My Jeep has the 258 with an Offenhauser 4bbl intake on it w/ a 650cfm carb that the PO put on.
The carb is definitely too big for the engine, although it does run decent..
Should I go ahead and get a new, smaller carb (390cfm is smallest 4bbl I've found), or should I wait and save up for FI (I'd like to go with Howell's).
I'm leaning more towards the FI, but it will take me a while to save for it.
This Jeep is my weekend daily driver, I have a company vehicle mon-fri.
It's all in what you want. Fuel injection is pricey but it's usually trouble free and adjusts all by itself to changes in altitudes and usually delivers better gas mileage. But as you say, it's pricey.
I got rid of my Carter 600 cfm AFB (Edelbrock bought them out and they market them as "Performers" etc) and downsized to a Holley 470 cfm Truck Avenger. It does great and performs better offroad than on. In a perfect world, Holley would've made that 390 a Truck Avenger too.
It's all what you want, as it's YOUR Jeep. Everything is running well so you have time to save if that's the way you want to go.
I have the Howell TBI on my 258 and, once I got everything tuned properly, I love it. I'm curious how well it works with the Offy intake. Around town fuel mileage is close to 15 mpg. I'd take EFI over a carb any day. Well worth the price of admission.
I just put the junkyard TBI on my 73 and it's great. From what I gather, Howells is a fuel only system, that's why I didn't bother with it. I went to a u pull it on a half off day and got everything i needed from the donor for $80. I was tired with my carb running great one day, then running like crap the next day. Its really up to what you want but with the TBI, you don't have to worry about adjusting it again. I haven't gotten to the point of tuning my own chip, but its already awesome and will only get better.
TBI is the best mod I've ever done to my CJ! I was lucky and scored a used one off the classifieds here last year for $400! Be patient and wait for a deal! It takes 2hours to install, and works great! Oh and the gorgeous Scrambler deserves it!!!
If you go w/a small Holley T/A, while saving up, you should be relatively happy. After the swap, the Holley should bring a decent penny. Sell what you have to get the Holley and maybe that will satisfy you. I'm in the same boat. I look at it like I'm just renting my T/A until I can afford FI!
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