EFI

[cheveslakr]

Bad news on my efi dilemna. Bought a Holley MPI system 20 years back, all inclusive, ecm, inline fuel pump, 29lb injectors, proprietary distributor, done done right? Well, it's been in the attic till now, installed on my 327 sbc in the CJ5. It came with an old brick laptop, windows 95 software and 4 floppys. That laptop didn't survive a couple moves. Went to a computer dude, he supposedly put all the software on my computer to be accessed on windows 11, no problem right? I can get into the software but it's not "live" or in my terms, it just doesn't like to socialize with the old format. Now I'm the least computer literate on this forum for sure, but I see no way to make this work, and that isn't the only reason to scrap this operation. Holley doesn't support any of the maintenance items, even the distributor cap. The distributor has it's own plug, actually 2, so I can't just use another brand. They recommend spending 1300 on a new management system, but I'd still have the same issues with hard part support.
I called Edelbrock to get the skinny on their ProFlo system.....out indefinately and still has the same proprietary issues that Holley has. They also said I can't even buy the distributor cap for their piece...crazy.
I believe for now, I'm just going to stick a carb back on it. Last thing I need is being doa when out in the woods. At least a carb and points ignition, I'm getting home.
So, it's a 327, built with tame cam tuning, 200ish duration and 450 lift, little more on the exhaust, Hft, 9.5 compression, and I was using a torquer manifold with a 750 vs, just because I had em.
I'm thinking of a RPM manifold, and possible a 600cfm vs, I have that carb on another 327 that's got a fast idling issue, needs some attention. Hate to go backwards, but with the cards I'm being dealt, don't know a better route??

 

[kmakar]

Cut your losses and dump it. Been down that road too many times and it often costs more than it's worth.

Put a carb on it and down the road when there is greater availability of parts, consider it again.

Sell the ancient EFI system now and get a couple of bucks for it.

 

[cheveslakr]

Yessir, that's my take. Just have to reroute a fuel line, simple fix. I actually fabricated the old fuel line feed into the efi return, so it's just flipping it back. A Jeep benefits from the efi when you're pointing uphill or leaning sideways, but i can sacrifice a bit of benefit for the piece of mind. Another curious aspect... both Holley and Edel techs seem to not give a flying frick if they resolve your problem or you buy their product, just warming a chair. Nothing new I suppose.

 

[kmakar]

You nailed it. Just a warm body collecting a check. Corporate is hard pressed to find anyone who wants to work, and if the do work, they are arrogant and don't give a damn, but that's all about to change.

The economy is about to crash, businesses will go under, people will be out of jobs, and the market will return to more normal terms and prices will come back down, and those assholes who were warming the seat?

They will be replaced by those who really want to work and really do care. Same cycle that happened in 2001, and 2008. It's about to hit the fan, so be ready.

 

[bikeron]

Ah, err, sorry to disrupt this thread. I have used Kinsler. I currently have Accel electronics (Gen 7+) which has worked fine but I'm now looking at going to Motek.

MoTeC

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www.motec.com.au

https://www.motec.com.au/filedownload.php/23072_GPR_Package_Datasheet.pdf?docid=4706

After almost 20 years the Kinsler throttle body intake has not worn much at all.

Buy Electronic Fuel Injection System Products and Parts from Kinsler

Purchase high quality Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) products from Kinsler that include injectors, control units, pressure relief valves, pumps, sensors, and more.

kinsler.com

 

[Richard150MPH]

Had my FiTech looked over by the factory, pronounced to be fine.
When I had it on the truck previously I had a lot of issues.
Since then I have had to replace the distributor and camshaft.
So maybe the FiTech is just so sensitive it could not work with less than perfect anything.
Been running a carb and would like to put the FI back on for better mileage with altitude changes on long trips.
But just do not seem to be getting to it as the carb is working and if I have to yank the FI a second time I will be beyond pissed off.

 

[68Chevele]

Hard to beat a good old carburetor for tuning, working on them is a little dirty at times but after working on FI systems since 1983 I will take on over any Fi system right now. Look at my FST carburetor I ran at the track last fall, the only thing I messed with was the Idles screws at first and then the adjustment for the sec pod. After that it ran consistent 11.30's the rest of the day. I even have one f their 650 DP's on my street car right now, it runs perfectly.

 

[cheveslakr]

Any recommendations over the 600 vacuum secondary?

 

[Nashville Cat]

Any recommendations over the 600 vacuum secondary?

Yes the Holley Street Demon 625 spreadbore. Less than $400 and works on a square flange intake.

Demon 1901 625 CFM Street Demon Carburetor

WICKED POWER! The ALL NEW Street Demon® redefines the street carburetor with clean looks and ease of use! The Street Demon offers enthusiasts a straight forward carburetor designed to deliver a stable idle, amazingly crisp throttle response and smooth performance. Its optimized calibration and...

www.holley.com

 

[68Chevele]

Any recommendations over the 600 vacuum secondary?

I think if you go on Amazon they still have 10 of the 650 FST DP carbs for sale.

 

[cheveslakr]

I've got a good 650 dp, no choke, mech secondarys 4777, it's just not the right carb for a 327 low duration cam running on the street and trails imo. Sure I could tune it to run fairly well, and had it in on my 230 duration 350 and it was the right carb for that engine. I like the side bowls of the street demon Beth linked. Looks like a better effort than the entry level street carbs that holley offers, probably china built?? I'm thinking $375 is a fair price for that, and like the small primarys for this app.

 

[Leadhead]

For me, some of the beauty of owning an old car is the simplicity of it. No computers, no BS technology to complicate things. It's a refuge of sorts from my wife's and my daily drivers. If I were to stick fuel injection on it, it would become just like the other vehicles. Just my 2 cents.

 

[cheveslakr]

I went with Beth's tip on the 625 spreadbore holley. I liked a few reviews I read and the float bowl setup was probably the best for a tilted jeep on the trails. Anyways, got it running today, a few minor adjustments and yeah, it's in and running like it should. Be a couple days till the weather clears, then I'll flog it a bit and fine tune.
I'm now back to points, a system I'm pretty fond of when a tow is not in the cards. KISS is my motto and honestly, I knew when I started the efi swap, it wasn't what I really wanted. Bought that system so long ago for this project right after I bought the jeep in '97 or so?? Felt I had to put the two together since I was invested, should have been more honest with myself...oh well.
A tip for setting timing with points.....I set the tab at 12 advanced, then rotate the distributor from a retarded position until the points break, then lock it down. Use a continuity tester on audible. Simple stuff. Not sure how to baseline an electronic distributor, but I'm sure it's fairly simple also.

 

[Nashville Cat]

Great looking engine !

 

[cheveslakr]

Also...found a holley 300-36 dual plane, since all I had in inventory were single planes. This was a highly touted intake, but not for the earlier small blocks, having straight up center mounting holes. Just had to rebore the holes. Big down swept ports that line up really well with my 492 fuelies. A true highrise patterned after the oem '69 Z28 manifolds. Many folks swear it's the best street manifold available, well sort of, it's been discontinued for several years. Lucky enough to find one 50 miles away for $125.

 

[SSuperDave]

Last year I had a '79 malibu wagon pro touring car that belonged to a friend. I drove it to the Ohio show, 3,000 mile round trip, and then sold it to a coworker. A really nice car, but to the point, it had a FITech unit on it and if it were mine, it would have been in the trash and a nice Q-Jet in its place. Best I could get out of it with a 700R4 and 3.31 gears was 15 mpg, and I've had 21 mpg out of a similar combo with a Q-Jet. The engine is a 350/290 GM crate, and it ran well and cold starts were nice, but it soured me on add on FI units. They guy who bought it has a Sniper on his truck and loves it, but after 6 months for jacking around with this, is building a 650 vacuum Holley for it.

 

[Nashville Cat]

Last year I had a '79 malibu wagon pro touring car that belonged to a friend. I drove it to the Ohio show, 3,000 mile round trip, and then sold it to a coworker. A really nice car, but to the point, it had a FITech unit on it and if it were mine, it would have been in the trash and a nice Q-Jet in its place. Best I could get out of it with a 700R4 and 3.31 gears was 15 mpg, and I've had 21 mpg out of a similar combo with a Q-Jet. The engine is a 350/290 GM crate, and it ran well and cold starts were nice, but it soured me on add on FI units. They guy who bought it has a Sniper on his truck and loves it, but after 6 months for jacking around with this, is building a 650 vacuum Holley for it.

IMHO the worst problem with EFI is the external fuel pump.
When Rick's Tanks came out with a gas tank that used the stock LS3 fuel pump, that's when I decided to put EFI on my 6.0L LS

 

[Richard150MPH]

Having trouble finding motivation to put the FiTech back on my truck.
Not a five minute job and if it fails again I will be more than annoyed.
But if it does work it should be a feature that will help to sell the truck.
I've decided that nearly every reason I had for getting the truck no longer applies to my life.
Truck sale proceeds will go to the El Camino.

 

[SSuperDave]

Well Beth, I was not going to bring up the fuel pump, but since you did... On the way to Cleveland last year, the car died on I-40 in Little Rock. After some abortive attempts to figure it out in an AutoZone parking lot, I called my old friend and fellow Chevelleabrator, Bill Lessenberry, who just happens to live a few miles away. We flatbedded it to his shop and once on the lift and with the tank out, we found that the 4 pin connector on the Astro Van sending unit that fed 12 volts to the Walbro pump had burned completely thru. Thanks to Bill's experience, we got it up and running about 1 am, and we off the next morning. I related this to my friend who had done a lot of the work on the car and he said the same thing had happened to him about 1,000 miles earlier! And since my coworker has had it, he's had THREE more instances of the same issue! New senders, new pumps, rewiring the sender with larger gauge wire... oddly enough, the shadetree fix we did at Bill's house has lasted the longest.

 

[cheveslakr]

That was another concern, the external pump. It's a $200 pump and it's at least 3 days out if in need. Mounting position is critical, has to be lower than any part of the tank.
These pumps are known to be somewhat unreliable.