>Wouldn't this be a good time to introduce the idea of upgrading from
>carburetors to programmable electronic fuel injection? I can't find the
>posts in my history file (I may have purged them) but I seem to recall
>some discussion in the past on this subject. I know that there are some
>units on the market that can be programmed with an old PC (386?), which
>seems like a good alternative to fiddling and fussing w/jets, needles,
>etc. (and BTW, finally something a PC is good for!).
>
>How about some commentary (ease of use, cost comparison, performance,
>etc.) from anyone who has had experience with these systems, whether on
>a Roadster or another, lesser, vehicle?
Gary, Jim, List,
I'm going to include Gary Savage's comments from the 510 list regarding
the Electromotive fuel/ignition system he's using on an L-22 (an L-20b
using Z-22 crank/rods/pistons). The car is currently featured on the Dime
Quarterly website (http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/). He drove the car
at Thunderhill/Shasta last July and it's simply incredible. On the front
straight at T/H he was actually out pulling most of the other cars in his
(the fastest) group including several very setup Z's.
It's also very tractable on the street. This is not a track only car.
That's the beauty of practically infinite programabililty. I don't want
to take away from Gary's abilities as a driver, either.
He said:
The mentioned $1500 gets you the Electromotive TEC system and includes the
cost of the crank trigger wheel & sensor, MAP sensor, MAT sensor, O2
sensor,
throttle position sensor, knock sensor, and the dual coils(1 coil per 2
cylinders). The manifold, injectors, pump, regulator are things that you
have to decide on yourself. The Electromotive setup would work fine with
the stock EFI manifold & throttle body and would allow you to run a big
cam,
whereas the stock (200SX) ECU and air-flow meter cannot deal with it. I
chose to go with the TWM dual 48mm throttle bodies, injectors, airhorns,
and
fuel rail. These are made as direct replacements for Mikunis, Webers, etc
and bolt on to a dual sidedraft manifold. The advantage to having this
type
of setup is that you get the great airflow of 4 unrestricted 48mm (almost
2
inches) intake runners per cylinder, without sacrificing low-end torque.
The only restriction is the size of the ports in the head. I ran dual
Mikunis for years and I got tired of messing with jets. With carbs, you
always have to play the game of sacrificing one thing for another. If you
want good low-end, you have to run smaller chokes (venturis) at the loss
of
some top-end performance, and vice versa. This gives you the best of both
worlds. You can have performance and power. While on the "controversial
NW
cruise", I drove 100 miles to Portland at 80 mph (3800 rpm) and another 80
miles through the twisty sections and includes the infamous "high speed"
run, which neither of which were optimum for mileage, and when we stopped
for gas, I still averaged 24 mpg. Not bad from a 200+ hp, 2.2 litre. I
can
live with that. Anyway, I working on an article and pictures on the whole
things. Hopefully, we'll get them posted on the site someday.
--
Gary Savage - Racing in memory of Swede and Shelly
Eugene, Oregon
Note that he used a dual sidedraft manifold and Solex/Weber throttle body
replacements along with Electromotive's crankfire ignition which does
away with a distributor and is completely programmable itself. Solid
timing from zero to a bizillion (or close) RPM. In other words this
system could be used on just about any motor that you can find a dual
sidedraft manifold for.
Very interesting, but remember that the injector bodies and the engine
management system run around $4k not including a laptop for programming
the EMS, and the crankfire adds around $450. The crankfire setup can be
used as a standalone and is adaptable to any engine. You don't need a
computer to program it. We plan on using it on the E/P L-18.
As to whether these 510's (there were several absolutely gorgeously
engineered and finished 510's besides Gary's) should be classified as
"lesser vehicles", join us at T/H and Shasta in July and we'll see. <G>
Later, Ron
________________
Ronnie Day
rday@cyberramp.net
Dallas/Ft. Worth
'71 510 2-dr (Prepared class autocrosser)
'73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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