The tinkering I love, I just don't think I have the brain sells or bandwidth while raising kids and work to be able to grasp the efi stuff. I think it's GT hound that is posting all kinds of tweaks and such and I just do not have the energy to learn it.
Tinkering in everything else though, I have the desire and energy for.
For me, the switch to EFI, especially the tuning is fun, not stress.
I didn’t mean to scare you off! I am just posting to capture the journey to EFI and share the learning.
I never could get the carburetor dialed in right on my car and knew I was leaving potential on the table. Plus I had to have the idle set above 1000 RPM to keep it from dying in my hilly neighborhood. I was lacking a box full of jets and feedback mechanism. Although it did run a lot better with the f66 emulsion tubes. Also, it ran great at 3,500-4,500 Respecially with the rallybob style tented intake. But it still tended to stumble at lower RPMs (which is where it spends most of its time on the street).
I honestly don’t think that there is an easy bolt on solution. If you have a carb and can find a rallybob style tented manifold get it. I could not find one, so bought a TIG welder, learned how to weld and built one. That manifold should also work great with a sniper type system where the throttle body injection replaces the carburetor. The Opel fuel injection systems I am aware of are limited or require customization. There are many paths to better induction, but none of them shine in my mind as a quick and easy off the shelf options.
Most of my headaches with my EFI build were self imposed (vacuum leaks, sensor compatibility, wiring of IAC, fuel pressure regulator leaks, etc). With sniper these components are all matched and parts of the integrated system. The bad news with the sniper is that it does not put the fuel right where it is needed (at each cylinder) and instead puts it in the bottom of a flat plenum. This is not the best with a carburetor and is worse with throttle body injection like sniper where the atomization is not as fine. It can lead to a puddle of fuel on the plenum.
I wanted great throttle response and the EFI has delivered.
I wanted my car to run great all days, not just certain weather conditions. EFI has delivered.
I wanted more torque down low. I think the 1975 FI manifold long runners have improved my torque.
I wanted more airflow (I believe my tented ported downdraft intake was much improved, but the runners were still a restriction) until I installed the 1975 FI manifold. I now have more power. However. I believe I would now benefit from more head work now for even more CFM airflow.
In prepping for EFI, I got my electrical system Right and delivering a consistent 14.5 volts. This made a difference whether EFI or not.
also in prepping for EFI, I removed the fuel tank to install an in tank fuel pump. At that time I found and fixed the leak at the bottom of my fuel tank. What a dream to not have gasoline fumes in the car and garage anymore!
I wanted my car to run all the time like it did at a certain magical spot like my carb did. Now, it was very consistently a strong performer everywhere (load / rpm range). the carb did have that one magical thing it could do 10% of the time. Now I have something better 90% of the time.
There is no need to always be tuning. It is fine and reliable to drive as is. No lap top required. That said, I really do like the extra data provided while driving on the hand held gauge monitor.
If you are an optimizer and want to get the most out of your car, you need to tune it. Or find somebody who can tune it. Whether carbs or EFI. For me EFI was just more accessible. Although now that I have a wide band O2 sensor and understand it, I might actually be able to tune a carb better.
The true test…. I drive my car a lot more now. So, it just works, and it is fun!
