EFI musings

[Edward C. Hernandez]

Although I, too, am a fan of KISS(the phlisopahy, not the group), and a
tightwad, I am also a big gadget fan. This means I often end up arguing
with myself(engineers argue with anyone, inluding no one) when
considering about getting something for my car: how does work, does it
actually do what's claimed, is it worth the money, can I build it for
less(money, not time and trouble). Therefore, I still drive a 33 year
old, 2 ton, carbuereted, distributed, 2 valve, cast iron 2 speed
behemoth that is still woefully out of touch with today's technology.
But it runs 16.7s @ 84mph in the 1/4, gets almost 15 mpg, and has
potential to run much faster with little $, and gets lots of looks.

So what? Here's the dangerous question: in light of the recent
discussion on analog vs digital EFI, and in the spirit of engineers
taking things to the extreme, why not stick to carburetors(ignore spark
control for a moment)?

Yes, I am aware that this is an EFI list. But some very good points were
made about what EFI can do vs what the DIYer needs it to do, and what
sparked(pun intended) my question was a description of how both analog
and digital systems figure out how much fuel to provide, why they might
have to be trimmed/adjusted/calibrated, etc(even after you get it
working at one point in time), which eventually led to KISS and
analog/trimmming pots vs sophisti-digital, so I take it one step
further.

Don't get me  wrong, I still lust for an EFI on my car, and I am still
waiting to hear back from the guy who installed the Edelbrock #3500.
But, in one page or less, what do you need and why not carbs?

-- 
Ed Hernandez
Ford Motor Company
ehernan3 at ed8719.pto.ford.com