Nitroracer
Nitroracer Dork
7/10/10 6:13 p.m.

So say I were looking for a budget minded way to convert a 351 ford from carburetion to fuel injection. I need a combination that fits under a car hood, so factory ford 5.8L truck intakes are out. And I checked prices on first generation lightning truck intakes (GT40) only to find that they have skyrocketed to $600. My current idea is to find a GM TBI from an early 90s 350 engine, make/buy a 4bbl to TBI adapter and run it on megasquirt. At the moment I am only planning to power the fuel injection via megasquirt, but I may decide to upgrade to spark control in the future. How much should I budget for such a conversion?

oldtin
oldtin HalfDork
7/10/10 6:27 p.m.

There's knockoff gt40 intakes out there in the 150-175 range.

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
7/10/10 7:49 p.m.

Toyman and I seriously considered doing the same thing to the 351W in our last LeMons car.

Ford used TBI on 5.0 V8's in the full size cars (Crown Vics, etc) for a couple of years in the mid/late '80's, shouldn't be a problem to plop one of those TBs on a carbed 351W intake. IIRC the TB's are even the same bolt pattern as the 2bbl Motorcraft carb. You might be able to snag all the bits and pieces from a Vic or Grand Marquis in the boneyard fo' cheap. If you wind up needing higher flow injectors the Caddy pieces you mentioned should fit the Ford TB but I have not confirmed this.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
7/10/10 9:36 p.m.

The absolute easiest way to add FI to a 351w is to go buy a Lightning manifold and lay a mass air harness and computer on it. Not the cheapest way unless you know a bunch of Mustang freaks.

IF it were mine and I had the money in budget I would install a Chinese Victor Jr knock off (or real used Victor Jr) and a 2V Holley Projection unit.

digdug18
digdug18 HalfDork
7/11/10 10:27 a.m.

Would you have to change the fuel pump or associated hardware? Would you need to run a return fuel line to the gas tank?

ReverendDexter
ReverendDexter Dork
7/11/10 10:37 a.m.

IIRC, the Holley Systemax lower intake manifold is identical to the truck manifold, so you should be able to just get the Systemax upper and bolt it to a junkyard lower from a fuelie 5.8.

Mikey52_1
Mikey52_1 Reader
7/11/10 12:59 p.m.
ReverendDexter wrote: IIRC, the Holley Systemax lower intake manifold is identical to the truck manifold, so you *should* be able to just get the Systemax upper and bolt it to a junkyard lower from a fuelie 5.8.

That sounds like a plan!

Will
Will HalfDork
7/11/10 4:15 p.m.
racinginc215 wrote: Truck lower and a MN12 upper (Thunderbird) it could still be to tall. I'd go with a MN12 upper and lower and set of intake adapters.

The 91-93 T-Bird/Cougar intake is the same as the 94-95 Mustang piece, I believe.

Nitroracer
Nitroracer Dork
7/11/10 5:07 p.m.

Other than the GT40 format, 5.0 and 5.8 upper intake manifolds do not agree with each other. There seem to be plenty of 302/5.0 options but not much in the 351 category. Sometimes I wish I built up the 289 or found a 5.0/T5 but I already had the 351 ready to go from a prior project.

I am watching a few holley projection setups on eBay now.

As for the fuel system, I have seen a few using the mechanical pump as a lift pump and then mounting an inline high pressure pump in the engine bay to supply the engine. Good idea?

Nitroracer
Nitroracer Dork
7/11/10 5:09 p.m.
racinginc215 wrote: The MN12 intake is about 2 inches shorter in height then the 88-93 Mustang intake. the 94-95 Mustangs used the MN12 intake to clear the lower hood height. The MN12 intake will be more plentiful then the 94-95 Mustang intake.

Didn't know that.. I have seen an adapter in classic bronco circles to run a 5.0 upper on a 5.8 truck lower for hood clearance, but it is still rather tall. If the MN12 and fox 5.0 have the same bolt pattern (which I believe they do) that may work out.

44Dwarf
44Dwarf HalfDork
7/11/10 7:48 p.m.

I'll sell you a whole f250 4x2 with 351w injected for $400! its an 87 white with brown interior. need feul pump installed (have it) and there a dead spot in the flex plate starter ring.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
7/11/10 8:56 p.m.

winner winner, chicken dinner!

Nitroracer
Nitroracer Dork
7/11/10 10:11 p.m.
44Dwarf wrote: I'll sell you a whole f250 4x2 with 351w injected for $400! its an 87 white with brown interior. need feul pump installed (have it) and there a dead spot in the flex plate starter ring.

If it were a few states closer I would be interested. I was browsing around last night and most in my area were double the price.

44Dwarf
44Dwarf HalfDork
7/12/10 7:05 a.m.

Ya i just need it gone...wife will not step foot in it due to the brown interior....i didn't know that before i bought it.. Now i've got the f350 4x4 so i realy have no use for it.

Nitroracer
Nitroracer Dork
7/12/10 3:53 p.m.

The engine I have in the car isn't a power house, but its not as old stocker either. I have a 84' Bronco 351 block, GT40 heads from a lightning, a weiand stealth intake, and comp cams 268H, and a crane points conversion kit in the distributor. Compression ratio is around 9:1. Should I give MPFI some more thought?

Ian F
Ian F Dork
7/13/10 7:18 a.m.
Nitroracer wrote: As for the fuel system, I have seen a few using the mechanical pump as a lift pump and then mounting an inline high pressure pump in the engine bay to supply the engine. Good idea?

IMHO, no. You're going to have to run a line and tap the tank for the return anyway, so why kludge it? Just run the correct EFI pump near the tank and be done. Actually, you may be able to use the OE low-pressure feed line to the mechanical fuel pump as the EFI return line.

erohslc
erohslc Reader
7/13/10 7:33 a.m.

Yup, Ford used such a rig on some trucks, the (Bosch) inline pressure pump was nestled under a frame rail, mounted in clamps with rubber bushes.

Ian F
Ian F Dork
7/13/10 10:12 a.m.

In reply to erohslc:

Although I'm pretty sure most EFI trucks (my '90 E-150 for example) used in-tank pumps. Or in the case of my van - two of them, one in each tank, and the dash switch a double pole typw that switched the relay power from one pump to the other along with the guage wiring.

44Dwarf
44Dwarf HalfDork
7/13/10 12:36 p.m.

All you realy need for a pump is an E-2000 hose clamped to the frame rail. the ford in the tank pump in the early units didn't do much except if you ran out it helped prime the high preasure pump. then later whent to in tank type.

E-2000 can be had on fle-bay for $25 not the $90+ the parts store soak you for.

erohslc
erohslc Reader
7/13/10 12:47 p.m.
Ian F wrote: In reply to erohslc: Although I'm pretty sure most EFI trucks (my '90 E-150 for example) used in-tank pumps. Or in the case of my van - two of them, one in each tank, and the dash switch a double pole typw that switched the relay power from one pump to the other along with the guage wiring.

Yah, like I said, some Ford trucks:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Carter-P74028-Fuel-Pump-Electric-External-Inline-Ford-/330445553050?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4cf016fd9a

Ian F
Ian F Dork
7/13/10 2:22 p.m.

I'm familiar with that pump. I installed one in our '73 1800ES in place of the stupid-expensive Bosch version.... which is also near the back of the car next to the tank...

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