Hilborn to EFI, Care to Drop any Names?

Have a Dodge 241-325 Hilborn Inj. unit and would like to explore turning it into a EFI for street use. Any Hammer know someone first hand that can convert or a good place to buy DIY parts and info? Thanks...............

 

Yep - Fran Olson - he da man! Click on the link below.

http://foxengineering-efi-fuel-injection-hemi-g***er-mopar.com/index.html

 

have you checked with Hilborn? They have EFI now too.

 

check this link and talk to Bob. He is a really good guy and knows his stuff. he can convert your unit or lead you in the right direction

http://www.imagineinjection.com/

 

Hilborn does these all the time. Go to the original source man!

 

Best DIY EFI on the cheap is MegaSquirt. Hands down. The unit is less than $500 ***embled, significantly less if you can put together circuit boards. It runs on GM sensors, and it's open source so it can be adapted to just about anything. The self tuning abilities are increadible as well. As long as you can get it to idle, you can use thier software (which is free) to rough tune well enough to drive to the dyno.

Do some searching on thier forum, and maybe register to ask for help. http://www.megamanual.com/forums.htm I have a few friends running this system and they absolutely love it.

 

Hilborn will want an arm, leg, and left nut to do the conversion. A local machine shop should be able to drill the intake(s) and machine/weld the appropriate injector bosses (provided you give the me proper dimensions); not a difficult thing to do. You can source all the other parts (injectors, sensors, etc.) from various FI vendors and/or your local GM/Ford/Mopar/NAPA/RockAuto/etc parts vendors.

 

I have been in contact with Hilborn and asked around about their set up but haven't herd anything positive from others using it. I have been told buy others that the "screw driver no lap top" is problematic. Would like to hear from others if they are satisfied with the Hilborn EFI set up.
Other custom, lap top tuned EFI's are about 2k cheaper than Hilborn also and are a little "cleaner" looking IMO. Still gathering info, thanks to all.

 

I am currently building a Desoto 341 hemi with set of Hilborns converted to TPI injection. The original injectors were located on the inside of the castings. Danny at Hilborn drilled and tapped 1/4" pipe thread holes on the outside of the castings. I then made some adapters that screw into those 1/4" holes and they accept the injectors. Each adapter has 4 stainless set screws that hold the injector in place. The injectors I got from Blue Oval Performane and are for Fords. They have a lip on them that hold a rubber O-ring seal in place. Using my adapters I had to mount the injectors in a lathe and ground off that lip in order to slide the injector into the adapter. The O-rings merely push into the adapter and the injector pushes into place over it. I got the injector hats on ebay from a guy that goes by FOCARMAN on ebay. They set me back $100.00. Rather than a fuel rail that sits on top of the injectors, the hats use fuel hose that plugs into fuel rails monted between the injector castings. I just did it that way since it looks better to me. The 1/8" pipe thread holes originally for the mechanical injectors now takes 8 br*** pipe plugs with 3/16" hose barb fittings. Hoses from those 8 fittings will then go to an aluminum box that will act as a vacuum supply for the map sensor and there will also be a fitted on it another vacuum line to the PC valve. On top of the cam (valley) cover is the hole for the crankcase ventilation that exited out past the ******.You'll have to make an adapter to fit the PC valve into it. The computer is a Megasquirt V3. If you decide to go with individual injector hoses like I am, I can build you a set of injector adapters. Please note that my engine isn't running yet. Since being laid off from job, money has been scarce so the project is on hold and no further along than in this photo. Bill

 

I have an Enderle injection unit converted to EFI by Blower drive service. Its running FAST ECU and harness. I havent gotten to that point in my build where i have to tune it yet, but the guy i bought it from said with a lap top it is a breeze.

diego

 

i sold a old bbc unit to a guy in las vegas or possibly in that area....think his name is jim foley. seemed pretty up on that efi stuff.

 

got any good pics of the setup? just picked up a nailhead one with hopes to make it work....and looking for more info on it

 

You could DIY with a stock Ford 5.0 L set up from 1986 -89 trucks. The 241-325 Hemi Should fit into the stock program, and the computer would adapt. Use an adapter plate like EarlyHemiBill suggested. The Ford Hall effect Distributor could be modified to drive off the Hemi dist, or the Hall Effect could be placed in the HEMI dist. The Ford setup could be wired with a Ford shop manual, triming down the stock harness to the bare bones. Nothing wrong with Fast and Megasquirt, but this setup would be super cheep to run. I plan on running one on my 276 desoto HEMI. with homemade Throttle Bodies. Keep us posted. Good Luck with your project.

 

Will get some together.Bill

 

WWW.HOTRODSOLUTIONS.NET For manifold conversion. Problem with FAST and BIGSTUFF3 is cost. In the end you are looking at about $3000 For the electronics. Tuning is easy to those who have done it before and optimal set up needs a dyno.

You can use any OEM (within reason) set up as you just use their sensors. Problem is tuning requires custom chip if applicable or a piggy back set up to tune. Much cheaper without a dout.

 

I've got first hand knowledge of this as we're just finishing the same thing
on my '54 331" Chrysler Hemi. It's been dyno tested, and runs great, that's
the good news. The bad news is that is EXPENSIVE if you can't do it all yourself, and are not that computer saavy, and I'm not. There's also a ****load
of sensors, and wiring to contend with. I'm very happy with the results, but
if I'd researched it more, and known what I was getting into, I think I would
have gone with the 4 97's on the Weiand manifold I have as a backup.
Again, I'm happy with the results, 330hp / 350 ft. lbs. torque, and great
mileage. I built this to drive it, and am concerned about a breakdown. With
carbs, I'm pretty sure I could get it running, with the EFI, I'd just call AAA,
just like a new car. There's a guy here in Ma. that's been running a similar
system on his SOHC '37 Ford Conv. for over 10 years with great results,
so I'll keep my fingers crossed. Just be aware of the costs before committing yourself. Good luck.

 

I have one on my blown 392 Hemi. Once you have the concept down on tuning it's quite easy. It runs and idles great, throttle response is unbelievable. Andy their tech guy is a great help.

 

Wow, some great new "blood" to my older post. Keep it flowing, I am soaking it all up like a sponge!

 

I think hilborn's efi guy is a hamber. Andrew starr is his name but i can't remember his hamb handle. Good luck

 

I asked a Hilborn rep. about changing my Caddy Hilborns over, he said not to drill or weld on the castings they are sand cast. and can break easily. He said to get a`1 inch alum. plate to fit under the original set up and cut out the ports and drill and tap for the new injectors and they would supply the rest of the setup.

 

I second Imagineinjection.com Bob can at the least give you some great info... even if he is a little difficult to keep on one mental track

I have done several, and I am not a fan of the Hilborn kit, I am never satisfied with their wiring harness, or the computer.

 

You would need to be very careful with that one. The truck setup uses a MAP sensor and a pre-programed look-up table for injector pulsewidths. Not only that, it's batch fired. If you try this route, you'd likely need a vacuum log tapped into each "throat" to get a clean signal for the MAP, and probably some method of reprograming the ECU.

The Mustang's m***-air flow system is more suitable, though it has its own issues. You need the hotwire to read ALL the air going into the motor, so you'd probably need to build an airbox with a single inlet. It would be undeniably effective, but it would diminish the look pretty significantly.

I believe both systems need that goofy distributor with the EFI module on the side, along with a VSS and a few other electro-bits to make them totally happy.

Seriously, check out Megasquirt.

 

What are the specs on your 331? Cam, compresion, and other goodies? Thank you, Bill

 

http://www.autotrendefi.com/

Dave with AutoTrend EFI is the master

 

What was said about the Ford 5.0 stuff is correct. The m*** air unit needs the following. 2-O2 sensors, engine coolant temp sensor, Inlet air temp sensor, TPS sensor, EGR eliminator, speed sensor, BAP sensor, the m*** air meter that has to meter all the air coming in and the efi distributor. To it's credit, the ecu is able to adapt to almost any engine combo. The speed density system that uses a manifold pressure sensor would be doable but the ecu will have to be set up with a set of parameters to match the engine air flow parameters. This would require 8 vacuum connections to have accurate manifold vacuum. I don't know if it would work off from one cylinder. Ingelese sells a unit that looks great but it is serious money.

 

.030" over for about 336" I think.
10 to 1 compression
Clay Smith 88-H-280-8-BHL cam
JE forged pistons, reconditioned rods
ARP studs
Milodon oil pump
Vertex HEI
Chevy water pump

 

Didn't Troy Ladd do that conversion on his personal 32 roadster? He's on here.

 

The Ford ECM is not that bad to work with. Mustang or Truck Speed Density and not M*** air Flow. Most Hilborn EFI conversions use the old nozzel hoses to supply a vacuum to the Idle Air Controller, made to look like a barrel valve block. Yes you will need to use all the sensors, but any EFI setup will use the same sensors. Most stock ECM's will tolerate a mild cam change , ignition upgrades and exhaust upgrades. The Small hemi mentioned should run fine with a 5.0 ECM. The Point is that you could cobble up a Stock Ford Set Up for less than $500 if you know a junk yard guy. I would rather try this out than spend $3 grand for something that might not be any better. Just one man's opinion.

 

For those more familiar with the 5.0L truck setup, don't you still need to use the EFI distributor? I know for the m***-air system at least, that's how the ECU gets crank position and rpm info. That may be the biggest hurdle. Can you just subs***ute a crank trigger?

 

I tried using a modified stock Ford truck intake manifold with the stock EFI computer. The intake manifold was highly modified and I couldn't get it to run right. I think the modifications I made changed the volumetric effecincy of the engine beyond what the computer could compensate for. This was a known working system in it's original configuration. I swapped the computer for a Megasquit and it ran great after a little tuning.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5667717502673971944