CFI to Aftermarket EFI swap

[packman]

Has anybody done this? I know people on here who have done the CFI to SEFI swap; I was thinking about those who are not electrically inclined and fear messing with wiring harnesses and such.


Packman

[fmansfield444]

I have done a stock EFI swap from CFI and I would think that an aftermarket EFI kit ( if you're talking about those bolt on carb looking things) would be about the same amount of work.

In all honesty, the wiring was pretty simple, it took 2 splices to make it work and both are easy to find. The orange fuel pump wire and red green run wire. The rest is just plugging in connectors, no splicing or anything and hooking up grounds.

There are other obstacles like fuel lines and intake swaps but those aren't a big deal and an aftermarket kit may require this as well.

[85crownHPP]

The aftermarket EFI kits probably come as a MAF kit with a tune-able brain box, leaving the door wide open for more mods. You will still have to find a few other parts specific for a CFI to SEFI swap, and will still have to find and splice all the same connections into the aftermarket wire harness to make it run.
If it is something that comes with intake and TB, you might still have to do some TB linkage flipping and such since it will probably be made for a Mustang.
If you plan to do more future mods, I'd go for it.

[packman]

Hmmmmm.......it looks as if it wouldn't really matter if you go aftermarket or just do an HO swap. I wonder if the same effort is required for a carb swap?

This is just curiosity. My CV is EFI, so I am good for now. I know a kid that has two CFI MGM's and he's thinking of making the cruiser into a hotrod. He didn't want to change it over to carb and was unsure if he wanted to go SEFI. I told him that it all depends on the purpose of the car or how he plans to use it; whether it will be a cruiser that may see a little track time or a cruiser that will see a lot of track time.


Packman

[fmansfield444]

I'd say a carb swap would have a few less problems to overcome, biggest problem I can think of would be getting a fuel pressure decreased or a manual pump installed.

Would probably be easier though and would eliminate a lot of wiring.

[gadget73]

Bigger problem is can you get it through inspection? Also, are you or do you know someone who is good with carbs? Just because its easy to bolt it on doesn't mean it will be easy to live with.

[sick88tbird]

Forget aftermarket efi...ask me how I know!!! Unless you are buying a top end kit that you need to dyno tune every finite detail on a lap top then stay away. Don't waste your time and money on a "self-learning" efi system....I'm running the FAST Ez-Efi first generation retrofit kit...which is designed to run v-8's that already have port fuel injection set-ups...nothing but headaches you can get it run fine in some areas and it'll be grumpy as hell in others and they tell you to tune it to some sort of middle ground...screw that so it'll be equally shitty everywhere? I've been down that road. All the aftermarket EFI systems I'm aware of don't run a MAF, which is fine when you have a wideband O2 telling the computer what's going on.

I would recommend a straight up MAF HO swap and if you need more, get the Anderson Ford PMS. For those not familiar with it, it's a piggyback setup that racers have been using forever....you can add a wideband to it, you can set a timing retard thats boost proportional and on and on and on...and it's only like $1100...you can save multiple tunes in it so you can copy an okay tune and try to improve on it, if you F-bomb the tune and it runs worse, oh well, just revert back to one of your other tunes. I will be doing this on my s/c 5.0 ranger build and once that is up and running, my CV will be getting torn apart and a Ford MAF harness and A9P will be going in it. And I may even set them both up on the same unit save different tunes for the two vehicles...hell, I can only drive one at a time anyway.

Good luck,
Don

[packman]

That's a good point; and coming from experience too. Gadget makes a good point as well. I know a couple people and that's it; I haven't messed with a carb in a long time. And even then I wasn't tuning it.


Packman

[85ltd]

There is a slightly more involved option, megasquirt. I just finished helping a friend install it on a foxbody with an LSx engine. There is a little bit of wiring, but the megasquirt company makes almost all of the connectors so it's practically plug and play, and if you have a question their forum is always open. The cost of it is significantly less than any other efi too, but you do have to tune it, which gives you the most potential of any efi system. It may take awhile but you have the satisfaction of doing it and learning how to tune efi in the process. We used the megasquirt 2 assembled box, $200 computer, and other small goodies. Just an alternative idea.

-Blane

[packman]

That sounds like an idea. I guess I would need to read up on EFI tuning as it's a dark art to me right now.


Packman