Spridget EFI survey

[Morris]

Hey guys,

Firstly, I want say Thanks!(giving) to all of you. The last year or so on the forum has been enlightening, enjoyable and humbling. Amongst my crowd (Graphic designers, programmers, photographers etc.) I am the king of cars. Mostly because I am the only person in my circle of friends who enjoys working on cars. Well, you guys have taught me, above all else, that I have a lot more to learn. It's a valuable lesson that I must learn and re-learn and re-learn. Thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff! The real reason for my post is this: I have the Midget off of the road for the rest of the winter at least. I am comtemplating the next phase of my EFI kit developement. I can go two directions with it. The first is an affordable single point injection kit (roughly $1000.00) that will look basically stock from a short distance but will only offer modest gains over stock performance and economy. The second would be a multi-point/plenum type set-up that should boost performance significantly, but will radically change the underhood appearance and cost in the area of $2000.00. So what say you men? If you were to consider an EFI kit for your car, which style would you prefer?


Your opinion is very valuable to me, thanks.

 

[caseyjones955]

EFI is a great idea. Its one of the few peices of technology that I do embrace for cars (I enjoy simplicity in cars, but EFI is a GOOD thing)

I would not think that all that $$ and time would be worth stepping up to TBI system, This thread is interesting to me because I have been researching what it would take to use an MPI system off an Escort or similiar Ford vehicle. Wiring isnt bad to work with as its mostly free standing. Reworking the intake for injectors, welding a bung for knock sensor in the block and many other things a guy would have to do to get it functioning correctly. A project to be sure. Not a radical MPI setup but an excellent system.

If your going to use EFI and have the loot, I would not hesitate to use MPI over TBI.

Im interested in reading about what others have done in the area of EFI on these Triumph engines.

Tony

 

[Morris]

Tony,

Do you have a means to re-program the Ford computer? If so, I say go for it. In my research, the most affordable EFI retrofits are based on existing systems. Mine uses the MegaSquirt computer (www.msefi.com) because of ease and variety of programming. My current setup uses TBI conversion featured on this site: https://sidedrafttbi.com/ Rick, the guy who invented this part, is an amazing, knowledgeable and helpful guy. There are a few shortcomings to this set-up for my car (it seems to work much better on the TR6) but all in all, I think it is totally ingenius.


If you don't have a means to re-program your Ford computer you may consider checking out this guy's site https://customefis.com/triumph.html. The kit featured in this link is meant to utilize Sidedraft TBI's carb conversion kit. Elsewhere on his site he sells a book dedicated to adapting and programming GM EFI equipment (including MPI systems). Being able to reprogram the computer is absolutely essential to the success of your conversion.

 

[Morris]

Also, check this out:

https://www.bobtooke.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Inject.htm

 

[caseyjones955]

There was a hotrod pinto in Federal Way running the 2.0 engine w/EFI fittten from a later 2.3 mustang, thats what I was recalling when I started kicking this around. I do not have the means to program the box but have heard it can be done. Doesnt GM have one you can remapp using a laptop?

That Megasquirt is looking pretty sweet!!! Probably better than reinventing the wheel, I have this drive to tinker with things that gets me into trouble quite often. I just found another Midget about 5 blocks away. Im going to snap it up if I can so I have a spare. I always wondered where the other Midget in SD was.

Thanks for the link.

Tony

 

[aeronca65t]

I'd like a simple TBI system of these car.

A few years ago, Moss Motors ran an article on a reader's Midget fitted with a Renault TBI unit and a Ford (adjustable) fuel regualator from a Tempo. No O2 senosr and no electronics....all-mechanical.
A while later, Moss developed their own TBI unit and I never heard any more about the reader's system.

My EMRA racer in '07 will be an Escort GT (with port fuel injection), so I'd like to be able to play around with the fuel and advance maps. I may give the Megasquirt a try on that ( #11 is getting a 1275 with 2 SUs so I can legally play wtht it in vintage races).

 

[Morris]

Nial,

I believe this is the guy you are talking about (from the Moss article). He is a Megasquirter now.

(edit)
https://home.comcast.net/~whaussmann/wmgb/wmgbframeset.htm

Oops. Forgot to paste the link.

 

[GeorgiaCracker]

I suppose you already know that you can get a complete single point or multi-point system from a Mini for a 1275. But neither will give you as much hp as a properly set up carb. The limitations my be with that particular system.

The guys at Grassroots Motorsports are currently setting a fuel injection system for their Midget. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with. I've heard that it will be difficult to make it work properly because of the design of the intake/exhaust ports.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Morris]

Thanks George,

My car is a Midget 1500 so it has a 4-port head. Also, the stock carb is a single Zenith Stromberg that is fairly dreadful. I could hang an old shoe off the manifold and it would probably be an improvement./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

In my experiments so far, I have not collected any dyno data, so I could not tell you exact numbers. However, there does not seem to be real boost in power as a result of the injection. The main advantage is that I can hop in my car, fire it up and go regardless of weather conditions. Also, throttle response is improved.

I will say that there was a very noticeable increase in acceleration as a result of switching spark advance to computer control. However, I have also learned that a knock sensor is absolutely critical for such experiments. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif

My biggest concern about the TBI set up is that the improvements in performance will not be significant enough to justify the expense.

 

[GeorgiaCracker]

Sorry, I didn't realize you have the 1500. My son has also has a 1500. His came with the Weber conversion, which seems to work pretty well. I wish you were closer so we could do a comparison, I'd like to try one with fuel injection.

 

[importcars]

I have been kicking the same idea around, but i was thinking about using a Honda PGMFI system. I have 2 different honda computers in my turbo crx and my turbo civic, and i program both using a latop top and can datalog. Both are stock honda ecu's with a few resistors and a eeprom added.

the hardest part i can see in doing the swap is adapting the honda distributor to work on the 1275. on the honda the distributor houses all sensors (also ignition coil) that the ecu references for crank position.

if intersted in the software to reprogram the honda.
for OBD0 systems www.turboedit.org
for OBD1 systems www.tunewithcrome.com

for all the info you ever want on home-modding the honda ecu goto www.pgmfi.org

-Adam

 

[Morris]

That's cool info Adam. Thanks!