inqbus383

I recently got fed up with carbs, so after much research, I bought the holley stealthram efi kit including commander 950 computer and 36lbs injectors.
http://students.washington.edu/aro/P...m/P1010172.JPG

The kit cost $2300 from jegs, and in addition to the kit I needed:
-small cap HEI distributer and coil for about ($335)
-2-4 feet of various vacuum hoses and convoluted tubing(20$)
-4 feet of 3/8" high pressure EFI fuel line ($30)
-4 feet of low pressure 1/4" fuel line and an fitting adapter, 3/8" fuel rail to 1/4" hose ($7)
-Lokar tpi throttle cable and bracket ($90)
-TPI K&N aircleaner ($40)
-8 feet of 18 gauge wire for the fuel pump($2)
-2 pin weatherpack connector for gm style small cap HEI distributor with 10" wire leads($25) Arggh!!

The installation too me about 20 hours. Difficulties and info from the top of my head:

The intake fits under my stock 79 hood, there is about 1/2 inch above the throttle body. The aircleaner just rubs in one place on the hood, but its soft rubber, no big deal.

The fuel pump was a pain in the **** to install. I first removed the gas cap door and the spare tire carrier. I unhooked the rubber line at the top of the gas tank and drained the line. I used a dremel tool to cut the metal line at the frame just above the rear right muffler. I then drilled and tapped a hole in the frame to bolt up the fuel pump and used the soft fuel hoses to connect into the metal line where I cut it. This was all difficult to do because of the difficulty in working in the confined area with little vision.

I used the standard 3/8 fuel line and 1/4 return line.

I mounted the ecu under the radio and ran the wiring harnass through the (enlarged)cruise control hole in the firewall. My vacuum operated cruise control had to be removed because the bracket doesn't fit on the new manifold. Besides there are better electronic units out there for a tpi like system.

I was able to retain my msd6al box, the ecu is controlling timing.

I used the efi383 with 36lbs injectors base map. My 405 required 30% more fuel overall. Even more at idle. I also had to bump the idle timing up to about 25 degrees. My current map gets me around with no problems, but I still haven't touched high throttle/rpm at all yet. I had to increase cranking pulsewidth and coolant compensation significantly. I also had to decrease cranking timing.

I haven't had much help in tuning yet, so I have been pulling over and tweaking is very slow and difficult. It is also difficult to drive and watch the computer screen at the same time. :jester

Even with a very rough preliminary tune, there are some major differences in driveability. Starting was difficult but I am making major progress there with the above changes, its starting on nearly the first crank now. Once it starts it idles very nicely at whatever rpm I program it too. It idles slightly smoother than the well tuned carb ever did. I can now accelerate in top gear from 1100 rpms or even lower. There is no bucking/stumbling/shaking involved. Before I had to cruise above 1600 rpm, below which it didn't run too well.

I can tell that it has much more power now at low rpms, but I have not tested it above 3000rpms due to the fact that I need someone to help me watch the computer to make sure its not going lean or rich or anything. Even on a rough tune, it is making more power/torque in all tests and behaving nicer than it ever did with my old setup (barry grant 750 vacuum secondaries, hei distributer, performer rpm intake).

I am very excited to get the fuel/spark maps all perfected as I know there is much to gain.

I am extremely happy that I have had no problems whatsoever except tuning issues. The install all went flawlessly.

Pictures of installation:
http://students.washington.edu/aro/P...m/P1010198.JPG Working on wiring/hoses.
http://students.washington.edu/aro/P...m/P1010199.JPG The intake is a beast
http://students.washington.edu/aro/P...m/P1010201.JPG This is before I cleaned up the wiring and put it into convoluted tubing.
I spent alot of time fixing bubba wiring all over the car.

More pictures of the kit and installation: http://students.washington.edu/aro/Pictures/stealthram/

ylose

It looks GORGEOUS in there !!! :cheers:

81vette

Thanks for keeping us updated. The SR is a great looking induction system. The 1/4" return line is small for a FI return line though. Keep us updated on your tuning progress.

:thumbs:

Mark

Fevre

To address that without running a whole new line you might 'T' the connection and run one line to the stock return line and the other to the vapor return line, what I have in mind when I do up my FI system. I am excited to hear that it fits under the stock hood, must be the C4 hood is a touch lower not allowing the intake to work. :cheers:

Alwyn678

My buddy just installed that system in his Cobra.He really likes it a lot :cheers:

dewcustom

i am glad to hear it fit under your hood i have a 70 and was looking into the stelth ram but had decided it would not fit.
does any one know how much difrent the 70 hood is compared to the 79 hood. i may have to check into it some more maybe it will work for me after all. :D

81vette

That's a good idea on the return....I hadn't though of that. I may just do the same.

:cheers:

Mark

Guru_4_hire

I have a 73 and am curious about the same thing

Brettmc

That's dayum sweet!!

Brett :thumbs:

zwede

Neat. I've had the commander 950 for 2.5 years now... One tip for tuning is to use the built-in logging. You can briefly go WOT and then check the log to make sure it's not lean.

BeaterShark

The '73+ hoods have at least 1" more clearance over the '68-'72 small block hoods. That clearance is over the air cleaner. I'm not really sure how much more clearance there is at the throttle body with this stealth ram setup. I'll go out on a limb and suggest it will fit on the '73-'79 models (do the '80-'82 have less hood clearance??) and will NOT fit under the '68-'72 stock small block hoods.

Ryan77

I plan to use the same setup in the near future on 525hp 383ci. I'm glad to hear that it fits under the stock small block '73 and later hoods, I thought I would have to go to a big block or L-88 hood :cheers:

inqbus383

Thanks for the replies guys.

On the hood clearance issue, the closest point is the front of the throttle body(above the waterneck), because the hood is already starting to slope down quickly there.

As far as the return line, I believe that the 1/4" line is sufficient, especially with my gas hungry 405. The pump is very quiet and I don't remember seeing any actual problems with people who only had a 1/4" return line. I will report if I have any problems though.

I just got the datalogs from driving around town and found no issues at all with my fuel ratio. In fact it was almost always .82 V, so I may trim the entire map down a bit. In all that street driving, the voltage didn't jump lean once.

Guru_4_hire

Maybe with the stinger style hood you could get some cooler air.... just a thought

theandies

Don't forget that the vapor return line has the vapor separator mounted on the tank. This is a check valve that closes when the tank is full to keep fuel from going into the charcoal canister. You could use the return line but if it was me I'd bypass the vapor separator and go directly into the tank. Just a thought.

zwede

Well, that means you are stuck rich all the time. Driving around town you should see the sensor swing around 0.5V constantly and an O2 modifier of 90%-100%.

inqbus383

Yes, I will shoot for the O2 voltage of .5, but I was trying to even it out and then reduce it by a percentage overall. I haven't enabled closed loop at all yet.