Looking to buy a Spider-FI or Carbureted?

[bugnout247]

Hey fellas, need some advice here. I'm looking to get a spider in the very near future but can't decide how important fuel injection is to me. From what I read, it makes the car more "driveable" and more "reliable", but what does that really mean? I plan to use the car for local driving like errands and weekend cruises with my lady out of town, so somewhat of a daily driver but not tons of driving and mileage like a commuter car.

I like to mod cars and tinker on them and make them faster, I'm somewhat capable as a mechanic and can do things like change exhausts, install brakes, change intakes and carbs, install cams, etc. I don't however want the car to be having problems when I'm out somewhere leaving me stranded and embarrassed. Is this more likely with a carb'd car? I also don't want to have to pop the hood each time I use the car to adjust something on the carb to make it run right. How much more reliable is the fuel injection and what kind of reliability improvements are we talking about? I had a carbureted car once and the worst part about it was that it would bog when I'd try to accelerate in the mornings when it was cold, especially in the winters...but this only last for a minute or two. If that's the extent of the driveablility problems with a carburetor then I can deal with that.

I also read that the FI limits the potential of the mods that can be done to the Spiders, and that to upgrade past basic mods would require some expensive FI upgrades. Basically, I was initially convinced that it was a better idea to get a fuel injected car, but I found this one car nearby that I'm seriously thinking about. It's carb'd and I'm trying to justify picking it up, considering it has good paint, the wheels I like, headers and exhaust, and restored interior..and the price is really good.

[2ndwind]

bug,
First, I think these cars can bring you great excitement and respect. The price you have to pay IS occasional embarrassment. That being said, I have seen immaculate Corvettes, muscle cars, antiques, and imports embarrass their owners. Some will say their Spider has never let them down. I believe them and envy them. Most have had workable issues.

I have 2 1982 FI spiders. It has taken me about a year to get the embarrassing no-start and poor idle condition cleared up on my 5-spd. My AT had the fuel pump wired backward by the PO and had a bad AFM. With those things fixed, all is well.

As far as FI vs. Carbed, get one of each! I think it is personal choice. Besides, I understand you can switch over from FI to carb or vice-versa if you really want to. If you like tinkering with the tuning, maybe a carb is better.

P.s. Make sure you get that car you are looking at up in the air. Look very critically at the underside including the shock towers and crossmember (under the engine). The chassis part of these uni-body cars is the go, no-go on these things. Also look at the condition of all the rubber bushings, tie rod ends, etc. while you are under there.

[CajunMike]

Drove a carbed 79 as a daily driver for nearly 10 years. Never got sidelined by the carb. Rebuilt it once. Had a scant few issues with clogged jets and occassional rough idle but very few carb issues over 10 years and this was with the smogged down 28/32 dog. Now other stuff like water pumps alternators, ignition components, etc++ gave me some grief but nothing too serious except for the crossmember.

But I was able to keep it on the road with not too much effort and this was before forum days. I'd say either one will be fairly reliable. I just prefer the carb because it sounds nicer.

[mikeg]

Frankly, you can modify either a FI or Carbed spider, however, the extent of modifications are greater with the carbed spiders. My 79 carbed spider has among other modifications, a newer, larger, and higher performance carb, a Weber 32/36 DFEV. This is an electric choke version and there really have been no cold weather issues with this carb for me. You can take this another step and go with a 36/36 also with electric choke and is newly available, or you can go all out with twin duel 40mm Weber IDFs or even 44mm IDFs. Obviously there are more issues with the duel carb arrangements. The only thing you can't do with FI that you can do with carbs, at least not as effectively, is cam work, or at least this seems to be the general consensus. Spiders are easily modified, mine runs with the above mentioned carb mounted to a single plane intake manafold from an earlier spider, it also has a higher lift intake cam and stock exhaust cam, over sized valves on the standard 2L head sith some porting and polishing, it has about 10.8:1 compression high dome pistons and a ceramic coated 4-2-1 header.

FI is going to be less fuss until it acts up, and it has more stock horse power than the other 2L cars and some of the older carb models. There are a number of guys that tinker with the FI system to get even more power, so it can be done. There just aren't as many options.

As far as reliability is concerned, it's not a new car, it's going to have issues from time to time, but I've made 3 trips half way across the country to Freak Out in 2000, 2002, and 2004 and a shorter trip in 2005 and wouldn't and don't think twice about jumping in it and driving anywhere I want to go.

[narfire]

I have a 80 Fi,infact have two of the cars. One is stock, sort of with a 1800 head. It is a delight to drive and has decent power acceleration ect.
The other has a few mods like oversize pistons,headers,shaved flywheel, balanced and untill recently a 1800 head(stock injection system). There is a marked improvement in power,torque ect without a decrease in fuel milage or drivability,no idle issues ect.. I'm currently in the process of putting a ported 2L FI head on with Marks cams and Millers adjustable cam wheels .It will be getting dialed in when the fellows abcessed tooth is better. I will let you all know how it turns out when completed.
I do not have any recent time in a carb'd car but this spring hope to have a 72 finally sorted.
Good luck in your choice,no matter what species you decide on they have issues at times but are usually easily sorted out
Chris

[DUCeditor]

In this day when all my daily drivers including my newest Ducati are FI I love the carb on my `77 Spider. Not because it does anything better than FI. In purely functional terms I expect they are about equal. No, its the non-electronic simplicity of the thing. Especially if the car is either pre- EPA or has had the mandated nonsense removed.

Weber carbs are wonderfully made. Mine is open now for a cleaning and rebuild - its first in over thirty years.

Now, if only gasoline smelled like it once did. (sigh)

-don

[wikkid]

Honestly, you will have fun with either. And either can be modified for performance, even if the process is different. You can get a nice exhaust note with a change of exhaust on a FI car.

Either one can let you down, for any number of "old car" reasons that have nothing to do with FI vs. carb: alternators, water or fuel pumps, hoses, brakes, transmissions/clutches, differentials, bearings, etc. You know the drill.

Weber carbs are great. Bosch FI systems are great. Just find a car that speaks to you, and enjoy.