich?

[@NightWrencher]

I do, but its not so much that its running rich, its that the air bleeds are too big, causing the signal to slow down and hesitate with a lean miss. If I take care of the bleeds Ill be able to jet down.

[@christopherjames5192]

Did this dude say, “without fur-a-do.”?? 😂

[@NightWrencher]

I slur a little bit so I probably did lmao

[@christopherjames5192]

All good man, I’m just jealous of your mechanical skills! Haha. Thanks for the vids

[@NightWrencher]

Thanks a bunch man, much appreciated! I just ended the live stream, it was really fun, you gotta hop in next time!

[@erwins.7007]

How did you do your fuel system set up. I did an inline holley blue electric pump and it recently started to get me stranded im guessing its heating up ?

[@NightWrencher]

Ive got a video on how I installed an in tank pump. External pumps always suffer from over heating which is why I don't really like them.

[@erwins.7007]

@@NightWrencher i have a 76 k10 not fuel injected, so will i need a efi tank also to do a intank elctric pump or can i do it on stock tank

[@NightWrencher]

@@erwins.7007 depends on the style of the pick up but im sure you can either modify the pick up to install the pump or there must be a retrofit pump thatll work thatll replace the stock pickup

[@erwins.7007]

Ok so im going with walbro 225 fuel pump intank with baffle tank, do i wire to a relay or just 12v hot wire?

[@NightWrencher]

All your loads should be on a relay. A baffled tank shoulds run pretty good

[@daviddematos7470]

I approuve

[@NightWrencher]

Haha thanks!

[@SAM-eg7jg]

Carburetor for the win...!!!

[@NightWrencher]

Cant argue with that 👍

[@thangamajig]

You got one vid that says yes and one that says no... Make up ya mind.

[@NightWrencher]

Its basically 2 sides of the same coin. Different reasons for different people

[@thangamajig]

@@NightWrencher LOL,, I figured. Just yanking your chain. If I find a LS LMG. To get rid of the VVT and DOD. Change the lifters and go ? Want to run a carburetor. Don't care for all that electronic crap any more.

[@NightWrencher]

I believe its cam, lifters, timing gear and maybe pushrods

[@jesusmarin7083]

😂

[@willgeee4824]

Carb alone cost 600$

[@NightWrencher]

idk what kind of carb youre talking about but you can get double pumper carbs all day for $350 or less. 100$ or less at the swap meets.

[@SOU6900]

What about a Vortec 6.0L?

[@NightWrencher]

It's essentially the same thing, 5.3 and a 6.0 aren't too different , they're even the same size physically

[@SOU6900]

@@NightWrencher I was under the impression that the LS and Vortec engines were two completely different engines aside from displacement. 🤔

[@SOU6900]

So what about an LSX engine then?

[@NightWrencher]

@@SOU6900 the term LSX can mean one of 2 things. The first being the LSX block which is its own engine code like the LSX 454. The other meaning is any ls engine, LS1, LS3, LS6, etc. X taking the place of the number. Iron block engines like the 5.3, 4.8 and 6.0s are technically not LS engines because LS is not in their engine code( truck 5.3 is an LM7) but theyre exactly the same and most parts interchange but the blocks are iron instead of aluminium

[@SOU6900]

@@NightWrencher the LSX 454 that you mention is what I was referring to. Not sure if it's doable, but sometime down the road I'd like to build a LSX 454 from the ground up as a tow motor for a classic Chevy 73-87 dually or maybe a 88 to 95 version. Not sure if anyone actually makes cam shafts for that platform that are good for low end torque though, and honestly without the $$$ to even start a project like that I'm not really ready to start doing the research unfortunately (can't do shit on fast food pay 😉). On a sidenote however I thought the LSX engine was actually a 427ci engine.

[@whataboutbob7967]

Its the dumbest thing you can do to your ls!

[@talkntrash]

Your already wasting a lot of gas. Be a man, install a carburetor.