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FAST EZ-EFI Project |
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whizkidder
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Mar/03/2008 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 2972 |
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Posted: Dec/16/2009 at 9:12pm |
Decided to spring for fuel injection for the AMX, and went with the EZ-EFI TBI setup from FAST. Atlantic Speed had the best price (~$1900 for the master kit), although I'm told that Summit will match them if you call. I've just started the process, so will attempt to document it here. The system is almost completely plug and play, but for my AMX, there are three mandatory mods. The system uses a wide-band O2 sensor, so that requires a bung to be welded into the exhaust. The system also needs a fuel return line to the tank from the pressure regulator. The water temp sensor requires a 3/8 pipe thread (which my stock manifold doesn't have...), so that requires a mod as well. APD just got in the first shipment of repop fuel tanks for 68-70 AMXs and Javelins, so I decided to swap out my tank to ensure no surprises. I also sprang for a repro fuel sending unit, which I modified to accept the fuel return line. I considered fabbing the return line into the tank, but decided that would leave an extra hole if I ever wanted to return the car to stock w/carb. Some picts of progress so far: New tank (requires re-location of the filler neck from your old tank; Also, these are non-California models, so no internal expansion baffle/vent):
New sender (with fuel return pipe silver-soldered in): Checking the calibration of the sender -- 73 ohms empty, 9 ohms full (was off a few ohms, so adjusted the tangs that limit the float travel): Making sure the float bottoms out before the fuel level drops below the pickup tube (vacuum caps to keep the water out of the pipes): Sender with new "sock" ready to install: Sender is sealed in place by a new O-ring and lock ring (followed by a re-check of the ohms at empty, then again after turning the tank upside down): FAST EZ-EFI master kit (with fuel pump and hose/fittings kit): Not ideal, but I'm going to try this water outlet (AMC part #3238508) because it has the 3/8 pipe bung already machined in. I'll drill a small hole in the thermostat directly below the sender to make sure it can see at least some of the heat as the engine warms up before the thermostat opens. If this doesn't work, I'll have to come up with plan B: More to follow as I drop the old tank, move the filler pipe to the new tank, and proceed with the rest of the install. Edited by whizkidder - Aug/16/2012 at 7:12pm |
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Ron Frost
marne1ancient @ gmail.com 910 nine two two 0563 "There is no limit to what a man can do, so long as he does not care a straw who gets credit for it. Charles Montague |
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PlazinJavelin
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Nov/02/2008 Location: Atlanta USA Status: Offline Points: 2703 |
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That's a great upgrade, thanks for sharing the info and pics.
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PlazinJavelin
Marlin Wannabe |
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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bummer the tanks don't come with a filler - THAT is the part I need!!
Anyway, nice progress there. Good pics showing detail.
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kirkwood
Moderator Group Charter Member Joined: Jun/28/2007 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Status: Offline Points: 6566 |
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great start Ron, I'm looking forward to further updates!
I didn't know they had the tanks now - that is great! Is it galvanized? It almost looks painted in the pics.
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whizkidder
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Mar/03/2008 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 2972 |
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It has paint or a similar coating. I can't tell about galvanizing, but if so, it's under the paint. In any case, it's better than my old one (that has been coated with a purplish-looking stuff on the inside), and it doesn't have the internal expansion tank that robs 3 gallons of capacity. Hope to drain/drop the old tank tonight, and get started toward swapping out the filler neck. |
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Ron Frost
marne1ancient @ gmail.com 910 nine two two 0563 "There is no limit to what a man can do, so long as he does not care a straw who gets credit for it. Charles Montague |
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whizkidder
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Mar/03/2008 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 2972 |
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Day Two: Fuel Tank. Drained and dropped the old tank, removed the filler neck, and cleaned it up to get it ready to install in the new tank.
I jacked up the rear of the car to create a better siphon, and drained the tank via the rubber hose at the fuel pump: Shot of the sending unit area on the old tank (sending unit ground wire hanging by a thread, and lock ring barely engaged): Shot of the route the fuel line takes from the sending unit area (passenger side) to the driver's side frame rail (wire hanging down is the sending unit wire from the dash gauge): Going to use the original fuel line for a return, so am glad I looked close here -- the pipe is almost flat! This jury-rigged line is where the original vent line for the California emissions was supposed to go to some sort of roll-over valve before running parallel with the fuel line to the front and ending up on the firewall behind the driver's side valve cover (yes, that's actually a piece of smaller diameter hose stuffed into the original hoses where the valve used to be): The old tank is out, and looks much worse than I had previously thought. The filler neck has been pushed forward, kinking the top center of the tank down (and cracking the solder joint), and then has been pulled back down into place and the crack filled with some sort of putty. A couple of sharp whacks with a rubber hammer breaks the rest of the joint loose, and I pulled the neck out of the tank by hand: I couldn't believe how someone had jury-rigged a non-standard (I think...) "sock" onto the sending unit. No wonder the gage went to empty when there was still 4-5 gallons in the tank. The inside of the tank has been coated with some sort of reddish colored sealer, and believe me, it looks just awful inside. I had thought about offering it for sale since it had no leaks, but trust me -- you don't want it!: Had to take the "sock" off to get it out of the tank. Here it is as it was installed (float adjusted to hit the bottom tang with at least 3 inches of fuel still in the tank): The filler neck cleaned up nicely, and seemed to be covered with solder almost to the top: Note the lip formed on the bottom center of the neck. No idea why it was made this way, but does keep the neck from pulling out of the tank when pushed up (as in a rear-end accident) (also handy to know this if you're trying to remove one intact as I am for the new repop tank -- I got lucky as mine was cracked loose on top so I just forced it down): Here is the neck just setting in the opening in the new tank: I feel pretty good about my progress so far. The tank straps are in real good shape, but need 40 years of undercoating, paint, and gunk cleaned off them before the new tank can go back in. I also have to fix (probably shorten) the original hard fuel line where I found the kink so I won't have that restriction in the return line. I think I'll leave the filler neck loose until I test fit the new tank, so I can mark it and get it as close to center in the filler hole in the rear valance as possible. With luck, I'll have another update tomorrow night or Saturday. Stay tuned. Edited by whizkidder - Aug/16/2012 at 7:25pm |
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Ron Frost
marne1ancient @ gmail.com 910 nine two two 0563 "There is no limit to what a man can do, so long as he does not care a straw who gets credit for it. Charles Montague |
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tsanchez
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/09/2007 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 4303 |
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Good work!! Only thing I would have done different is you should have made the fuel feed 3/8 since you were drilling and adding to the sender anyway, then you can run 3/8 line to the front and keep the 5/16 for the return.
Edited by tsanchez - Dec/17/2009 at 9:38pm |
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whizkidder
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Mar/03/2008 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 2972 |
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I actually considered that, but given that this car will never see a drag strip, and the 5/16 line never starved the engine for fuel (even with the kink) using a standard Carter mechanical pump, I think I'll be okay. Worst case will be if I have to pull the sending unit and re-modify it as you have stated.
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Ron Frost
marne1ancient @ gmail.com 910 nine two two 0563 "There is no limit to what a man can do, so long as he does not care a straw who gets credit for it. Charles Montague |
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FuzzFace2
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/05/2007 Location: Angier, N.C. Status: Offline Points: 10356 |
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Vary cool and nice pictures. When this kit was brought up on the forum I looked it over but was confused (dont take much to do) on what all was needed for the kit as they had add on’s that thru me. May look closer as my street car will need a carb as the one on the car is crap even after a rebuild. I like the return you made, beats adding it to the tank. I was also thinking of adding the temp sender to the stat housing so I could keep the stock gauge inside. On the fuel/return line I would run new alum. for both, you dont want to push crap from inside the old line back into the tank using as a return. I know some say dont use alum. but car will not see salt so I would go for it. Keep up the good work, we will be following it.
Dave ---- |
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TSM = Technical Service Manual
75 Gremlin X v8 for sale 70 Javelin 360/auto drag car 70 Javelin 360/T5 Street car |
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whizkidder
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Mar/03/2008 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 2972 |
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Day Three: New Tank.
After spending 20 minutes cleaning and painting the tank straps, I expected to spend another few minutes soldering the filler neck into the new tank. After 2 1/2 hours, I finally succeeded in getting it in and sealed. I used an old "pressure/vacuum" fuel cap, and with the sender in the tank, plugged the feed line and pressurized the tank with air thru the return tube, then checked for leaks. It took me SIX iterations of soldering it in, checking it, taking it back out, re-prepping the surfaces, and re-soldering it back in. What a job I didn't take any pictures of my soldering job, as I don't want y'all to see how sloppy it looks. You can't see it with the tank installed, so only I will know . Important thing is it don't leak. One of the more frustrating aspects of the job was trying to keep the inside of the tank clean while prepping, tinning, and soldering. Undoubtedly I got some dust in there when I used a Dremel and sanding roll to grind the surface in/around the hole down to bare metal (a previous poster asked about the tank being galvanized -- still not sure, but there is definately something under the paint, as solder absolutely refused to stick until I ground whatever it was off). The most frustrating part was during soldering, some of the solder invaribly dripped through the joint and splashed into the tank. Once I was done, I had to remove the sending unit, reach inside the tank to ensure all the solder puddles were loose, then shake the tank to get them all to the corner nearest the sending unit where I could just reach them with my fingers to drag them out. Kept this up until I could near nothing rattling around in the tank except the sending unit float. I also reused my old sending unit lock ring, as it was slightly bigger in diameter than the repro I got from APD, so fit better and tended not to pop out past the retaining fingers on the tank when I was tapping it home. Finished product: Not near the progress I had hope for tonight, but now I can start on the plumbing and fuel pump install. More tomorrow! Edited by whizkidder - Aug/16/2012 at 7:31pm |
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Ron Frost
marne1ancient @ gmail.com 910 nine two two 0563 "There is no limit to what a man can do, so long as he does not care a straw who gets credit for it. Charles Montague |
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