Can I swap my Vortec engine for a Hot Rod Carburator?

Question

I have a 97 Silverado and I want a engine with around 350 - 400 horses and I want the big lope sound. Ive been told I cant get what I want with a fuel injected engine. So I have to go Carb.

Answer 1

edelbrock should have them dude or go to jegs.com

Answer 2

A 97 silverado is a dog of a truck as far as raw horsepower goes.  You either have a 5.0 or 5.7.  I can honestly tell you that without a seriously badass set of cylinder heads and a fat b*****d of a cam you will not see 400 horses out of your 5.7.  For the 5.0 it's even less possible since there are very few aftermarket 305 heads available for gen 1 small block chevys.  I'm not a know it all but I'll tell you, I went from 89 corvette aluminum heads and lt4 hotcam on my built 350 to a pair of $1400 AFR heads and a monster compcam lt1 extreme energy cam with holley stealth ram fuel injection and it still pounds out somewhere in the area of 375 to the wheels.  With your stock shortblock(being the engine block, pistons, crank, everything but the heads up) you're not going to get 350 horses unless you do some very high dollar stuff with the cylinder heads and cam with those 2 being deal breakers.  That or a supercharger which is probably 2x as much money for the charger alone.  S/C kits are easily 4-5 grand and you won't get that sound you're looking for.  Exhaust won't cut it alone.  Hope that helps give you an idea of what really goes into it. You can't bolt on 200 horses without a couple thousand bucks my friend.

Whoever told you you can't get 350-400 horses with EFI is a moron, don't listen to them.  The new corvette z06 hits hard with 505 horses and it's EFI.  It can be done mang.

Answer 3

Yes you can, but there are always complications:

1.  The carburated modification will very likely fail the emissions tests.

2.  The carburation change must be done as part of a systemic approach to be successful.  

Camshaft for the goals, 2" spacer block under the carb, good set of headers to replace the stock cast iron exhaust manifold system, "X" style crossover ahead of the mufflers in the head pipes, low restriction mufflers such as Flow Master (or equivalent).

Answer 4

i wouldnt think the fuel  injection should matter, but most of the sound u want comes from ure exhaust. so ide say get dual exhaust mabe with an h or x pipe. might as well get headers while ure at it. mabe a biger cam if u want it to lope or w/e. but i bet the stock engine thats in there prolly only puts out like 250 hp or so. so i dono how much money u wanna spend.  

Answer 5

You can buy a intake manifold that fits the vortec engine and will accept a carb. Should be able to find it at any hot rod shop