hello all. I have a 2nd gen trans am fitted with a buick 464 around 500hp with a manual tremec t56 magnum. thinking of going efi fuel injection.as anyone done his on there buick 455 what do you think. kev .
Man, that sounds like a really cool car, post some pics! There are some on here who have done it (search for a fella with the screen name the silver buick, he's well versed in EFI, as well as a gentleman named Ken warner), I'm sure they'll chime in. While I haven't, I've been exploring it extensively lately as I think it's in the future for my 462. I have it narrowed down to the fast ez efi, and the Holley terminator systems. I almost pulled the trigger on a professional products powerjection iii recently, however after alot of research I've decided against it as it seems much more finicky and not as user friendly (although it does seem to have alot more user tuneable parameters, its not what I'm looking for in a system). I know this is "armchair engine building" as I haven't done it (yet), but I've done a serious amount of homework for what it's worth. Wait for those who have been there to come in and give you some solid info, but take a look at those systems in the mean time.
Hey Shawn, someone else here pointed these FI systems out that are even more price friendly than the P/P ones are; http://fitechefi.com/ They look like they're really nice systems, would love to say I have tried one but I have not. Derek
Did the FAST 2.0 IN MY 70 skylark with a 455. Nice setup decent tech support. Definitely worth the money in performance and drivability over my uick fuel 850. Any questions pm.me
I've been fuel injecting my 455 since 1993, and love it. Great drivability plus WOT power. I got a complete system from www.force-efi.com and sent them my intake manifold to convert. I have the SP-1 Manifold, and it's also plumbed with spraybars for a 2-stage nitrous system. I have the "classic FAST" system now, and if I were going brand new I'd get the XFI. If you are intimidated by FI then maybe the EZ-EFI but I like the XFI a lot better (maybe because it's all second nature to me now). I suspect you can upgrade your fuel system pretty easily to an internal-pump EFI tank on your car. I say - do it and don't look back. -Bob C.
I've got the old EZ-EFI V1 and while it's been fine for me I've seen more than a few people that have had issues. Most of the fully self teaching EFI systems seem to be more unfriendly with stick shift cars than automatics so buyer beware! Read the various tech support sites for the different EFI systems you are interested in and see what end users are doing and how happy they are with the system on a manual transmission equipped vehicle. If you could get the new EZ-EFI 2.0 throttle body with the newest XFI controller that might be a decent way to go... You get the ability to self learn when you want but also you can edit parameters as well. I'm not a big believer in the money it costs to machine and plumb our cars for MPFI, I think the throttle body actually has a lot of merit but again, my opinion and $2.00 will get you a soda at the local gas station. Good luck and may the force be with you.
Pretty sure Jim Weise is working on a fuel injection system. Not really sure how far along he is right now.
Wow, that FiTech system is getting some good reviews on some other forums, and a great price. Think I found my next upgrade.
Will do for sure. I will call them this week and get the scoop. They seem to be back ordered over 1 month right now. A lot of demand. My concerns are fit under the stock GS air cleaner. I also run a plate nitrous system, and it seems they require an adapter plate for spread bore to prevent secondary leakage, even though the TB is drilled for both. If I don't have clearance I am wondering if I could port the nitrous directly into the TB like I have seen some do on carb applications.
I'm looking really hard at that system too, and have also found alot of positive feedback on other forums. Please do post up a thread if you do buy it.
I have known 2 people that have had the FAST system and both ended up with bad control boxes not once but twice. I guy was told by FAST he needed their distributor, coil and then final after buying everything they said he needed they replaced the box and it worked. The other guy is on his third control box and he had to buy each and he has only had the system for 3 years.
FWIW my original box has functioned fine for like 4-5 years now. I got caught up in the scare of people having box failures so I bought a demo scratch and dent box from eBay a couple years ago for a spare and have ran it about 4 months total and both boxes have been 100% for me. I think most of the problems people have electrically with the FAST and most other systems is related to weak charging systems that can't handle the draw along with insufficient grounding of the systems/chassis/battery. The bulk of other people having problems often come out to being a guy with hairy cammed engine that makes almost zero vacuum or they have a leak in the exhaust or not enough pipe behind the O2 sensor and are getting bad fuel ratio readings due to inversion. Please note that I had read everything Google would find on the subject of the various self learning EFI systems available at that time before installing my system. I already had an MSD for a clean trigger signal. Had a 105amp internally regulated alternator for clean power with extra headroom amperage for a pump that can easily pull 15-20 amps at peak. How people still running an original 43 AMP system that has trouble keeping up with headlights and turn signals then fry fuel pumps and controllers start blaming the EFI guys is silly! Additionally I had existing dedicated power and ground blocks run to the rear of the car for my stereo amp and sub to tap into so the pump was not pulling extra current due to poor connections or long runs of stupid small wires. Other than a Denso in tank pump that pooped out and left me 1/2 mile from home once it's always started good hot or cold and performed just fine for me everywhere in between. I would recommend staying away from any external mount fuel pump and based on what I've seen online and from a friend with an MSD system you can keep the PWM regulated fuel systems as well... Give me a good old fashioned bypass regulator to keep loads constant and heat under control. One last thing it seems you see more failures with the guys that insist on putting a lot of electronics on the throttle body. Not everyone blocks the heat crossover and especially on an EGR intake the throttle body see a LOT of heat that I don't think the EFI guys ever thought their systems would see.
At this time I am working on EFI for Mopar, however the concept is generally the same for a Buick or any other motor. One of the nice kits out there, along with the FiTech is Megasquirt. What is nice about the Megasquirt is the cost along with the abilities to go any direction you want. Like I said, the Mopar is getting a 36-1 with cam sensor for coil on plug (COP). My current preferences now are the MS III or MS Pro. I did do a MS II for an old iron motor, worked nice. GL
Saw the FiTech on Engine Power. Nice looking unit but the price is half that of major brands. The website doesn't mention where the unit is assembled so I'm wondering if it's an offshore product.
I'm a fan of actually learning how the systems work as well as continually tinkering with more and more complexity, which the MegaSquirt is pretty good for. Dollar for dollar it does more, but does require more of your time on the front end to research what you need and what will work. The MegaSquirt will work with about anything, none of this "buy our stuff to compliment the efi box" BS. Some of the Holley stuff is getting pretty fancy and their touch screen is pretty slick. If you want a throttle body injection system, then get one of those all in one units (Atomic, FITECH, etc) and be done with it. IMO, any EFI system is only worth it if you are using as many of the optional features as possible or looking to accomplish something specific. Otherwise a carb will do you fine.
This is somewhat true if the car is tune for where it does most of its driving in, the A/F ratios will be close enough on one tune to work well within its service life. If the car will be driven from one of the coasts to the many mountain states close to the shore states and places like California with its coast line at sea level to the Sierra Mountains, then a FI system that self adjust the A/F ratios on the fly would be quite beneficial to that end user. With the price of the self learning system becoming more and more affordable why even mess with a carb? Tuning a carb may become a thing of the past if these systems get even more affordable. Unless they make carbs even cheaper by bringing those prices down to be able to compete as well? But still the price of jets, rods, power valves and a whole lot of other pieces needed to tune a carb in for an engine. Don't forget that most people aren't real good at tuning a carb so there will be the price of having the carb tuned to the engine as well by a shop. By the time all those costs are factored in a typical hobbyist can just get a self tuning system install it and be done with it. Being that the self tuning systems are mostly a paint by numbers installation a typical hobbyist would probably not have any problems installing the system themselves, and most of them could care less how the system works as long as it does work so they can drive their car to the next car show or where ever they want to drive it. Derek
