Project EFI begins!

"deekster_caddy" (deekster_caddy)
12/27/2014 at 20:37 • Filed to: projects, efi swap

Last drive in my old Buick with a carburetor today!

Tomorrow we swap motors, repair the trunk floor and put in the new gas tank with the high flow in-tank pump. See pics on Flickr link below for all that we've been preparing for! Should have the physical swapping done tomorrow and do wiring and fuel lines on Monday, hope to turn the key Monday night!

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DISCUSSION (18)

Steve in Manhattan > deekster_caddy
12/27/2014 at 20:42

Nice! Are you saving the old stuff in case the next owner wants to travel backwards in time?

Jedidiah > deekster_caddy
12/27/2014 at 20:51

What's wrong with the buick 350?

shop-teacher > deekster_caddy
12/27/2014 at 23:43

Yes! Can't wait to hear it run!

deekster_caddy > Steve in Manhattan
12/27/2014 at 23:59

There probably won't be a next owner - my grandparents bought this car new and I've had it since 1990!

Plus nobody really wants these behemoths anyway, so I'm not worried about originality, just want it to be nice!

deekster_caddy > Jedidiah
12/28/2014 at 00:00

350? What 350? It hasn't had a 350 in over 20 years, that's just a sticker!

Steve in Manhattan > deekster_caddy
12/28/2014 at 00:06

I'm going to venture ... a '73? And it's so nice that you're keeping it alive. If you're never transferring the title, a fuel-injected barge is exactly what's on the menu. If I recall correctly, this is the biggest (or 2nd biggest) LeSabre ever made.

deekster_caddy > Steve in Manhattan
12/28/2014 at 00:14

It's certainly a big car, although I had a '76 Fleetwood Brougham (the extended version), full size vans and suburbans over the years, plus I basically learned how to hoon drive in this car, so I'm very comfortable with it's size. You can take 6 people and all their luggage for a week inside the spacious trunk.

Yes, a '73. Good guess!

Jedidiah > deekster_caddy
12/28/2014 at 00:21

What motor is currently in it? You're not exactly going to be saving money with EFI over a carb

deekster_caddy > Jedidiah
12/28/2014 at 08:01

Ahh yes. This is not so much about cost savings as the ease of tuning and performance gains. We are changing from a temporary, harshly used and badly leaking (inside and out) 455 to a built for performance 455. This is the motor going in:

Kinja'd!!!

My brother built the EFI about 20 years ago with a FAST controller and it's been rebuilt and upgraded a few times since then. I can safely say this motor is worth cost more than any car it's ever been in...

The Buick engine is pretty finicky about idle mixture and timing, so even with advanced levels of carb tuning it's pretty much a choice between idle and driveability or full throttle power. With the EFI and computer controlled timing we can have a buttery smooth idle, snappy throttle response and full power with ease. When we do make significant mechanical changes again we get easy control over the readjustments needed.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > deekster_caddy
12/28/2014 at 08:04

efi conversions are just gaddamned cool. Can't wait for the results, bet you can't wait for the drivability and mpg bump. I want to do this with a Dart/ Duster

deekster_caddy > banjo cat ghost of oppo past
12/28/2014 at 08:10

Not going to be a big performance gain right away, the old carb was a bit on the lean side, but the performance gains will be worth it! It's not a cheap conversion, at least not this route...

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > deekster_caddy
12/28/2014 at 10:49

I love those big BOP 455s. I saw a '49 Mercury M1 with an Olds 455, a six inch chop and painted in black primer. He called it the Go'fer because it had a tiny fuel cell and 5:13 rear gears, hr just used it to go 'fer this and go 'fee that. No long trips.

Kinja'd!!!

shop-teacher > deekster_caddy
12/28/2014 at 18:14

Were you able to find a new piece to weld in? Or are you fabing it from scratch? Either way, I hope it went well today.

deekster_caddy > shop-teacher
12/28/2014 at 20:28

I will have to fab it all from scratch. Cut a big hole in the trunk floor to get around the rust and leave space for the new fuel pump, it sticks up quite a bit from the tank and we'll have to build a hat to give it enough room. Got the motor and gas tank in. Going to run the new fuel lines tomorrow and start working on the computer harness. My brother's memory is a little foggy on some of the wires (most are labeled well), so there's that to figure out... Hope to have it run tomorrow night!

shop-teacher > deekster_caddy
12/28/2014 at 21:22

I figured there wouldn't be anything available for that car. Make sure to post a video when she fires up!

PyramidHat > deekster_caddy
12/30/2014 at 00:43

Cool! My buddy's neighbor had one of these back in the early 80's. Of course, he went the opposite direction: Instead of improving it, he sort of degraded it. Ripped out the bench seat and put in buckets. This was fine in and of it self, but the plywood console he built with 3 - count 'em, 3 - stereos (each head unit had one function that worked: FM, Cassette, and something else I can't rightly remember) and lack of a headliner made things very jenky. Also, I think it ran on 5 1/2 cylinders. I'm talking Jenky Mc Jenkerson and the Jenkaritaville Band. Jenky.

'course, this guy hired out as a shade tree mechanic and I remember him taking us out in someone's Escort and doing E-Brake turns.

deekster_caddy > PyramidHat
12/30/2014 at 00:56

Wow that's ummm interesting? 3 stereos huh?

This was my grandparents car, they bought it new. It's no longer "original" but it's respectably close enough - Stereo is a two-post pioneer from the 90's, bench was swapped for cadillac split power bench years ago, but always kept the original bench around and had that restuffed and reupholstered with fabric instead of vinyl... kept the caddy back seat and just had it reupholstered to match the front, but it adds a lot of cushion amd a center armrest!

PyramidHat > deekster_caddy
12/30/2014 at 01:11

Yeah - 3 stereos. I really wish I remember what the third stereo did. Maybe it had an equalizer or something on it...

Pioneer from the 90's - that was the good stuff, man! Does it have auto-reverse cassette? For that matter, does the cassette still work? Hell, I remember when Alpine was the shit.

Also - judging by the Flickr account, you use this as a tow vehicle as well. Nice alternative to a truck...