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Youtube, 63 BJ7 with electronic fuel injection

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I believe he left the Carbs on for looks. The idea behind the modification was modern drivability with classic looks. If you check his work carfully I think the genius in the work is that it's all relatively easy to remove to mak it perfectly stock again. And, to the casual observr, they'll never notice a thing.
 
Thats the easiest starting Classic British Car I have ever seen. Excellent workmanship and engineering. They look like Bosch injectors, I used to work at Rochester Products for GM, we made all that stuff. Looks like he's using the SUs as a throttle body only, no fuel in the float chambers. Clever. Fuel injection is Not something I personally do, but Very well done.
 
Very nicely done, I suppose he is using the SU's empty as throttle bodies. I wonder if he left the dashpots in there.

It sounded like a Toyota when it started up. Whenever I see one of these projects, I wonder what the point is, though getting it to work had to be fun. I still think an original Healey runs pretty darn well when properly tuned.

How about a Healey 6 with a 280 ZX engine?
 
Interesting questions and observations. Yes, it is my Healey. I suppose the first question is what was my goal.... it was/is to build a continuation Healey incorporating upgrades that would seem consistent with technology evolution and current world demands.....at the same time, to respect the ole tech. look as much as possible, the objective being that when I open the bonnet the "average" Healey guy wouldn't notice anything high tech. Donald and Geoff were always modifying and testing new things so it is certainly consistent with their spirit. Having said that, I admire and respect an original Healey, and that's what my last one was, this time I just wanted to take a different approach. The car is being built as a Works Rally replica so I felt that gave me a bit of a license to upgrade since no two Works Rally cars were exactly alike. And to the question, "why bother" ... because it's been a fun challenge and I thought it would make a great car even better.

Now technically, the SU's are gutted and act as throttle bodies, the injectors are Bosch disc style, the valve train is all stock.... in fact, the engine only has the following modifications: conversion to unleaded fuel, 20% lightened flywheel, performance quality dynamic balancer, mini starter, and 20 thou. overbore (needed this), a BJ8 cam, and, of course, the tricarb manifolds..... the entire engine is a fresh rebuild BUT all the development was done before the engine was rebuild so that if we messed something up it wasn't a big deal since the engine really needed a rebuild anyway.

Regarding "Toyota" sound, that must be the recording because I assure you it sounds like a Healey....it has side exhaust like the Works Rally cars....the only "Toyota" like characteristic is that it is amazingly smooth and the throttle response is very crisp.....not to mention key only cold starting (no choke, the computer handles it).

I appreciate your interest and I'm open to questions...and, yes, I know this isn't for everyone.

Cheers,
Steve
 
I like it.
When the gas got real expensive I actually did a calculation on the cost of fuel injection (better mileage) vs the high cost of staying original and lower mileage. Since the cars don't get that many miles, it was only an exercise.

I compare this to my addition to my BJ8. I added air conditioning. I live in the CA central valley and there are many weeks that I cannot drive the car because of the heat. I can't take the bar b que to the feet. So I added air conditioning, and it should get licesed and on the road by the end of Feb for me to test.

It is your car, do all the mods you want. I do admit that your fuel injection is nice because you kept the origial look.

Jerry
BJ8 in progress
BN4
 
healeypassion, i love em all, older, newer, mods, what ever, your beautiful work is greatly complemented by the compelling arguments youve put forth to do such, bravo! :thumbsup:
 
Regarding maintaining the classic ole tech. look. I took the rolling chassis, as you see in the You Tube, to a British Car Conclave in the Denver area in mid Sept....this is a pretty big deal for British vehicles in our area and usually brings out 4-500 cars and motorcylces. It was very interesting, as only about 2 in 50 could even identify any EFI parts AFTER I told them that it was EFI.... so missioin accomplished on the stealth technology. A couple people even said "no it isn't fuel injected it still has carburators". In fact, once the shroud is in place it will be even more difficult to find the EFI stuff since a number of the required EFI bits are tucked under the shroud, but easily accessible from the bottom if needed.

And, yes, if someone wanted (I never will) converting it back to carbs is very doable.

Cheers,
Steve
1963 BJ7 Works Rally replica in progress
 
It gives you chills.....Awesome!
 
Steve, I think I know the answer (NO) but do you leave the pistons in the SUs to regulate air flow changes or do the sensors in the system figure all that out?
 
glemon.... you are right ... "no" the pistons are out of the SU's.... the only thing that remains is the throttle shafts and butterfly valves to control air flow.... there are sensors for throttle position, manifold absolute pressure (MAP), oxygen content of the exhaust, water temp., oil pressure, knock sensor, rpm, and speed sensor... the computer (ECU) controls the injector firing timing and duration, the distributor advance curve, and the idle air control. The MAP which, is a reading of vacuum in kilopaths, is a key to telling the ECU engine load and elevation (it automatically adjusts for altitude changes which is a good thing if you live in Colorado as I do) to adjust injector firing...another key/critical sensor is the oxygen sensor which reads the oxygen content of the exhaust gas and adjusts mixture to try to achieve the stociometric ideal, i.e. most efficent burn rate. When cruising down the road the ECU goes into closed loop which means it is constantly monitoring the O2 levels and adjusting to achieve the most efficient combustion (infinitely variable)..... when you floor the throttle, the ECU goes into open loop and flows the predetermined fuel map tables for that condition....once you go back to cruising the ECU goes back into closed loop. This is probably a case of more info than you wanted :smile:

Cheers,
Steve
 
The computer is GM unit that was used in the late 80's and early 90's in a boat load of cars. This ECU is both simplistic by modern standards and fairly advanced compared to general aftermarket ECU's. The unit is programmable by a laptop PC with aftermarket software. So my friend and injection guru, Ric Navarro, uses the "thought process" of the GM ECU and changes the values to reflect the needs of the Austin Healey 6 cyl. The ECU's chip is then removed and "burned" with the new values and reinstalled in the computer. Despite the complexity of the ECU, these are EXTREMELY reliable as long as they are mounted in a good location .... meaning not in the engine bay where it is exposed to high temp. We have spend about 24 hours runnig the chassis on a rolling road to "tune" the ECU .... the results are pretty impressive .... the Healey engine really loves EFI. Once you have it dialed in it will never need retuning. And, yes, the ECU tune we have now would work just as well on any BJ8 engine (I have a BJ8 cam).

Cheers,
Steve
 
I think its a fantastic achievement. Very well done. Out of interest have you noticed much change in fuel consumption?
regards
James
 
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