ckuske Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 These are the details I'm not straight on. I think you could move from Carb to EFI, provided you had all the original emissions equipment that came with the EFI motor. To be honest, one part of me would like to move to EFI as I think my 302 is only rated at 135 horsepower. But, that's a big elephant for me to bite off. I looked on Edelbrock and Holley, none of their systems are legal in California (needs CARB - California Air Resources board signoff). On the other hard, overall I'm trying to keep things stock. In the future, who knows what will be necessary. Maybe a full EFI swap off a newer truck will be necessary if I can find an intact system. I didn't realize Holley etc had already done third party ECU development. As an engineer, that sounds like a interesting yet painful thing to develop. My main thing is I never want to be forced to take the truck off the road because a forty old 8 bit processor decided to finally bite the dust! OK, for future reference for anyone looking into this, it looks like newer engines can be installed, so installing an EFI motor into my truck for instance would be legal, as long as: The donor motor is California (CARB) certified (meaning it was a CA motor originally, not a 49 state motor) All of the emissions controls from the new motor are transplanted into the recipient truck A smog referee signs off on the changes After the conversion, the truck passes smog https://bar.ca.gov/pdf/Smog_Check_Reference_Guide.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 OK, for future reference for anyone looking into this, it looks like newer engines can be installed, so installing an EFI motor into my truck for instance would be legal, as long as: The donor motor is California (CARB) certified (meaning it was a CA motor originally, not a 49 state motor) All of the emissions controls from the new motor are transplanted into the recipient truck A smog referee signs off on the changes After the conversion, the truck passes smog https://bar.ca.gov/pdf/Smog_Check_Reference_Guide.pdf Recommendation would be a 1994 or newer engine as the 302s went to full roller cam and lifters then. If you go to a 1996 engine and controls you then get the OBD-II system. Transmissions changed also, the AOD was replaced by the AOD-E which went to the 4R70W/4R75W electronically controlled overdrive automatics. A lot of these are really not so much a different transmission as a different identification system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Recommendation would be a 1994 or newer engine as the 302s went to full roller cam and lifters then. If you go to a 1996 engine and controls you then get the OBD-II system. Transmissions changed also, the AOD was replaced by the AOD-E which went to the 4R70W/4R75W electronically controlled overdrive automatics. A lot of these are really not so much a different transmission as a different identification system. If you plan on building your own you can go with 1985 302s I hear that was the start year for the roller 302 blocks. But that would negate the whole transplanting of a late model system unless you go cobbling it all together piece by piece vs just buying everything from one vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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