Need a shop to convert to fuel injection

[Legoslen]

Hello
Does anyone have a recommendation for a shop in the Collegeville Pa area (about 1 hour south of Allentown and 45 min west of Philadelphia) that can convert my 73 340 to fuel injection?
I got one quote so far but I feel it is way out of line.
Thanks

 

[Scott431]

Sorry cant help with finding someone to do it for you but have you thought about doing it yourself? I helped my stepbrother install an Edelbrock pro flo 4 on his challenger and it wasn't that hard. He ordered an EFI fuel tank with a aeromotive fuel pump inside it for the swap. The kit comes as a deadhead system but we plumbed it with a return regulator after the fuel rails. Works great and we both learned something new.

 

[Joe Palmer]

What EFI system? Me and the wife put the Holley Sniper system in our 65 Impala in about 6 hours. Super easy.

 

[rmchrgr]

What system are you planning on using? The Holley Sniper is probably the easiest system to work with. If you believe the marketing, all you need to do is figure out how to connect the power and ground wires directly to the battery, the pink trigger wires to an ignition switched 12v source and have the ability to bolt on a carburetor.

However, there's a few caveats - in general, it's best to have an in-tank fuel pump that provides a constant 60psi of fuel pressure. There are EFI ready tanks available for most of our cars and complete fuel system kits available that provide everything you'd need to get up and running.

Point being, if you go that route, you'd have to be able to remove the original fuel tank, install the pump module and sender in the EFI tank, wire it and plumb it. Splicing wires into an existing harness, especially an older or original one is not recommended.

Plumbing requires installing either hard lines and connecting flex lines to that or finding some sort of compatible hose and fitting arrangement and doing a custom job. Most likely you will be dealing with a return line as well so you'll be doing it twice.

It's not as easy as one might think but it's not hard by any stretch. Just have to have your eyes open and read between the lines to understand the process. What it comes down to is you need solid wiring and plumbing skills. These are imperative because EFI needs "clean", reliable power and leak free plumbing.

If those are not your strong suit then yeah, find a shop.

 

[Don Frelier]

What EFI system? Me and the wife put the Holley Sniper system in our 65 Impala in about 6 hours. Super easy.

That's impressive and kind of hard to believe?
You started with a fuel pump carbed car and installed the whole thing in 6 hours?

Don't forget you need to cut in a bung for an 02 sensor and find a port and mount a coolant temp sensor as well.

 

[rmchrgr]

If you feel like your installation quote is too much, you'd want to know how much "custom" stuff they'd be getting involved with.

Like I alluded to in my post above, if your car still has the original wiring and fuel system, it's a crap shoot as to whether either system is viable for an EFI conversion but it's be a safe bet it's not. The shop probably figured on all new parts, even if the install kit is just a basic one with rubber lines.

If you are planning on a Sniper system, the universal wiring harness they provide sucks. When I did mine, I basically made an entirely new harness from scratch. I ended up re-pinning every connector and ran all new wires to make things fit. If the shop has done a few of them, they'd likely be aware of that and would charge accordingly to cover all the custom wiring they'd have to get involved with. Same with the plumbing.

Name brand EFI is not cheap either even basic systems are going to be way over the $1,000 initial price. Add up fittings and accessories and time involved and you're way over that when you're done.

Also, if using a Sniper, it's usually good to buy the ignition box and distributor so the EFI can control timing. Almost kind of pointless to do it otherwise but there are people out there who do it. Just easier to have the ECU control the timing, things are much more precise which is generally why you would chose EFI in the first place.

And don't forget after the install, you'd want to get comfortable with tuning by laptop and reading and interpreting datalogs to tune the car. If the shop that installs the system does that, you're paying them for time and expertise with the hope they know what they're doing.

Just some things to think about!

 

[451Mopar]

Converting to a TBI EFI like Holey Sniper is pretty simple. The bigger issue is the vehicle needs a good fuel system and plumbing. The fuel going to EFI injectors has to be much cleaner / filtered than when using a carb.
Sort of expensive, but start with a new EFI fuel tank with internal fuel pump, and return for return style regulator. Old rusty/dirty (internally) fuel tanks will plug up the pump intake screen / filter pretty quick. Same for fuel lines. Any debris that makes it to the injectors can clog them up, or mess with the regulator.
Don't be suprised if the fuel tank / pump/ and fuel lines cost around $1,000.
With EFI, you don't need or want intake manifold heat from the exhaust crossover. Block the crossover, or use an intake that does not have a crossover.
Because the TBI EFI (Sniper / FiTec) have the electronics inside the TBI unit, I like to try keeping heat away from the unit by also using an insulating carb spacer between intake and TBI unit.
One big advantage of EFI is ignition control. My FiTec uses a factory leanburn dist from a late 1970's car and works good.
On the Sniper, the one I installed used the Sniper Dist (hall effect, not magnetic) and we din't have any problems.
I see some people have ignition noise issues with some Sniper installs, but I'm not sure if there it might be related to using a magnetic pickup dist?
Be careful of the dist phase angle. I think the stock leanburn wirked with my FiTec because the rotor phase angle with that unit is 45-degrees. I think the Sniper is 53-degrees which means the leanburn dist would need the reluctor modified to correct the rotor phasing.

 

[Joe Palmer]

That's impressive and kind of hard to believe?
You started with a fuel pump carbed car and installed the whole thing in 6 hours?

Don't forget you need to cut in a bung for an 02 sensor and find a port and mount a coolant temp sensor as well.

Yes, remove carb and water temp sensor, Install fuel injection throttle body, 2 wires to battery, mount fuel pump fuse and relay route wire down frame to rear of car. Install new temp sensor connect wires. Cut original 3/8 fuel feed line and plum to throttle body for return to tank line. Route new fuel injection feed line to tank. Mount pump on frame connect pre and post filters, remove original tank sender, drill hole for return, install bulkhead fitting (Kit has everything you need) Ground to frame, hook up routed power wire. Fuel system done.
I routed the electric fan control wire to my fan relay. Hook up throttle, Route O2 sensor wires to exhaust, Drill hole mount sensor. Route controller wires to cabin. Wiring done. Turn on key, answer 4 questions, start car.....Very simple....I know each install will be a little different, but they are made to go into Chevy's. Temp sensor threaded right in and all...Just make sure to buy the master kit. It has everything you need for the fuel system. I didnt buy anything extra.

 

[451Mopar]

I originally started with an entire kit with external pump, but that was one of the first things I replaced. It works, but I was looking for a cleaner installed look.

The remote EFI fuel sumps / surge tanks are another Option. Again, it doubles the amount of plumbing needed, and now there are two pumps to worry about, not to mention that because using the stock puller low pressure pump, you really don't fix vapor lock issues that a tank mounted pump solves.