What`s Your Opinion?

[Guest SMR610]

I`m currently running a series 3 with a 1600 pinto & 4 speed box, I`m looking to change this to a 2 litre & 5 speed box in the not to distant future.

 

What I can`t decide is whether to go for a straight 2 litre injection swap or bin the injection and fit a 38 dgas and fr cam.

 

I`m happy to carry out the work involved to convert to injection but I don`t want the extra hassle if I`d be better off with the carb set up.

 

I know everybody has their own ideas but any opinions given on this matter will be gratefully received.

 

I don`t know if this makes any odds but this car is my daily driver.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Allan

[Guest stevey]

I just know my response is going to cause howls of anguish from the injection brigade but less wiring less plumbing less hassle = DGAS every time mine has been on the road for 2 1/2 months never missed a beat and goes like sh*t from a shovel twin dcoe's would be better but DGAS is fine

Steve

[Guest Charles B]

I'm sure Jim is right about the 40's, mine drink fuel, but I only burn around on the weekends, so I don't really care, they look good, and don't hit my bonnet. I would recommend the Dgas if you drive a lot. The main problem with the injection is if you want to do any work on the engine, you cannot easily alter the settings. I've just ordered a circuit board and processor from a group in America called Megasquirt. They design DIY programmable injection and ignition systems, very cheap, less than £100 for all the electronics and pc software is free, and have a good user group, worth a look for any of you interested in electronics. I'll let you know how I do!

Also for anyone interested i've just got a gizmo from a company in Australia called Autospeed, it's a simple programmable ignition unit. It uses a standard fixed distributor, and you can program in three set points on an advance curve like a mechanical advance system. It comes as a simple kit for about £40, works great!

[ibrooks]

I agree with the comments about Ford's injection setup i.e. it's good when it works OK but if something goes wrong it's a lot of complicated wires to dig through. You won't get the full benefits of a cam with an injection lump as it can't be adjusted to compensate (mine spent all it's time wondering what the hell had happened to it).

 

Actually you can modify the Pinto injection setup but it's a specialised job. What you do is get a second EPROM which you give the new settings, this sits in the second socket in the ECU and then there is a connection which has to be "held" at a certain voltage which tells the rest of the ECU to use the modified EPROM rather than the original. Good luck.

 

I'm very interested in the "proper" programmeable ECU that charles mentions. What do you get for your money? how does it compare (or sound like it will compare) with stuff like the Emerald M3D etc etc?

 

Iain

[Guest Charles B]

Iain, have a look at the web site at www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html. It's very interesting, and you can download the programming software to see what it can do. They don't sell kits, but they do sell all the main bits, pcb, programmed cpu,on board map sensor, etc. and the two designers are very helpful. There is another site called megaspark who use the same board as a fully mapped 3d ignition module.

[Guest SMR610]

Thanks for the replies lads.

Anyone else wishing to add their little

nugget of wisdom please feel free.

The more the merrier.

 

Allan

[Guest paul thompson]

I converted my 2.0l Inj to carb, I'm using standard cam and 36/32 Webber at the moment, It was a piece of the yellow stuff once I found the extra engine management relay (it is the same as any standard off the shelf stuff) and got the ECU and coil (dizzy was the same as the one on the carb donor) carb and manifold incl throttle linkage and manual choke for £25 from local scrappiedoo. I'v not driven it more than 200 yards yet bt seems to go well. FR32 cam and 38 DGAS are waiting in the garage till after SVA, reason, more power = more noise.

[Guest SMR610]

Over 240 views and only 8 replies

and 2 of them are mine.

 

Come on you can do better than

that,

 

Carb or injection, help me decide.

[Guest Guy]

I personly like the injection, it's more efficiant, good on emitions, no setting up or tweeking, you don't have to strip it down and clean it, no balancing, reliable, easy to fix once you understand it (if it ever goes wrong), doesn't ware out very quickly.

 

It does have it's problems though, the idal valves get old, air sensor gets noisy, doesn't fit through the bonet easely, can be complex to fault find if your new to it and not easely tweekable if you want more power

 

I baisicly got the injection system cos it had the most power and good fule economy all as standard, I'll be using it as a daly commute so MPG is important. If I want more HP later then I've got the best mechanics to start with.

[Jon Bradbury]

Just a thought on this DIY ECU business...

 

Where are you going to get the fuel / ign map from? It won't start if there are zeros in the table. Here lies the biggest problem with this idea - in order to get it running well (I mean really well, optimised for economy / power under all engine conditions) you are going to need to spend alot of time on a rolling road tweaking it. Unless, of course, someone else has already done this for that particular ECU and will make it available for you to download. Oh, and they have done a good job of it. Otherwise your pride and joy will run like a sack of spuds.

 

 

In this instance I'd advise you to listen to your old Uncle Jim....

[Guest Charles B]

If you are running a modified engine, you are going to have to "map" the system if it's a carb or an injection system, and it's a lot easier to tap away on a laptop than muck about with jets. The megasquirt system is slightly unusual in that it doesn't use a map as such, but you input information on the engine size, compression ratio etc, and it runs a continuous calculation instead. It also runs an oxygen sensor, and so self corrects itself, so do some of the other systems.

You are right, the only true way is to rolling road setup, but we used to set up Zytec systems very close on the road without much problem.

[Guest Andy Rathbone]

i think the answer to carbs or injection is to be found within.

basically its up to you, injection i believe gives you better economy but is harder to make changes yourself and also money is a factor, carbs tend to be cheeper to get and setup. i'm running carbs. standard till after SVA then twin 40s i already have the beasts i just need the manifold, should be fun on a 1.6,

keep on building

[Guest brummy-ade]

I may let you have a little blast in mine at the next meet to feel what twin 40's like

best bring a petrol can

ade

[Guest timswait]

My two peneth is go for injection if you're planning on using the car a lot, carbs if you're only using it for weekends, or you have a contract with BP. Injection is tractable, responsive and fairly powerful (more powerful than a 2 litre on stock carbs), and if driven sympathetically more economical than my old 1600 carbed. If you do go down the carb route though, get an engine from an injection donor. The block's stronger (as used in the cossie) and the head is better gas flowed.