Thanks for your reply Dave. *THIS* is the grass-roots info I'm looking for
and when I mentioned to my wife about snagging another state we've never
been to, she jumped on it. I said told her you might have a place to sleep
in a shed and she was even more on board! I know I didn't mention anything
about her coming along so if that's a no-go, no worries - we can always
spring for a motel. She's so onboard infact she's already looking for what
days she can take off for the trip. I'm going to take you up on this and
plan to be a PIYA for a day or 2 while I take notes, pictures, and soak it
all up. You have all the beer coming to you that you want plus some money
because I really appreciate you helping me on this. I told Enid (my wife)
that when I start working on her beetle, I want that engine to be a 1600DP
with FI so that she doesn't have to monkey around with chokes and so forth.
She's never driven anything with a carburetor and in fact has driven more in
the USA than she ever did growing up in Australia due to public
transportation. So if you can handle hearing the Aussie accent for awhile
then get your questions ready and she'll be glad to answer.
Concerning your setup, I had read that you could do a cheap method of
creating the pressurized fuel pump ring by installing a T-fitting underneath
the tank and also back at the engine so that the excess pressure can just
recirculate without having to add another spigot on the tank. Kind of a
lazy way, but I was told it works.
With a dual FI setup, I would expect to have to syncrhonize both sides to
get the airflow adjusted properly and fiddling around with a laptop doesn't
bother me. I just don't want the bother of dorking with carbs.
We own a 1995 Mexican beetle that we towed home from KC about 6 or 7 years
ago. It has the stock FI that they came with in Mexico and it was another
minor goal of mine to reverse-engineer that setup so that I could copy it.
As it turns out, next year that beetle is 25 years old and I can license it
for use on the road and fully intend to. I had heard that the stock FI
detuned the engine down to 48hp so I wasn't all too keen about that, so if I
could do a homebrew setup that wouldn't leave me having to learn Spanish so
as to get my replacement parts ordered, I'd rather go that way.
As far as running an additional metal fuel line, I'm sure I could figure out
how to run it through the tunnel or even along the brake line on the floor
in the car. That is a bit of work yes, but to me that's a piece of cake
that is far easier to eat than monkeying with dual carbs.
With the wiring and GM crimp tool - that's the kind of stuff I need to know.
>NQ, count on about a 10% power increase with FI.
Loving it even more.
150hp from a 1776cc and I assume with a turbo - not a bad deal at all. I
had thought about a super charger years ago. Build a bullet proof bottom
end and then brute force the power with a super charger or turbo.
>Yes, there is a learning curve but once you understand the fuel is
>delivered based on throttle position, rpm, map, o2 sensor(and the fuel
>table)...you are done.
The learning curve doesn't bother me if I have someone to help me through
it. I appreciate this like you wouldn't believe. In fact, if you decide to
do this as some kind of seminar, you may end up with a little gathering of
people if you're open to it. I know others wish to learn this stuff too.
Enid and I live in Beatrice, NE so we are not far from you at all. We can
be in NW Arkansas in a touch over 6 hours.
If you're serious about the offer then I can be reached at
moc.enecirtaeb@tnelis (which is my email backwards) and we can make the
plans off-list.
Cheers! (Very Aussie/Brit of you.)
NQ
Glad to be back on the list...