Megasquirt success!

[brighton911]

About 5 years ago, Tony from Bitz racing dropped in on one of our C&C 's with his car. I was always interested in EFI conversions and after looking and listening to his car, I blame him for putting the bug in my ear. Fast forward to the past winter and what better way to enjoy retirement that to go Megasquirt on my 86. Now it was already EFI but with 35 year old technology so things have changed a little in that time. I sourced all the hardware from DIY Autotune. Matt and his team walked me through the buying and building process, a great place to do business with. There are also excellent on-line forums when you run into a snag - expect that as you learn. As part of that "learning experience" I bought the Megasquirt in kit form. I would do it that way again too, it gives you a greater understanding of how it works. The install took some time, planning hardware locations, making up all new harnesses etc but the engine was out anyway for the 3.4 conversion. All original harnesses are uncut and remain in place should I ever decide (very unlikely) to go back to stock. I cleaned up the engine bay removing the heater blower system and A/C. I did want to retain the stock airbox and filter as it is not an impediment to flow. I could have gone coil on plug but decided on a coil pack. I fabricated a mount for the coil pack in the spot where the original coil went and one for the TPS (throttle position sensor). One of the more satisfying things was getting rid of the distributor, technology developed by Cadillac in 1910 or so. Timing and fuel injection is all controlled via crank trigger inputs to the ECU now. As I had done engine work over the winter, the first month in operation, I ran the car on the Motronic, I didn't want to introduce too many variables at once. Car ran great and definitely quicker than the 3.2 So now time for the the MS changeover. As the harnesses etc were prebuilt, it was just an injector swap, remove the barn door AFM and install a adapter and tube from the air intake to the airbox. The tuning process took some learning and playing time but the end result, just amazing. The car starts quicker, idles better than ever and goes like stink, I wish 1st gear was longer now. It's all good and with air/fuel ratios and timing curves infinitely adjustable, side bonus better fuel economy on cruise, if I ever stay there. So if you are thinking about it, I say go for it. And thanks to JohnJL and K Sykes for tune sharing. It's a very giving MS community out there, a passion for making them better is a common thread.

[MadeofOak]

That's awesome!! I'm many many steps behind you, still trying to get it installed but I hope to have the same benefits.

[Jack Stands]

Have you compared how it compares in running smoothness and power to the old Motronic system? Though I’m sure there’s been many improvements in EFI technology over the years, I find the Motronic system pretty nice on my ‘84. As a replacement for carbs, definitely an improvement and worthwhile.

[brighton911]

Yes, as in the text, it was all better with the Megasquirt. A very noticeable difference in the over 4500 "rush" typical of 3.2's.

[slow&rusty]

Fantastic!! Congrats

[jpnovak]

Nice. I setup a 3.2 in a 914 using the same system years ago. It went fast.

Yes, the throttle response compared to the barn-door AFM is incredible.

[Peter M]

Originally Posted by brighton911

Yes, as in the text, it was all better with the Megasquirt. A very noticeable difference in the over 4500 "rush" typical of 3.2's.

Brighton,
Have you run it on a dyno yet?

I'm doing an almost identical build and am wondering what the next biggest restriction is after the AFM is replaced by a straight tube. Have you any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Peter

[brighton911]

No dyno run yet Peter, probably the coming season for final tuning/enhancements. I looked at having the throttle body enlarged but didn't feel there was much (if any) to be gained. I understand the Carrera manifold is the limiting factor to 6200 rpm peak flow (I believe from Steve Wong research).

[dap930]

brighton,

Very nice job. It leaves the engine looking stock. What version of MS are you running?

[flat6pilot]

Looks clean! Great install!

I've had my Bitz installed for about 8 or 9 years now. Using an MSII daughterboard upgrade (still using the original MS1 board) now.

Never had any issues.

[mb911]

That's a very cool approach.. I would love to do something like that to my engine though a 2.4.. I ran megasquirt on my 3.2 ss turbo and had great results

[brighton911]

Dap930, I am running the MS2 V3.0 board. I may add a knock sensor circuit during this winter downtime projects, much more to follow.