New or old school Holden V8 or Chev it?

[henry]

I want to do a V8 conversion in my Mav but am not sure which choice to make. Red to Black motor 308 carby, or VN to VT 304 injected. Or CHEV it with maybe Holley carby type injection. What to do?????

[Daisy]

chev it...

[BIG GQ]

When you talk holden I generally stop listening but what I will say is why go to all the trouble of a conversion only to retain a carby engine and the troubles that come with a carby in offroad conditions. Whatever you go with make sure it is injected is my $0.02 worth

[henry]

I hear you big gq, i do like the injection idea, it is more expensive than a old red 308, but does any one knw if VN 304 inlet manifolds fit carby motors.??? And daisy the chevs are tough as nails too. What to do hey?

[CB0569]

I prefer old school.
O.K. efi goes well but if you break down in the bush theres no computers,coil packs, or modules etc out there,at least with carby you can adjust float levels or whatever to make it run to get you out.
Who cares if it does run ruogh ,it gets you home

[SLOGQ]

No, EFI inlet manifolds wont fit carby engines........

But of you bolt EFI heads onto a red or blue bottom end then it will fit, and EFI haeds are heaps better than carby ones.

I say go the EFI holden motor, Just get a EFI motor, VN/VP computer and loom (easy to wire in and a lot less hassle than holley fuel injection) and sort the exhuast, fuel pump and adaptor plate/engine mounts out and away you go!

Just my 2 cents.....

[mattstar]

other then water, there's not much difference between carbie and injection with reguards to potential for off-raod disasters. if you were going to the trouble of a v8 conversion one would think you would go to the trouble of water proofing elecs. apart from that there's more chance of cooking a spark plug then a coil...
the performance difference between carbie and efi is stand alone!
why would you even bother with old technology that will run rough as guts over bumby tracks, will run dry on steep hills and has to be nursed through mud?

[henry]

some very good points for injection as far as useability in the rough and hills. i should point out that i currently have lpg on my tb42 so i will look to fit it up to the new motor too, just with a new mixer.

[Beastmavster]

If you plan on running LPG, then carby is the go based on price.

[pongo]

id go old school chev on lpg. But realitically i'd go with whatever setup i could get cheaper,

Both setups are reliable, Both have there differences.

[Vulcanised]

i went the injected V8 and i'm stoked with it. no dramas off road, if you mount the ECU properly, it should be in the cab anyhow and out of the water. The dizzy and coil on the injected V8 is at the back out of the way.... i have had my engine bay full of mud and water and although one plug shorted for a short while, nothing else was affected. Better performance, parts are plentiful and relatively cheap. And if you go to gas on an injected motor, you can program it to run just as good as it was on petrol.

[henry]

What conversion kit did you use patrolden?

[blackmav8]

i have a 305 chev with 350 holly with off road kit fitted and think its great. way cheaper than setting up injection an does not starve or flood on angles or rough stuff.

[Artificial_Aspiration]

I've built many V8 over the years and have experience in repowering 4x4's, I believe the true answer to your question is CHEV not just any old 350 327 or 305 use a Mid to Late 96 to 2000 350 Chev Vortec. These are roller engines which are extreme economical due the the design of the ports of their cylinder heads.(search google"Chevy 350 Vortec") They have hardened Valve seats also. These engines produce 375hp and over 400ft lbs of torque running on Straight LPG with only a warm cam, HEI dissy and a set of pipes, compare that your efi 304 with 185kw's(250hp) and 400Nm(297ft lbs) of torque, that HSV of coarse. Also you will always have the problems with computer and wiring that only need is a splash of water on a plug and the whole thing stops.(been their with a SR5 Hilux)

Also LPG will drive upside down if you let it.

I have just put 2 of these in my 32ft boat, she used to have a pair of late 80's 350 and had a top speed of 32knot @ 164lt/h cruisespeed was 22knots at 72lt/h Now I cruisespeed is 32knot @ 54lt/h and she does 54knots at wot.

You can Buy a new 375HP Vortec 4Bolt 350 chev 96-00 4 bolt short motor with reco vortec L31 64cc heads, flat top pistons, HV oil pump, sump, timing cover, HO cam, alloy performance intake and makes 375HP @ 5700 RPM, 407LBS @ 4300 RPM with dyno sheet for $3850. That's money well spent.

Hope this helps.

[henry]

Geez A A you put a good argument together, you sure your not a chev salesman I see it makes good power high in the rev range but how much torgue around 1000 revs, better or worse than the 304? As my car is used up the Watto's mainly it gets a lot of use in the lower revs. Another thing its a bit more pricey than the 304 injected, is there considered a good second hand range of the "vortec" engines? What is a good carby for these motors as i never rely on LPG alone, i go places where they dont sell it.

[rockrover]

y run old school when an engineer frowns apon u using a older engine than ur make and modle f ur viecle go injection im goin injection for the realiabiulty in mud water and angles

[Vulcanised]

What conversion kit did you use patrolden?

i used the Marks kit. Costs about 3 grand all up, and thats for everything you need, including the fuel system, engine mounts, harness adaptor, diagnostics light, speed sensor.

[henry]

Thanks for getting back on thread Patrolden, thats a good wheel up over the tree root, yes i know where your avatar is from. Did you bust anything when she came down? I did google "chevy vortech 350" and found lots of useless info. Rang a importer in sydney and got prices on 350 vortech chevs, $3500 thru to $9000, thats brand new, for the full injected retro kit, bolt in motor and hook up 4 wires and away she goes. A top package, see how finance goes. Any body know a place to get good second hand chev vortechs.