Carb swapped ‘97 vortec - SUCCESS!!!

[Dk47]

I have successfully carb swapped my 97 silverado. A lot of research, trial and error, work has paid off. All of it has been done by myself except some machine shop work. I went with a Edelbrock AVS2 carb and have the 4L60E shifting perfectly. Everywhere I went online I had folks telling me how ridiculously I was to do it.
The reason for this post is to say it is a very worthwhile project. If anyone has questions please ask and I will help any way I can. I can post pics if needed.
I did get some good advice on this forum and I do appreciate it.

 

[2000obs]

What parts did you have to get, how hard was is, and would it be easier on a manual trans?

 

[Road Trip]

Always good to hear when a project is successfully willed over the
finish line to completion!

****

Back in the day I've rebuilt several of the ancestors of your carb...back
when their nomenclature was the Carter AFB. (Aluminum Four Barrel)

If I'm not mistaken, when the market for selling carbs to the Big Three dried
up, Carter sold their mfg capability to the intake manifold maker Edelbrock?

Anyway, you might have already investigated the history of your new carb --
but if not, here's a pretty cool write-up. (Link) EDIT: Following this link
is well worth it, just to read all the comments after the article. Just learned
that it was more like Carter > Federal Mogul (as Carter) > Weber > Edelbrock.
Interesting history!

Congrats on your success, as well as offering to help others. FWIW, although
a lot of the discussion is centered around all things EFI, there are a handful
of folks in here that grew up on carbs & still have a tip or two and are willing
to share their hard-won knowledge. IMHO, this is what makes this site so good!

Safe travels --

PS - Don't be surprised if others ask you for photos of your project... :0)

 

[Trio]

The reason for this post is to say it is a very worthwhile project.

Congrats on the success. I'm curious though, can you elaborate on your statement above? What is the benefit of switching to a carb from a well-functioning EFI system (or perhaps your EFI was broken, which would explain the carb swap...)? It would seem manufacturers would still be installing carbs if the performance / reliability was superior to EFI.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I ran my 97 van with a Holley 4175 650cfm spreadbore double pumper for a year. I ran the vortec ignition system and most of the sensors in place. It was purely to learn how to use the 0411 as a stand alone timing/trans controller for a street/strip kind of LS swap. It ran well but the EFI is better and easier, so I never did a writeup on how to do it. I have long since put the EFI back on. 383 makes about 500 hp with EFI.

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[L31MaxExpress]

Congrats on the success. I'm curious though, can you elaborate on your statement above? What is the benefit of switching to a carb from a well-functioning EFI system (or perhaps your EFI was broken, which would explain the carb swap...)? It would seem manufacturers would still be installing carbs if the performance / reliability was superior to EFI.

Carb is a major downgrade especially on a mild or stock engine, unless you lack any computer skills at all. I have run both on the same engine. The EFI did EVERYTHING better than a carb. However different goals for different people. Cool to see a GMT400 saved from the wrecking yard, regardless of what induction is on the engine.

 

[Dk47]

Congrats on the success. I'm curious though, can you elaborate on your statement above? What is the benefit of switching to a carb from a well-functioning EFI system (or perhaps your EFI was broken, which would explain the carb swap...)? It would seem manufacturers would still be installing carbs if the performance / reliability was superior to EFI.

There was nothing wrong with the efi. I drove it for 200k miles. People do things for their own reasons.
I bought this truck for myself in 99 but for the last 10 years my son who was disabled and lived with us drove it. He loved hot rods. He passed away unexpectedly in October of 21.
I will never sell it so I painted it and rebuilt the motor with a lot of hp upgrades....for him.

 

[Dk47]

There was nothing wrong with the efi. I drove it for 200k miles. People do things for their own reasons.
I bought this truck for myself in 99 but for the last 10 years my son who was disabled and lived with us drove it. He loved hot rods. He passed away unexpectedly in October of 21.
I will never sell it so I painted it and rebuilt the motor with a lot of hp upgrades....for him

There was nothing wrong with the efi. I drove it for 200k miles. People do things for their own reasons.
I bought this truck for myself in 99 but for the last 10 years my son who was disabled and lived with us drove it. He loved hot rods. He passed away unexpectedly in October of 21.
I will never sell it so I painted it and rebuilt the motor with a lot of hp upgrades....for him.

With all that said it is very fast and a blast to drive. I'm in south ga so cold weather and a carb are no concerns. I have another Silverado as my daily driver.

 

[Dk47]

Some pictures. It was the tan color, same as interior.

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[Dk47]

Carb is a major downgrade especially on a mild or stock engine, unless you lack any computer skills at all. I have run both on the same engine. The EFI did EVERYTHING better than a carb. However different goals for different people. Cool to see a GMT400 saved from the wrecking yard, regardless of what induction is on the engine.

I don't lack the computer skills at all, I've been rebuilding and working on engine's for years. For what I wanted to do with my truck and my money it was definitely an upgrade