Re: Hypothetical Question

From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Wed Dec 11 2002 - 22:03:52 EST


"Gary Hedlin" <ghedlin@theramp.net> wrote:

: Ok guys, heres a question for the experts.

: Can a dakota PCM be re-flashed for a non-magnum engine? Suppose someone
: stumbled accross a nice 440 Short Block, and was looking at making it an EFI
: setup. Now, the question is how to make evertyhing work, concerning the
: PCM. Or, would you have to run it as a carborated engine, and live without
: all the electronics?

: Call me crazy, but this engine in a Gen II would be one bad mother!!

   You're crazy. ;-) Nah, actually I agree - it would be pretty cool.
Unfortunately, the factory setup isn't going to work. Heck - it can't
even seem to handle a 408 stroker, let alone a completely different
engine!

   You do have some options though - one you mentioned - a carb, and
the other is an aftermarket EFI system. As always, there is very
little out there for Mopars, so you pretty much have to take a
generic system and adapt it to your vehicle. I did this with my
'70 cuda; I installed a Holley "950 Commander" TBI fuel injection
system on my 440. (See all the gory details on my home page)
At least it will be easier for someone else to do it now, since I am
publishing my EFI maps on my web site for free download.

  I have heard through the grapevine that Edelbrock is coming
out with a BB Chrysler MPI setup. That should be interesting -
but probably expensive. Similar setups for Chevys run around
$2-3,000.

  Another alternative is to pay someone with experience in the
field to build an EFI setup for you - Rance EFI (http://www.rancefi.com/)
has a great deal of Mopar EFI experience; they have EFId everything from
340s to HEMIs, 6 paks to crossrams... but they don't come cheap. :-)
Going that route, you will spend an absolute bare minimum of $4,000
if you are extremely lucky. ;-)

  Going the route I did, (Holley TBI EFI) still isn't cheap, but it
will easily be less than half that amount. The basic EFI setup itself
is around $1000, but there are a lot of little expenses that can
sneak up on you. The 950 Commander ECU also gives you the ability
to convert to an MPI system should you so desire. You can use it
to control both fuel and spark, or use a traditional distributor
and use the EFI for fuel only.

   Another issue, apart from running the engine itself, is what to
do with the gauges - doing this in a GenIII would probably require
building a new dash.

-- 

-Jon-

.---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com ------. | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | 70 Cuda, 90 Dak 'vert, 92 Ram 4x4, 96 Dak, 96 Intruder 1400, 96 FireFly | `------------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:48:14 EST