I began working on cars in 1965 at 16.
I got out of working on cars in ten years and into other work.
None the less I worked on my own cars ever sense.
I used to rebuild My Holly’s, AFBs and Quads. I knew them well and their flaws.
And their flaws: Power valves in Hollys, leaking main jets seals in Quads, and I don’t think the AFB having any flaws OTHER they what all carbs had: vacuum leaks from the steel throttle shafts wearing in the aluminum bodies then needing bushings to fix.
Modern FI throttle bodies I have worked on have ball bearings and SEALs on their throttle shafts = No wear no leaks.
Over time I learned how much cleaner a Fuel Injection system works as a daily driver.
How even a near cold FI engine drives just like a fully warmed up on, no cold falling on its face if you floor it before fully warmed up.
No flooding.
No choke malfunctions.
Longer engine life due to no cylinder washing from a wet start (two strokes of the throttle and accelerator pump…).
And less ware on the bearings due to a min of Two RPMs before firing thus insuring oil pressure before any load on them.
And more accurate full regulation at low RPMs as fuel feed is NOT depended of air flow and vacuum to control it.
And much refined control where a number of machinery systems TRY to handle everything from Idle to the first opening of the throttle (tip off) to low and all the way to WOT Wide Open Throttle.
And how a carb is limited to its metering Jets and metering Rods with only about 4 real settings: with two to three steps on the metering rods and when all out only the jets.
When trying to get MPG I hated seeing my vacuum gauge full below 10 inches of Vacuum as at that point I knew my metering rods were all out of the jets and I was running only on them and goodby MPG.
And how here in AZ we had problems with vapor lock, or stuck floats, and other silly carb problems.
All gone with FI.
I fought with carbs from 1965 until 2004 when I got my 93 TBI G20 Van.
I will never go back to a carb. Even if I get a classic I will restro it to fuel injection.
The only thing I can see a carb be good for is WOT.
My 2 cents
Rich
PS I am working on running a 57 TPI on its ECM 165 and Running a 4L80e on its 7427 PCM and was looking for tips on how to run both side by side and found this article.
Note: a TPI while limited to under 6000 RPMs is said to make 30% More Torque, HP and MPG over a carb.
As does my 03 Crown Vic, and 03 Ford Explorer with their 4.6s and a 5.5k red lines and a tuned port style intake and ONLY a baby 281CI engine and I “win” 90% of my intersection drag races with their neck snapping take off. And 25 to 30MPG.