Hello, I have a '64 skylark with a 2 barrel carb. I am purchasing a 4 barrel intake (from another 64). I am trying to research fuel injection setups for it. The two leading contenders seem to be FiTech and Holley. Has anyone tried that? Were you successful?? What pitfalls should I watch out for? If that's not an option, I will probably throw a 600cfm Edelbrock carb on it, but for political reasons (mainly my wife HATES the smell of gasoline in the garage ) I would prefer to go to EFI... Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Quite a few on the MGExpeience forum have gone to TBEFI. Buick/Rover/SBF v8s mostly. If you go to this link and run a search you should come up with several threads. https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mg-engine-swaps-forum.40/ Jim
everyone ive heard has had better luck with holley. they also make a quadrajet version so you dont need a different intake or adapter
Can look here. Might be worth looking https://affordable-fuel-injection.com/product/jeep-amc-complete-tbi-system/
I've been running FiTech on both of my cars for several years. 2x4 on one and single on the other. Other than one injector failing for trash, my fault*, I have had no issues that were unexpected, (fine tuning and my learning the "different personality" of EFI. * I used new tank, lines, regulator. filters fittings etc., but I did not purge the lines on the '68. Did not write it on the windshield with the rest of the steps... Dangit. On the '64, since it was a change from carb to EFI and 4 psi to 60 psi regulated (in tank pump), and in testing I flowed a good bit in the '64's lines. Since I replicated the delivery in the '68, I did not do the same "testing/adjusting", I simply put power to the fuel pump and set the pressure to 60 psi, then fired the car up. Drove it for a while and had an injector intermittently hanging open, and the system was working to cut fuel for the first 600 miles. During that time, I was doing the break in, the drive time to bake the rear gears, adjusting and tuning, and then dealing with a roached transmission due to a converter failure, so the car was never right with the EFI, but I finally caught it when the injector hung open and stayed open, as I decelled off the highway, it stalled, would not start, and it acted like a flooded carb with a bad float dumping fuel, and I confirmed on the side of the road. So, finally got it started and drove 2 miles to the house, and sussed out the bad injector. Pulled, cleaned and put the three good ones back in, bought a Bosh injector from the autoparts store, 2 gallons of cheap 30 weight and a FRAM filter, drained the oil used the cheapo stuff to flush, then drained and put the gooder stuff and WIX back on it, and it was a very happy car. And finally it started driving and acting right. (and got the trans governor and modulator dialed in as well as the EFI) The majority of the problems people have with these "Plug and Play" setups is not following the instructions, and simply "taking a stab at it". The wiring connections and sources are specific, and grounding imperative (as with most things). Second is the "fiddling" with settings either making too many changes, not consistently testing/verifying what changes are doing, or not understanding and just twisting the dials and pulling levers and then doing the old "ripped that crap off and stuck and "Edlerbrick" carb onnit!!!" But, the numbers of people that have done the installs or had them installed (or tweaked) by reputable tuners far outweigh the haters. (being the folks that did not RTFM) I think that the "happy folks" are about split 50/50 on the Holley vs FiTech. Hope that helps (someone). Certainly, the folks doing serious power adder stuff may find one or the other suits a specific build better, and there is a great deal of info out there. Finding the "V8Buick" version of EFI forum with good, knowledgeable and helpful people is the challenge.
It seems to me that the cost of efi is the biggest issue. It’s a lot more than the unit as folks typically need a new tank and lines too.
I’ve heard Holley’s quality is not what it used to be. You may want to search for recent reviews. Patrick
Personally I say if you aren’t doing a multi port EFI you are better off with a carb. The TB EFI have some the of a carb issues such as poor distribution at part throttle with the hassles of wiring, computer, sensors, just so many failure points vs the carb. The only advantage I see is for people who drive the vehicle in a wide range of temperatures and or elevations as it will calibrate as needed. They are basically an electronic carb. Fitech has poor customer service, Holley is better. If you go this way pay great attention to routing your wiring away from anything that can interfere with the signals they are super touchy so people like to add shielding. Most issues with the low cost TBI setups are poor installs, normally wiring issues. By the time you do a EFI kit, new tank, lines, pump etc clutter up the engine compartment you could have done a 2004R trans and gain a WAY better 1st gear ratio vs your 2 speed and an overdrive gear to save fuel. Add a 3.73 possi and that carbed 300 would be ripping and still low rpm at speed.
I wouldn't recommend port injection unless you have a very specific need for it. Such as running an Enderlie style "Bugcatcher". ;-) Too complicated and involved for any sort of casual conversion. But the TBI units? I've heard and seen a lot of good there. Many of my peers run those now. Jim
There are a bunch installed out there. It is a bit much to do, with pump, filters, regulator, but I was doing major stuff on both cars, fuel lines needed replacing and I had the funds to do it. While it may not be for everyone, it is an option and overall, I am happy. And I am reluctant to move away from "period correct", but am changing my mind on things.
