I swear you EFI guys need to open your minds and relax a bit. Do you really think racing was built off fuel injection? Do you think that if carbs were so crappy and useless that NASCAR would still use them? They're cheap and they work, they're simple to work on and they make power for a fraction of the price and a fraction of the work and hassle involved in working on the engine. They also weigh less and run cooler.
Here's a typical break down on prices to build the top end of a typical 347. I'll provide links for both EFI and carbed setups. I also won't pick the most expensive of either one just to make it fair.
EFI:
Intake: Holley Systemax. Referred by most people as one of the best EFI intakes you can get. $600
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...4294908331+4294840126+400178+115&autoview=sku
Injectors: I'm going by what my buddy used in his 347, he's running 42lb'ers, Ford Racing $400
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...4294839074+4294870762+400070+115&autoview=sku
Throttle body: Again, going by my buddy's build,
BBK $200
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...400456+4294908331+4294840126+115&autoview=sku
Mass Air Meter: I couldn't even find one calibrated for 42lb injectors, so you can figure in some dyno tuning to calibrate it. Here's a 30lb cheapo Summit meter just for an average, $225
Then you have all the small things like fuel rails, the rest of the CAI, IAC etc etc. All in all you can expect to *average* well over $1425 just for what i listed depending on what you buy. Yeah you could go with a cheap Typhoon intake or something, but if you wanna do it right you're gonna shoot for good parts (while again, not the most expensive. I could've listed the BBK intake that's over $700 by itself).
Now for the carbed setup:
Intake: Weiand Stealth, $175
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=WND-8020&autoview=sku
Carb: Holley 4150 650cfm, $340.
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...4294839063+4294919007+400178+115&autoview=sku I've got mined tuned within an inch of its life, it doesn't even have a choke and it fires up in 30 degree weather.
Breather: I'll even pick the most expensive/best option you can get, the K+N X_Stream setup, $140
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...&N=700+4294925239+4294839057+115&autoview=sku
Add all that up, $655, barely more than you pay for just the intake on an EFI setup. You can argue all day about fuel pumps too, but you're gonna need a new one for that EFI setup as well so i left that part out. You could go with a custom carb, you could go with a Barry Grant, but all of those are based off of the Holley 4150 and there's nothing that carb can't do that the others can if you just tune it right. If you wanted a more race oriented setup, you could even opt for a Victor Jr. intake for $240 and an all out Holley HP series 750 for $520 but you'll still be half the price of the EFI setup.
So... $1425+ or $655?
In the end, you do get what you pay for. EFI is more consistent, more responsive in different climates and typically has better responsiveness. But all that comes at a hefty price. The original poster stated that this won't be a daily driver...i can assume that means no winters, so you can scratch that off the list. Jetting a carb takes about 10 minutes for a rookie and jets cost $6 a set. Even if i had to buy an entire jet kit for $100 or so, my budget is still way less. Tuned properly, i guarantee you my carbed setup won't give up any power or torque to the EFI setup.
The final kick in the nuts is that the EFI setup has to be dyno tuned to work, while i can take a drive down a back road and read my plugs and jet my carb as needed and only pay for the price of jets and maybe fuel bowl gaskets if i'm a rookie and rip one while taking a fuel bowl off. How much is dyno time going for these days?