My Holley Terminator X Sequential EFI build
 

I’ve decided to switch my 1970 TA over to a Holley Terminator X sequential EFI along with a Holley coil near plug (CNP) LS style ignition set-up. My car currently has a ProSystems 4500 Dominator on a Victor and MSD 6 ignition. Per the calculators it makes somewhere between 660hp-720hp on race gas. I plan to switch to E85 shortly after the EFI goes on. The 100 lb injectors should give me some room to grow (Vortech YSI or Turbos later). I figured I’d share my build along with the part #’s for anyone that wants to duplicate it. I’ll answer any questions to the best of my ability.

After a long discussion with the Holley Representative he was able to design a custom system for me with the features I wanted excluding any extra wiring I didn’t need. I skipped the handheld tuner for now as I plan to use my laptop for tuning. I am still undecided of which throttle body to use.

Intake manifold:
KRE Northwind, port matched and light plenum work. Conversion by Funkhouser Race Cars using Wilson Manifolds fuel rails, bungs, and stanchions https://www.wilsonmanifolds.com/prod...c8b87930&_ss=r

ECU/Coils/Injectors/Distributor:
TERMINATOR X ECU Part # 554-152
UNIVERSAL MPFI W/ COP MAIN HARNESS Part # 558-117
J1 A/B I/O CONNECTOR HP & DOM Part # 558-400
WBO2 SENSOR, SNIPER TBI Part # 554-155
TERMINATOR X WIDEBAND ADAPTER HARNESS Part # 558-463
LS INJECTOR HARNESS Part # 558-201
KIT- FUEL INJECTOR 100 PPH, 8 PK, FM Part # 522-108XFM
KIT, 8 CYLINDER SMART COIL KIT Part # 556-127
Dist., Dual Sync, Pontiac, Black Part # 565-207BK
Holley EFI Billet Blank Cap For Dual Syn Part # 566-103
USB/CAN HARNESS, SNIPER TBI Part # 558-443

Fuel system:
TanksInc 20.5 gallon tank
450 lph Walbro Hellcat fuel pump
I have not picked a fuel regulator yet

I will update the progress with pictures over the next few weeks

Current picture:

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Cool project! I’ll definitely follow this one.

Cool project! The Accufab dominator throttle body works well. The adjustment screws for the throttle blade adjustment can have clearance issues though. I used a phenolic 1" spacer, which the manifold really can make good use of anyway, and it was easy to clearance the spots that needed it. It uses GM style tps, and stepper IAC valve. Hopefully others will share some recommendations for you as well. Remember they are generally lower profile, (than the dominator carbs) which helps with hood clearance and may allow a spacer where one wouldn't fit before.

Looks like everything but the coil near plug coils has shipped. Once the injectors arrive the manifold conversion will start.

Are there any advantages to going with a fabricated/cast 4500 elbow and 105mm forward facing throttle body over the traditional 4500 carburetor flange mount throttle body? I would imagine the elbow would effectively increase the plenum volume/area but I’m all for being educated on the subject.

Hood clearance is a definite issue. I had to modify (bend) the current throttle bracket because it hit the hood when closed. I am gaining 1.2” of clearance going from the Victor to the Northwind though.

The forward facing throttle body setup does increase plenum volume. There can be issues with them related to cylinder filling however. The 90+ degree bend right before the flange can effect cylinder filling in 7 and 8. Since this is a sequential setup, you should be able to tune for any increase/decrease on a cylinder by cylinder basis however. That will become more of an issue after the YSi is installed.

The standard throttle body style that allows use of a traditional air cleaner will tend to direct airflow more evenly through the throttle body and into the runners. The drawback of course is using underhood air and you may run into air cleaner clearance issues relating to the shallow throttle body and its throttle linkage.

If you weren't already committed to the Northwind intake, I'd actually look into one of Luhn Performance's modified offenhouser 360 intakes. They add injector bungs and base plates to run the holley low, mid or ram bathtub style intake. That would give you the forward throttle body with additional plenum volume while also helping out the cylinder filling issues.

I'm in the middle of a MPFI conversion on one of my cars right now. Not a Pontiac but I will follow this for a future Pontiac conversion.

Small update: Holley sent the wrong main harness. They were great about it and sent out the correct one super fast.

All of the Holley parts have arrived minus the 8 CYLINDER SMART COIL KIT Part # 556-127 which is apparently on back order. I emailed Holley to ask is I could change it the the 8 CYLINDER BIG WIRE SMART COIL KIT Part # 556-128. I figure a little extra voltage potential can’t hurt, plus they are in stock. I’m waiting to hear back.

The 4500 KRE Northwind and 100lb matched injectors have been dropped off for the EFI conversion. He’s busy so it may take a few weeks.

I’m still torn on what to do for a throttle body. A 2” accufab and 1” spacer is nearly as tall as the Dominator. It will eventually get force induction and a forward facing throttle body seems easier to package. The good blow thru carb hats are pretty damn tall. Idk. Maybe I’m over thinking it

I talked to Luhn about their intake. He said it would make a great street intake but would be out of stream at 6500 rpm. They were asking around $1800 for it which wasn’t terribly priced considering what you get.

I may be wrong, but I think the plenum volume stays the same regardless of what's over the actual intake plenum, IE, an intake elbow. It's just air. And if you boost it, it becomes less of an issue (if there is one).

I am dyslexic though!

There are low profile elbows too, I used an Edelbrock one due to clearance issues.

Some low profile elbows limit flow though, would have to take that into consideration. With boost, again, think it becomes less of an issue. (or no issue at all, CFM still being the factor).

You could always have a custom elbow made, but there is cost associated with that, of course.

I was originally doing a blow-thru SEFI setup on my bird, but gave up, since there were no 'good' bracket setups at that time. (Early-2000s). I was using the 1/2 height body bushings, so packaging was my concern (which was overcome).

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Small parts list update:

After much research, the lowest profile 4500 elbow I could find is made by Steve Morris Racing. It measures just a hair over 5” at its highest point. I also appreciated that they took the time to send me a picture of the measurement. I’m struggling with hood/shaker clearance issues so I’m hoping that this fits with the addition of going from a Victor to a Northwind (1.2” shorter). I’ve done calculations of the overall height but I won’t know for sure until the parts are in my hand. It is going to be tight.

I decided to go with a Wilson Manifolds 105mm throttle body. There were many options available. Wilson’s makes quality components. Plus it will match the Wilson’s fuel rails… aesthetics are important right? lol

We should have some EFI conversion updates/pictures soon :cool:

Elbow and throttle body:

Steve Morris Racing 4500 billet elbow: Part #1464 with 105mm Wilson’s bolt pattern
Wilson Manifold’s 105mm dual-seal billet throttle body: Part #471105D with IAC provision

Good stuff.

How much taller is the northwind over the stock intake?

Here are some various intake heights I saved from a post by Skip Fix:

Front/rear
SR 72 HO intake 5" / 7"
Performer 5 5/16" / 6 3/4”
Holley SD 5 3/8" / 7 3/16"
Tomahawk 5 5/8" / 7" Carb pad 6 / 6 9/16
Torker I 5 7/8" / 7"
Torker II 5 7/8" / 7 1/16" Carb pad 6 1/4 / 6 3/4
RPM 6 9/16" / 7 13/16"
Northwind 7 5/16” / 7 3/8” Carb pad 7 3/16” / 7 3/16”
Victor 8 9/16" / 8 9/16" Carb pad 8 1/2” / 8 1/2”
M/T crossram Driver side 7 7/16" / 9 1/16"
M/t crossram Passenger 7 1/4" / 8 3/16"
Warrior Tunnel ram 10" / 10 3/4"
SD Bathtub reproduction 7 7/16” / 9 3/8”

I’m using carb pad height to calculate my height. My Steve Morris elbow will be here this weekend. I’ll take off my dominator and stick it on top of my Victor and see where I’m at. I have a feeling it will definitely hit the shaker with the Victor.

Small update. Chips are flying!

KRE Northwind with CNC plenum touch up
Steve Morris 4500 billet elbow
Wilson Manifolds 105mm Throttle body

I forgot to update before. I tried the Steve Morris elbow on the Victor and it hit the front of my shaker scoop. I think we may be good to go with the change to the Northwind since it’s 1.2” shorter.

Edit: damn pictures are turned all kinds of wrong

Killer looking stuff. Makes me wanna swap to an elbow arrangement. Keep up the updates.

Small update... I received an email from Holley this morning and the big wire smart coil kit part # 556-128 was finally back in stock, so they pulled one and are in the process of shipping it out to me. This is the last piece I needed to complete the EFI conversion.

Great timing as my spot has finally come up in the chassis shop and he TA will be heading there in the next two weeks for a sh*t ton of updates including the EFI conversion.

You could always just use a DBW throttle body if you wanted to.

Holley makes a specific gas pedal bracket now for the 2nd gens. They also make an aftermarket pedal, but it might be better to use the CTS-V one.


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What did this all run you?


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Holley EFI was $3400 with a discount since I bought so much stuff.

Tanks Inc 20.5 gallon tank with Hellcat pump and upgraded sender was $875

KRE Northwind was around $515 with the plenum work. EFI conversion with Wilson’s fuel rails and stands is $500’ish

Steve Morris elbow is $589 and the Wilson’s 105mm throttle body w/IAC is $565

I wish I hadn’t added all of that up :pound: :faint:

Is that including injectors? I’m looking for the same set up. Why did you go with that instead of the Holley sniper unit?


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Yes. 100lb flow matched injectors. I will be going larger once the turbo stuff goes on.

I will be going twin turbo and wanted the ability to tune each cylinder individually. Also the sniper won’t support the horsepower level I’m planning on.

Thanks for the parts list


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The Holley regulators are pretty nice, work great:

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...s/parts/12-848

The best way to have an EFI harness fit and be 'minimized' is to mod/make your own. Just have to be careful to make sure you use the proper type connector if you are making/adding sub-harnesses. Document everything, in detail, you will be glad you did later.

HP ECU and up can take advantage of OE type PWM controllers, if you plan to have electric fans, you can leverage that option. Technically, you can also do the same for fuel pumps, etc.

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Yep that’s the plan… to have it run the electric fans, fuel pumps, two-step, and monitor all of the gauges. 👍

You can use a Corvette PWN fan controller for your fuel pumps, and setup config(s) to vary pump current base on MAP, TPS, RPM, etc.

Fans are easier, it's generally based on temp, and varied by %.

The controllers are available with the pigtail so you don't have to monkey with trying to patch one in, which is nice. I have the source for the mating plug too, if you're interested, they can at times be a challenge to find.

I have to give credit where credit is due, Andrew70 helped me with the setup. He also I believe has completed the Terminator X Holley training, and is a great resource.

I made some jumpers that I leave connected to batt, tucked behind the battery, that I can plug in when there may be an issue, like a controller going bad or something like that. It's a good thing to have in an emergency, when you're driving some back road or a little way from home.


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I have a trinary switch on the AC, and after X TPS, the compressor will shut out.

I also trigger the fan only when it's over X RPM, so it doesn't auto-on when you turn the key and the engine is not started. You don't want the fans on during cranking, it can rob voltage from where it's needed.


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Aluminum chips are flying again! :cool2:

More progress pictures to come

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Looking good!

Update…

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Looks great. Any concerns over clearance to the firewall? Maybe an optical illusion, but rails look long in the back and really long in the front?

The fuel rail length will be trimmed. They aren’t finished with the intake yet. I just got excited and posted in progress pictures lol. The portion of the fuel bung that is protruding into the intake port still needs to be ground down as well. You can see it in one of the pictures

It's all good, just curiosity on my part. Looking really good can't wait to see it all done.

Still making progress. Parts list has updated a bit. I did spend a gagillion dollars on Fragola PTFE fittings and hose :doh:

-10 PTFE stainless fuel line in black. Part # 601529 https://www.jegs.com/i/Fragola-Perfo...01529/10002/-1

- 8 PTFE return in stainless black. Part # 606028 https://www.jegs.com/i/Fragola-Perfo...02028/10002/-1

I upgraded fuel pumps to a dual 450lph set-up from Holley. Part #12-173
https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...e/parts/12-173

Fuel filter is a Holley 460gph vr series billet in 10 micron. Part #162-575 https://www.holley.com/products/fuel.../parts/162-575

Fuel regulator is a high flow Aeromotive unit that will easily support the 900lph I’ll be running through it. Part # 13134 https://aeromotiveinc.com/product/ex...gulator-13134/

I plan to run E85 so I’m adding a flex fuel sensor. Normally a flex fuel sensor would be a restriction in the return line of a high horsepower build but Motion Raceworks makes an adapter to fixes that. It uses a GM sensor which is great. https://www.motionraceworks.com/prod...n-6an-8an-10an

https://youtu.be/pjGU9ppTtXg

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Making some progress


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Looking good!

Great Thread, subscribed.

I really appreciate the details and pictures. My plan/dream is to FI my '71, and this will use a Formula hood, so intake, throttle body, etc. combination is going to be challenge.

Look forward to updates, this has me inspired, and better aware of costs.

Regards.

If any of you are thinking of running a coil near plug set-up on your Pontiac, I plan on having some coil brackets very similar to these made (big thank you to Erik W for the base design). I had a set cut out of steel but I’m thinking of having them done in billet aluminum. Since I’m going to have a set done for me, I figured I’d ask if anyone else is interested.

They only fit aftermarket fabricated valve covers and you need to use the large Holley/MSD style coils. The holes will be tapped and threaded. They will be super nice. If anyone is interested please let me know.

*Coil brackets pictured on Erik’s motor

Those are nice. If I wasn't using GM coils I'd be interested for sure.

Tank and dual 450lph in-tank pumps are in (Part # 12-173). Just want to give everyone a heads up that they don’t just drop in to the Tanks Inc 70-73 F-Body 2.5 gallon tank. The tank was only about 6 1/2” deep and the shortest the Holley pumps would go was 7”. This was my mistake for not thinking of it. Funkhouser race cars built a sump for extra clearance and added additional baffling around the pickups.

They found a good spot for the Motion Raceworks E85 flex fuel sensor. It’s right above the tank mounted to the brace that holds the fuel strap. It will be on the -8 ptfe return line right before the pump.

Looks good, nice work. So you didn't end up using the hellcat pump? What dissuaded you?

Thanks! Funkhouser race cars is doing a great job on the car. No I didn’t use the hellcat pump. It’s actually for sale for a very good price in the classifieds. I plan on going with a 88mm-94mm single turbo or possibly twin 70mm-78mm next year so I’m planning ahead for fuel system. Better to have too much fuel than to be cutting it close.

I guess I was more curious as to why you chose Holley's instead of adding a second Hellcat pump. Understand completely on wanting to have plenty of fuel!

Coil brackets are done. Making progress. The Terminator X will be going in soon.

If anyone needs a set of these coil brackets let me know and I’ll get a price. Same for the remote power steering brackets.

http://lstwo.com/images/95440033775038346931.jpeg

Looking good!

Small update. Fuel lines are and regulator are done. Sensor distribution block in. Having some clearance issues with the idle air control motor. It hits the inside of the shaker scoop. I found that Kinsler fuel injection makes a remote IAC set-up. So the new plan is the mount the remote IAC somewhere in the back and to tap into one of the open ports on the Steve Morris elbow. It’s a nice looking piece in the pictures. It uses a -10 AN fitting which should make install cleaner. I ordered the Wilson’s block-off plate as well. Hope this works.

IAC housing
https://kinsler.com/Shop/product/rem...-flow-housing/

Filter
https://kinsler.com/Shop/product/fil...e-iac-housing/

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It should work just fine as long as it's compatible with the Holley ECU. It's just a controlled air leak. Looking good, keep up the updates.

Which radiator top plate did you use?

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Not sure if it's too late to make a change, but I'll throw this out there in case others are heading this direction.
https://www.motionraceworks.com/prod...lack-10-160blk
These have a very low profile LS style IAC arrangement, and interchangeable inlets with v-band style clamp rings already on them. Come in the solid linkage shown or traditional LS cable style.