EFI for Buick 455, what do i choose ?

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by Torsdalen, Feb 23, 2018.

  1. Torsdalen

    Torsdalen Well-Known Member

  2. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Yes, bolts right on to any year 400-430-455.
     
    Torsdalen likes this.
  3. Ken Warner

    Ken Warner Stand-up Philosopher

    How is the hood clearance on a 66? Either TA manifold is going to raise the carb up quite a bit. Even if you stick with the Edelbrock you may find your existing air cleaner base (if its a drop base) does not play well with the fuel inlet/outlet setup of Fitech or Sniper throttle bodies. Most of this can be overcome with aftermarket AN fittings including banjo style which give great clearance but may restrict fuel flow. Keep in mind that the sniper will require you to run a spacer or mill down the plenum divider though.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2018
  4. Torsdalen

    Torsdalen Well-Known Member

    Yes! Hood clearance is a issue on my car. I have 455 and used the TA Perf engine mounts that raise the engine a bit (made like this for better header clearance). I have performer intake and a 750 Demon carb now, and i needed to trim the inner hood a little bit to get the air cleaner on. So higher intake and a spacer means citting a hole in the hood ? I was hoping for a "budget" efi conversion, but it may be hard :) I really would like to use the sniper efi.
    I see that holley have a drop air cleaner base: https://www.holley.com/products/accessories/air_cleaners/parts/120-510
    Do i really need a spacer for intake if i switch to SP1 intake ?
    It may be an alternative to use Fitech and the performer intake. Anyone on the board that are using this combination ?
     
  5. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    Personally I would just wait a little while longer before you buy a Efi system. They are getting better and better every 6 months. I would not switch away from the dual plane for your application. Just wait till there is a good system that will work well with your existing intake. The fitech work fine if they are working 100% but the customer support is terrible.
     
    Harlockssx likes this.
  6. BrianTrick

    BrianTrick Brian Trick

    A budget EFI kit is just that. It’s enough to give you EFI. You should be able to get the dependability and reliability from that EFI system,but you will not see an increase in power.
     
  7. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482

    Well, I am going to be the voice of dissent... What that combo needs is a good Q-jet, with one of those new neat electric divorced choke kits that one of our board members makes.

    EFI will make no more power, and will not have better driveablity/economy than a properly set up Q-jet.

    The Q-jet will be a whole lot simpler, easier, and cheaper. Buy yourself a couple hundred liters of petrol with the money saved.

    Having installed numerous throttle body EFI systems now on cars, I am having a hard time justifying the costs.

    I strongly believe that to justify the costs of EFI, you have to have a dedicated manifold, or forced induction, or both, and the EFI needs to be a mulit-port sequential system. The upgrade away from the distributor to a DIS system, integrated into the electronics, offers even more advantages.

    No, not inexpensive.

    Honestly, the only real advantage that throttle body EFI has over a good carb in a NA application, is idle speed stabilization with added accessory load, typically AC.. and one can find idle speed kick up solenoids to overcome that on a carb.

    And you can say "It has EFI".

    I used to think differently.. but time and experience has changed my mind. Those are my recommendations to you, and everyone else considering spending $$ for a throttle body type EFI "upgrade".

    JW
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2018
    robjdavidson, Houmark, Julian and 2 others like this.
  8. sailbrd

    sailbrd Well-Known Member

    When I installed mine had very good support from Fitech.
     
  9. sailbrd

    sailbrd Well-Known Member

    I have done two systems with a FiTech. Both are boosted. If your setup runs good right now it is not worth the money to switch. If you do switch you will/ may get better fuel millage, better startup and much better throttle response at part throttle. Your cam should work good with any of the FI systems. Both of the ones that I have worked on have single plane manifolds. I love mine and will never go back to a carb. Then again blow through carb systems are just and incredible pain on the street.
     
    300sbb_overkill likes this.
  10. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    You wrote basically the same thing about 6 months ago and they haven't changed, are you going to write this again in 6 months because the systems are the same as they are today?

    Not sure what your problem is with the aftermarket TB FI systems available now, self learning basically tunes itself! Its going to be a lot longer than 6 months before they get any better than they are now. These aren't lap tops or I-phones where they are trying to get you to upgrade to the latest and greatest that are obsolete as soon as they are for sale.

    Seems like you of all people, "Mr. just put a turbo on it" would recommend these systems if you ever tried one. Like sailbrd;
    "I love mine and will never go back to a carb. Then again blow through carb systems are just and incredible pain on the street."

    Looks like these wouldn't cost any more than running a carb with these systems for someone that want to run boost on the street. What's a blow through carb go for, around $800, then around $400 for having it dyno tuned, an O2 gauge around another $200. About what the 1,200 HP power adder FiTech costs and that just gets bolted on and it doesn't charge you when it tunes itself like the guy that dyno tunes would.;)
     
  11. sailbrd

    sailbrd Well-Known Member

    Will not need a spacer. The Fitech is a bit wider and often need some mods for stock air cleaners. SP-1 is what I use. The Fitech is less sensitive to low profile air cleaners than a carb. On the other hand I think that there is HP to be had with better flow into the the top of the throttle body.
     
  12. Julian

    Julian Well-Known Member

    Anyone know much about port EFI....

    Holley dominate EFI
    Haltech Elite 950
    fueltech 600
     
  13. Robs455

    Robs455 Well-Known Member

    Yes I use the Holley HP (Dominator) EFI with the SPX with Port sequential injection + ignition
     
  14. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    My main reasoning for wanting a TBI style efi kit is for elevation change because I’m not sure how good a quadrajet can account for it. Does anybody know?
     
  15. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    A Q-jet can be calibrated for elevation, but if you then drive closer to sea level with the car, it cannot re-calibrate for the denser air and it will go lean. EFI has a barometric sensor and/or mass airflow sensor, so it is clearly superior in that case. If you do all of your driving at elevation, then the Q-jet can be made to work. So it depends on where you do all or most of your driving?
     
  16. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    I live at 6k ft but work at 5k feet and depending on where I drive can get up over 10k ft (driving down I70 out west)
     
  17. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    EFI will be vastly superior in terms of drive-ability in that case.
     
    ilikebmx999 likes this.
  18. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    Would it be able to do a 1-2k swing in elevation decently until I can afford efi?
     
  19. Harlockssx

    Harlockssx Brother Graw Mad

    Of course! What do you think happened pre-1990? Really though, you'll be fine with that minor of a change in elevation. If it was a 3-5K change, then you will start to have some mild issues.
     
  20. Julian

    Julian Well-Known Member

    So how was the setup for the EFI? What size injectors? Your fuel pressure?
     

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