I've been under the long process of building up my '66 chevelle and I'm trying not to cut any corners on the car. I really want a bad ass handling machine to daily drive that I can throw around the corners. I do not plan on racing the car at the track or anything.... Here is my question... Several people have told me that with a carb that if I try to really throw it through the turns it will most likely die/stall due to carb slosh and that I should go with efi instead. From ya'll stand point how much truth is in that statement? What do ya'll recommend?

Thanks,

Gunnar

It depends on the car, driver, and the carb used, I have personally used a Q-jet, Holley 3310, and a Edelbrock 1400 to cut cut corners and all have worked well, the Holley only died on really hard braking and I believe that was a tuning issue. The kind of corner carving I have done is Autocrossing, it is very tight turns which would highlight any fuel slosh issues. Remember the most important thing in cornering fast is to be smooth which takes care of most carburetor fuel control issues, never "throw" a car into the corner. Just think they raced cars around corners long before EFI was around.

So some "Fast & Furious Drifting" would be out of the question then??? LOL. Cool to hear that, What do you think about the 4150 series like the quick fuels or the BG's? I know that's not one of the carbs you have listed above but I plan on probably running one of the these 2 brand on a hot 12.5 to 1 solid roller 383. Have you heard anything on these 2? I haven't picked which yet cause I'm highly considering E-85 and I know both companies are working on carbs to run it and I need to do more reseach first.

Thanks,

Gunnar

The real advantage of EFI is that it can be tuned so precisely across such a variety of conditions. And it can, to some extent, adapt to changing conditions too. You might be able to get semi-close to that with a carb but it will always be more of a compromise than a good EFI setup. Figure that EFI can probably pick up 1-2 MPG over a carb. Of course for corner work you will need to make some changes in the fuel supply to make EFI work. You can do a search on "fuel pump module" and pick up a thread showing what I have done to get ready for EFI.

The real advantage of EFI is that it can be tuned so precisely across such a variety of conditions. And it can, to some extent, adapt to changing conditions too. You might be able to get semi-close to that with a carb but it will always be more of a compromise than a good EFI setup. Figure that EFI can probably pick up 1-2 MPG over a carb. Of course for corner work you will need to make some changes in the fuel supply to make EFI work. You can do a search on "fuel pump module" and pick up a thread showing what I have done to get ready for EFI.

If you install an EFI unit it is reccommend you install a baffled gas tank or could have a similar problem when taking corners hard when you are lower on fuel. Some people say you will be fine with a sump in your gas tank but i think a baffle gas tank would be better.

Baffled gas tanks are the conventional hot rod thinking.

Millions of OEM tanks have been designed without baffling anything like the expensive hot rod baffled tanks. There are even a significant number of them with absolutely NO baffles of ANY kind. And they work.

One of the slickest solutions is the fuel pump module. This OEM setup uses a surge tank inside the tank to provide the consistent fuel supply. Very cool and probably used by more OEMs these days than any other solution.

Several people have told me that with a carb that if I try to really throw it through the turns it will most likely die/stall due to carb slosh and that I should go with efi instead.

Um... lots of cars on roadcourses still use carbs without any such troubles, and last I checked guys have been getting carbs to work just fine for decades on a road course. There are little tricks do to to keep them happy but it can be done. As far as holleys go, there are specific road race floats, metering plate vents are a must, secondary jet extensions, etc. Also under really hard braking you can slosh fuel up and out the secondary bowl vent and rich-kill the engine, so sometimes you have to extend the bowl vents up a little higher.

Baffled gas tanks are the conventional hot rod thinking.

Millions of OEM tanks have been designed without baffling anything like the expensive hot rod baffled tanks. There are even a significant number of them with absolutely NO baffles of ANY kind. And they work.

One of the slickest solutions is the fuel pump module. This OEM setup uses a surge tank inside the tank to provide the consistent fuel supply. Very cool and probably used by more OEMs these days than any other solution.

Very true but most OEM fuel pump modules and pickups are far more elaborate than aftermarket tanks for our cars which simply have pickup tubes in the bottom of them. The OEM applications, like you said, usually have built in surge provisions and often time venturi jet pumps to maintain fuel level in their own built in surge tank in the module. For instance, my daily driver has a fuel tank under the backseat, and the tank has a hump in it that goes over the driveshaft & exhaust. Rather than two pumps or two pickups, the fuel pump is located in one side of the tank only; to draw the fuel over from the other side part of the fuel pump's output flow is used for a venturi that sucks the fuel from the opposite side of the tank over to the side with the fuel pump & pickup. Very simple, no moving parts, and highly effective. The pickup & pump module also has another small secondary surge tank built into it. However you probably won't be seeing this level of thought put into an aftermarket retrofit tank. You could however build your own setup and use the venturi to keep a surge tank full without the need for a second fuel pump. Or you could modify your tank to use an OEM fuel pump/sender module and take advantage of all their R&D and testing time.

Even my baffled for EFI rock valley tank has starvation issues especially when it's down to about 6 gallons. Baffling only slows the movement of fuel... it does not stop it. If I hang a prolonged turn or really stand on the throttle once the fuel level is that low it starts sucking air. Once my fuel gauge gets down to a 1/4 tank I keep my foot out of it, I'd rather not run lean and cook something expensive. A surge tank would take care of this, and I might implement one filled by a venturi powered by my single external pump (which I would internally mount in the surge tank.) Until then I just don't do anything stupid when I'm low on fuel.

Very true but most OEM fuel pump modules and pickups are far more elaborate than aftermarket tanks for our cars which simply have pickup tubes in the bottom of them.
I dunno... from what I have seen the aftermarket hot rod tanks are much more complicated with their internal baffling than the OEM solutions. The modules are actually pretty simple.
The OEM applications, like you said, usually have built in surge provisions and often time venturi jet pumps to maintain fuel level in their own built in surge tank in the module. For instance, my daily driver has a fuel tank under the backseat, and the tank has a hump in it that goes over the driveshaft & exhaust. Rather than two pumps or two pickups, the fuel pump is located in one side of the tank only; to draw the fuel over from the other side part of the fuel pump's output flow is used for a venturi that sucks the fuel from the opposite side of the tank over to the side with the fuel pump & pickup. Very simple, no moving parts, and highly effective. The pickup & pump module also has another small secondary surge tank built into it. However you probably won't be seeing this level of thought put into an aftermarket retrofit tank. You could however build your own setup and use the venturi to keep a surge tank full without the need for a second fuel pump. Or you could modify your tank to use an OEM fuel pump/sender module and take advantage of all their R&D and testing time.
This is why I was putting down the hot rod baffled tank: to my thinking they have thrown a lot of solution at the problem without really solving it (see your later comment about your Rock Valley tank). The jet venturi pump is just too darn simple/cool, I hope that they rewarded the engineer who came up with that idea.
Even my baffled for EFI rock valley tank has starvation issues especially when it's down to about 6 gallons. Baffling only slows the movement of fuel... it does not stop it. If I hang a prolonged turn or really stand on the throttle once the fuel level is that low it starts sucking air. Once my fuel gauge gets down to a 1/4 tank I keep my foot out of it, I'd rather not run lean and cook something expensive. A surge tank would take care of this, and I might implement one filled by a venturi powered by my single external pump (which I would internally mount in the surge tank.) Until then I just don't do anything stupid when I'm low on fuel.
This, along with the cost, was what drove me from the baffle solution. I ultimately did the mods for a fuel pump module as shown here:

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1491535&postcount=5

Now truth in advertising... I think I have a very unusual and very cool solution to the EFI fuel supply problem. But this is still a project in progress and I am still running the carb, just off of a temporary extra line installed in the sender lid. The nature of my life means I work on the car a little and then I drive it a little. So getting the fuel system in place was a big step forward. Now to get the fuel pump wiring run in the factory harness, and figure out where the computer is going, and swap intakes, and, and, and... :)