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  • DIY EFI

    I saw someone wanted to know about DIY EFI. What did you want to know, what kind of engine. I've worked on a bunch of different CF EFI projects, so maybe i can help.

  • #2
    Re: DIY EFI

    In general I'd be looking for where to start.

    I have an engine, with a carb set up, I need everything.

    What size injectors are appropriate - is there a formula for lb/hr vs in^3 vs HP?
    19lb injectors are stock on a 302 in a fox mustang for example - what's a good rule of thumb.

    same sizing question for a throttle body.

    then, you have a pile of injectors, a throttle body - - you need throttle position sensor,
    and maf (mass air flow system)
    or manifold pressure and ambient pressure (speed density)
    O2 sensors (again, what kind)
    and some way to make your distributor act like a cam position sensor as well as being a spark distributor.... right?


    what's a good kit to start with -- megasquirt?
    Do they give you a table to start with as an example of a typical install?
    There's always something new to learn.

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    • #3
      Re: DIY EFI

      I will start the answers. There are a few people on this website who are very good at this stuff. Diesel Geek is one of them. He was a technical guru for an company that made aftermarket ecu's that were based on Megasquirt.

      Here is a page that takes you through the injector size calculation.
      EFI, Fuel Injection, Auto, automotive, car, TPI, computation, ECU, MegaSquirt, GPIO, MicroSquirt, Sequencer, stim, MegaShift, MShift, DIY, transmission, 4L60E, 4L80E, controller, shifter


      Here is the whole manual for Megasquirt - There are links on this page that takes you to different parts of the manual. There is a page on what you need to have to run megasquirt. Gives you a good idea of what it takes.

      Believe it or not fuel injection is fairly easy to setup. The hard part for me is tuning. I take mine to someone who really knows what they are doing. I can tweak it once I have it setup correctly.

      There are 2 books that most larger book stores have on fuel injection. The names escape me at the moment. But they are really worth having. They give a lot of information that I still refer to.

      Joel

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      • #4
        Re: DIY EFI

        there are a lot smarter people on here than me...!  with HUGE accomplishments to their credit.


        I'm not the smartest EFI tech on here, but I can definitley help the entry level guys wade through the BS they read on the internet (the need for sequential EFI, MAF versus SD, TBI doesn't work, yadda yadda) and figure out what's important and what is not.  I have a knack for troubleshooting, and I have tuned a racecar or two!  but I haven't been at this as long as, say, a guy like Mike Lefevers.  So when it comes to big power tuning, we'll listen to him first and foremost ;)



        -scott
        www.realtuners.com - catch the RealTuners Radio Podcast on Youtube, Facebook, iTunes, and anywhere else podcasts are distributed!

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        • #5
          Re: DIY EFI

          Well if you have a ford small block, one of the easiest things you can dois actually pull a harness dizzy and intake setup off a mustang, you can pick them up for practically free

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          • #6
            Re: DIY EFI

            Originally posted by SpeedZealot
            Well if you have a ford small block, one of the easiest things you can do is actually pull a harness dizzy and intake setup off a mustang, you can pick them up for practically free
            Here's another option for you, and it's based on Ford's fuel injection system. It's fromQuality Roadsters and it's called the Mass-Flo Injection system.

            http://www.mass-floefi.com/mass-flo.html

            It's a little on the pricey side (a little cheaper for the Ford guys), but it comes with everything and is a hell of alot easier to use than Holley's or Edelbrock's EFI systems. But if you'd like to go "junk yard cheap" on some of the parts, that's definitely an option. With the exception of the distributor, throttle body, intake manifold and rails, and the mass air meter, you can snag everything from there. There are alot of 'Stangs in the junkyard so getting all the sensors, computer, coil, and even the wiring harness (if you're feeling really adventurous) could be obtained fairly easy and cheap. Ford Muscle did a write-up on installing one in their 67 Mustang. The link is below...

            http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...EFIConversion/

            The cheap bastard over at Ford Muscle won't let you see how to install the wiring harness or the fuel system without having a subscription, so here's another article from Mopar Muscle that covers it somewhat...

            http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/t...tem/index.html

            Even if you don't want/like this particular EFI system, both article will at least give you some insight on converting from a carb to EFI. I would think this would especially help you guys and gals who are thinking of going the MegaSquirt route.


            I had originally posted this on another forum, and that's where I met dieselgeek. Don't let him snow you, dieselgeek knows his sh*t! I've learned quite a bit from him, and I plan on picking his brain some more in the near future. I'm comfortable with working with stock EFI systems and even some of the aftermarket systems, but as far as building one from scratch and then tuning it....yeah...dieselgeek is the guy to talk to.

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            • #7
              Re: DIY EFI

              WAY COOL

              thanks for all the links -- I need to quit sleeping and read more.
              There's always something new to learn.

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              • #8
                Re: DIY EFI

                I am strongly considering a megasquirt'ed crossfile setup on the 57 with a cleaned up manifold and some cool scoops on the TB's

                Remove the crappy internal fuel pressure regulator, use two throttle bodies with the larger injectors, and a real fuel pump instead of the factory crap and it would probably work pretty well. Nice long runners should give decent torque, and the water heated intake should keep fuel puddling to a minimum.

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                • #9
                  Re: DIY EFI

                  Scott, (Diesel Geek) won't mention this, so I will. You can still do an EMS Pro setup with Scott's very saavy input. He'll post the new contact info as I don't have it.

                  I did this conversion last August with better results than I would have imagined. I also went from carbed setup to EFI. My one leg up was an existing return style fuel system so I needed the following for the stroker big block I have in the car.

                  EMS Pro and harness plus a sensor pak including inlet and water temp sensors
                  Throttle body - Accufab Dominator flange unit wwhich came with the TPS sensor and provision for an idle air control (not used yet)
                  Injectors - RC Engineering matched set, competitive price, expensive but you get what you pay for
                  Aeromotive blank fuel rails and EFI fuel regulator
                  Machine work to drill manifold bungs and fuel rails plus fuel rail mounts (a simple set of plates that attach to two intake manifold bolts on each side, no welding) This allowed me to use a newer taller better manifold which picked up 2-3 MPH in the quarter.
                  Associated #8 AN lines and y-block
                  Home made harness following the wiring diagram from EMS Pro.

                  You'll really be happy if you engineer it right from the beginning and have someone who knows the territory to help with the intial set up of the fuel/spark map. Plan on some dyno time if you really want it dialed in. Good luck, its worth it.


                  Drag Week 2006 & 2012 - Winner Street Race Big Block Naturally Aspirated - R/U 2007 Broke DW '05 and Drag Weekend '15 Coincidence?

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                  • #10
                    Re: DIY EFI

                    I've done a couple junkyard FI swaps, GM's are by far the easiest. Fords are not bad but they have a lot of wires that are hard to locate. A 3.8 SuperCoupe engine I did would be very similar to the 5.0 swap.
                    My easy method was to start by pulling the cpu loose and separating the harness to get an idea of the locations that the harness runs. Then I start the donor car and begin gently cutting wires from the dash side of the harness, one at a time. If the engine dies take your voltmeter and check for ground or positive, mark the wire + or - with tape and reconnect it. Restart the car and continue until the dash side is done. Then move to the body harness. Finally move to the engine compartment and repeat.
                    It may not be the cleanest or fastest method but it's almost foolproof and anybody with some patience and common automotive sense can do it like this.

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                    • #11
                      Re: DIY EFI

                      Joe
                      Wouldn't you be better off getting a wiring diagram and seeing which wires go where rather than cutting them?

                      Many of the factory sensor don't need to be there to run but they have a function. The switch on the clutch pedal and sensor on the speedo cable all tell the 'puter to lean the mixture when there is no load. You can run without them but will be mission the mileage gains.

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                      • #12
                        Re: DIY EFI

                        In a couple of weeks DIY autotune will have the GM TBI to Megasquirt adapter boards in stock - its compatible with 88-92 GM TBI harnesses ( if the donor came with a '746 or '747 GM ECM it'll work).

                        Possible applications - hot rod 350's and 383's need more fuel, even with BBC injectors they tend to run lean when driven using a GM ECM. The reason for this is GM drives the injector alternatively. If you use MS then you can drive the injector simultaneously..

                        There are 1000's of these harnesses lurking in the junkyards in pickup's, full size vans, astro vans etc... Then the switch to port injectors is a minor mod with the injector connectors..

                        Basically plug and play - no more harness hacking.


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                        • #13
                          Re: DIY EFI

                          Originally posted by Tom P
                          Joe
                          Wouldn't you be better off getting a wiring diagram and seeing which wires go where rather than cutting them?
                          GM TBI, yes, a wiring diagram makes it easy other than that one stray brown wire that's hot and runs the fuel pump. On Fords, GM Vortecs...too many wires that are the same color.

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                          • #14
                            Re: DIY EFI

                            Just wondering here but can you use dual plane intakes. In the mags when they use carb manifolds with efi they are usually single plane intakes.

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                            • #15
                              Re: DIY EFI

                              yes you can but,the tuned port you have in my garage would work too! HA HA

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