Thread: My 2.25L series 2a gets EFI and a Supercharger!

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?

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