hilborn injection on a sbc..how driveable???

so how driveable is a hilborn setup on a sbc on the street??pro's??con's???
can they go long distance without major issues????this is about the only thing i have not ever run on one of my sbc's so i need the Hamb!! thanks in advance...........

 

Excellent drivability if you have a dragster or sprint car. Otherwise.....

 

Always heard the ones not converted to electronic tended to operate like an on/off switch.....

 

They're really only intended to be used at idle and WOT. There's no provisions for part throttle, or transitions from off idle. I think if you search there's a few threads kicking around regarding the same question....

 

Call it a Saturday nite special you tune all week and you let it rip on Saturday nite.

I feel you can street one if you have patients. run a 2 pill system idle-mid range and idle -top end. Just my though only!!!

 

I agree it is an on/off switch

 

I run a two port on top of a 6:71 blower on a 355 in my Willys. Contrary to what a lot of people say, it can be driven on the street without much difficulty. The main problems I've encountered is you have to run it rich as there's no accelerator pump to compensate from low to high speed and when engine gets hot, it begins to surge. I think it's beginning to run into a lean condition. I have several friends that run their car on the street, one with two port and the other with a four port without any difficulties. Last weekend, they both drove their cars at least forty miles without a hitch. My car has a stick and theirs are automatic. One more thing, with the price of gas, it's not a good idea for your daily driver as it gets terrible mileage. Hope this helps. Vic

 

theres a seller on ebay that seems very well versed on how to setup a hilborn for street use. he seems to have it down to a science, but i havent had the cash to try it out. he goes by alkydigger on ebay, search for hilborn units, find him like that. i got a nice vintage mag from him a few months back.

 

The ones I know run just ok on the street but terrible at the track. If tuned for the track, its pert near undrivable on the street.

 

Here is alkydiggers e-mail addy.............. great guy, great knowladge.........
Alkydigger@aol.com

 

Why not add in an accelerator pump?? Years ago I contemplated sucha thing and even started making parts before I got side tracked. Anyways I took a Holley Fuel bowl - mounted it to an aluminum plate and had planned on actuating it off a cam mounted to the injector shaft.

One of these days I'm gotta get back to that project!!!

 

Now this I wanna see....

 

Do a search, there is a link to a guy that set up one so that there were no problems running it on the street.

 

sounds reasonable to me. I always ran a two pill system in my midget. it was more like a high end relief and a super high end relief. the hilborn pump pushes more fuel than my high end jet could bypass so you add another high end jet a little higher pressure to to keep it from having a high end rich condition. injection is a different way of thinking than carbs. the more RPM you have the more fuel you have

little more to it than just adding a float bowl but it could work with some finagling.

are you guys running barrel valves on your injection setups?? I don't know how you would get it to run other wise as we always ran them, but these dumped fuel based on throttle position for low RPM up to like 1/4 throttle. you could get the fuel meter custom profiled to match a street setup i'm sure. it would be a ROYAL pain to get something as efficient as a carb.....

 

Hilborn actually put out instructions,with drawings of how to set up a float bowl and tank for this some years ago...I have a copy at home, unfortunatly my computer skills, and lack of a scanner, prevent easily e-mailing a copy,but if you pm me I'd be happy to fax it to you .

 

As much as I drive my ride, the setup I have serves my purpose. Also I like to keep my engine bay simple and uncluttered. I'd like to see your pump setup when you're done. Vic

 

Yes, we run a barrel valve, I don't know of any other way to do it. I did not do anything to my valve other than have Enderle check it out.

 

bttp

 

I talked to Dick Russell who used to be Parnelli Jones' crew chief and is a super mechanic. I asked him if you can run Hilborn on the street. He said, yes, I've done it. He had it on his Offenhauser powered T bucket. He used the separate float bowl method. He told me to look up Hot Rod magazine September '86. There is supposed to be a good article for setting it up for the street. Good luck.

 

When I was in High school in the early 70's a buddy I went to school with had a 57 2DR HT with a 302 SBC that he ran Hilborn on and drove it all the time. I can't remember that long ago for the specifics but it was dependable and FAST! It had the short stacks and all was under the hood. It was a real sleeper. He had a suicide shift 47 Harley that was way too cool as well! Man that guy had some cool shit!

 

If you have to stay mechanical, you might want to consider the Lucas injection setup as used on Can-Am and F5000 cars in the 60s and 70s. Excellent driveability and tuneability.

Downsides are they are expensive, need 3 (!) pumps to work correctly, and you have to relocate the distributor...but none of these is new ground.

 

I setup the mecanical hilborn for the street on this 65 comet.........Very dependable and when you crack the throttle open you better be holding on.The barrel valve takes the most time to ajust once thats done the rest is easy.If you need any help with your setup please feel free to ask.
I almost have all the parts for the hilborn set up going on my awb 55 chevy which will also be mecanical.

 

Here is what Hilborn has to say about it:
http://www.hilborninjection.com/tech_mech_manifold_street.asp

I don't know if I could tune it for the street, but it has been done before.

 

may i ask what spool you used for the set up? i'm looking at one from kinsler, but didn't know if i could make the hilborn unit work if i use a huge bypass jet... thanks!

 

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha


Thats the funniest thing Ive heard!!!


There are a bunch of issues, and small as they may be, there are issues!!

I will bet all my cars - the day I can run my mechanical hilborn on the street as a daily driver, in Texas, for an entire year without touching ANY of the setup and it staying together.


-Jason

 

How about: If you run that _____ youll always be under that hood.

Get rid of that Rochester FI and get a dual carb setup
Get rid of that dual carb setup and get a Holley
Get rid of that Holley and keep your Carter
Get rid of that tri carb setup and run a Holley
Get rid of that cross ram and get a tunnel ram
Get rid of that tunnel ram and get DZ302 intake

last..Your better off with a Rochester Quadra-jet....

 

btt

 

American rodder i belive had an artical in the 90's about it, i just reread the mag a week or so ago, i'll try to get the month/year tonight, and hopefully someone can scan it

Anyone EFI'd 2 or 4 port??, i have a sick little idea for my coupe in the future

 

Not doubting there are issues, but some of us dont mind doing a little regular tinkering, otherwise nobody would run solid lifters or points.

I'll probably try it on my part of the week and weekend street rig, but it's gunna be a little too built for most stop and go anyway

 

Can the barrel valve be machined to where it provides more part throttle driveability? Also, could you use a Pill Selector for street adjustability?

A bud of mine had a Blown SBC with Enderle and he fabricated a secondary fuel cell up front which had a Holley float bowl attached to it. I believe this was to control the amount of fuel being delivered to the secondary which was fed from the Primary fuel cell out back which had an electric race pump feeding it to the secondary. The bypass ran through the secondary tank IIRC, but also had a line that returned to the fuel cell in the rear. Is this the "fuel bowl" setup you guys speak of? I think the only reason for the fuel bowl was to stop overfill of the secondary.

He mentioned that they originally ran a Hilborn 4-Port which was more streetable than the Enderle. If I remember, he actually adapted a Hilborn Barrell valve to the Enderle hat. The Enderle barrel valve had NO provisions for part throttle, only Idle and WOT. He claimed that 4-port valve had a slot machined into it that progressivly (Helical) fed the valve output. Anyone heard of this?

I am just going off memory, with zero experience in Mechanical FI.