Technical Hilborn Mechanical Fuel Injection

The question is not a matter of if it can be done but how good a tuner you are. Won't go through the mechanical tricks they are actually easy if you just do it by the numbers.

Two big issues you have to deal with is with the hilborn the throttle blades are close to the head, when the engine warms the blades swell and you have to readjust. Now you have that covered you leave it and wait til it warms to drive it.
Next issue is fuel delivery, people who drive them on the street run up to speed then throttle the fuel cut off to make it drive at that speed.

That brings us back to the original question, how good a tuner are you?

 

I’ve seen this car and injection. Notice how every this is set and mounted for ease of operation. Gas/float bowl tank is level with the injectors the pump inlet is a very short distance from the tank. I’d rather see the shut off valve right infront of the barrel valve so nothing drains away … ready for the next start; but I’m sure his system works well too along with his byp*** arrangement.
I also agree with running a smaller nozzle size (ez on an Enderle) and a smaller byp*** pill to get better atomization for street use…

 

They were somewhat cantankerous, but easier than the six 97s they replaced. They caught fire once when I got off work one night and had kept hand pumping into the rear tank for pressure -- with a stuck float that flooded everything and eventually lit off the motor and the gas in the street in flames. No, they didn't run great all the time, but when they did, it sure was fun. Bought a set of plugs almost every week -- they were cheap back then.

Mind you, this was my only car and I drove it everywhere. Having the Hydro rather than a stick shift made it harder to wing it and clean it out, but there was not much compe***ion who wanted to go against it. (Probably slower than they thought, but I ran 4.40 or so gears and the Hydro loved them.)

 

We had two different locations for the throttle pedal to hook up, one was for quick throttle on sticky tracks and one for slower throttle for slick tracks.

 

I am waiting on the snow to melt off to try mine out. It has instant throttle response so I think it will drive ok. I am worried about iceing up out at the ****erflies.

 

Hello,

My brother and I just came from Reath Automotive in Long Beach and we were headed home. We just got talked out of a Hilborn Port Injection System for our 283 Chevy motor plans. Why? The knowledge they had, they could have made the motor work for daily driving, but it was not the most reliable system for the street. There were some Hilborn Port Injected coupes in the Gas Coupe and Sedan cl***es, but those were the exceptions. We did not see one port injection system on the street from all of the hot rod gatherings on our Friday/Saturday night So Cal cruises.

The fire up and move to the starting line was ok, when set up for the Gas Coupe rules. But, there was nothing in the rules to deny using the Hilborn Injection System. At the time, it was supposed to be daily street driven coupes and sedans with a modified motor in a stock ch***is or custom hot rod.

So, now we were conflicted. We wanted a 283 motor with dual quads as our first choice. We had no idea, other than adding a Paxton-McCulloch supercharger to our motor. We had seen a few daily drivers with the Paxton-McCulloch centrifugal supercharger and they were impressive. The addition would make it a top choice for daily driving and compe***ion use as per rules.

We knew about the 283 motors as we had worked on several friend’s set ups. But, not for a Gas Coupe compe***ion build. So, we visited a small local speed shop. The owner had a dual quad set up sitting on the counter and a short block SBC motor on a stand next to the counter. We instantly liked where this was going.

The owner wanted to know what we were planning on doing with the SBC motor. When explaining our build, he mentioned that the dual quad was great for the street and drags, but that the 6 Stromberg carb set up would show more power at the drags. At the time, a lot of drag racers/race cars that we had seen, had 6 Strombergs on their motors at Lion’s Dragstrip in most of the different cl***es, from FED racers to Altered Coupes/Roadsters to Gas Coupes/Sedans.

We mentioned a Hilborn Port Injection System and he said that it would be powerful for the drags, but not so good for the street. So, the conversation moved to the dual quads vs the 6 Strombergs.

He just happened to have a 6 Stromberg carb set up just for the display 283 short block or the long block Chevy motor in the storage area. So, after he made us a package deal, we walked off with a new 283 SBC motor, Isky Cam, Jahns Pistons, Chevy truck heads, and the 6 Stromberg carb package. On the way home, my brother had a smile all the way across his face.

The motor ran fine when we got everything together. It was difficult to coordinate all 6 carbs. But, once done, it was music to our ears. Power on request… On our test weekend drives to our cruising grounds in Bixby Knolls, it was a very fast street hot rod. But, we had to check the gas usage in our small 2.5 gallon Moon Aluminum Tank, almost at every corner.

We had no idea the total miles we could drive on one small tank. At the drags, it was a respectable SBC powered hot rod competing in the B/Gas Cl***. But, the results for the next several weekends just were not the best we could do with the carburetor powered SBC motor. It was fast for a hot rod coupe with the SBC +6 Strombergs, but not as fast as the top racers in the cl***.

Jnaki

Jump up 10 years of life and ever since I started taking photos, I went to a lot of car shows and cruising gatherings to meet fellow hot rod folks. Our friend from the Westside of Long Beach had an Oldsmobile powered 5 window 34 coupe in 1958-62, that was one of the fastest hot rods in the local cruising scene. He went from various carb set ups for his Oldsmobile motor. They considered the Hilborn Port Injection System, but no one knew how to make them work well and be reliable as a daily street use addition to any motor. So, he settled on dual quads for the best performance in his Oldsmobile powered coupe.

Then the older version of me and our photography choices drew us to a bright red, 1934 three window coupe that had all of the stuff necessary to be considered a “show” hot rod, but used it for his daily driver all over So Cal. When we saw the three window coupe, we knew it was the post 1960 ruling about the placement of the Moon Aluminum Gas Tank for all drag racing cars. The 1960 ruling made everyone move the interior gas tanks away from the driver.

Every time I come across these photos of days gone past, it always makes me happy to see what I thought was a cool hot rod that we saw cruising around in So Cal.
When my wife and I showed up at the hot rod gatherings, the 327 powered Ford Sedan Delivery fit right in, after we finally spent months working to get the drivability right for both of us.

I drove the 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery to the location of the shoot. Usually, my wife went with me in the Sedan Delivery, so, for this location, it was middle ground for us to travel to Long Beach Harbor and for Larry Cerny to drive down from up North. During the photo shoot, my wife took notes as she talked to the girl that came along to the shoot. The familiar notes gave me extra ideas during any writings for a good story of the hot rod builder, and experiences with So Cal hot rod cruising.
Post 1960 style with the Moon Tank in front and S/S wheels.
A great example of a cool So Cal style 1934 Ford Coupe, daily driver/drag racer…

Larry Cerny had the right idea in the late 60s early 70s. The high performance street coupe represented the Gas Coupe look for the street. With all of the speed parts included, the performance equaled the look.

A 1934 Ford 3 window coupe coming at you... A snail’s eye view of a hot rod coupe…

The front Moon Tank was added after the 1960 ruling that all interior gas tanks had to be moved out in front or in the trunk to p*** the tech inspections. So, the craze of Moon Tanks moved from the dragstrip action to the street style, much to the horror of the insurance companies and the CHP.

The Cragar S/S wheels were accepted quite readily for all types of hot rod/custom car installations.

Not only did this 1934 Ford Coupe take the drag racing build to the next level, his use of Cragar S/S wheels made it look rather racy. The motor was not just your run of the mill, dual four barrel SBC.

It was a Hilborn Port Injected SBC motor modified for everyday street use. The Hilborn Port Injectors worked perfectly and the SBC motor sounded as if it was staging at Lion's Dragstrip, when we moved the 34 for different photo angles. This 34 Ford Coupe had one of the only daily driven Hilborn Port Injectors adjusted for street driving. “Knowledge Is Power…”

 

In situations like road racing, sprint cars, supermodifieds, etc. the car is up to some speed and engine revs are up so when you come off the throttle and back on you don't have the same enrichment needs as pulling away from a stop light, a quick p***, or long grade, and other such street needs. A few have mastered street use, so it can be done. You just need to really understand how the system works.

 

It can be done,IT S not cheap to do,I used a reservoir/ac***ulator tank on the firewall feed by a electric pump.The mechanical belt driven pump is fed from the ac***ulator tank.The engine does have a magneto and a cable operated barrel valve.The only drawback to driving it on the street(absolutely NOT a daily driver) is the attention it gets from other drivers and the police.The throttle response is immediate and there is somewhat of a learning curve to blending in with traffic.Is it exciting?YES it is.Would I do it again,no once is enough.

 

I feel like a converter built for the application would go a long way towards making it work on the street.

 

As many have said - it can be done. But it is really NEVER done - as you have to know how to tune and it has no ability to sense al***ude change, weather change, fuel density, etc.. It will be a "labor of love" no matter how you look at it.

If you know how to tune an injected motor - then it is a possibility. Also, I'd probably have a "dial-a-jet" with at least a few different pill combinations and a really good/strong ignition. That gives you the ability to "tune it" for different weather/load conditions by turning a knob (at least the fuel part of it anyway). With all that said and done, there is a reason why EFI converted MFI systems exist - they have all the capabilities to address all the different weather/load conditions and can even be programmed for different fuels --> like gas vs E85. But, as others noted - there are a LOT of sensors and other such fun in a well setup EFI system . . . so now you better be a good computer and electronics tuner! LOL

No matter what approach you consider - you better have some deep pockets . . . because you'll probably spend 2 - 3X what you think you'll spend. LOL

 

Find an issue of Hot Rod from '86 - don't recall the month - Pat Ganahl did a great write up on it...

 

Thanks for the tip @Magfiend , here's the article.

 

So I wonder how much sales that article generated and what % actually worked well enough to have been worth the effort.

 

Only one way to find out! LOL

 

You first! I'm too old. Lol.

 

Did you make the surge tank yourself?

 

I made my surge tank probably 30 years ago for a injected Boss 302 to run on the street. Still have that project, but used the tank on my 4 banger as pictured.

And to answer the question, I did read and still have Pat's article. I gathered or made all the parts needed, but never got the Boss 302 to run on the street.

 

Here is my Henry J pro street
Blown sbc 4 port enderle mechanical injected. im getting it dialed in pretty good.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DVBmc8EtV/

 

picture of henry j at cruse 2025

 

Can't beat the look, or the response. I sure have looked into it for my Hemi in the Stude. No load sensing makes it a real compromise, and I want an air filter, which kills the look for a blower car. I think if you have a real torquey engine and deep gears and live on flat land like Indiana, the thing could be livable. But you'll always have to be ready to mess with it. I know a guy that ran a Bug on a blown 440 Mopar. He had a T handle to a cable actuated pinch valve in his console. He would adjust for load on the fly. Kinda like driving a teens/20's car with spark advance on the column!

 

@mohr hp
I made this for a Barn Door top .
The Hilborn must be more street friendly then Enderle ,
Over years I see More Hilborn vs E,
I am thinking
Its the Hilborn barrel vale , I have always used the Enderle K

 

That looks pretty good! I talked to a guy running Enderle stuff on a screw blown KB. He said Enderle used to make blank shafts (no groove) for barrel valves and he had experimented with cutting custom grooves with a die grinder(!) to make fuel flow more street friendly. Lots of trial and error.

 

Joey Lawance and his street driven mechanically injected supercharged Ford flathead

Joey has been building supercharged fuel injected flathead (180 crank) for oval track since the 1950s!

 

Yes on Spool Custom grinds .I was dealing with Jim & Kent @ Enderle ,
& here in Va
Sealock did development also with J&K.
About 10 years ago I sold some Vintage
Hilborn barrel valve's other Hilborn items , I tried to discouraged the buyer from buying from me, I told the buyer @ time he could buy all new from H-B
This was before Holley merge buyout.
Buyer wanted the older stuff. I sold , did not have to , I rarely get rid of things
Except wives!
Parts went to mid west to help restore
Old late 60's early 70's blown car .
I never did get to play with Hilborn's
Barrel vavle , H-B plumed there's diffret then other's , so thinking more street friendly.