Self-Tuning EFI

Hey, welcome to Horsepower. Today we're bound and determined to finish up our Camaro Ss project one that's gonna turn that 98 street car

into a machine that's custom made for maneuvering the auto cross.

Yeah, after we're finished, we can take it to track day events where anyone can battle the clock as they test their cars and driving skills through a series of twists and turns

to navigate an autocross in winning times. Cars also got to have the right power suspension and braking.

We jump started this project with Subra

connectors for stiffness

and a BM wire suspension for improved handling

for safety and rigidity. We assembled an auto power roll cage,

then we installed a new K member

tr

it six speed transmission

and repurposed LS one as an assembly from under the car. Your toes clear, Joe.

Well, all that work gets us to this our fuel cell that we're repurposing from a previous project. It's gonna be a lot safer than the factory tank we removed. And well, we can plumb our fuel system to and from it pretty easily

to make room for it though. We have to remove the tank used for our air suspension system

and mounted on the shelf behind the passenger seat

along with the other air suspicion components using self tapping screws.

Now, we can cut out a large section of the carpet back

with the fuel cell basket in place, mark around it with a sharpie

and then carve out the metal section. So the basket will clear.

Now we can just weld the basket in permanently in place and the fuel cells got a safe home with plenty of access.

But we need one more thing to make this a race ready fuel cell. And our buddy Chris offered to help us out with that

down at the muscle car shop. He cuts out a piece of sheet metal to match his measurements.

Now, we're doing this to seal off the fuel cell area from the driver's compartment with his metal cut. Chris uses the brake to make 90 degree bends on each end.

Back in our shop. He attaches a hardware store, piano hinge with pop rivets

and now the cover can be opened easily for refueling and accessing the fuel line fittings.

Speaking of that, let's go ahead and round our feed line to the engine. Now we'll start from the bulk head fitting, use an Earl Superstock hose and attach it to a fuel filter

and we connect it to the fast pump which is rated at 255 L per hour

from the pump. We're on a hose to the original hard line.

Well, he does that I can install our new drive shaft from diner tech. It's got a 31 Flying Yoke. It's made with high performance racing aluminum and the

1450 you joined is the biggest and stoutest they make for passenger cars with the car back down. It's time to pull off the carbureted intake and bolt down the fast composite intake, which actually used to live here.

We did upgrade the fuel rails with a pair from air motive.

This will allow us to make a loop with the entire fuel system

downstream from the return. We're installing this fuel pressure regulator

before moving on, we got a little correction to make.

Last time after the roll cage, we installed a new pro car seat from scat.

It sure looked great, but

there's one small problem you see, I'm sitting so high in this thing, there's not enough clearance for a head, much less a helmet.

Oh, well, our bad,

this one's obviously a more passenger car style with a thick bottom cushion while the sportsman replacement has a design that puts the driver's bottom close to the floorboard.

This seat also has all the proper openings to install a complete five point harness.

This is the factory gauge cluster that came out of our Camaro and I think we've seen one of these needles pegged a time or two. Now, this is the cluster that's going back in it and it came from a fab designs. The gauges are from spec and we'll show you their cool features. Once we get them wired up,

I really like this combination. Not only for the looks but also the way it fits.

We used a fast easy EF I fuel injection system back in the dining room on a late model

hemi and we made 400 horsepower. Now, we also fed that motor with a throttle body injection set up like this. But since we're going to that fast composite intake and it's a multi port set up, we also have to swap to a multi port harness. They also supplied

it installs using all the factory style connectors

and will mount the fast computer box here where it's easy to access, then mount a new battery here behind the passenger seat with the help of this Mr Gasket battery box and cables.

The battery is an optimal red top rated at 720 cold cranking amps at zero degrees.

While Mike's working on that, I went ahead and finished up wiring the gauges and he was right. They're pretty cool.

The first thing you notice about these gauges is how bright and clear they are. That's because they have a high intensity led s with seven different color schemes and brightness control.

You can dial these gauges in for a high red line setting,

a low yellow line setting and even a green sweet spot setting.

It's also got a pit row setting for the track and that's why you see them all over NASCAR.

We've got a lot of wiring to handle before we're finished with this thing, not to mention, headers, exhaust and a few other details. We'll take care of that after hours, but very soon we're gonna take you and the Camaro to an autocross event, see how it competes against the clock and show you how you can get involved in this fast growing solo motor sport.

Well, we got a lot more so stay with us

and we're back with a question for you.

Why are LS engines like the one we put in our Camaro there so popular for performance projects on the street? Well, it could be because they make plenty of power,

they're lightweight efficient

and since they've been around a while, well, they're pretty affordable in case you want to repurpose one for say a street ride or muscle car project.

However,

to get one to fit in the hole of something like this, Monte Carlo here, man, you're in for a lot of fabricating motor mounts. Uh trying to get the tranny to line up with the cross member, not to mention tight tolerances, especially back here.

Another problem you'll have is with the stock accessory drive, it mounts the ac compressor on the lower passenger side. So the frame rails of most older cars are in the way

and the power steering pump and steering box are fighting for space with no winner.

Here's the solution to getting the engine in the proper location. It's Hooker's new LS engine mounts that are designed to locate the LS engine in the same exact location as a smaller big block. And if you remember correctly, we had a big block in the Monte Carlo. Last,

these pieces are made of 38 rolled steel and the precision machine for perfect alignment.

After installing them on the block, you just bolt the stock motor mount shells to the new mount using the supplied hardware

concept. One now makes this Victory series system designed to keep all the components within the boundaries of the block. Now, they make them for all LS applications and most

genres.

The kit comes with these factory style gaskets with old rings for the

Brock water pump,

which will bolt up first

any time you're putting fasteners into aluminum. I want to make sure you put anti

sees on all the threads.

Next thing to go on is this bracket for the alternator and power steering

and another for the ac compressor.

Now, the fluid damper balancer can go on, followed by the crank pulley

and this pulley for the water pump

using a spacer for belts alignment. We can install the lightweight Delhi power steering pump.

This is a concept one exclusive which saves space thanks to a pump mounted CNC machine mini reservoir.

Then with the help of two more brackets, we can bolt up this 105 amp power master alternator,

the cooling fan bolts directly to the alternator,

followed by the alternator pulley secured with a lock washer and nut.

Now with its arm bracket in place, we can bolt up the AC compressor

and then the tensioner.

The compressor is an ultra small C and SD seven that works with concept one billet manifold last but not least we can route the gator back belt used to spin all the pulleys.

This is not only a more compact way to drive accessories

with all that trick billet. It looks a lot better too.

Now, there's ample clearance between the engine and the firewall,

the power steering pool, it clears

and in this new location so does the compressor.

So it looks like a good way to go LS

without a bunch of BS. We'll be back after the break.

We're back and check out the bumble bee that just landed in our shop.

It's a 73 Camaro Z 28 that belongs to a friend of ours. This guy went all out to make a statement at the weekend cruise ins. Not only with that scream and paint job,

he also rose in on killer wheels with huge machine lifts.

Well, he sits on a cockpit decorated of old school custom tweed interior,

even a mini me bumble bee riding in the back

and when he pops the hood, his engine bay gets plenty of attention too with those painted valve covers, copious amounts of chrome

and even some cool carbon fiber up front.

While it's here, we're gonna put it to good use showing you how you can pump up the appearance and power of your engine

without pumping your money well dry.

It doesn't take an aeronautics expert to know that bringing in cold air from the outside creates a denser charge for better performance.

That's what this kit here from Specter is all about.

This power pack system comes with two heat shields filters,

this low profile plenum

and a pair of massive inlet tubes plus boots and all the hardware you need. In fact, this is a perfect first mud for a tight budget.

These little support bars look cool, but we have to get them out of the way for now to install the heat shields.

But first while we have the room,

we'll put the filters down here for the time being, then install the shields,

no drilling needed here. They install an existing bolt holes.

Now, this huge air cleaner can go.

No wonder it's so large. It's hiding a pretty ugly car.

Obviously, this is not part of the kits installation,

but we're gonna upgrade to some four barrel bling with this Holly Ultra light,

same 670 CFM flow rate as the old one worlds of parts and look

next, we can clamp the filters to the inlet tubes,

then route and secure the tubes to the planet

and the best feature might be the price. The Specter kit we install goes for about 380 bucks in the summit racing catalog. Well, stick around. We'll be right back.

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Hey, welcome back to the shop. If you're like a lot of car guys and gals we know today. Well, you like it both ways. The classic show of something like this. 72 Chevelle with some of the go you get for more modern technology. Well, we got something for this car is 350 that's gonna give it better throttle response, better idle characteristics, better fuel economy and

an end to those cold start issues check this.

It's a self tuning TB I Avenger system from Holly with everything you need to replace that old carburetor, including

wiring harness

sensors,

an in line fuel pump,

ECU

and this little handheld controller that handles all the setup. That's right. No laptop needed. You will need to fab up your own fuel return line for your application. So let's go ahead and take care of all the fuel system modifications. Now,

with the battery disconnected and car elevated, you need to loosen the fuel tank

and lower it.

Since this car has two vent lines, we're gonna use one of them as our fuel return line.

Although you wanna use as much hard line as possible in the fuel system, the Earl Super Stock hose we're using for connections has a special liner that makes it more tolerant to pump gas blends. Now, just remove and discard the old fuel lines that run from the tank.

Here's what goes in place of the stock mechanical fuel pump,

the kits, electric pump with pre and a filters

while we're under here, we can also connect the 02 sensor.

Now, the kit comes with a bone, but if you don't have a welder, just take it to a local muffler shop.

The throttle body fits all standard square flange intake manifolds with a gasket between it and the manifold.

It installs with the I AC motor facing toward the front

because the leakage for the fuel injection is the same used with the carburetor. We can keep and reinstall our original throttle

and kick down bracket.

Of course, you always wanna check to see there's plenty of free unobstructed movement.

We're next. We're installing the supply and return lines to the throttle body using Earl Speed flex with a Teflon inner lining.

Now, the map sensor gets installed as close as possible to a full vacuum port.

After pulling the harness through the firewall, we're mounting our ECU above the glove box and under the dash.

It has provisions for three harness plug ins. By the way this unit is fully potted, which means it's fully sealed to protect it from the elements.

Next, we can handle all the main hardest connections. Each connector is clearly labeled to make this process pretty simple.

Since the ECU needs to see a T

signal, we're gonna pull our from the distributor.

It's critical that power and ground leads from fuel injection systems connect directly to the battery.

While the fuel pressure is preset at the factory.

It's always a good idea to check it yourself. For extra peace of mind looks good. Now it's time to let the controller do its job for you. That simply means following the prompts

and in a few minutes you'll be ready to roll.

So now all you have to do is drive the car while the computer self adjust.

Of course, this conversion is not about increasing horsepower,

but part of the payoff is better throttle response.

Yeah.

And the more you drive, the more the computer self tunes. That means better fuel efficiency.

All right.

Coming to a stop and we're idling at 750 RPM. Nice and smooth. Perfect. But if

it wasn't, we wanted to change it.

Controller can handle that too.

The Holly TV, I Avenger system we install goes for about two grand and sure makes a grand old classic. Like the

Chevelle, a lot better tuned street machine.

One that's a lot more fun to drive to and having fun is what it's all about.

No doubt about it. Outlaw drag racing is the real deal when it comes to get down heads up competition

for the racer. There are several eight mile classes to match his need for speed and his budget

index classes are a great way to seriously compete without a big wad of cash.

Here in the 530 class racers leap together on a pro tree and fight to finish as close to 5.5 seconds as possible. Without breaking out.

Of course, it takes a car with a killer combination to compete and win like

Eric Gillett's Camaro here with those unmistakable old school graphics. Now, he's running a 565 cubic inch big block with dark aluminum block heads and intake and he's also used a comp solid roller with their lifters and belt drive

under the valve covers. Jessel shaft mounted rocker arms,

his engines backed up with a TCI power glide

and to help plant the power to the pavement. Eric runs Phoenix 1733 drag slicks.

Eric just stepped up from the 60 index class to this faster 530 class. What kind of consideration went into tire choice

consistency is key when running an index

with the higher horsepower car, we needed a tire that could calm down the effects of the violent power. And the launch the 1733 is a natural choice for marginal tracks that we run into in hot weather throughout the season.

Ok. Well, this guy looks similar but uh what's the difference here?

This is a Ph 56 R also known as a 1432 radio.

Uh the primary benefits with the radio tires that you can run a higher tire pressure,

which will result in lower ETS. And this is really important in classes such as Super stock comp eliminator.

A lot of signs to this tire stuff. Do you guys have more uh applications coming down the pike?

Absolutely. We're working on a line of outlaw 10, 5 tires

with stiff side walls primarily for high horsepower, uh high weight applications.

We're also taking a look at some big tire program,

uh

such as the 1734 6 is used in nostalgia, fuel cars, top dragsters,

uh pro mods

cars, that application. Well, you got your work cut out for you inside and outside the car. Good luck at the track and hey, I'll see you at the races

and we'll see you next time.