Sniper 2/Performer intake or Pro-Flo 4 EFI?

[The PIG Smith]

I am considering upgrading my bone stock 360 in my 1986 J20 to EFI.

From reading here, the consensus seems to be that the Holley Sniper is the way to go.
However, my 360 is bone stock, cast iron 2 barrel intake, Motorcraft 2150, OE cam...plain jane.

As I see it, I have two choices:
1. Holley Sniper 2 -and- Edelbrock Performer intake
If I want the full experience, I will need some sort of distributor that the Holley can control.
2. Pro-Flo 4 EFI

Questions:
1. If the recommendation is for a Holley Sniper 2, should I upgrade the cam as well?
If so, is there a cam profile that is Holley EFI friendly?
2. What distributor works best with the Sniper 2?
3. If the recommendation is for the Pro-Flo 4 EFI, is there cam profile that is Edelbrock EFI friendly?
4. Are there any costs advantages of one over the other?
After purchasing the Sniper 2, the intake, the distributor, is the grand total more than the Edelbrock EFI?
If the Sniper 2 costs cost more, is its easier ease of use worth the extra money?
5. Is the port injection that much better for our old school 360 than the Holley TBI?

[Stuka]

I am by no means an expert with either of these systems. But I do know some.

1: No requirement to upgrade/change the cam for the Sniper2. There are reasons to install a different cam when running a dry intake (eg: port or direct injection). But this mostly applies when running a variable length intake to my knowledge, and from what engine masters tests have shown.

2: I am not sure of the best, but I know you do NOT want to run an HEI due to them having a weak tach signal which confuses the ECU. To my knowledge a stock 78+ duraspark or MSD distributer works well. The timing will need to be locked out or whichever distributer you run as the ECU will want to set that.

3: Same answer as 1 I believe.

4: People I have talked too, say the Edelbrock is easier to tune than the Sniper. Partly because edelbrock supplies everything, so they don't have to account for different distributers and such. BUT, I have not talked to anybody running a Sniper 2 yet. I know the original sniper had some quality issues which the new one may have addressed?

5: There are advantages and disadvantages to throttlebody and tuned port injection. But the principals are the same be it an AMC V8, or an LS.

I guess one other thing to consider is down the road, the Sniper 2 could be easily replaced with a Sniper 3 without having to buy the other parts. Since it just bolts on like a carb. Though perhaps, Edelbrock will offer upgrades as well. I know some of the older Pro Flo systems were not upgradable because the tech used changed a lot. But that should become less likely on newer systems.

So, maybe this helps? I am not sure which I would go off off hand. The internet seams to think the Pro Flo is a lot easier to tune. But thats 3rd hand knowledge.

[Yeller]

Sniper seems to be happy on AMC and Chevy Engines, not so much on Ford, the distributor is too close causing issues that hopefully the Sniper 2 clears up. The original Sniper and FiTech had numerous design faults that in my opinion sets them up for long term failure, which is proving to be true. I'm really hoping the Sniper 2 systems are an improvement, the ECU being removed from the throttle body is a huge 1st step towards improvement. Due to the issues of the previous designs, I've always steered towards the edelbrock proflow just due to solid long-term performance. I may change my tune once the Sniper 2 has been out for a while, initial feedback is looking much better, it needs to be out there for a couple of years to prove itself.

[jaber]

I put a Sniper system onto a Ford 351 in a '58 F100. The Holley distributor worked flawlessly and was plug and play. I'm not versed in tuning, so the owner took it to a guy that dialed it in for him and it ran awesome.

I did not pay any attention to what he spent, and it's been 4-5 years ago now. He sold the truck, so I don't have anymore info then that...

[Stuka]

So interestingly, the latest episode of Engine Masters on MToD is with a carb vs the Sniper 2.

Overall they were pretty impressed with the Sniper 2 over their experience with the first model. Now obviously their testing does not take longevity into account. But it did learn pretty fast, and they went through the setup and such. I think its worth the five bucks for a month to MToD to watch the episode since you are considering it.

[will e]

Why are you considering switching to an EFI system?

[The PIG Smith]

Why are you considering switching to an EFI system?

I am sick of messing with the choke on my MC2150.
It is most hateful.
I am able to work around it, but my wife, not used to starting procedures with a carburetor, well...
I am getting older and softer (mostly around the waist) and enjoy jumping in, starting a rig without a hassle.
There was a time I would jump in headfirst on such issues and after much tool throwing, bad words and bleeding knuckles, solving whatever the issue I was struggling with.
I don't jump quite as fast and as far as I once did.

My goals for my J20 are:
...to take to local Car Shows
...because I live close to Detroit, the Woodward Dream Cruise.
...maybe the Hot Rod Power Tour.
...tow a trailer once in a while, 18' car hauler to rescue friends/family and their hooptie rides.
...maybe a run to the dump
It will never be hard core off-road rig or anything that I need lots of HP.
I am looking for drivability and reliability.

Just like Stuka mentioned, the latest episode of Engine Masters, demonstrated how the Holley Sniper 2 produced 'slightly' more horsepower than a carburetor on the same dyno test mule.
What I came away from that show was that for maximum power, a racer tunes a carb for a certain narrow RPM range.
Steve Brulé commented that a race carb may perform really well at high RPM, but maybe not so well at a lower RPM.
Tuning a carb for daily driver duty, it has to perform good in all ranges, but not great in any range.
The point at the conclusion of the show was that EFI (the Sniper 2 in this case) has the flexibility to performance the best at any RPM range.
At the very end, Steve Brulé, a long time, self-proclaimed diehard carburetor guy 'would go with' a Sniper2 over his beloved carb.

[will e]

That's great input.
Installing an EFI will require more effort and modifications. The modern systems are good but don't expect that your experience will be trouble free.

A brand new carb like a holley truck avenger, street avenger or similar Edelbrock will also require a bit of fiddling but you might be surprised at how well they work.

It's mostly a matter of deciding if you want to tinker with electronic settings or swapping out jets and setting idle adjustments.

Both are pretty forgiving.

EFI is better if you do a lot of altitude changes, although my Truck avenger does okay even if I don't swap the jets.

The one advantage for me is carbs don't 'stop working'. They wear out. They may run bad if you blow a power valve or if you get some crap caught in the needle and seat they will flood. I go off road a lot , I gave up on EFI to avoid the electronic gremlins.