Fuel Injection in your C3

[70 LS1]

About a year ago I swapped in a '99 LS1 engine and six speed. By far the best mod I have done to date. The throttle response and power is phenomenal. Not to mention the wow factor when you open the hood.

I went from 10mpg with the old 350 to about 25mpg with the new setup. I stongly recommend fuel injection to anyone with an old C3. Sure its a little more complicated, but well worth it.

 

[Stallion]

Dropping in LS1s in any year seems to be quite the popular engine replacement. I've seen around from even C1s to have LS1s in them. Quite interesting...

TR

 

[Mciamp99]

I have to add my 2 cents, now that I have driven my LT-4 project. It was definately worth all the problems I had witht he computer. The car is responsive, fires up without hesitation and sounds incredible. I havent stepped into it hard yet, but can tell that all the power is there. The 700-R$ was definately a good change as the car felt like it was coasting on the highway at 75.

CW. my one small piece of advice to you is let someone else deal with the PCM. make sure they change the programming to a f-body program and eliminate the Tranny. I did do it myself, but still throw tranny codes so I plan to ship it somewhere to solve that issue. If you have any question I probably lived any pain you may encounter being an amatuer mechanic. but the swap was definitley worth it.

 

[zwede]

I have a MPFI system on my 454. The total bill including the required L88 hood came to over $3k. Yes, a lot of money but I feel it was worth it. I have tried all the major carbs on the market (Holley, Demon and Edelbrock) and none ran the way I wanted them to. I worked with carbs for 10 years so I know how to tune them. Some things no matter of tuning solved, though. I could not make any of the carbs stop from stalling during hard braking. Driving the car in the Dallas summer and 100+ degrees produced vapor locks. I live in an apartment with the attached garage underneath. I would park the car and after an hour the whole apartment smelled like gas (evaporating out of the bowls).

So I took the plunge and put a Holley Commander 950 system on it. It was a pretty big project and tuning took a long time. But once it was done it was a different car. Starts right up no matter what temperature. No warmup, just put it in gear and drive off. Even though it has a somewhat healthy cam in it it drives like it has a stock cam. Smooth idle, no bucking or surging.

I drive the car to work everyday and with the EFI it is a joy.

BTW, I have pictures and a write-up on the installation on my webpage:

http://www.corvetteforum.net/c3/zwede

/Markus

 

[Last Ride]

Been there, done that.

Well, like many of the others that have sounded off, I too have made the switch to fuel injection and never looked back! I have a 1995 LT1 running in my car as well as a 4L60E. I love the combo. Back when I did this swap, it wasn't so common as it is today, and the lack of information made for some decent obsticles to overcome. Combine that with a shopowner that was an absolute moron, and you get to spend exhorbitant amounts just to fix what he screwed up! But I'm not bitter... Anyway, I know CW cautioned you about the Painless Wiring Kits, but I will have to disagree with that sentiment. I originally had a wiring kit installed from a supposed "guru" in the hot rod industry. It was more expensive than the Painless kit, but it was so cobbled together, NO ONE could get the motor to run right on it. I had it pulled and put in a Painless kit. No more problems! The car runs great now. I kept the kit that was originally installed when I did the conversion because someone might find a use for it someday. If not, I will take it to the car shows I go to and look for the guy that stole my money while doing the conversion. I bet it would make a pretty strong noose...ad Well, good luck with your decision. I am sure the folks here can help you with whatever you decide. My only regret is not being a part of this community the first time I went down this road. BTW, the LT1 will actually sit lower under the hood than the current small block. Mine does.