My 69 Nova LSX project is done and OUTTA NOWHERE.....this sweet 1955 Chevy drops in my lap!
Was a BUILT pro-street car that was put together in 2006. The car has a WEIRD Caradine efi system that feeds 4 injectors in the Hilborn 4 stack throttle system. Runs like crap, hard to tune, etc. So, that efi needs to go and be replaced with something that can be tuned via laptop.

I need a little input as to what to do though from you guys:
Option #1 Put a MegaSquirt 3 on the 383 (which is a built, forged motor with low miles, all primo parts, Brodix heads, roller everything) and then add 4 injectors and run this on E85 on the street and drive the **** out of it?

OR....#2. pull the motor, get a 2003 express van for $1500 and put the 6.0L & 4L80E in the '55 with a new intake to mount the Dyers blower to and build a harness, HPtuners 2 bar and drive it that way????







My little brain is thinking this:
LSX/HPtuners EFI
2 - in tank walbro 450's
120 lb injectors (E85 main fuel)
6.0L engine, untouched,
4L80E with a converter and trans kit
Use the TPS on the current Hilborn as the TPS for the LSX ecm

Any thoughts or tips on this? I will need a slew of parts like a balancer that works for the blower, new headers, converter, pumps, new wiring, re-wire a harness (from said donor van), tans mount, shifter, blower intake, etc.

 

 

Again, half of me agrees, the other half does not agree.

I would really like the benefit of having the 4L80E so right there I need to get a new trans and controller for that. It SEEMS easier to be to pull the whole combo and go LS over retrofitting an overdrive trans into the car.

 

Go 6.0 and sell me that Hilborn set-up...

Nice double nickel!

 

Option number 2, with the exception of the blower and intake. Ditch that bullshit and turbo the 6.0. You will have a lot better visibility over the hood, and could run an exhaust that won't scare all the neighbors. In the meantime, sell the entire current powertrain to some poser who just wants looks over function.

 

So, I need to keep the scoop and blower. With this car and the era it represents, it makes such a complete package having those 2 main parts on top of the engine, no matter if it is a SBC or SBE. And also, the hole in the hood needs to filled with something! And lastly, I have a turbo car so that need is filled.

I am going to go donor hunting this weekend then. Look around for a good express van with a 6.0 & 4L80E. No matter what, it is good to have that combo just collecting dust in the garage.

 

if it was my choice i'd say keep the sbc, maybe consider eficonnection's 24x conversion (or a diy version) so you could run a 411 ecm and have individual coils and trans control

whatever you do i'd have to agree to keep the look of the big blower and hood scoop

 

I would go with option one.

 

Go Holley Dominator EFI with 7" LCD Dash, Controls the trans and have all your gauges on one screen. Holley sells the HP and Dominator in kit form that will save you some money. Look at the Terminator kits with Dominator ECU. Terminator MPFI

You think that blower on a 6.0 won't make power ? That blower sticking out of the hood will draw more looks than a turbo any day and make enough power to not be taken lightly and the torque curve is flat as a board. It's called Nostalgia and is cool as hell.

 

If you wanted to keep everything else as it is, You could convert that setup to be run by a Holley ECU and keep the Hillborne setup (It is cool) Keep in mind that the Hillborn you have and a Bird/Bug Catcher setup as essentially just a throttle body when used in an EFI configuration so if it's not running right it's likely in the tune or that ECU is just not the best at controlling it. I have another BugCatcher with TPS/injector plate if your interested in any kind of trades. I like your setup.

 

If you have to keep the scoop and blower, it would be silly to replace a built 383. Just go with electronic FI of any reasonable sort and be done with it. The car will be plenty of fun, and it is not like you need to DD it.

 

OKAY, you guys have made great points and I now know the time and $$$ involved in swaping the blower and hilborn onto a 6.0L setup. Just the new intake and pulley setup will be close to $3K when all said and done!!! Plus, I would need headers, converter, probably another $1500 in misc plus the whole winter to make it nice & right!

The only benefits at that point are the following:
1. 6.0 is cheap and can be run with HPtuners (which I have) so no aftermarket ECM and wiring
2. I could sell this built/forged 383, Brodix headed short block for probably $2-3K. Nice piece, nice parts, would do AWESOME with a procharger
3. 6.0 is cheap.....lol
4. The 6.0 that I found has a 4L80E already on it, ready to go, all complete, $1,700 for the whole setup

So, I am going to start looking at a MegaSquirt or Holley kit to get this turned into a 8-71 blown 383 with new tech! Might chuck a 4L80E in the car as well but that is down the road. I will just make sure the new EFI system/ECM will have the module to control the trans as well.

All of you are right though, the nostalgia side is so bad ***. The car was in my driveway for a day and EVERY neighbor knows I have the car already and they all LOVE IT. The huffer out the hood with the scoop makes that car look so tuff and cool.

Plan moving forward is:
Get EFI kit and go individual coil pack, put can sensor on "dummy distributor", add reluctor wheel to balancer, add MAP sensor, use TPS off of Hilborn, build a 1" spacer under Hilborn to add 8 - 80# injectors, run E85 so ethanol sensor, put reluctor on rear end to monitor wheel speed and maybe add in traction control!

Big money will be getting a nice EFI system and then the time to retro this hot rod and make it a 50's beast with 2018 technology. I am goign to sell all of the MSD stuff so that could be about $600-800 in stuff right there that could help offset the cost of the EFI system

 

 

NICE CAR! That is what I am talking about! Old mechanical intakes that are works of art with modern control. I was wondering about the IAC for idle but I am sure this blower wont care!

Yea, the Carabine ECU is a headache. It makes fuel squirt but crude control and I dont like that I cant tune with precision. So it will be

 

i think the individual coils adds a little cool factor that would make people look twice...although you could also hide them in the back where the dist would be and keep the look similar. either way it should add some performance/capability to the ign system

 

sorry to hijack...do you know were to pickup those individual injector hats?

 

Yes, plan on hidding the coils under the motor or somewhere low and out of sight. Make this engine bay kinda like a "show piece". Also, keep the plug wires out of sight and off the valve covers.

Here is the injector plate that I will more or less copy. I will make it on my mill in my garage.

 

 

Lol at 8-71 = bullshit. Silly kids these days.

 

A friend of mine runs the hillborn style injectors on a hemi using the Holley HP, was a bit
getting it right, but runs ok. Have you thought about 2 Fitech or sniper TB's, saw it done.