Engine Improvement questions

[RJ7868]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the next few months, hopefully, I will be doing a lot of work under my car. Replacing all the old bushes, upgrading where possible (brakes included LINK) and cleaning up what I can get to in the process.





I have noticed while working on my 84 that whoever changed it from fuel injection to carburetor has just left electrical cables and many hoses going no where. Not sure if any of the electrical still works or even where they would go.

So what I was thinking was, about changing my 84 from a carburetor back to fuel injection. Does not need to be orginal injection, just a system that will make the car GO.

What I would like to know from the Corvette Gurus out there is:
What difference would fuel injection have over what I have ATM (At The Moment)?
What brand injection should I be looking at?
What extra pieces will I be needing? Inlet manifold, electrical, computer, etc

[Cameron 77C3]

Whilst C4's are not my field, I know engine mods can be expensive.

Hope ya got a deep pocket RJ. ;46

[daniel42au]

You might be up for a few thousand depending on where you source the missing parts such as but not limited to.... air filter and box, connecting air intake, MAF unit, throttle body, plenum, air intake runners, fuel rails, a set of fuel injectors PLUS the labour of someone who is capable of connecting it all up including all the missing sensors and getting it running right again.... thru the on-board Electronic Control Module( ie computer).

hmmmm...  

My suggestion is to get it DYNO'ed and compare it with a standard fuel injected car.... to see how many extra bangs (if anything) your going to get for your bucks.

Fuel economy is another issue.... with a carb, it looks like your missing the various throttle body/MAF  sensors used by the computer to calculate and set the fuel/air mixture of 14.7 to 1 .... and hence maximise fuel efficiency....  what's the fuel economy like with the carby fitted?

My guess is that the ECM is still there... it is integral to the electrics.

As for the fuel injection to install... the easiest would probably be to restore it to standard.... but I am just a mug punter and no expert.

[Thunder Kiss]

RJ, "Corvette Fever" or "Vette" magazine (I can't recall which) recently ran a dyno test on an '85-'91 L89 tune port injected motor, then they took off the TPI injection and installed an Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold and 600cfm Carb.
Guess what made more power? The carb set-up!

Your '84 would have originally come with a cross-fire injection system which never made as much power as the later TPI injection. The cross-fire system also worked with low fuel pressure, same as a carby. Later EFI's used higher fuel pressure so any "upgrade" you do to a later EFI set-up will have to start with a new high pressure fuel pump and associated lines.

Yes, an EFI system will be nicer to drive from cold, it may give you better throttle response at cruising rpm, and it may give you better economy but it won’t necessarily give you more power.

To be honest, if I were in your shoes I would stick with the carburetor.

[RJ7868]

OK, I think I am convinced. I am going to leave the carburetor where it is but do a HUGE clean up around it. Clean up hoses and electrical cables going no where and removing what I think can be removed.

Try to hide what I can.

Thank you once again for the advice from a Corvette Community of Corvette Gurus.

[daniel42au]

Gee, your easily persuaded ..... :-)      

I am surprised that that the C3 communiity have not provided some imput considering that C3 350 cubic inch chev motors are carby driven....?   :-)

For interest sake, the question I wanna ask is .... Is the block in your car the original block .... and not a 350 block imported(along with the carby setup)  because of some previous major engine failure.....?

I actually dont think it looks too bad with that carby air cleaner sitting on top.... but maybe i am  an oldie at heart.  :-)

[RJ7868]

Daniel42au, I am going to sound very dumb here and say I would have no idea if the motor is orginal or not.

I do know that it was a Japanese import/export at some stage in its life. Well that is what I have been told anyway.

[daniel42au]

RJ,

many of the cars that come into OZ are Japanese cos they place  a lessor value on older cars than does the US (because of their vehicle "age  tax").

and hence are cheapier to import.

So the question now is....  how do you determine if you have a matching numbers car?

My uninformed opinion is to try to match the last 6 or 7 digits of the VIN with the engine block number....  if they match then the numbers "match" and you have an original block and chassis match.

but I am sure the forum experts will correct me if I am wrong.... :-)

[RJ7868]

Here we go:
VIN: 1G1AY0782E5126338
Block: V0928ZAK1A5423240

[86er]

Your car has had an engine swap.  The numbers do not match which is what indicates what I am suggesting.

[87Z51]

Originally posted by RJ7868
Here we go:
VIN: 1G1AY0782E5126338
Block: V0928 ZAK  1A5423240

Engine is from a 1980 Vette ;
Code ZAK: 350ci, 190hp AT
At least you can say you still  have a Vette engine in your car , they could have put a truck one in.

[BOSCHVETTE]

the cheapest and easiest way to get horsepower is a crate engine.you can get good 375hp engines for about $7500 installed or you could go down the path i went and spend 10's of thousands of dollars trying to develop as much grunt as possible (about 550hp)  and find that you brake gearboxes (4 off) and diffs (2off) every second weekend.

[87Z51]

BOSCHVETTE  , another track day at WSID 20 July.
You up for it?