Could this be done by the following? TA turbo 3.8 timming cover GN Cam sensor which should mount on the TA cover rest would msd 6al-2 digial box ,holley hp efi with coil packs or am I missing something here?
I believe you'd need the reluctor wheel for the crank, which is for a 6, not an 8 cyl. Plus a crank sensor. The cam sensor on the Turbo 3.8 tells the computer when to start the sequential firing of the injectors.
yes balancer reluctor would need to be made for 8 cyl .cam sensor will work in 350 cover. otherwise the grand nationals mostly use 20 bolt oil pans so those covers will not work with your oil pan.
If you're not too concerned about keeping it all Buick, you could run the Ford EDIS system. Just grab the coils, computer, sensor, and harness from a Crown Vic, and get a universal reluctor wheel to bolt in behind the crank pulley. The ring is about 1/8" thick, so you'll need 1/8" spacers for the accessory brackets so the belts will line up. This is the setup I'm using, only I had a reluctor wheel custom made.
Not overly complicated. No need for the Grand National timing cover, but you would need a crank trigger at minimum. There are a few ways to skin this cat depending which way you want to accomplish this. A crank trigger is needed. 36-1 or 60-2 wheel attached to the crank, balancer or pulley. I'm going to assume you've seen my 455 setup? Looking at pictures, I am thinking you can use the same method on the 350. I used an early 90's Ford Escort trigger wheel that was lathed open and the Buick pulley's backside lathed flat (minimal amount removed). From here you have two options. You either run wasted spark or sequential ignition. If you are going to run wasted spark, you are essentially done with a crank trigger. Just wire the coils with the proper pairing and it'll run fine. If you are going to go sequential ignition, then you need a cam sensor. There are a couple ways to accomplish this. 1) A Grand National cam sensor drops right into the Buick 350 timing cover, proper gear and everything. Wire up accordingly for power, ground and sensor wire. 2) Modify an existing distributor. Like my my HEI I ground all the teeth off the pickup coil except one. Or you can take a points distributor and smooth out all the lobes on the points cam except one and set the points so that they open once per rotation. I'm considering going to this since it's a smaller distributor and cap. 3) Modify a distributor like I did my Firebird's and install a Hall or VR pickup sensor. This is more complicated and fabrication intesive. There are a few small wiring details that separate each, but I can go into more detail on a specific case if you need, though some Fuel Injection computers might be picky on which type of sensor you run, so that could be a factor. Know what type of input your ECU wants and that may determine which route you go. MegaSquirt can use any of these.
Neither of these posts make sense to me. The balancer trigger wheel will have teeth representing 360 degrees of rotation, the computer does the math on if it fires every 60* or 90*. I also do not understand where the MSD Digital 6AL box comes into play? That is for a single coil.
I agree. I believe the Holley EFI is compatible with EDIS, as although the EDIS computer counts the reluctor wheel teeth, it can't count the speed of rotation, or accel/decel, and needs a signal from the EFI for timing advance/retard. I'm less familiar with the 60-2 system, but I've heard that more teeth per rotation=more accurate timing.
here is the grand national balancer reluctor wheel on balancer. you can basicly see determine 3 spots for ignition count. 1 rotation fires 3 cylinders 2 rothations= 6 cylinder. you would need 4 cutouts to fire 8 cylinders using GN setup. cam sensor determines #1 cylinder
Cam sensor determines cylinder #6 to start the sequential firing of the injectors, then the computer takes over. You can unplug the cam sensor and the engine will continue to run, just don't shut it off and try to restartp
I use this one on my OHC L6 engine, which is the largest diameter and the most expensive at $32. On your link, an equivalent diameter one is $50. http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/14-361-trigger-wheel-p-180.html (BTW, I really dislike the trigger wheel being at the end of the pulley/balancer because I have to remove the sensor when I change or want to remove the alternator belt.) If the Buick 350 crank pulley is similar to the 455 pulley I would serious look at going the same route I did on mine and pull the trigger wheel off an early 90's Ford Escort's harmonic balancer.
Came across this If anyone wants to go Distributorless while staying Carbureted http://www.autosportlabs.net/MegaJolt_Lite_Jr.
Stupid ? , but what about a buick GN dampner with crank sensor ring? TA V2027A could I just use those? but then it'd probably only accept a serp style pulley instead of a v-belt?
Won't work for the reasons Alec mentioned. Until this thread I didn't realize how low resolution the Grand National crank trigger was. It works, but pretty much all EFI systems going into the 90's through today have moved to higher and higher crank trigger tooth count for improved accuracy. The universal MSD trigger wheels for V8's often are simply 4 magnets (triggers) on a wheel, which is the bare minimum you can use for crank resolution on a V8.
I think your best bet depending on your software for timing control is to take your 350 balancer and drill the 4 holes for magnetic signal. Then you need the signal pickup sensor to send it to computer. Then add gn cam sensor to signal what stroke it is .
Well my harmonic damper is still on back order at TA. Should I just cancel it for an external ATI super damper with chevy front pattern...This should make the whole DIS setup allot easier All I'd have to do is get a chevy crank pulley and holley DIS kit
I have a ATI super dampener on order with a chevy front and enlarged whole for better trigger wheel availability. Just need to order GN cam Sensor BBC 60-1 trigger wheel Coilpacks/wires and probably a harness
Any updates? I've been seriously considering going with the Terminator efi setup and I didn't realize until recently that, unlike the Atomic EFI, you are discouraged from using a locked out MSD distributor. So it seems that means having to either extensively modify the distributor or go the distributor-less route. I really like the idea of using the GN cam sensor and switching to a coil pack setup. Just returning my pro-billet will offset some of the costs for going distributor-less. Is the ATI Balancer with BBC bolt pattern the best way to go for a crank trigger? I already have a brand new balancer from TA that's been balanced to my motor so it would be a little difficult for me to switch. This all seems like a lot of work I could just avoid by either sticking with a 6AL-2 for timing control or going with the MSD Atomic which seemed to have no issue at all using a magnetic pickup from a locked distributor (Did an install on a 59 Ford with a 351W yesterday, worked awesome)
