TBI, TPI, Radical Engines, (Todd)

EFISYSTEMS at aol.com EFISYSTEMS at aol.com
Tue Oct 26 02:44:59 GMT 1999


Hi,
    And I bet you're still not done,,,,,,,,we all give countless hours of 
research and learning and contemplating and we'll never be done.......but the 
closer you get the better it feels(both seat of the pants and 
otherwise)....It takes some money and a lot of time......and once in a while 
you get some gratification doing something you learned earlier and helping 
someone else achieve their goal.........
-Carl Summers

In a message dated 10/25/99 7:10:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
frederic at xephic.dynip.com writes:

<< Subj:     TBI, TPI, Radical Engines, (Todd)
 Date:  10/25/99 7:10:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time
 From:  frederic at xephic.dynip.com (Frederic Breitwieser)
 Sender:    owner-gmecm at esl.eng.ohio-state.edu
 Reply-to:  gmecm at efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu
 To:    gmecm at efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu
 
 Todd and others interested in long rambling messages :)
 
 Well, you said "Money is the issue here", which I'd take to mean "not to
 expensive".  It all depends on what you consider expensive, and do you
 factor in your time to make it work.
 
 Before I go through all this, I will say that its CHEAPER and FASTER to
 skip EFI and run your engine (at least as we discussed it) with a
 turbo'd predator carb, or a suitable well-adjusted Holley, etc.  Out of
 the box you produce power, its easy(er) to fabricate parts, and a
 screwdriver can adjust things to make it run right.
 
 If you are dead set on EFI, you might consider the Holley or Edelbrock
 TBI system upon your own manifold, because mechanically its easier to
 attach to your twin-turbo mopar stroker engine.  Trust me on that one
 :)  Almost plug and play, and the aftermarket EFI stuff is adjustable
 with kludgy software that gives you a basic map to start the engine
 with.  From there you can tweek until your fingertips are sore.  If you
 insist on going the TPI GM ECM fangle on your twin turbo mopar stroker,
 consider that a junkyard EFI system might run you about 300-350 bucks by
 the time you include research, gaskets, parts, wiring changes,
 documentation, dyno test time, gas, travel, etc.  TBI or not.  How much
 is your time worth, and will you absolutely succeed?  True, Bruce and
 the Cone Shaped Hat Committee have done tremendous research and
 documented tons of stuff, TONS!  But still, its their work, you can't
 read their minds, and are ya gonna get it right the first time?  With
 twin-turbos like we've been talking offline?  On a Mopar stroker
 engine?  Maybe, maybe not.  There are a lot of variables here.  Its a
 lot more difficult than it seems, so I found out.  While I didn't expect
 it to be a "snap", it wasn't that far from "this sucks and I wanna kick
 the wall 200 times" either!
 
 The main advantage of the Holley 4D/4DI and other EFI systems of any
 flavour, is the likelihood of it working (more or less) out of the box
 is singificantly higher than with a junkyard system, unless its a
 straight swap - meaning Chevy TBI from a 350cid to a carb'd 350cid
 engine, tossing the carb of course.  The more intricate you make your
 conversion, the more time, more dollars, and more screaming it will take
 to get it going.  You're doing what we did, twin turbo EFI mopar stroker
 "B" block, so its not really a straight swap :)  No my friend, not at
 all :)  I've outlined below more or less what it cost me.  There were
 many hours spent headscratching as well as calling suppliers and chasing
 parts and details, which I did not include below.  Also, a lot of
 incidentals listed below I lumped together, like "sandblast intake" also
 means "sandblast throttle bodies, intake, bungs, brackets, etc".  Didn't
 see the need to make a 5000 line post when in fact a 4000 line post
 would do ::smile::
 
 Anyhoo...
 
 For our SyTy ECM (7749) to Mopar twin-turbo, we spent an enormous amount
 of time on the project, didn't get it running right, and still blew it
 up.  Take II coming soon with the 400cid mopar "B", non stroked, non
 turbo'd to start.  Hours are manhours, not necessarily my own.  "Expert"
 friends (at least compared to me) were very much involved.  Costs
 indicate something was purchased, either the item itself, or maybe
 gasket goo, brackets, bolts, etc.  All the blockwork and machining was
 done at the shop, by my friends, who have a clue and did me a HUGE
 favor.  Expect machining costs if your engine needs it and you don't
 have access to friends with a lot of expensive engine machining toys
 sitting around.  I know a ton of stuff is missing, as usual, half my
 notes are here and half my notes are floating around the body shop.  If
 you work full time, consider that you may or may not have oh, about 15
 hours a week to mess around with this?  That would be about 15-16 weeks
 from start to finish, and if you had the luck we had, it won't run, but
 blow up instead ::grin::  Hopefully for you, you won't have access to a
 free defective dyno with moronic operator (me!).
 
 Totals EFI          85 hours   $ 380
 Totals Non-EFI         154 hours   $2015
 TOTALS ALL         239 hours   $2395
 
 <--- non-interested parties of details press delete here --->
 
 
 Step 1. - Research and Part Collection
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Research 383/400 stroker   25 hours    $   0
 Obtain 383 engine       7 hours    $ 350
 Obtain Streetmaster 383 Intake  2 hours    $  25
 Determine ECM Choices       5 hours    $   0
 Research Wiring Harness Issue  11 hours    $   0
 Pull 1227749 out of 87 olds     1 hour     $   0
 Pull Wiring Harness from same   3 hours    $   0
 Pull GM Sensors, two throttles   2 hours   $   0
 Buy Harness & ECM       0 hours    $  75
 Buy Sensors/Throttles       0 hours    $  50
 Pull Ford Injectors (2 tbirds)  1 hours    $   0
 Buy Injectors           0 hours    $  60
 -----------------------------------------------------
 TOTALS STEP 1          57 hours    $ 560
 
 Step 2. - EFI Configuration
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Rewire wiring harness for syty 20 hours    $   0
 Stick in Ford Inj Connectors    2 hours    $   0
 Buy Aluminum Rod for Inj Bungs   1 hours   $  25
 Buy www.durafix.com         0 hours    $  35
 Mill Intake for Inj Bungs   2 hours    $   0
 Test fit inj bungs, repeat above 1 hours   $   0
 Measure, make, test fuel rails  4 hours    $   0
 Milling machine bit         0 hours    $  15
 Braze inj bungs, fuel rails     4 hours    $   0
 Sandblast intake w/bungs    1 hours    $  20
 Paint aluminum intake       1 hours    $  15
 -----------------------------------------------------
 TOTALS STEP 2          36 hours    $ 110
 
 Step 3. - Engine Assembly
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Disassemble Engine      3 hours    $   0
 All Block Machine Work     11 hours    $   0
 Port Heads         10 hours    $   0
 Two dremel tips             0 hours    $  10
 Turn Down 440 crank         4 hours    $   0
 Buy 440 rods (used)         9 hours    $ 120
 Wiseco Pistons (measure/buy)    5 hours    $ 640
 New Oil Pump, etc       1 hours    $ 135
 RV Cam              0 hours    $  80
 New Bearings, etc       2 hours    $  80
 Install Cam, assemble engine   12 hours    $   0
 Gasket Set          0 hours    $  65
 -----------------------------------------------------
 TOTALS STEP 3          48 hours    $1130
 
 Step 4 - Turbocharging
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Pull Two TO3 turbos         3 hours    $ 150
 Fabricate Stainless Headers    22 hours    $ 120
 Fabricate Intake Plenum         5 hours    $  35
 Pull Volvo Intercooler      1 hours    $  40
 Intercooler into Plenum         3 hours    $   0
 Igloo cooler, bilge pump, hoses  3 hours   $   0
 Rebuild Turbos         11 hours    $ 120
 -----------------------------------------------------
 TOTALS STEP 4          48 hours    $ 465
 
 Step 5. - Final Stages, Testing
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Assemble Intake to Engine   1 hours    $   0
 Drive to Dyno location      2 hours    $  10
 Mount Engine on Dyno        1 hours    $   0
 Fill Dyno Fuel Tank         0 hours    $  45
 Test Dyno Operations        1 hours    $   0
 Install headers/turbos/hoses     2 hours   $   0
 Attach wiring harness & sensors  5 hours   $  50
 Test 1 (no start)       1 hours    $   0
 Test 2 (no start)       1 hours    $   0
 Test 3 (sputter)        1 hours    $   0
 Play with Sy/Ty Code        3 hours    $   0
 Test 4 (worse sputter)      1 hours    $   0
 Replace Dyno Throttle cbl   1 hours    $   0
 Test 5 (start, runs rough)  1 hours    $   0
 Install Wieland tunnel Ram  1 hours    $   0
 Install two Predator carbs  1 hours    $   0
 Fabricate "Y" throttle cbl  1 hours    $   0
 Fabricate new Plenum        4 hours    $  25
 Install, test new plenum    1 hours    $   0
 Test 6              1 hours    $   0
 Run motor 1900 RPM      2 hours    $   0
 Replace weiland/carbs w/efi     3 hours    $   0
 Test 7 (runs rough)         1 hours    $   0
 Play with Sy/Ty Code        3 hours    $   0
 Test 8 (runs rough)         1 hours    $   0
 Play with Sy/Ty Code        3 hours    $   0
 Test 9 (runs rough)         1 hours    $   0
 Play with Sy/Ty Code        3 hours    $   0
 Install Wieland tunnel Ram  1 hours    $   0
 Install two Predator carbs  1 hours    $   0
 FULL WOT TEST           1 hours    $   0
 -----------------------------------------------------
 TOTALS STEP 5          50 hours    $ 130
 
 Totals EFI          85 hours   $ 380
 Totals Non-EFI         154 hours   $2015
 TOTALS ALL         239 hours   $2395
 
 
 
 -- 
 
 Frederic Breitwieser
 Xephic Technology
 769 Sylvan Ave #9
 Bridgeport CT 06606
 
 Tele: (203) 372-2707
  Fax: (603) 372-1147
 Web: http://xephic.dynip.com/
 
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