EFI to Carburetor conversion

[beetleswamp]

The older gear heads on youtube are increasingly converting their EFI trucks back to carbs due to the obsolescence apocalypse. That got me thinking because I've been putting off body work for years, since every time I'm about to pull out the welder there's some new electrical glitch that sets off the check engine light again. My moto and minitruck have carbs and I much prefer them, especially the ability to self-rescue if something goes wrong. Chinese 4y carbs and distributors are still cheap, so I was wondering how difficult it would be to do the conversion if I was able to get my hands on some affordable Hilux manifolds and maybe 3d print an air intake cover?

[beetleswamp]

Looks like the experiment is on. I found a place in China that has the carburetor-compatible intake and exhaust manifolds for $220 so it's now ordered. Now to match it up to the old engine on the stand and see if it fits, lines up with the existing exhaust, etc. Hopefully I don' t get hit too hard with the tariffs, but it's still worth it compared to what Megazip wants for OE Hilux parts.

If everything lines up the next move will be locating a carb. The Australians have webber 32/36 conversions similar to what the local guys use to change their 22REs to 22R. The forums mention that the Chinese carbs are unreliable and designed to be disposable, which also mirrors my experience. I'm not a huge fan of the air filter riding on top of the engine in such a cramped compartment, but I have a few ideas in case it turns out to be an issue. Also I'm going with manual choke so I can limp home if things get gummed up.

After that I'll look for a distributor with mechanical advance, a compatible ignitor, a fuel pressure regulator, and begin the journey of figuring out the wiring. My plan is to keep the existing wiring until I'm sure everything works and run a parallel system. One of my great concerns has been the ancient heat-stiffened insulation especially because it's so difficult to access the engine in case of a fire. On the plus side this should open a ton of space in the engine compartment and vastly improve air flow. Maybe the ultimate solution for the heat-soak problem?

My guess is by the time that all is said and done this project will be around $1k, but it will be well worth it if I never have to mess with overpriced/unobtanium disintegrating plastic crap ever again.

Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVfJHLVIeaU

If 22re guys can do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btQiq2wJx2g

Then we should be able to make this happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx_tSKpBx0A

[Chad Long]

Made any progress? Id be very interested in doing this.

[beetleswamp]

Hey Chad. I tried to order it through the freewai website but they jerked me around for a month and wouldn't ship it, so I cancelled the credit card transaction before the dispute window ran out. I was considering to see if one of the Australian webber carb tuners would ship a manifold over here if I bought one of their carb setups. An aftermarket set of manifolds is only around $80 over there but the distributors I found won't ship to USA.

Somewhere along the line I also started having health issues so everything went on the back burner and now I'm trying to get caught up.

If anyone finds a source for affordable 4y carbureted manifolds please pass along the info here. According to the parts numbers I found they also fit the mid-80's 4y Hilux trucks.

[skyshadow07]

What if you simplified and modernized by converted to a mega/microsquirt instead of going analog? If you controlled the engine with a modern microsquirt, you could bypass all the silly emissions and extra sensors, you could increase power and economy, you could tune and monitor much easier... so many perks.