Holley Sniper EFI

Started by MiniDave, August 28, 2020, 08:42:56 PM

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MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MiniDave

#26
Today's update: Cole and I made a deal and I bought his EFI unit, it arrived today. Looking only at the baseplate it's pretty big. I know they make a smaller 2bbl EFI unit too - I may order one of those at some point but not till I get the single bbl one I ordered over a month ago!

So, now I have something to work with while I wait for the other one to get here....I think this one from Cole is too big for these little motors unless you're using forced induction - might be just perfect for a turbo tho!

The pic shows the baseplate for the EFI setup I got from Cole on top of the Nikki manifold - I think you all can see the problem!   :-\
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MiniDave

#27
The EFI that I bought from Cole  - while it might work fine on a supercharged or turbo car - it's way too big for normally aspirated engines like I'm working on. I think the single bbl unit I have will be far better suited to what I'm doing. So at some point I'll be selling it on to someone with a more suitable application.

In the meantime while waiting for my single bbl unit to show up, I went ahead and ordered a Weber 2bbl downdraft manifold from Pierce (thanks to a donation from MPlayle) and it came in today. It was interesting to compare it to the Nikki manifold, which on first glance seems much smaller than the Weber - BUT - when you look at all the openings it's pretty much the same in a smaller package. The Weber is more open in the area just below the carb and of course, it situates the carb 90* to the way Nikki does it.

However.....try as I might - it does not fit with either of the header setups I have - hits on the center pipe much like the SPi manifold did on the small header. So, the only other possibility to use this is to use it with an SPi exhaust header. If anyone has one they'd like to donate to the cause....lemme know.

Compare the Weber to the Nikki in the last pics, the Nikki has all sorts of clearance....I'm thinking that the way they oriented the carb is the problem on the Weber. Also, because it hits the pipe I can't even get the Weber manifold to sit square to the head.....I guess the next move is to see if the Nikki will clear with the smaller header too.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MiniDave

The Nikki manifold works perfectly with either header, so that's clearly the best one to use, either with the single bbl EFI unit or the small 2bbl.

I set the big 2bbl EFI unit on the Weber manifold and I think I could make an adaptor plate that would work, but the throttle bores  are 1 3/4" each, - that's like having 2 HIF44's on a 1275 motor - way too much. I think it would be too much even with a supercharger and I wonder if that's why Cole couldn't get it to work right?

At any rate, I'm not going to try and use the big unit....but I think I might go ahead and buy the small 2bbl unit and try it out on my green 1275. Actually, once I get it set up , I can easily switch between the single and 2bbl units to compare performance. I don't have a way to compare actual performance numbers other than my finely tuned butt dyno...   ::) ;D
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MPlayle

I am a bit surprised the Pierce manifold does not fit properly.  I had a Mini I removed such a manifold and early version of the Weber 32/36 DGV from and it fit.  The Weber had not been rejetted and was WAY too rich for the 1275 Mini I had at that time, so I reverted to a HIF44 carb without changes in the exhaust header.  I will admit to not knowing what exhaust header came on that car.

I wonder if the base of the Pierce manifold is thick enough to permit grinding a relief into it to allow for clearance?


MiniDave

I looked at that, I don't think so - the metal is not thick in that area as it's not structural. It would need about a half inch cut off of it. I was surprised too, to say the least!  8.gif

I'm also going to look at using the original combination intake/exhaust manifold to see if I can adapt the single bbl unit to work side draft.

I'm also going to contact Pierce to see what they say, and to see about returning it.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

tmsmini

#31
Or.. I have either an LCB or an MPi/SPi exhaust manifold. I will split shipping with you, but it will be at least $75.
Unless I can get the SPi/MPi exhaust in a large flat rate box.

Don't know for sure either will work, but they should.
Terry

I forgot you would still need a down pipe for the SPi/MPi manifold.

MiniDave

Post a pic of the exhaust manifold, OK? I'd like to see what it looks like....
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

tmsmini

This is the one I got from Dean. It did not work on his setup

MiniDave

#34
I see what you mean about the down pipe - what is the round hole for?

I think I'll just concentrate on using either the Nikki for a downdraft setup or do a sidedraft if I can.....sidedraft manifolds from MIniSpares are inexpensive and work with any header.

I wish the damn unit would get here so I could start figuring this stuff out!
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

tmsmini

#35
Or an LCB with Y

tmsmini

The hole on the cast manifold is for the lambda sensor
The LCB has two, one for the inners and one for the outers. I could never get it to work well with the Innovate meter in two channel configuration.

MiniDave

I've got the twin pipe LCB and a single pipe as well, the single is for small block engines.....neither works with the Weber manifold.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

tmsmini

#38
There are some idiosyncrasies with some of the Mini components as I could swear someone I knew had that manifold with the long center branch.

I thought maybe the 3 into 1 had the center branch come out at a different angle.

MiniDave

Yeah, I don't understand it either, but the Weber is going back to Pierce.

The Nikki is by far the best all around fit and function, so that's what I will use for the 2bbl setup, I may try and use the original side draft manifold setup for the single bbl on the small motors. I still haven't gotten the 1bbl EFI unit, but I did receive the 2bbl unit and I've been working on figuring out how to fit it to the Mini engines. I will do initial setup on the 1098 in the engine stand, but I plan to use my 1275 in my Green Mini as my test mule once I get it all figured out.

I drilled and tapped a plate to put the temp sensor in the back of the head where the heater tap would normally be - just for test purposes on the test bed engine. I think if I install this on the green Mini I'll bore and tap a hole right into the end of the cylinder head - if I wind up not using it on that car permanently I can always just plug it as it's a simple 3/8 pipe thread.

The 2bbl unit is almost a direct bolt onto the Nikki manifold, I will have to open up the throat of the manifold to match the throttle bores - I'm undecided whether to use a phenolic spacer under the EFI unit - but I have some material coming in case. And I will need to slightly modify the stud holes to match the Nikki stud pattern, but it won't take much.

I also ordered a 6" pancake air filter to fit the 2bbl EFI unit, no idea yet what the smaller 1bbl will need. Delivery on that  has been pushed back to the middle of the month - I'll believe it when I see it - or when they charge my credit card I guess!

I had hoped to set up the 2bbl unit with the accelerator linkage on the left, but it does not fit there, so I'll need a longer acc cable when I mount it on the green Mini. I'll also have to pull the fuel tank to install the return line bulkhead bung. You can see in the pic the fuel pressure regulator sticks out too far and will hit the valve cover.

I ordered a bunch of O2 sensor bungs to weld into the pipes - I'll need one for the header in the test stand and for the green car - then If I build one of these for a customer I'll need it for them too - so it'll be good to have some spares on hand - I found them 5 for $20 including the plug....shipped.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

94touring

Almost a perfect fit on that nikki manifold.  I wonder if a machinist would be able to affordably move the studs to align with the gasket.

MiniDave

I think you'd have to weld them up and re-drill and tap......seems easier to simply open up the stud holes a little bit.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MPlayle

Seeing the two manifolds in the same picture makes me think the older Weber manifolds I was familiar with were shaped more like the Nikki manifold - straight tubes and higher center chamber.

The new Pierce has the drops in the tubes and such a large center chamber.  Since it is listed on the Pierce site as for Midget and Mini, I would about the differences in the headers for Midgets that may be the reason for the drops making the center chamber hit the center branch of Mini headers.


MiniDave

#43
Wish I knew someone with a wet blast cabinet with glass beads, that would clean up the Nikki and make it look new. Maybe I'll try my walnut shell setup and see how it does.....

Michael, you may be right - I seem to remember the Sprite header center pipe going off at an angle to the rear instead of straight down as a Mini does, maybe that's why it will clear the center pipe on them?
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

cstudep

I have actually contemplated building a wet blast cabinet and even have a plan together to do it, but that's as far as I have gotten so far.

Walnut shells will probably not make it "look new" as they are not aggressive enough. Glass beads (not the crushed glass) dry do work well to get a nice even finish on aluminum but it will be a matt finish which is what I prefer on the motorcycle parts that I have used it on. I have heard that you can polish it up if your so inclined to get a more polished look but have never tried it so not real sure on that.

The usual place I get my glass bead media has been out for months now, no idea why.

MiniDave

I've used glass bead dry and it leaves a fine finish, much nicer than sand for instance, but there's a guy on one of the forums (Garage Journal) that's built his own wet blaster, and with glass beads it not only leaves a clean finish, it's also a lot brighter than with dry blasting - parts really come out looking fresh and new. The media seems to last a lot longer too.

Of course, after a years use they look like this again!  ::) ;D
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MiniDave

Well, looks like the rest of my project is finally getting into gear, as I've had an email that the single bbl unit has shipped at last. Tune in next week for some pictures!

Also got the weldable bungs for the O2 sensors, and an air filter assembly is also due today - I don't know if it will fit the single bbl unit yet, but I think it does.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

MiniDave

Things are moving ahead.....I sent the Nikki manifold off to the machine shop - we've decided moving the studs is a better solution than modifying the EFI unit, so he'll do that and match the bore to the throttle size, He's also machining me a couple of phenolic spacers so I can get clearance for the throttle linkage and add some insulation between the heat of the manifold and the EFI unit - I don't know if that's really necessary but I do need the clearance for the linkage.

I got the O2 sensor bungs to weld in, I decided to weld one into the front pipe on the muffler - I use this muffler with all the different headers so that way I don't have any clearance problems and I only need to weld in one bung for now.

Seems like I spend a lot of time waiting for this project to get going but it's slowly coming together.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

cstudep

Sounds like it's starting to move along pretty well now though.

MiniDave

#49
Yep, the single EFI unit arrived today so now I'm looking at how to mount it to the various manifolds - I'll have to do some modifying of the intermediate plates and I'll have to make a few gaskets too.....I'll need a couple of allen capscrews to attach them for clearance issues. Lots to do but I should have everything I need now to make it run. I also need to find an air filter that will fit that small neck.

Looks like I'll need to make some more modifications to the SPi manifold to make it work, and make an additional 1/4" spacer plate for throttle linkage clearance.

I'll also have the modified Nikki manifold ready to accept the 2bbl unit in a few days as he's working on it today, he'll be back down in KC tomorrow so I'm hopeful he'll be bringing it with him. He's picking up a Caterham he bought from another friend of mine here in town. He's been wanting to buy a Lotus 7 for quite a while now, so I'm glad he finally got one.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers