[Squidward]

I finally got to swapping my FiTech Go EFI unit onto my Firebird to replace the Go Street unit. These two are almost the same, but the Go EFI can do timing control.

The Go EFI unit came off my Lemans, and sat on the shelf since last spring. What I didn't anticipate was the fuel gumming up so bad inside. On install and first startup, it barely ran. It was showing insanely lean.

What I found was that barrels 1 and 3 (driver side front and back) had no fuel squirting into the bores. So I pulled those two injectors, applied 12v, and flushed with carb cleaner. I also had to flush the passageway from the injector nozzle to the discharge holes in the bores. Half a can of carb cleaner and a couple of orings later, I had normal fuel spray into all 4 bores. It's running good now.

I should have learned this lesson from all the lawnmower carb issues I've dealt with every spring.

Looking forward to doing some tuning fun. Gonna try to install the MSD style distributor this weekend and get timing control working. Thought I'd share.

[Squidward]

I am getting an occasional drip or two of gas from the injectors. I had replaced the orings on the driver side injectors because the originals didn't look very good. The standard LS injector orings don't fit quite right. Close, but not quite. The lower orings are a tiny bit too little/skinny, and the upper orings are too fat and fit too tight.

FiTech directed me to use M6x4 viton orings, 14mm OD, 6mm ID, 4mm width. Got some coming in a week or two. We'll see how those fit.

Publishing part specs for seals would be super awesome. But I dared to dream...

[JLMounce]

Yup, just like carburetors, these TBI units don't like fuel sitting around in them. I had similar issues with my unit while my car was down for 6 months while I built a new engine.

Not as bad as your situation, but until I ran some fresh gas through everything it wasn't really happy.

[Squidward]

Still waiting on orings for the injectors.

In the meantime, I got the IAC steps dialed in. Took it out for a drive, and it ran great. Only problem was the throttle linkage. 67 Firebird has a pedal with a rod, not a cable. As a result, the geometry is not friendly. Pressing the pedal when at idle requires extra force, and then it "gets over the hump" and causes over acceleration. Lots of tire chirping from a stop. For some reason, the previous FiTech Go Street unit (a few years newer than this "OG" unit) never gave me this issue. I'm guessing there is a slight angle difference between the two throttle levers.

I hate the throttle rod on 67's. Gonna do a cable setup to get a better pull angle on the throttle lever.

So this weeks project is to install throttle bracket/cable. Then I will get back to switching over from HEI with MSD6 to running a pro-billet style with MSD6 and timing control. I need to find a mounting location for the coil.

[JLMounce]

Definitely need to move to the cable. Lokar makes a great cable mount specifically for the FiTech throttle body. It's great looking and works very well with their universal cable.

When depressing the throttle, are you getting a "click" at the point that the throttle becomes easier to depress? It may be that the idle screw either on the front or rear butterflies is adjusted beyond its useful range. If it is adjusted to right at 100% closed for the butterfly, you get a momentary sticking of that butterfly in the throttle bore, then once past it, throttle application becomes normal.

If you need to keep closing the front butterflies to get the IAC counts in a good zone, you may have to close the rear butterflies further, which will allow you to open the front butterflies slightly. If both sets of butterflies are almost all the way closed and you still can't get the IAC counts down, this could indicate a vacuum leak and or an issue with the IAC valve.

[Squidward]

I got the iac steps dialed in. But the angle of the throttle bracket with relation to the gas pedal rod was requiring a heavy foot to break it over, which caused over application of the throttle when it cut loose. All around, it has a very stiff pedal.

I have a bracket and cable coming. Hopefully it will get a better alignment and attack angle on the throttle shaft bracket.

I should be able to stab my 2 wire distributor this weekend and convert to timing control. I currently have the Jegs equivalent of a Blaster SS coil, but I don't want to drill anything more to the firewall. I'm considering getting a cylindrical coil to mount like an old school points coil. It would look a little more stealthy and stock-ish.

[Squidward]

2 wire distributor stabbed in, timing control is running. Throttle cable and new pedal installed and adjusted.

Performance is snappy and responsive. I feel that it is running better than it ever did. I just need to get vacuum and rpm breakpoints dialed in a little bit, but where it is now is pretty good

As a side note, I had bought new mufflers to make it a little quieter. With the tune going to timing control, it seems to be quieter.

[Squidward]

So without opening a new thread, what kind of life are you guys getting out of your EFI fuel hose?

I installed my fuel system in 2018, using 6an push lok hose. Last week I went for a late night drive, and found myself several miles from home with a 58 psi straight stream of gas shooting out of a hole in the hose back at the tank and regulator. I drove home as quickly as possible before it emptied too much. Last year I replaced the front end hose that plumbs to the FiTech due to a leak.

I'm guessing that 7+ years ain't so bad?

Is that what we can expect? Is anybody using a particular brand or spec of hose that gives best longevity?

[Formulajones]

https://www.anhosefittings.com/hose.html

I buy from here. I use the lightweight nylon braided viton hose. I've had this stuff in cars for 15 years without issue so far. Run it on carb applications and switched some of those carbs over to efi without a need to change the hose. Excellent stuff, easy to work with and is rated for all kinds of fuel, alcohol, methanol etc....and is nhra approved.

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

https://www.anhosefittings.com/hose.html

I buy from here. I use the lightweight nylon braided viton hose. I've had this stuff in cars for 15 years without issue so far. Run it on carb applications and switched some of those carbs over to efi without a need to change the hose. Excellent stuff, easy to work with and is rated for all kinds of fuel, alcohol, methanol etc....and is nhra approved.

15 years? Nice. Does it work with push lok fittings?

EDIT: I dug deeper, it says no, not for use with push on barb style fittings, which I interpret to mean push-lok.

[Formulajones]

It's your typical an style fittings that most hoses like that use. All sold on the same site I linked. Super easy to work with.

[JLMounce]

I've had push-lock hose on my car since I originally installed the FiTech system back in 2015. It's all Russell Pushlock hose and ends.

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by JLMounce

I've had push-lock hose on my car since I originally installed the FiTech system back in 2015. It's all Russell Pushlock hose and ends.

Good longevity. I don't have much hose to replace, so I am likely going to replace what I have left with fresh stuff for another handful of years.

Last year I replaced the soft line going from the hardline on the passenger frame rail up to the FiTech due to leaks and a configuration that was less than ideal. This recent event replaced the regulator outle hose to the hardline back at the tank. So I still have two short pieces of hose that go between the regulator and the fuel pump outlet and return lines. About 24" in total still needed.

Thank you, I will look at Russell and the brand Formulajones linked, in case I need to do a deeper revamp.