Hey y'all,
Just thought I'd put up a post about my 2a (Bruce) and his much delayed advancement in technology! After spending much time thinking about my options and while yes, i would love to throw in a 300tdi and the rest of the gear, i'd like to keep it simple and as "original looking" as possible.


BACKGROUND:
Bruce is a Series 2a ute with series 3 engine + gearbox, fairey overdrive, salisbury diffs, fairey capstan winch, ute + wagon hardtops PLUS soft-top. He is cold in winter, boiling in summer, and noisy all the time (love that overdrive whine!) Nevertheless, I love Bruce - and by the fact he's never left me stranded anywhere (I always keep my tools in the back) I can tell he loves me too.
My mechanical skills have come along way since purchasing him as I do everything on him myself (including a head-gasket in my apartment's car park that I had to keep secret from the building manager!) and if there's something he needs that I haven't done before, I'd better learn fast, as I have no other car to drive!)
I've just come off my uni holidays where I had a bit of time to clean him, tune him up, and courtesy of two cans of spray paint, some masking tape and my girlfriend - improve his aesthetics a little

However, his fuel economy and power are still lacking. Running an old Stromberg from an HD Holden and Ducellier dizzy still relying on points, a decision has to be made: Rebuild the two, or bring old Bruce into the 21st century? (....well, kinda)...
If I rebuild the Stromberg and get it re-jetted, I still have the same old carby that WILL get Bruce to his destination, but will chew through a bit of fuel, and is INCREDIBLY restrictive on airflow. (You should see how small the throttle body is on this thing!!!)
ALSO, if I rebuild the Ducellier, of course I would replace the points with an elec. ignition module, but I'd also want to rip out the old springs and weights to change the advance curve...... which would take a lot of work to get right (with all this work, I wouldn't be happy with just however the dizzy came from the factory, I'd want an improvement!)

Now I know many of you are sitting there saying "Hey, the old girl gets you there, and is reliable. What do you have against it?"
Well I haven't got anything against it. I LOVE my old Bruce. The only thing more enjoyable than driving it, is noticing an improvement after I've spent a whole weekend working on it

So wanting to keep the old donk where it is, and don't fancy getting into spending alot of money on headwork for small gains here and there (now remember, I'm a student, my idea of alot of money is probably about 1/5th the size of your idea!) I look towards EFI.

REASONING:
I'm studying mechanical and mechatronic engineering @ UTS so the whole concept of EFI appeals to me, as I understand it all perfectly (...i think...)
EFI gives me complete control over the ignition advance curve.
I can program, I know a bit about electronics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, manufacturing and drinking... okay the last one doesn't help a lot, but its what us engineering students pride ourselves upon.
The more work I can complete myself, the cheaper the overall cost of the project.
I have a few mates who screw around with EFI on their cars, so help is not far away.
I already have a Microtech LT-8 ECU (usually the majority of the conversion cost, mine for $300 courtesy of a mate) and injectors.

ADDED BENEFIT:
With how this particular EFI system works, and with the flow of these injectors, supercharging will be a "relatively" cheap bolt-on once its all up and running. There is ample room in the engine bay for mounting, and there's room for an intercooler AND a small family between the radiator and the grill!
Although I will only be running "low boost" (about 4-5psi) that means about 133% volumetric efficiency inside the cylinders, and this will be throughout the majority of the rev-range! (I hate to think of what the volumetric efficiency is with the current Stromberg!)

CURRENT PROGRESS:
I wasn't going to be starting this project for another 6-8 weeks, but a mate gave me his old Microtech ECU (the exact model I was after, too!) for $300, and some injectors that have more than enough flow for an additional $50.

NEXT STEP:
Bruce is my daily driver and I cannot afford to have him off the road for more than a weekend. This means that I need EVERYTHING ready before Bruce makes the changeover.
I am keeping my eye out for an inlet manifold for the 2.25L before paying a visit to an EFI specialist. I will need to have a fuel-rail custom made to suit the injectors and manifold, the manifold machined to receive the injectors, a nipple added for my ECU's inbuilt MAP sensor, and a small flange to receive the Holden Commodore 60mm throttle body that I will be using ($40 from the wreckers, and includes the Throttle Position Sensor )

THEN...
60psi electric fuel pump, high-pressure fuel lines, pressure regulator and return lines (including tank-selector, as I run 2 fuel tanks)...
Elec. ignition module as I will be using the old Ducellier (with both vacuum AND centrifugal advance disabled) in place of a crank-angle sensor...
New coil (I'm not going to all this trouble to leave the old one there!)...

DESIRED FINISHED PRODUCT:
Without the supercharger, I will have an engine bay that looks very similar to how it does now. The Commodore throttle body will sit in place of the Stromberg, and there will be a fuel-rail and injectors sitting on my inlet manifold, but the rest will look much the same. Even the single coil and Ducellier will be in place. Then its just the odd wires here and there escaping into an olive-drab painted wire-conduit, leading to my hidden EFI ECU
............... Then when I get bored and bolt on the supercharger (which will still have an electronic clutch so I can disengage it when desired) I will scuff up the exterior of it and mount it low on the sparsely-populated driver's side of the engine bay...
LOOKS a lot more original than dropping in a 300Tdi, MUCH cheaper, and is alot more fun for me to play around with.

......... Besides, who has a Supercharged 2a on EFI?

Attached is a current photo of Bruce...
Not quite sure if uploading as an attachment will work... here goes!

Attached Images

Bruce.jpg (125.9 KB, 128 views)

I'm looking forward to reading more on your conversion sounds interesting..Just remember we love pics so keep them coming..I hope it all works out the way you have it planed...GOOD LUCK..

outstanding.

__________________
Dave

"In a Landrover the other vehicle is your crumple zone."

Fozzy, 2.25D SIII Ex DCA Ute
The midlife crisis car
Some D1

For spelling call Rogets, for mechanicing call me.

Supercallafreakingawesome.

__________________
Hinges Standing Proud - Since 1963
112-752 1963 88" GS 'Crusher'
REMLR Member #264

The 2.25L engine is underworked as it came from Land Rover. The fact that the bottom end will handle the stresses of a diesel engine (which is actually what is was designed as) means that it is easily capable of a fifty percent increase in output.
A much cheaper alternative to what you are proposing, particularly if you have a late Series 3 five-bearing crankshaft engine, is to fit extractors, different profile cam, port and polish the head to increase airflow, increase the compression slightly, use only premium fuel, fit electronic ignition and a suitable carburettor.
This will bring output up to around 120HP - equivalent to a Holden 179/186, still be a Land Rover engine and is about as much as the transmission (gearbox) will handle.
As your vehicle is a LWB an LPG conversion could also be beneficial. Not sure if the rebate for conversions still applies - I believe the rules have changed since the scheme was introduced.

Using a Holden carburettor on a 2.25L often results in "issues" - from flooding to starving, getting the jetting correct is difficult but can be done and particularly "snatching" on take-off if you have a carburettor from an Automatic car. Manual carburettors were hard to come by as automatic transmissions became more popular. Codes M = Manual, C= Automatic. If it is from an HD it may be from a 149 cuin motor that explains the lack of breathing.
Body sizes 1 3/32" (149, 161 cid); 1 5/32" (173, 179 186 cid); 1 7/32" (202 cid). If it is smaller it is from an earlier grey motor.

Unless you are keen to do a lot of research and experimenting there are some easier solutions to give you more power and economy.

Bob

no offense bob.... but.

screw that... do something different thats never been done before take that old lump of iron and give it some new beans.

__________________
Dave

"In a Landrover the other vehicle is your crumple zone."

Fozzy, 2.25D SIII Ex DCA Ute
The midlife crisis car
Some D1

For spelling call Rogets, for mechanicing call me.

There is an EFI Kit somewhere in the UK for the 2.25, but go ahead with your own idea, it's affordable, and a lot more satisfying to do it yourself.

In case you do consider a cam regrind in the future, I had good results with the cam ground to open all valves 5 degrees sooner and close them 5 degrees later. The profile is (almost) identical to the 2.6 6cyl cam profile according to the guy who did it.

The 2.25 can run just about unlimited advance, so you should have plenty of scope for tuning.

Wont cost as much as working the 2.25. I was going to do a similar conversion to my 88" ser 111. The Toyota supercharger was $250. I have an SU on mine so was going to use it. For the inlet manifold I was going to use a 2.25 diesel job and mount the supercharger on the passenger side of the engine bay. With all the plumbing available from super crap auto etc it would be very easy to do these days.
I dropped the idea for a turbo set up as would have been easier for me to set up. I still have the turbo and 45deg weldable bends here to make it all fit.

I say go for it. Put it on a dyno, tune it properly. In the past 2.25s have been turboed very successfully and have produced close to 200 HP with water injection!
Cant see why the supercharger wont work well. Imagine the mid range torque it will have

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:Strange Rovers Down Under 4BD1T 120" 110 /3 Rangies:/ 3 series 1's/ 2 series 2's/2 series 3 88's/2
series 3 109's and a heap of rice burners

I like your plan - unlike some of the suggestions, the whole setup could be planned and built to just bolt on in a weekend. I suspect you will find a quite substantial increase in power just with the EFI, although I will point out that if you regularly use the extra power, you won't see much improvement in the fuel economy - don't forget that narrow choke carburetter restricts not only the amount of air that gets in, but the amount of fuel!

Your setup should be more efficient, in the sense of thermal efficiency, by getting closer to the optimum mixture and ignition timing, so there should be a modest increase in economy, provided you don't drive or accelerate faster than you do now!

One thing worth checking is whether you have a 7 or 8:1 head - if it is 7:1 then getting it ground is probably the first step in improving power, although not really essential if you are supercharging it.

You may find that by the time you do the first stage, the additional power is as much as the gearbox will stand - and if you add the supercharger you may find yourself looking at expensive and time consuming drive train modifications.

John

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JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol