1979 Little Red 360 sniper kit
You are full of crap. TBI EFI today is nothing like the OEM junk of the 80's. The less expensive stuff like Sniper have a definate place in hotrodding, and there are some great running cars running these systems, some of them with dual 4 throttle bodies
Of course they are not for everyone, but if you don't want to spend the extra (and consididerable) money on a multiport system, they are a great way to gain easy tunability and fix some of the issues with modern fuel, AKA fuel boil and vapor lock.
If carefully/ properly installed---and that issue is no different between multiport or TBI--they can provide great startup, reliability and fuel mileage. THE FACT IS THAT carbs are getting more and more difficult to get parts for in any case, and quality parts in particular.
If you cannot see "the place" for an in between EFI you are an idiot. I feel no need to "prove" this to you
I'm not going to argue the nonsense of wet vs dry manifolds because for most street rigs and even many drag/ race rigs, "it just doesn't matter." ****!!! Some of the stack injection setups use injectors down the throats!!! (Stand off or whatever they are called)
LET ME ASK THIS SIMPLE QUESTION Since you are so anxious for the OP to spend way more money on a multiport system, ARE YOU GOING TO DONATE THE MONETARY DIFFERENCE?
I thought not.
Although I agree that the EFI kits sold today are much better than the stuff was on cars from the 80's and 90's, and that there are certain improvements that will be had with modern EFI systems, and they they can provide easier starting, reliability, and fuel mileage over a poor running carburetor, If you have a good running carb there will little to no difference in starting, reliability, or fuel mileage, especially with a well set up spread bore carburetor. A good spread bore carb may even give you better gas mileage than a square bore EFI system. I think the biggest difference is in starting, the EFI kit will start on the first crank of the key, a carb that has been siting, not so much...
I will start with the reliability factor and the claim that carb parts are getting more difficult to get. While this may be true, I just rebuilt a 72 Thermoquad for my Duster 340. This carb is 50 years old and parts are still available. Now, I used to own a speed shop on the 80's and 90's, and sold performance parts into the mid 2000's. I sold quite a few of the first EFI kits that came out at the time. I recall the B&M Superjection, the original Halletec F8, The early Electromotive systems, the Holley Commander 950, Accel DFI (with their SuperRam intakes), and a bunch of others ones that I can't even remember. Guess what? almost no parts, or no parts are available for many of those early systems and no one supports them, they are now mostly useless, and every day another one gets tossed into the trash. So, while the cool new EFI kit may be more reliable than a carb, and you could argue the contrary, eventually ALL the current EFI kits will get superseded by newer EFI kits, and the manufacturers will stop supporting them. Since these kits were not produced in the tens of millions or hundreds of millions like an OEM EFI, as soon as the original manufacturer changes to a newer kit or just gets out of the EFI business, or goes out of business, no one will support them, and your fancy EFI kit will be one bad part away from being in the trash can. What parts you can find for these old kits can also skyrocket in price. Look at what Holley wants for a Commander 950 O2 sensor:
Holley 534-190 Holley Commander 950 Wideband Replacement O2 Sensors | Summit Racing
This has to be taken into consideration when doing one of these kits. You may not be able to find parts for the Sniper EFI 10-20 years from now, the parts could get outrageously expensive, and since the aftermarket has moved on, it will get more difficult to find someone that knows how to work on them. Eventually Holley will move to a newer EFI system, and discontinue all the previous stuff, or they could just get out of the EFI business, or could completely go out of business.
Now, if you do not plan to own your car for more than a decade this may not be a concern, but judging by previous history, all these kits will eventually get replaced by a newer better kits, and the older ones will start to get dumped. As the older kits start disappearing parts will no longer be available. I am pretty sure that even 20 years from now I will still be able to get a rebuild kit for my 72 Thermoquad, Carter made millions of these and unless people stop working on and restoring these cars, they will be available.
You can still get rebuild kits and parts for the OEM carbs of the 1930's to 1950's Ford Flatheads, and its been almost 100 years. Try to get anything for a Sniper EFI kit in 100 years, ain't going to happen.
Other consideration is that if anything happens to your EFI kit, and eventually it will, you are on your own trying to diagnose it. It has always been difficult to put a screwdriver to an electron, and most people have no idea how EFI works. You start getting a bad miss on your engine with an aftermarket EFI kit, and you are not an EFI guy or a DIY guy, who do you take it to? Call Holley tech?!?! Almost anyone can diagnose a carb and points engine, and if you cannot, someone in your town will know how to. These old carb/points/early electronic ignition systems have many drawbacks in efficiency and reliability, but they are very simple and easy to work on. My Hellcat dies in the middle of the road, it is towing time and it probably needs to go to the dealer, my Duster dies in the middle of the road, I take the tools out and start diagnosing it. I have a good extra ballast resistor and ECU box, and I bet you that I will most probably make it home, and if I do not I will know what the issue is and I can fix it myself.
