Sentinelist
Newbie
Getting rid of TBI in favor of a carb and points ignition, and going to manual torque converter clutch lockup is insane.
[EDIT] Aren't the 93--94-ish and newer transmissions electronically-controlled? No "real" valve body, TV cable, vacuum modulator, governor, etc.? [/EDIT]
Even the heater and wiper controls are electronic, along with the cruise control and ABS.
Do you have a problem with the "solid state" diodes in the alternator?
Why not just buy a horse?
Is it though? Seems like a pretty popular route for those fed up with troubleshooting EFI hassles and tunes from the searches that I've done here. Maybe you weren't aware. Again, going back to my concerns and objective here, sticking with EFI (or let's face it- picking a far nicer GMT-800 for the same price, such as the 2005 Z71 Burb I used to also have), is what would be insane for my use case. Not worried about the heater and wiper controls and other ancillaries- I'm more interested in a drivetrain that functions without electronics. And where that's not possible, such as the alternator as you pointed out, a new spare can safely be stored away to swap in if needed. Cheap and easy.
Though I do still want a horse just for kicks... my neighbor has a stunning retired thoroughbred 16-hand, but my veterinarian wife has always said no due to medical costs... even if I look damn good on one.
Holy crap man, lighten up. If you really want to go "straight up mechanical" (lol) engine control, buy a 12V cummins and then go bother those guys with your paranoia.
Here in the real world, we go forward with technology. We are up to direct injection and PWM fuel systems. It's fun, take off your tin foil hat and join us.
Ah no worries, I have vehicles for days I need to 'lighten up', and those days aren't infrequent. Just wafted around in one of them today and it was indeed fun, but is absolutely incapable if times got tough. My daily drivers are thoroughly modern and make any GMT-400 look like an International Scout. (Which would also be a great candidate if they made a 4-door model- 12V Rams too sadly enough) But my daily drivers, capable with 4WD and locking diffs and KO2s as they have, may also be rendered technically doorstops in such an event. As would yours. That'd kinda suck wouldn't it? Yes, I mean if you cared. As I mentioned, what I'm after is purely an analog backup vehicle. And with that objective and family in mind, money is of little object.. But if you want to be the grasshopper in the Aesop fable vs. the ants, well, somebody has to be. Do you like deer corn? I'll leave a sack out for you.
My suggestion for ultimate simplicity would be to buy a stock TBI and keep it a stock TBI. Much more reliable and easier to troubleshoot than a carb-swapped engine. If you are worried about obsolescence, spend $500-$1000 and buy backups for all your critical sensors + a spare ECM.
Can-do on buying and securely stashing backup parts- that's what I figured would be needed. Just hoping I can put together a general list (and for future reference for others here) of what components would be needed to address this.
I have looked into this fairly deep.
You could get the tbi 454. Add an edelbrock intake and 1405 carb w/electric choke kit. HEI distributor, wideband O2 sensor to tune the carb, manual valve body in trans with a good torque converter. Remove the oem cluster and add other gauges etc..
The main thing that stopped me from doing this is the cost. Add all of that stuff up and you could spend a chunk of change. If you are building a truck where most of the oem parts are junk and will need to be replaced anyways, it might make sense. If you buy a truck that runs and most of the stuff works as is, it's hard to justify the cost of changing it all.
Certainly agreed in principle normally. Thanks very much- I posted this hoping to get a reply like that. I wouldn't mind dumping a few grand back into the truck to get it setup like this even if that exceeded the value of the truck itself. It might. If you were to have done it, which specific parts would you have picked and from what vendor? I'm scoping Summit but maybe there's a better option out there. Links would be awesome that I could tally up and plan around. I can do most of the work myself but have a willing indy shop as well.
What you're looking for is a 70's Suburban with a 454,before computers and any other smog crap.
Indeed sir. I actually went and looked at an early-80s K2500 Burb last week. Haven't ruled it out. I'm just hoping I can push my luck with a GMT-400, even if it takes a true carb conversion and a handful of other parts to generally make it analog for running and driving.