Looking to gather parts for a FI build (FC)

[TII_Arekusu]

Hi All -

  Well my FC with an LS1 and T56 is my daily driver officially. I recently put in a Grannys 8.8 kit with 3.73's.  The LS1 is out of a 98 Firebird and the T56 is as well and was rebuilt. So I feel my car is a mostly solid daily driver. I still have to tweak some things now and then.

   Anyway, I've been looking more into FI builds and pursuing that route possibly in a year or so after I finish my big block 1964 C-10 build.

  I've been looking into upgrading my cooling for right now. (In Florida heat I have a constant temp of 200* at idle and about 205-210* in traffic). With the thoughts of moving towards an FI build what size would you guys recommend to put in the car. (I'm looking at a custom HOWE radiator right now. )I'm ok with cutting the front support and using hood pins.  Also I've read that some of you have had trouble with hoses coming off. Whats the best way to go AN connectors and lines? The goal of the car would be a stronger street car that has a supercharger or turbo but still daily driven and gets about the same gas mileage. I'd like to buy parts now, so I don't have to buy parts again when / IF i decide to go FI later.  As of now I'm leaning towards supercharger...

 Where I am now in the country I can't get E85 as well.

 Also, what would be a good place to read up on FI.. from a total noob level?  Thanks for the help! Happy 4th!

Alex

[digitalsolo]

Alex,

There is a thread by LargeOrangeFont that shows where to get the water pump side AN pieces, for the radiator side, Howe can sell you one with the fittings on it already.      I have -16 top and -20 bottom on my car.

Fuel mileage should be unaffected by a turbo/blower if you keep your foot out of it (LOLz).

Go read "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell.    It is an easy read, and gives a lot of explanation on the basics of turbocharging (and some supercharging info as well).    I highly recommend it as a starting point.  I bought a copy myself since I liked it.

[TII_Arekusu]

Thanks Blake . I'll pick up the book. Did you go with a replica of what ZBrown posted in his build thread except for the fitting sizes? Also is there a good reference thread for cutting the front support for the radiator and the mounting of it? I don't personally own a tig welder.

Hope all had enough beer today,  and no one  . Later!

Alex

[spacevomit]

Maximum Boost has been the default starting point for noobs for a long ass time.

For what it's worth, there's not like, a rule of thumb, that a forced induction engine is a hotter engine.

Pssst: turbos are the best

[TII_Arekusu]

Thanks for the +1 spacevomit.     Yup FI will be hotter which is why I'm looking to just get this out of the way now and not have to buy yet another radiator set up later.

   Gotta do more research on why turbos are better. I've seen some posts on better bang for the buck, but my tuning skills = also noob. So time to get my learn on.

Alex

[spacevomit]

No, that's what I'm saying, forced induction is not necessarily hotter. But that's not to say you shouldn't go ahead with the radiator.

[digitalsolo]

No, that's what I'm saying, forced induction is not necessarily hotter. But that's not to say you shouldn't go ahead with the radiator.

Forced induction is not hotter, more horsepower is.

Consider that an engine is going to convert X amount of it's work into horsepower and X amount into heat (waste).   Now consider that if you add 30% more work to the motor (to get a 30% increase in horsepower) you would get a 30% increase in the waste heat also.

Those numbers are just imaginary to illustrate the concept, by the way.    Also, with a turbo setup, you have a bunch of exhaust pipes full of really hot gasses under the hood, which elevates under hood temps and thus all the other temps also.

Bigger radiator = good.

[TII_Arekusu]

So, pretty much decided that I might as well keep my car because the most someone wants to give me for it is 6,000.00 or a suburban.. sweet.


So I've done some research and I'm not quite ready to buy all the radiator stuff just yet, as the car is the driver right now. But I'm looking at my fuel system for now (might be able to do a system swap if I had all the parts in a weekend).. it's stock with a Vette FPR, walboro, stock 98 intake with stock injectors. I've seen some guys run -6 or -8 line from the tank with 90* bulkhead connectors... Which makes more sense, 6 or 8?

 Also, I've been looking at Aeromotive fuel system stuff.. is this more just the gucci of fuel system products or is it money well spent (I looked at it because some of you guys use them)? Can I get something else that does the job just as well as it? 

I noticed that Blake recommended that FI builds look into aftermarket fuel rails so I can run a regulator attached to them and so the regulator can reference the boost. Can I get a regulator that references boost and run it on an N/A car until I'm ready to do the FI portion?

  Anyway, working nights all week sucks, time for sleep. Later.

Alex

[digitalsolo]

Alex,

I like aftermarket rails mostly because you can run the regulator after the rails, instead of before, which should lead to slightly more accurate fueling, particularly as the power level goes up.

You can absolutely use the same regulator N/A, just don't hook up the reference port and it will behave like a stock regulator for a Corvette.