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FAST EZ-EFI Project

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whizkidder View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whizkidder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/19/2009 at 10:47pm
Day Four: Plumbing, etc.

Lots of progress today. Know most of you are tired of reading my ramblings, so will just put a short note with the pics:


The fuel pump/hoses kit comes with a regulator and fluid-dampened pressure gauge. Two pressure inputs on the sides, and the return goes out the bottom. Comes with the mounting bracket and all the fittings/clamps you need (-6 AN). Hose barb is for a vacuum signal to vary the pressure.




Call me anal, but with the rear of the car still up on stands, I wanted to get the regulator "level." Used a straight-edge across the air cleaner tub for a sight gauge.



Mounted the regulator just behind the washer bag on the driver's inner fender.



The fuel pump supplied with the kit is a standard Carter pump, and comes with the fittings to suck from a 3/8 hose barb and pump through a supplied filter into -6 AN pressure line.



This is how the instructions say to assemble it. Ends up almost a foot long. Shown with foam anti-vibration sleeve and supplied clamps, ready to mount.



The instructions say to mount the pump as low as possible with respect to the tank, so as to provide a good siphon. I decided to mount mine inside the frame rail on the driver's side -- not quite as low as the bottom of the tank, but somewhat out of danger.



Here are the contents of the hoses/fittings box. Fittings are -6 AN and press into the hose. Instructions say to heat the hose, lubricate both the hose and fitting, and then push the fittings into the hose up to the little rubber end cap. RIGHT! I must not have eaten enough Wheaties this morning, because the best I could do was about halfway. My final solution (after fighting them for about a half-hour) was to secure the hose in the vice (using two worm clamps siamesed together to catch on the vice jaws), then heat, then drive the fittings into the end of the hose using a rubber hammer. For the 90-degree fittings, I used a small open end wrench to catch the fitting and used a ball peen hammer on the wrench. I used the supplied hose from the sending unit forward on the pressure side, from the throttle body to the regulator, and from the regulator down to the OEM fuel line in the lower front frame rail. I ended up with about 9 or 10 feet of hose left over -- would have been plenty to run back as the return line if I had chosen to do that.



Here is the throttle body mounted in place of my Holley 4160. The only linkage mod requred was to move the little ball stud from the carb to the throttle body linkage -- otherwise, the linkage was identical to the Holley.



This shot shows the 7/32" hole I drilled in the thermostat so the temp sensor would get a heat signal as the engine warms up before the thermostat opens. Positioned the hole directly below the tip of the sensor.



The instructions say to put the O2 sensor at least 20" from the manifold, but with the sidepipes, that would put the sensor in the pipe that hangs down under the frame rail, and it would be visible looking through the wheel well behind the front tire, and out in the "breeze" -- subject to damage. I put mine in the vertical part of the pipe, about even with the inside of the frame rail. Also, the instructions say to drill a 3/4" hole, but the shoulder on the supplied sensor bung is actually closer to 7/8, so I had to ream the hole bigger after using my holesaw.



Please hold the laughter about my (lack of ) welding skills...




The system requires a "clean" tach signal, so is supplied with this small signal filter for those who are not using an ignition box. Tried to hide it under the coil bracket.



Mounted the ECU on the inner fender behind the passenger shock tower.





Here is the interim end state with all the sensors/etc. hooked up. The supplied wiring harness could have been about 2-3 feet shorter for my chosen ECU location, but I didn't feel like cutting it open, shortening all the wires, and splicing them back. Maybe another day... The little white tags will come off once I get it fired up and confirm it works properly (besides, all the wires are stenciled with what they go to anyway -- the tags must be for old farts like me with poor eyesight!).



All that is left is to hook up the primary + and - wires to the battery, switched 12v (for which I intend to use a relay triggered by a wire from under the dash), and put gas in the tank. From there, the initial calibration and startup process looks to be very simple. I'll post here again when I get it running, and then if/when I discover pros or cons that warrant broadcast. Thanks for following along -- it's been fun!




Edited by whizkidder - Aug/16/2012 at 7:42pm
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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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amx39068 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 7:23am
Ron,
You are doing a great job with both the work on this upgrade as well as the pictures and documentation of the process.  So when can I send my AMX over to your "shop" to do the same upgrade on my car???? Thumbs Up
Dan Curtis-Owner and CEO AZ AMC Restorations; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amcmusclecars/ & Curtis Real Estate Development
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rebel Machine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 7:42am
When you soldered the filler neck to the gas tank, how did you do it? Pipe sweating with a Bernz-o-matic?
 
-Steve-
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whizkidder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 8:39am
The first 5 times I tried to get the filler neck to seal, I was using a Bernz-O-Matic trigger torch (the one with the pizeo igniter built in) with MAPP gas.  The nozzle on that torch was producing a fairly wide flame, and I think it was just too much heat.  The last time, I switched to my 30-year old standard Bernz-O-Matic (with the flame adjustment knob) with propane.  That torch nozzle puts out a pinpoint flame so I could work my way around the neck without overheating the area I had just done.
 
I've soldered a bunch of stuff over the years - copper pipe, radiator tubes, tanks and mounting brackets, galvanized buckets, etc.  -- this was the most difficult (but also the first time I used the trigger torch...).
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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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote PlazinJavelin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 11:27am
The last two off-the-self Bernz mapp torches I tried from one of the home improvement stores, I returned and got my money back. Horrible. One would even cut out when the torch end got hot after about 30-40 seconds and wouldn't relight until cool. Some kind of safety feature? I also reverted to a 30+ year old large solder iron to finish the peice I was working on at the time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Greyhounds_AMX Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 12:23pm
I don't think your welds look bad at all. At least you remembered to slide the flange up above the O2 bung before you welded it. That's quite a pickle to be in, let me tell you....
1968 AMX 390 w/T5
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote needafasterAMX Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 12:35pm
Were is the pictures, I don't see any.
74 AMX, 401
Viper spec T56 6 speed trans
Hydroboost brakes with rear disks from a Avenger
3:73 TG rear,now Trutrac with 3:15
A Turbo is in my future.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Peter Marano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 12:55pm
Originally posted by needafasterAMX needafasterAMX wrote:

Were is the pictures, I don't see any.


To view the photos I had to open the thread in Internet Explorer, could not see them with Firefox.

Perhaps someone who knows about such things could explain.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote purple72Gremlin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 1:10pm
Interesting project.  am curious on how the car runs!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whizkidder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/20/2009 at 4:23pm
Originally posted by purple72Gremlin purple72Gremlin wrote:

Interesting project.  am curious on how the car runs!
 
My initial impression is that this system is a home run.
 
Configuring the computer and starting it up was pretty cool.  Just a few simple steps like desired idle speed, cu in, number of cyl, and calibrating the throttle position sensor at idle and WOT.  She fired right up (after I remembered to re-connect the coil wire -- Doh!), and settled into a real rough and slow idle. 
 
Unbelieveably, the computer kept the engine running at a speed as low as 400 rpm (with the Holley, I couldn't keep it from stalling much below 850).  It got better and better as the engine warmed up, and the hole in the thermostat to allow heat to get to the temp sensor seemed to work great.  I did have to open the throttle blades with the idle adjustment screw to get the Idle Air Motor into an acceptable range for controlling the idle (and then re-calibrate the TPS). 
 
Once warmed up to operating temperature, the car was immediately driveable, although a bit rough in spots.  First trip was about 15 miles including 55 mph highway and in town.  The computer "learns" fast, and the driveability improved rapidly.  Now that it has "learned" what the engine wants at idle, the ECU has somehow taken quite a bit of the "lump" out of the cam -- it still sounds great, just not quite as menacing as it did with the Holley.
 
I just got back from a cruise around the Atlanta area -- about 100 miles give or take.  The AMX seems like a different car -- the 3.91 gears used to make it seem like it was working hard at 70, but with the EFI, it just cruises along -- just begging you to hammer the throttle.  Except for some slight stumbling just off idle and at constant engine speed around 2000 rpm in the lower gears, the throttle response is like nothing I've ever experienced.  My neck is thankful for high-back bucket seats.
 
I've only just started to play around with the target A/F ratios (idle, cruise, and WOT), as well as accel fuel (sort of like an accelerator pump on a carb), so I'm sure it will only get better.
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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