302 decision...Carb "classic" 302 vs Coyote

[CW_MI]

The 347 will be quite a bit less money than the 427 and still have more than enough power for you. And the Edlebrock Pro Flow is a really nice EFI system, check out the new feature it has where you can tune it from your phone.

I have the 3 link and so far I'm happy with it. If you go that route you want to upgrade the lower trailing arms to the Breeze ones. https://breezeautomotive.com/shop/ro...ntrol-arm-kit/

I'll pass on some words that have served me well for decades when working on projects like building a car. It's like eating an elephant, do it one bite at a time.

Yeah, I agree, the 347 is plenty. The 427 is just for the cool factor, and the sound. Most of the ones I've researched have a pretty decent sized cam. Thanks for the heads up on the lower control arms, I've added them to my list.

And yes, another forum member has basically said the same thing. I tend to try and research as much up front as I can, with the hope I can get through projects without any surprises, but also find out that too much research can also hinder me as well. In other words, I overthink things.

[Mike.Bray]

I tend to try and research as much up front as I can, with the hope I can get through projects without any surprises, but also find out that too much research can also hinder me as well. In other words, I overthink things.

I'm an R&D engineer so I can relate!!

Some more words of wisdom, make a spreadsheet with everything listed that you purchase. It's a great reference tool later on. And then make a second one with "adjusted" prices on everything that you can show your wife

[Avalanche325]

The good news is that there is really no wrong answer. Any SBF or Coyote will make your car go down the road quite smartly.

If you have a HP rating in your head, make sure that you get it up front. I have seen a couple guys decide that they needed a little more and do an engine change. Cheaper to do it now.

Carbs and EFI both need to be tuned. Once tuned, you rarely have to touch either one. Some people make it sound like EFI gets installed, it learns, and it is perfect. That is what the marketing says. Yes, it will probably run decently. But, you will likely be leaving a lot on the table. Some want you to think that before EFI, cars barely ran, the carb had to be tuned every week, and if you went up a 10 ft hill you had to stop on the side of the road to change the jets. Simply not true. Factory EFI and carbs are both very dependable. Aftermarket EFI is a bit more hit and miss. I would do a lot of research before choosing. There is a lot of real-world experience here on the different systems.

[Mike.Bray]

Carbs and EFI both need to be tuned. Once tuned, you rarely have to touch either one. Some people make it sound like EFI gets installed, it learns, and it is perfect. That is what the marketing says. Yes, it will probably run decently. But, you will likely be leaving a lot on the table. Some want you to think that before EFI, cars barely ran, the carb had to be tuned every week, and if you went up a 10 ft hill you had to stop on the side of the road to change the jets. Simply not true. Factory EFI and carbs are both very dependable. Aftermarket EFI is a bit more hit and miss. I would do a lot of research before choosing. There is a lot of real-world experience here on the different systems.

To me, EFI is much easier to tune as I'm dealing with numbers and actual data. Yes, there's a learning curve with EFI as with anything. I agree self-tuning is not what's advertised, I never use it. The current systems like the Fast Sportsman and Holley Terminator are very very good. On my Sportsman I entered a few basic parameters like #cylinders, cu in, injector size, etc and it was easily 95% there. On a stack IR system. My personal opinion is the Sniper is a great idea but the reality is it's a low cost entry level system with quite a few issues that gives EFI a bad name. You truly get what you pay for.

I also agree carbs can be made to perform quite well (if you can find a good tuner these days) although never as well as EFI due to them being mechanical vs. digital and the poorer fuel atomization compared to high pressure injection systems. There's a tremendous advantage to being able to spray highly atomized fuel directly at the intake valve vs. relying on the Bernoulli effect to syphon fuel through an orifice.

And in 35+ years of playing with EFI systems I've not once had a float stick and flood the engine out

[CW_MI]

I'm an R&D engineer so I can relate!!

Some more words of wisdom, make a spreadsheet with everything listed that you purchase. It's a great reference tool later on. And then make a second one with "adjusted" prices on everything that you can show your wife

It must be the profession...Lol, design engineer in the automotive industry here.

[Avalanche325]

And in 35+ years of playing with EFI systems I've not once had a float stick and flood the engine out

I wasn't implying that carbs are a better fuel delivery system. I was just stating that there is a lot of misinformation that seems to pop up every time someone asks the question. You sound like the real-world experience person that the OP needs for choosing an EFI system. There are good EFI systems and problematic systems. There are also some carbs that I wouldn't touch.

I have never been stranded by a carb. I have had a cam position sensor fail that put my car on a tow truck.

[JMD]

I'll pass on some words that have served me well for decades when working on projects like building a car. It's like eating an elephant, do it one bite at a time.

I'll second that one. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the wiring now. I don't have the Coyote, not sure if that's harder or easier...but I've been able to get all my questions answered by install manuals or searching the forums. I'm very impressed with the schematics and labeling of the chassis harness and the Sniper 2 harness I'm connecting it to. If you know the basics of an engine and the basics of electricity and have access to the forum you can figure it out. The process of elimination has worked very well for me in many parts of this build. If you don't know how something works or goes together, do what you can with what you do know and reduce the variables involved. That makes the rest of it much easier to understand.

(Of course I haven't started my engine yet...we will see if I know what I'm talking about here shortly!)

[JMD]

To me, EFI is much easier to tune as I'm dealing with numbers and actual data. Yes, there's a learning curve with EFI as with anything. I agree self-tuning is not what's advertised, I never use it. The current systems like the Fast Sportsman and Holley Terminator are very very good. On my Sportsman I entered a few basic parameters like #cylinders, cu in, injector size, etc and it was easily 95% there. On a stack IR system. My personal opinion is the Sniper is a great idea but the reality is it's a low cost entry level system with quite a few issues that gives EFI a bad name. You truly get what you pay for.

I've heard some mixed impressions on the Sniper system and it's shortcomings. It seems they may have addressed those concerns in the Sniper 2, which is why I went that route. Lots of threads and videos on how to fix the original Sniper issues, almost none about the Sniper 2. Hopefully that's because it's working as anticipated, not because no one is using it anymore.