engine and drivetrain Megasquirt vs. dual side drafts?????

[mossyboy6]

A little background info- Im 17, and have a 76', limited funds, but enough for a project.

I am at the tipping point in my engine build. The engine is completely apart and I am dumbfounded on what to do next. My next purchase is super sprint header, piano tops and 292 cam, and I currently have all the parts to put the engine back together gaskets, bearings etc..

I need a few opinions on my situation. This car will be my daily driver and im wondering whether I should go mega squirt efi or side drafts..

Power vs. drivability?

What hp would I be looking at with the two options?

What would you do?

I don’t want to hear “Its all about your personal preference”, I just want to hear what you would do in my shoes.

Thanks!

[jakeb]

more power from efi.... You can tune MS to have econ under light load but power when you get on it. You can always run itbs with efi.

Side drafts are cool and more period correct but MS is more adjustable.

There is more of a learning curve with MS but I am all about efi.

[Scott Sislane]

if it's a daily driver, the side drafts are LOUD. If you have the ability to do the injection, I'd go for it.

[winstontj]

EFI - ITBs are cool, loud, smell, unreliable, put out less power, harder to tune...

EFI

[c.d.iesel]

W E B E R 's

[/b]

[Lee]

It will cost about the same between EFI and Webers if buying new parts. For a daily driver, I would pick EFI. No more fuel smell, hard starting or temperemental engine. Welcome to 1980.

[Scott Sislane]

does the can act as a silencer? my side-drafts are quite loud. and for a daily driver, pretty damn poor mileage.

[Scott Sislane]

5t will cost ab out the same between EFI and Webers if buying new parts. For a daily driver, I would pick EFI. No more fuel smell, hard starting or temperemental engine. Welcome to 1980.

I totally agree!

[ClayW]

There are automotive two things that I wish that I had learned to appreciate earlier: The greatness of the BMW 2002 and the wonder that is Electronic Fuel Injection.

Save the twin DCOE's for the vintage racecars. They look really cool, but I'd hate to deal with that kind of lack of civility in my daily driver.

[TobyB]

If you find an E30, putting that injection on first might be cheaper.

Jenn wants it because it's 'hardened'- it's a car system,

built, designed and tested with cars in mind.

Megasquirt's not.

But yeah, unless you have a good reason to go sidedrafts (as in,

'hey look, I have them already!') then start working on Megasquirt.

It's worth learning and doing.

t

[Guest Anonymous]

I try to think of sidedrafts on a cold day as an anti theft system... sure the car takes a certain amount of cranking to do.. I found that with a start spark retard capable ignition most of it was gone but it's still fun getting the right amount of pumps with the foot to get them to start..

tunning on them both is like reading hyroglyphs... if it's not the theta angle of the TPS... it's the F14 of the emulsion which comes after F2.. knowing that F10 is on the other side of the scale...

[Lee]

The 1984 318 L-Jetronic can be bought for dirt cheap and while not hi-performance, it will be reliable on a daily basis.

[mossyboy6]

Wow, I’m surprised everyone is for efi, I thought at least a few would give me some good reasons for duals.

Could anyone guess as to what hp a well tuned engine with megasquirt (318 mani) and the mods listed would be?

[vinceinIL]

Why would Webers be undriveable if they and the engine are set up and tuned properly? This is the key. One needs to have the correct setup, and velocity stacks (air horns), and find way to fit enough of a filter on it, which also means a tii booster.

I have 40 DCOES that are no problem whatsoever, wind or cold. They've started with no problems in 100 degree heat and -15 cold. When cold, it takes two pumps to prime them first.

Yes, they're noisy, but then '02's aren't exactly quiet newer cars to begin with. And it's such a wonderful noise!

From talking with people with injected engines, it's almost a tossup with power, and the injection systems aren't exactly a dirt cheap bolt-on mod that you'll be able to do in an afternoon without a lot of extra work. Economy might be more closely affected by the weight of the driver's foot and gearing than anything else.

It really depends on what road you want to go down; either way you'll spend a good chunk of change and work getting it right. My personal preference on an older car like an '02 would be Webers.

vince

[KFunk]

If you want a modern, boring, fuel injected car..... then save your time and get one.

I daily drive a 2002 because it is primitive, and makes you feel like you're driving a real automobile. You're not running a sewing machine, you're in the original ultimate driving machine. Pump the gas, open up those webers, and drive the wheels off the damn car.

I get way too bored driving modern cars with EFI. My miata just sits outside and rots most of the time while I open up the sidedrafts on the old 2002.