EFI For Big Blue

[Gary Lewis]

24 should be adequate, I was going to go with 30s but the Ford racing (best ones according a Chevy EFI guru) are NLA so I had to go to 47s. Depends on what the engine will actually need.

The newer ones might be a little better, but whichever I would send them to be rebuilt and tested.

I can't imagine needing more than the 24's that were in the F450's engine. This engine will be fairly stock, and will either continue to have the Eddy cam or something a bit stronger.

So, next question: Should I buy new ones or have these refurbished? I've seen single new ones for about the same price as whole sets on eBay. And at $20/injector to refurb & balance, I wonder.......

[85lebaront2]

I can't imagine needing more than the 24's that were in the F450's engine. This engine will be fairly stock, and will either continue to have the Eddy cam or something a bit stronger.

So, next question: Should I buy new ones or have these refurbished? I've seen single new ones for about the same price as whole sets on eBay. And at $20/injector to refurb & balance, I wonder.......

Your call on that, Matt sent me a link one time to a fellow on eBay who does them for the Mustang 5.0L engine. He didn't have any 30s at that time. The determining factor is duty cycle needed for the engine's fuel requirements, anything over 85% at WOT is pushing the limits of the injector coils. Too big and you can get overfueling with a stock computer as it's program is expecting a certain size injector and in open loop bases the pulse time on that value, too small and you will lean out at WOT high RPM, sort of like pulling more fuel from a carburetor than the pump can supply.

[Gary Lewis]

Your call on that, Matt sent me a link one time to a fellow on eBay who does them for the Mustang 5.0L engine. He didn't have any 30s at that time. The determining factor is duty cycle needed for the engine's fuel requirements, anything over 85% at WOT is pushing the limits of the injector coils. Too big and you can get overfueling with a stock computer as it's program is expecting a certain size injector and in open loop bases the pulse time on that value, too small and you will lean out at WOT high RPM, sort of like pulling more fuel from a carburetor than the pump can supply.

I think I'll be happy with 24# injectors.

As for what I did today, I spent the day working on the F450 lower plenum I got from Jim. Started by pulling the fuel rail, injectors, and sensors off and then running it through the parts washer to get the oil and as much of the exhaust soot off that I could. Don't want that stuff in the media as it then plants it in whatever you are blasting.

Then it was off to the blast cabinet - and the fighting began. First, the dust extractor wouldn't. Just wouldn't. So I started investigating, and found out why:

After a trip to the back 40 to clean that thing out the extractor worked much, much better. But then the feeding of the media wasn't working well. After a bit of investigation I discovered that the media hose is worn internally such that it kinks if you tilt the nozzle very far. Once I figured that out and got things working I was able to get the intake cleaned up fairly well. Still need a bit more work, and then it'll be time to bake a couple of uppers and one lower in the oven for a bit.

[Bruno2]

I think I'll be happy with 24# injectors.As for what I did today, I spent the day working on the F450 lower plenum I got from Jim. Started by pulling the fuel rail, injectors, and sensors off and then running it through the parts washer to get the oil and as much of the exhaust soot off that I could. Don't want that stuff in the media as it then plants it in whatever you are blasting.Then it was off to the blast cabinet - and the fighting began. First, the dust extractor wouldn't. Just wouldn't. So I started investigating, and found out why: After a trip to the back 40 to clean that thing out the extractor worked much, much better. But then the feeding of the media wasn't working well. After a bit of investigation I discovered that the media hose is worn internally such that it kinks if you tilt the nozzle very far. Once I figured that out and got things working I was able to get the intake cleaned up fairly well. Still need a bit more work, and then it'll be time to bake a couple of uppers and one lower in the oven for a bit.

What is that intake for?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

 

 

[Gary Lewis]

Big Blue. That's a 460 EFI lower plenum.

[Bruno2]

Big Blue. That's a 460 EFI lower plenum.

I see where the injectors go now. Really looks like a carb intake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

 

 

[Gary Lewis]

That would be a big carb!

I have plugs in the injector bungs to protect them. I initially cleaned the plenum with walnut hulls, including down into the injector bungs, as walnut hulls won't pit the aluminum. But it also didn't get it clean, so I changed to the coal slag like you used, and it is so fine that it doesn't really texture the aluminum.

In fact, I think that's what's clogging the extractor. I think the coal slag is too fine or too dirty and it is clogging up the filter. Think I'll have to change media and see how that works.

 

[Gary Lewis]

That would be a big carb!

I have plugs in the injector bungs to protect them. I initially cleaned the plenum with walnut hulls, including down into the injector bungs, as walnut hulls won't pit the aluminum. But it also didn't get it clean, so I changed to the coal slag like you used, and it is so fine that it doesn't really texture the aluminum.

In fact, I think that's what's clogging the extractor. I think the coal slag is too fine or too dirty and it is clogging up the filter. Think I'll have to change media and see how that works.

Got a bit done today. First, I had a thought that maybe Huck's engine, which has the later heads, had been replaced replaced at some point and might be in good shape. So I ran a leak-down test on it. The pic below shows the equipment connected, and you can see the high-side gauge is setting at 100 psi, and the low-side gauge is at 72 psi. So, there's a 28 psi loss, which is actually quite a bit of loss. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the best cylinder, and from there it was 64, 60, 58, 56, 56, 18, and 16. Fortunately all of the leaks appear to be to the sump as I didn't detect any leakage out the exhaust or intake.

But there's something else shown in the pic. What do you see if you follow the arrow on the second, or low-side, gauge? Notice all the oil? How can that be since the EFI 460's have valve covers with o-rings for gaskets?

Well, here's why. (Sorry for the poor quality pic.) Yep, there's a corner broken out of the valve cover, and it let the o-ring bulge out - at the worst possible place, meaning the lowest spot so the oil will run out. Anyone have an extra EFI cover?

Meanwhile, I heated two uppers and one lower plenum up to 400 degrees in the oven for two hours to drive off the yuk embedded in the pores. And there must have been quite a bit of it as I had to open the doors to the shop due to the smoke. But after they cooled down I washed the uppers, masked them off, coated them, and then baked them to cure the powder. Here's the one with the EGR port:

And here's the one that endured the lumpectomy:

[85lebaront2]

Got a bit done today. First, I had a thought that maybe Huck's engine, which has the later heads, had been replaced replaced at some point and might be in good shape. So I ran a leak-down test on it. The pic below shows the equipment connected, and you can see the high-side gauge is setting at 100 psi, and the low-side gauge is at 72 psi. So, there's a 28 psi loss, which is actually quite a bit of loss. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the best cylinder, and from there it was 64, 60, 58, 56, 56, 18, and 16. Fortunately all of the leaks appear to be to the sump as I didn't detect any leakage out the exhaust or intake.

But there's something else shown in the pic. What do you see if you follow the arrow on the second, or low-side, gauge? Notice all the oil? How can that be since the EFI 460's have valve covers with o-rings for gaskets?

Well, here's why. (Sorry for the poor quality pic.) Yep, there's a corner broken out of the valve cover, and it let the o-ring bulge out - at the worst possible place, meaning the lowest spot so the oil will run out. Anyone have an extra EFI cover?

Meanwhile, I heated two uppers and one lower plenum up to 400 degrees in the oven for two hours to drive off the yuk embedded in the pores. And there must have been quite a bit of it as I had to open the doors to the shop due to the smoke. But after they cooled down I washed the uppers, masked them off, coated them, and then baked them to cure the powder. Here's the one with the EGR port:

And here's the one that endured the lumpectomy:

Left or right side Gary, and how deep is the O-ring groove? There are two different EFI 460 VCs, regular and heavy duty, two differences, regular has a shallower O-ring groove and a push in PCV valve on the right. Heavy duty has a deeper groove and a screw in PCV valve.

[Gary Lewis]

Left or right side Gary, and how deep is the O-ring groove? There are two different EFI 460 VCs, regular and heavy duty, two differences, regular has a shallower O-ring groove and a push in PCV valve on the right. Heavy duty has a deeper groove and a screw in PCV valve.

Passenger's side. But I'll have to check on which version I have. Will do in the morn, Bill.