1500? only if its not well planned out in advance and you don't scrounge for deals, regardless though I wasn't really talking about converting from carb to EFI(which really doesn't mystify me, the carb setup is simpler and cheaper, no doubt) I was curious as to why you would take an engine that is EFI stock and convert it to a carb setup at greater cost and complication, not to say it isn't neat to see. I am actually a fan of carbs in a turbo setup, tuning boost with a carb in some ways is easier since you don't need to continually flash new tunes into the ECU or mess about on a laptop all the time, however, even the best carb can't adjust as well or as quickly to changing driving situations. If I was building a drag turbo car, a carb would actually be high on the list, but if its a daily driver and came with EFI to begin with...I don't think so, both power and fuel efficiency are higher with EFI(though not extremely so)
This setup was planned this way from the get go, so I never had any of the EFI stuff for it. I had the motor built and just bought it as a long block. I then added the carb stuff. I was definatly going for the look in the classic car. I am proficient with EFI also, so if I am not happy with this setup I will probaly go to a FAST or MS option down the road so I can retain this look (would use a 4bbl TB). However this was by far the cheapest was to get it going down the road, and I am confident that the drivability will be near EFI quality. The turbo/carb technology has come a long way in the last 5 years.