EFI information

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KB9GIB

KB9GIB

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I’m needing some thoughts on EFI. my son is going EFI on his 340 Demon 20 over J heads small cam. If you where to buy today would you go (Fitech) or (Holley sniper)? Holley is about $400 higher if I looked at it right. Thanks in advance for your input.KB9GIB southern Illinois
 
I tired the fi tech, did not like there customer service/ support. After enough problems with there system, having to reset it several times, fuel pump going out and it constantly draining my battery I switched back to carb.

With that said try Holley.
 
Ditto ^^^^^ with an Edelbrock.

Swapped over a '90 318 TBI to a Carb and factory manual fuel pump. Working Great, like having a 4 barrel to open up the secondaries at will.

Like the simplicity of it very much, this engine is in my '76 D100 Truck right now. High torque mini starter and she starts like it has fuel injection.

Cheers !!!
 
Holley has the support & market wrapped up right now. Most products, software tuneability, updates, support thru tuners, etc. Best to stick with Holley for first system in my opinion. I'm running a Sniper on a small block in my '55 Chevy for the same reasons.
 
If I was to buy today it would not be the fitech. I had it on my 408 for about 3 yrs and I was a big proponent of it. Worked good when it worked but not reliable enough. Left me stranded 3 times, the last being a 100km flatbed home. Switched back to carb.
 
Most are going to recommend Sniper. Some will say Edelbrock Pro-Flo but it has Distributor fitment issues with the wiper motor plus a few other quirks. MSD Atomic is now Holley aka Atomic 2.0 so same-same. Fast has a system too. Quick Fuel had a system but Holley squished it. Mega Squirt with a home brewed system is another option if you can fabricate and like to play with stuff.
 
I think either could work for you. I had the FiTech on my slant, put 1000's of miles on it with Zero issues ( other than a handheld connector issue - they replaced it ). A lot of the issues with either system, are install induced. make sure you have good clean fuel ( correct filters ) good power connections and Solid grounds. my car is now getting MS3 ( i wanted multiport ). you may want to consider an in tank pump as most wont live outside and are Very noisy out of the tank.
 
I have both Mega squirt and Holley. I just got done installing Holley on my 72 Demon. Hands down I agree with previous posts. Right now Holley has the support platform and RnD juggernaut the others do not have. Customer service is outstanding as well. The landscape in EFI world is very fluid but if I was starting another build today (death wish, ask wife) I would go Holley. One of the mistakes I made, and there were several was I did not utilize the Holley dash feature and had to integrate the system to a Dakota Digital dash.PITA.
 
plymouth4onthefloor said:
EFISystemPro.com
read through the website, tons of good informations.
If your resto is at the starting point, make your decision now between efi or carb. safes a lot of money!
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Absolutely great call out. Research research then research some more. It will save you loads of cash and toil. Ask me how I know.
 
.........And furthermore..........if you have ANY whim of upgrading further, you might consider going Holley NOT a sniper. You can get a TBI used or new body and a Holley HP computer based system, then later, upgrade to port injection with that same computer. In fact you could disconnect the TBI injectors and even re-use the same throttle body. Food for thought
 
dano said:
Most are going to recommend Sniper. Some will say Edelbrock Pro-Flo but it has Distributor fitment issues with the wiper motor plus a few other quirks. MSD Atomic is now Holley aka Atomic 2.0 so same-same. Fast has a system too. Quick Fuel had a system but Holley squished it. Mega Squirt with a home brewed system is another option if you can fabricate and like to play with stuff.
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This is the way I went. Bought a used FAST 4 injector throttle body with a microsquirt controller. Not for beginners though
 
I have two Fitech installs on two different vehicles. I'm happy with them. The first install is 3 years old and thousands of miles, the second install is a fresh build and recently fired up. I do understand the concern of reliability, especially when there seem to be a lot of people online discussing problems. I'm not disputing that those people are having problems - but just remember that people with trouble-free installs have no reason to get online and talk about it. So, for every troubled install - there could be hundreds of trouble-free installs out there cruising around. I would say that could apply to the other brands out there as well. The Holley stuff looks nice - and may offer better support because they are a bigger company- i dont know. ALL of these systems are aftermarket speed parts - so dont expect OEM-level R&D, and reliability any more that you'd expect out of an an MSD ignition, or other speed parts.
 
dodge71demon said:
sniper with the Holley Hyperspark
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Yeah, though expensive this is the easiest path to success. Get the entire package from the in-tank pump to the ignition box and distributor that way there’s no problems trying to match/band-aid components. Just be aware its not as easy as the marketing would lead you to believe.

Also, make sure your electrical system is up to snuff. Any EFI system is going to require “clean”, reliable power or you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle. If your wiring is original consider replacing it before you make the conversion.
 
I thank all that has replied. we have been talking to EFI system Pro. We are doing all new American auto wire so hopefully that will take care of the wiring. And going with a complete system from fuel tank to distributor. I’m sure I’ll have more questions when things get started. Thanks KB9GIB
 
KB9GIB said:
I thank all that has replied. we have been talking to EFI system Pro. We are doing all new American auto wire so hopefully that will take care of the wiring. And going with a complete system from fuel tank to distributor. I’m sure I’ll have more questions when things get started. Thanks KB9GIB
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Sounds like a plan, that’s exactly what I did on my ‘68 Coronet.

I will add one thing - the harness provided with the Sniper is a little lacking, its pretty generic. At least on my B body, things did not fit so great. Plus, I did not like the way the main power fuses and relays were just hanging there on the firewall. I ended up removing all the wiring and re-pinned the entire thing to make it work. I became real familiar with Delphi and GT terminals!

While I was re-wiring the car I also tried to integrate the Sniper stuff into the AAW harness which was not so easy. AAW provides a few accessory feeds but they didn’t work out for me but it might be useful if you can figure out how to make them work with the Sniper signals. Make sure you plan out your switched 12v power wires for the EFI components, there are a few of them when using the whole system.

Additionally, you will have to tie IGN 1 and IGN 2 together which I did right behind the ignition switch.
 
keep an eye on the Terminator X Stealth, a view more goodies if you want more in the future like nitrous control, drag racing, ac and blower control. Just 500 bucks more. Less EMI sensitive with the external Ecu.
 
rmchrgr, Thanks for some wiring information I never rewired a whole car before so I say it’s going to be a learning experience for us my son has also added the aftermarket A/C also so I might not have any hair left when we get started on the wiring. Thank you again. KB9GIB
 
plymouth4onthefloor said:
keep an eye on the Terminator X Stealth, a view more goodies if you want more in the future like nitrous control, drag racing, ac and blower control. Just 500 bucks more. Less EMI sensitive with the external Ecu.
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Sniper has provisions for A/C kick and electric fans through the ECU.

IMO, Terminator more of a "custom" install type deal. Those systems seem to be geared more towards ricky racer types that have a bunch of sensors on the car and are trying to control nitrous/boost/timing retard etc. Totally different ball 'o wax than a Sniper which is basically just a fancy throttle body with a more simplified ECU. You can actually do some of the same stuff with a Sniper too but the Terminator/Dominator ECU is much more involved. Installation is also completely different AFAIK.

To the OP, do yourself a favor and download the Holley EFI software. You will need a separate USB cable to hook the ECU up to a laptop but the software will illuminate things much more clearly than the handheld. I barely use the handheld anymore, it just rides in my console. I check it every once in a while to make sure there's no flashing red warnings but other than that it just sits there.
 
@rmchrgr
absolutely agree, perfect explained!

you can download now the efi programms and play with the settings just for fun.
Joe Simpson on Youtube shows a lot of adjustments.
 
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