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EFI conversion reliability

We get 4000 just in weather change here.
 
We have 7000 ft difference in elevation just in my county.


Following your thread and your reasoning for the EFI here MoparMarks. Question for you though, how did I manage to drive from Indiana to Colorado to the TOP of Pike's Peak and back to Indiana again with my '69 Super Bee (carbureted) without having any driveability issues? Not a single one, although I did have to stop a couple times on the way down to let the drum brakes cool off.

800ish feet to over 14,000 and back to 800. How'd I do that?
 
Following your thread and your reasoning for the EFI here MoparMarks. Question for you though, how did I manage to drive from Indiana to Colorado to the TOP of Pike's Peak and back to Indiana again with my '69 Super Bee (carbureted) without having any driveability issues? Not a single one, although I did have to stop a couple times on the way down to let the drum brakes cool off.

800ish feet to over 14,000 and back to 800. How'd I do that?
That had to have been an awesome drive.
 
Guess your really good with carbs, I don't know. I find it had to believe that it wasn't running rich as hell up here if you have set for down there. Did you pull into your garage while up here? If so how were your eyes and how did your clothes smell? Did you stay and drive it around for a few weeks? How was the throttle response? It probably started right up every time.
On a side note, why did you have to stop and let your brakes cool off? I never have that problem. I use my gears.
 
That had to have been an awesome drive.
Following your thread and your reasoning for the EFI here MoparMarks. Question for you though, how did I manage to drive from Indiana to Colorado to the TOP of Pike's Peak and back to Indiana again with my '69 Super Bee (carbureted) without having any driveability issues? Not a single one, although I did have to stop a couple times on the way down to let the drum brakes cool off.

800ish feet to over 14,000 and back to 800. How'd I do that?
Spend sometime at 8000 feet and add 100 degree ambient. Then, make several stops. Restarts. If you keep moving it is fine. Come on.
 
Guess your really good with carbs, I don't know. I find it had to believe that it wasn't running rich as hell up here if you have set for down there. Did you pull into your garage while up here? If so how were your eyes and how did your clothes smell? Did you stay and drive it around for a few weeks? How was the throttle response? It probably started right up every time.
On a side note, why did you have to stop and let your brakes cool off? I never have that problem. I use my gears.


No, not good with carbs at THAT time, I was just a young kid then (21). I'm much better with carbs now though. It was July 1975, stock Carter AVS from the factory, no changes.

It very well could have been running rich up there then, I just didn't know any better at the time.

No didn't stay on Pike's peak only for the one day, but stayed in Estes Park for about a week or so and drove around the area quite a bit. Don't recall any throttle response problems, but then again it WAS 43 years ago.

As for stopping on the way down, I too used lower gears coming down but with all the signs warning people of brakes overheating I just thought it wise to pull over a couple times and let them cool just in case. I'm just that way I guess.

I'm sure the road up to PP has been improved since '75, did you ever drive it back then?
 
It is all paved to the top now. Really took alot of the thrill out of the hill climb race. Most of the racers come over here to do the Lands End race on the Grand Mesa. Still dirt and more curves but not has long or as high.
I have always had better luck with the factory carbs than the aftermarket one. I do try to set them up. Out of the box doesn't work here. Here is a my carb parts cabinet.

DCP_0047.JPG DCP_0049.JPG
 
Searched for photos of that trip and found a few. Problem is trying to tell which are Pikes Peak and which are just other scenery around Colorado and Estes Park and Loveland area.

These three photos I'm sure are from the drive up Pikes Peak in 1975.

This one is on the way up (probably about 3/4 way up) off to the side of the road in '75.
Overlook going up road to Pikes Peak 1975.jpg



This one is at low elevation just starting up the road to Pikes Peak as I recall somewhere between Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.
Road starting up Pikes Peak 1975.jpg



This one is me standing at the top of Pike's Peak at the edge of a pretty steep drop off.
On Pikes Peak 1975.jpg
 
Another thought to consider: Since pretty much all cars since 1986 have come with fuel injection, if you get stuck and have to be towed, the chances that the shop/tech will even know what your carburetor is, are slim. As was said, most after-market EFI set-ups use GM technology and parts and can self diagnose problems... That being said, I still have my carburetors on the shelf, "just in case"...lol
BTW, I have about 3,000 miles on my dual throttle body FiTech and am very happy with it, but, like carburetors, it needed a fair amount of "tweaking" to perform like it does today.
 
Shoot, man, Where have YOU been?
 
Car is still good, but it just sits so much. I'm thinking of EFI and a little quieter mufflers to maybe make it a little easier to just drive out for a cruise
 
It has been SEVERAL months, man!
 
here’s a funny thing that happened to me yesterday. As you may remember I’m running a fitech unit on my 451.

Pulled the car out for a cruise on a nice salt-free day around here after about three months slumber. After the car was warmed up for some reason the O2 sensor pegged at maximum reading (20.6).

Boy that made the car run like dog **** - the fitech Kept dumping fuel to bring down the air fuel ratio but the O2 sensor stayed pegged.

Turned the car off for a few minutes and it seemed to reset itself. Ran fantastic from there.
 
I got a email from FiTech, they're giving "clinics" on tuning their products. That tells me lot's of people are having troubles.
 
I got a email from FiTech, they're giving "clinics" on tuning their products. That tells me lot's of people are having troubles.
Not necessarily...it's actually a good thing. The clinics teach people more about converting and helps those on the fence to take the leap to EFI from carburetors.

I did a clinic with FAST and it's a two part clinic to teach people first the basics about how the EFI system works, how to make adjustments and what each reading means. The advance class is for the XFI systems and teaches you about the advanced settings and how to do your fuel mapping.
 
here’s a funny thing that happened to me yesterday. As you may remember I’m running a fitech unit on my 451.

Pulled the car out for a cruise on a nice salt-free day around here after about three months slumber. After the car was warmed up for some reason the O2 sensor pegged at maximum reading (20.6).

Boy that made the car run like dog **** - the fitech Kept dumping fuel to bring down the air fuel ratio but the O2 sensor stayed pegged.

Turned the car off for a few minutes and it seemed to reset itself. Ran fantastic from there.
Electronics are weird... much like your computer, sometimes there seems to be a glitch and a reboot fixes everything. I've had similar with my FAST system, but for the past couple of years it's been working great without any difficulties. Things do change with your engine and while the computers are self-learning it is good to reset once in a while.
 
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