Megasquirt w/ procharger...Manifold/throttle body questions

[Anonymous]

I currently started to research the megasquirt with the procharger, right now it's carb'd and runs descent but would like to take the plunge to efi. I have been doing alittle bit of reasding so far and have run into some questions. I am going to assume that i will be using a single plane intake for this. Right now i use the weiand xcelerator because it has a low operating rpm. From my reading so far it appears it doesnt matter if you have a single plane w/ a high operating rpm if your using forced induction. Does anyone know why this is? From my research so far i have found that the holley has the lowest operating rpm. There are a few intakes to choose from the victor, holley, super hurricane. Does it really matter which one i use i would like to use one that doesnt kill bottom end since this is a street car i like to have fun with. Also i could convert an intake from carb'd and drill for injectors which i have seen people do. I have access to a welder and my neighbor is a fantastic welder...should i look at this route instead if so which intakes are recommended. Last thing is the throttle body. I haven't really read much on how to properly size a throttle body for forced induction. Does anyone have any good sites that i can read about this and get a better understanding and suggestions on what you would do are always welcome. Also i know it'd prob be easier to stay with the carb but i am a grad from electronic engineering and i enjoy taking on new challenges and doing things not many people do. Also i would love to get my feet week in the world of efi since well everything is fuel injected nowadays.
Thanks

 

[Deuce4935]

I currently started to research the megasquirt with the procharger, right now it's carb'd and runs descent but would like to take the plunge to efi. I have been doing alittle bit of reasding so far and have run into some questions. I am going to assume that i will be using a single plane intake for this. Right now i use the weiand xcelerator because it has a low operating rpm. From my reading so far it appears it doesnt matter if you have a single plane w/ a high operating rpm if your using forced induction. Does anyone know why this is? From my research so far i have found that the holley has the lowest operating rpm. There are a few intakes to choose from the victor, holley, super hurricane. Does it really matter which one i use i would like to use one that doesnt kill bottom end since this is a street car i like to have fun with. Also i could convert an intake from carb'd and drill for injectors which i have seen people do. I have access to a welder and my neighbor is a fantastic welder...should i look at this route instead if so which intakes are recommended. Last thing is the throttle body. I haven't really read much on how to properly size a throttle body for forced induction. Does anyone have any good sites that i can read about this and get a better understanding and suggestions on what you would do are always welcome. Also i know it'd prob be easier to stay with the carb but i am a grad from electronic engineering and i enjoy taking on new challenges and doing things not many people do. Also i would love to get my feet week in the world of efi since well everything is fuel injected nowadays.
Thanks

You can use an LT1 intake and the electronics(computer, harness, and sensors) from a 87-92 tpi motor. The lt1 intake can be modified to accept the hei distributor and from there you can have the lt1 intake bored out to accept a 58mm throttle body. A good computer tune along with your procharger should be quite a blast. The lt1 intakes are very reasonable on ebay and lt1intake.com can do the modifications for the hei.

 

[jrdrag]

I modified the LT1 intake and it was terrible. I would HIGHLY recommend just buying a Stealth Ram from Weiand and being done with it if you ask me. Saves you about 1000 headaches. I just went through this. The stealthram is a little over 500 with rails and a regulator. I also went with Megasquirt.

 

[Deuce4935]

I modified the LT1 intake and it was terrible. I would HIGHLY recommend just buying a Stealth Ram from Weiand and being done with it if you ask me. Saves you about 1000 headaches. I just went through this. The stealthram is a little over 500 with rails and a regulator. I also went with Megasquirt.

What problems did you incure with the LT1 intake swap? And what company did you have modify the intake?

 

[jrdrag]

I did it all myself on a drill press. I wasn't even using a ditributor, i built a 36-1 wheel and used a crank sensor on the damper pulley. They tell you ahead of time that a few of the bolts are pain and you need studs. This is a GROSS understatement of the facts. not only do you need to use a stud, you have to slowly lower the intake down as you screw the nut on so that you have room to turn it. Also, they claim you only have to move 4 bolt holes. NOT TRUE! You have to move all of them. Only slightly but you have to move them. We took our time, about 4 days, and felt like we did it right. It did work, i took it off because I couldn't get the intake to seal to the heads. It puked oil between the intake and head. It could have been some other cause but due to the lack of clearance and the studs, i think the intake bottomed out on the studs before it got tight if that makes sense.

I really was thrilled that there was a cheap alternative out on the market and thats why I tried it. It sucked. Maybe if you pay someone else to do it, it would be okay cause then you just call and B***H when it doesn't work but by the time you spend over $100 for an intake, and another $200 to have it converted, you would be very far ahead buying a proven intake that works. The stealth ram just clears the hood on my '87 Monte.

 

[Deuce4935]

I did it all myself on a drill press. I wasn't even using a ditributor, i built a 36-1 wheel and used a crank sensor on the damper pulley. They tell you ahead of time that a few of the bolts are pain and you need studs. This is a GROSS understatement of the facts. not only do you need to use a stud, you have to slowly lower the intake down as you screw the nut on so that you have room to turn it. Also, they claim you only have to move 4 bolt holes. NOT TRUE! You have to move all of them. Only slightly but you have to move them. We took our time, about 4 days, and felt like we did it right. It did work, i took it off because I couldn't get the intake to seal to the heads. It puked oil between the intake and head. It could have been some other cause but due to the lack of clearance and the studs, i think the intake bottomed out on the studs before it got tight if that makes sense.

I really was thrilled that there was a cheap alternative out on the market and thats why I tried it. It sucked. Maybe if you pay someone else to do it, it would be okay cause then you just call and B***H when it doesn't work but by the time you spend over $100 for an intake, and another $200 to have it converted, you would be very far ahead buying a proven intake that works. The stealth ram just clears the hood on my '87 Monte.

The key word here is having it done by a professional with years of experience in doing this conversion and being able to raise hell with them if you run into any problems not mentioned before.

 

[jrdrag]

I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I have it done by someone, you are looking at near $400. For $150 i have an off the shelf intake that just bolts on, no hassles. If you do the LT1 intake you also have to run a remote thermostat. That means another 45 bucks. So as you can see it isn't worth it.

If I learned one thing when I built this last car, it isn't worth saving a buck or two to do something custom. Buy a part off the shelf that was designed for and has been proven on your combo. It may not be a unique or "cool" but would have saved me time, headaches and money in the end.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the replies....i am sure once i get a little more research under my belt i will have some questions...but for now atleast i have a few ideas. My origional plan was to buy an intake made for efi. jrdrag i have been reading on your project and very cool, keep us posted with some updates.

 

[jrdrag]

I will be picking it up this weekend and will have a chance to write up a nice long article on the whole project. I can't wait! It is going to be a blast to drive.

 

[DeltaT]

Holley makes a very nice single plane efi manifold that was designed by Cutler Fuel Injection. The runners are not so big as to squash your entire lowend on the 355, and it is available with fuel rails and HW if needed. Summit carries them.

Jim