Lots of guts! I wouldn't recommend the Hilborns. They tend to load up really badly and cause a few issues. Unless you intend on cramming your foot to the floor at every stop in town, try some Strombergs or other cool traditional carburetion!
Convert it to electronic for hassle free operation. The Hilbourn were designed for wide open throttle. Oh, converting them cost more than a complete 6-71 set up.
I want to try this also as i have looked into this..................... What i have found is that about 2% of the peeps that have tried have failed. Also if it does work they are not gonna act right on the top end cause you got to run them with a leaner mixture so they do not load up so bad. And yeah like evereything else its trial by error. I would definately get the engine running properly then switch it over so you know what to expect and the problems will be related to fuel. With this said if you find anything i would like some more info. As info and knowledge is the key components of making this a success!!! Hot Rod magazine did an article about a street legal sprint car a few months ago as this is where i found some of this info.
Look up Alkydigger.com Mike has every thing you need sells used stuff and will help you get set up for the street.just remember its tempermental due to limited idle.electronic is nice if you have a wheelbarrow full of money.I would go for it,and show some pics.
I knew a guy who did it in 1970 on a SBC. Yes it ran but the hassle of starting it and the fact that yes it did load up made him remove it after about 2 weeks! But for 2 weeks he was real cool..... at least at the time!
I know a guy who got a setup to work somewhat half assed. What eventually made it driveable was the installation of a dial-a-jet set up that let him adjust the fuel jets from inside the car while he drove it. It was a serious pain in the ass and it took a lot of trial and error to get it to work. In the end the cool factor made it worth the effort, at least for a short time. He eventually got tired of the hassle and dropped a blower on the new motor. He later confided that he singed a piston or two with the injectors. He got past the initial starting problems by using a low volume electric fuel pump and a surge tank that had a return system to the fuel tank and was placed higher than the injector pump. Worked reasonably well but he still had to prime the system from time to time. He was looking at a direct port priming system that would have looked exactly like a port nitrous system but eventually gave up on the idea. (went to the blower) He tried to manage the loading issue with a good bypass setup and returning the bypass to the surge tank. He still winged the throttle a lot but I'm not sure if he did it to clear it out or just for effect. The issue with hilborns is that they are set up to run wide open throttle and idle. Not a whole lot in between. Once they are set up to idle and work properly at WOT, they work great. Get the set up right and leave it alone. But they are designed for racing and not the street.
Not all hillborn systems are set up for wide open throttle. It depends on the barrel valve. The sprint cars usually run a barrel valve that can run partial throttle with out any problems. You can prime the for cold start with a bosch jet-tronic injector. Dial a jets are only good for + or - one pill size. If you've ever tuned a hillborn system you'll know that will not be enough, but it makes it a bit more livable. do a search its been discussed to death.
Huh? The dial a jet I ran on my super had 7 different jets in it, all the way from a 58 up to a 72. We could damn near hydraulic it or burn it down at the twist of the knob... The barrel valve is the KEY, though. Someday, someone is going to start grinding them so they work well past 50% throttle.
Sprints really are not a good example , alky is very forgiving even then when a sprint is at low speed before a start they do stall and or stumble all be it slight its still there. the barrel valve tells all and the dial a jet on my cars range from as said earlier 58 to low 70s . also gas is a real issue if it goes lean it burps its guts up real ugly .
All the EFI conversions I have seen are PLAINLY visible. About as HAMB friendly as Coddington wheels.
Just thinking out loud here,I do have a bit of history with hilborn injection but on t/f harleys.Suck squish pop phoey an engine is a engine.Generally we had 30% of throttle was barrel valve that i used a leak down tester to set at 12 to 20 pecent for idle.A twenty thousenths feeler guage under the butterfly for air. We would run up to three hi speed bypasses off the pump and played with a mechanical lean out as well. A carburator generally has a idle circuit ,intermediate ,and high speed or main circuit useing a accelerator pump to help transitions to occur smooth. If you can set up your poppet valves to blow off in a simular curve ,you may be able to pull it off. We always returned to the tank for less cavitation in the system,Engine rpm is volume and pressure. To check poppet pressures we would use a regulator with a guage as a tester.Slowly turn up the pressure and when the poppet would open note the pressure,shims and spring will fine tune your setup. I think a simple test bench with a varible speed motor to drive the fuel pump with a rpm guage,and a clear tank to visibly see the fuel returning to the tank may help to figure what circuit is too fat or too lean.Otherwise its just a caculated guess.Keep good notes so you can go back,sorry for the ramble,too much coffee.Ugh
Does anyone have any pics they could post, looking for front of motor shots. I'm also looking to run one on the street. I'd like to see how others have set up their coolling system. My plan so far was to use an in-line water pump and a Hilborn timing cover and a 150 Hilborn fuel pump. The motor is a 350 in a 57 Chevy. Pics of the barrell valves and high speed by pass would help to.
Yes, it can be done. If you are talking about a little driving on the street, that's one thing. If you are talking about a "real" street car, not a good idea. With everything as good as it can get, a carb that isn't perfectly calibrated will work better and be a lot easier to live with. Kinsler injection has a separate idle/low speed circuit, but even with that it's not a good choice for a "real" street car.
Here are a few pics of my EFI Hemi. Hope this helps somewhat....I realise it may not be exactly what you're looking for. Good luck.
sorry for the misspell it was late and i worked 13 hours. Its not really a pain in the ass to change jets, it just depends on how much you like to tinker. If you don't mind fiddling with the mechanical bits, or down right enjoy it, its great! How ever if your a lazy, mechanically inept, or cantankerous, you should probably steer clear. The dial a jet, or what ever it was that we ran on the bonneville car, was a needle valve plumbed into the bypass line that seemed to only have a jets worth of adjustment (when i say one jet i mean between 55 and 50) we were just using it to lean out on the top end. So maybe I have no idea what a dial a jet is. Anyone got some pictures?
I tried it on a I6. Used a surge tank and elect. pump to feed it at start up. It would work good low or high but not both. Gave up and went back to carb. As stated earlier, if you had the time and enough bypasses and the right barrel valve (or valves) it could be done with success.
I have also tried it back in the late 70's on a BBC with avi gas and also alc but with no real good luck. Did get it to work fairly well on alc but i would run out of fuel real fast. Came up with a high breed of running 2 850 holley's on avi gas for starting, idle & crusing around and injecting alc for the upper mid range and top end. I made my own dual quad low rise intake so it would fit under the stock 1966 Chevells SS hood. Suprised a few street racers with blower motors back then.
Well I also tried it with a surge tank, dial a jet and some common sence. I will say IT WORKS. I relly like the nay-sayers here. Makes me look good. As dale stated look at the artical, thats what I did and BOOM, away we go. Ive been told all kinds on negitive BS, just stand back and watch. See you out there, John
rotten johnny, i don't think that would pass for a street car, even if you drive it on the street. Do you drive it to the track?
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