[Interceptor]

All good suggestions. Remember that the condition is only when the engine is HOT and then been standing a couple of minutes. If I cool it off for 15-20 minutes away she goes.. Sounds like standard starter heat soak. My starter guy (who sold it to me rebuilt, that's his Business) says the starter itself tests out 100%.

So, must be the heat. Millions of guys have headers next to their starter and make out fine, so why is this one acting up ... ONLY since installing EFI? Makes no sense.

I'm thinking of changing to RARE manifolds anyways for ground clearance, but I ran across a set of Tribal Tubes locally and was considering them. LOVE the sound of headers! However, don't want to bite that bullet only to find that header-caused heat soak is the issue.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Sounds like standard starter heat soak. My starter guy (who sold it to me rebuilt, that's his Business) says the starter itself tests out 100%.

Sure. Sounds like standard heat soak to me, too. Did he "test out" the starter at elevated temperature? I bet "no". I would put a starting/charging system analyzer on that vehicle when cold, measure the starter amperage draw along with battery voltage while cranking. Then drive the thing so that it's fully-warm and would tend to act heat-soaked and slow-cranking. Connect the gauge, measure the amperage and voltage hot. Compare the two readings.

Originally Posted by Interceptor

So, must be the heat. Millions of guys have headers next to their starter and make out fine, so why is this one acting up ... ONLY since installing EFI? Makes no sense.

More-precise control of fueling (and ignition timing???) makes for better combustion, less misfire or excess fuel that might cool the combustion.. Better combustion makes for hotter exhaust? Hotter exhaust brings out heat-soak problems in the starter?

You're better off to treat it as a starting-system problem and not a fuel-injection problem. Don't get carried away, or blinded to what is actually happening. Diagnose this as a starting issue, solve it, and move on. Even if the FI has something to do with the heat soak--and I'm not saying it does--the starter must have been right on the edge of heat soak before the FI.

So even if you "fix" the heat-soak problem by, let's say, advancing the timing five degrees or adding additional fuel to the FI programming which might cool the exhaust a little, you still need to do something with the starter to shield it from the heat, so that the fuel and ignition can return to their optimum values. (assumes that the fuel and ignition are at or near optimum values now)