Originally Posted by Kurtatron
I'm a younger guy, born in the late 80s, so I never got a chance to experience a carbureted car. I never thought I would ever handle or attempt to repair a carburetor. Recently I have been trying to restore a 2001 Yamaha Motorcycle, and it has a carburetor. I have made numerous attempts to get the carburetor working, and have failed to clean things properly. But in trying to fix the thing properly, I have studied their operation, and the really neat thing about carburetors is their simplicity. Once I understood the physical principle of their operation, I was excited by the DIY potential of carburetors.
Of course they are not as reliable, or clean as fuel injection, but when fuel injection does go bad, you're kind of screwed. If the computer goes bad, or if you want to tune fuel injection, it seems like a total headache. I see fuel injection as great for DD beaters, but carburetors are so fitting for a recreational vehicle. I think a carbureted vehicle will be in my future, maybe a big SUV/Truck for camping duty. I actually find cleaning these old carbs a relaxing activity.
I should have been born a few decades earlier
Who here actually likes carburetors and has a carbureted vehicle?
I'll tell you what: I owned a 1982 Chevrolet Malibu with the 229 CID V6; her carburetor had a broken air horn, which forced me to run the carburetor without a choke plate.
Even so, when starting in the spring, summer, and fall, just a tap of the key was needed; the engine would consistently start up with next to no cranking. I have yet to find a fuel injected vehicle which started as quickly as my Malibu....I am not saying that such a vehicle doesn't exist, but I haven't come across any.
The idle on the Malibu was extremely smooth too.
Carbureted engines are a pain to start and warm up in cold weather, but that's my ONLY complaint.
Another nice feature of carbureted engines: fuel filters are a snap for DIY'ers; cheap, quick, and easily accessible.