Before I delve into the next phase of this build I have a question to answer about installing the Painless Performance Products harness. You’ll need a few tools and those include; a battery charger (a battery cranks out too many amps and could fry a circuit if wired incorrectly), a multi-meter or at the least a test light, wire crimping pliers, electrical tape, cold shrink tape # 25051, liquid tape # 25012Z, harness tape # 25000, and a good soldering gun #14266. I also have a new tool to introduce that I wish I woul d h ave had a few weeks ago when I st art ed wiring this car. It is the HSS five piece jobber length drill bit set # 50132. These bits are twelve inches long and that makes them perfect for drilling through thick bulkheads, rocker panels and anywhere else a longer than standard drill bit might be needed.

Early into this project I made the decision to toss the carburetor and go with a more up to date fuel management system. With gasoline surpassing $3.00 per gallon the decision just made good sense.

I opted for an Affordable Fuel Injection system. This is a TBI (Throttle Body Injection) unit and one of my thoughts when selecting this p art icular unit was that I wanted a great looking unit that could be installed without a hitch and that at a quick glance could pass for a carburetor sitting atop the engine. Once I install a chrome air breather on top of this unit it will be hard to tell this is not a carburetor.

The best thing about selecting a unit from Affordable is that the unit is set up specifically for the engine being used. What does that mean? I gave the engine specifications, camshaft specifications, and desired performance specifications to the guys at Affordable and they built and calibrated the unit to fit my car. I don’t need a laptop with graphs I can’t decipher or a travel agent to entice someone into coming to the shop just to make my car run. All I need to do is follow the easy to read instructions and all will be well.

Of course there are other considerations to work out when installing a fuel injection unit. Take a look at the next pic. These are some of the other components that come with the kit and they include an ECM (Electronic Control Module), distributor, wiring harness, fuel pump, fuel pump regulator, and various sensors.

Some of these remaining components, such as the distributor, wiring harness, and sensors, can be installed on the engine now. The ECM box will need to be mounted somewhere under the dash and a hole will need to be drilled through the firewall to route the wiring harness from the engine to the ECM. These are considerations that I will have to delay until I have more of the dash assembled. I can’t afford to drill any holes in the firewall that might interfere with the mounting of something else. Nor can I mount the ECM until I know where it will fit best. I’m thinking behind the old glove box location and just above the heater box will be the ideal location.

Installation always st art s with reading the instruction manual. Once you’ve read it, you’ll wonder why you ever tolerated a carburetor. The manual is thorough and every component is connector coded so you can’t mess things up. It only took me a couple of hours to make the installation and all I’ll have to do later is provide a 12 volt source to the ECM and to the fuel pump.

Project car provided by:

Larry Lyles, owner

LPL Body Works

Amarillo , TX 79109

www.lplbodyworks.com