Fuel injected Thing project

[Jzsquared]

I decided to switch gears on my 1835 build and fuel inject the car this year, instead of next winter. I have been collecting parts for a short time now so I figured what the hey lets get it done. I have been covering my powder coaters mortgage the past month or so and am very happy with the results.
I'm going to use MS2 to run the car since it's the most widely used system for FI conversions. There are a ton of forum information that is still way over my head right now but hopefully will become second nature with time.

These are not the actual manifolds for this build but I had them coated for a future build. I'm guessing that once I go FI I will never return to carbs but you never know.

CB injection manifolds ported a bit

Stock shroud cleaned up and coated, I realized after it was coated I had to drill a different hole for the throttle cable but I took my time and it turned out fine.

tins coated

plenum in place with coated tins

The distributor is only in place until I receive the mini cam sync from Mario at The Dub Shop.

and another

shroud on

needed to make my own adapters to connect manifolds & plenum. I used a steel tube off a aftermarket manifold under a piece of http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJC314I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Pegasus tubing to make it pretty

I'm paranoid about fuel leaks so I looked into all set ups and decided on AN6 and stainless steel new return and feed lines. I did my homework about all the additives in cars now and the use of ethanol (jackass's stop burning food for fuel when there are people starving !) all the line meets 30r9 spec so it should outlast me. The stainless made it easy to shove through the tunnel I ran one line on each side to make it neat as possible.

figuring out where to mount regulator and lines

AN6 fittings

a before shot of the plenum before Powder Coating Pros did there magic

I will be megasquirting the engine with the help of The Dub Shop. This is my first crack at FI so it will be a learning curve & something I have always wanted to do. I will post more as I move forward lots to do like connecting fuel pump & electronics.

[mondshine]

Your setup looks good.
My Thing has had a similar setup since before the turn of the century, except I use CIS injection. Megsaquirt had not been invented back then.
I will be curious to know whether you find the rotary throttle return spring adequate. The stock FI Beetles used a second spring which was connected to a long bracket that was part of the EGR system.
I fabricated a similar bracket which is bolted to the bell crank assembly.
This old (and lousy) photo sort of shows what I did:

Keep posting as you make progress. At least 1 person is very interested in how this works out.

Good luck, Mondshine

[Jzsquared]

Thanks for the heads up, hopefully it will the stock spring seams strong but you never know

[citroen]

it all looks good keep it going

[Jzsquared]

I received the rest of my AN fitting in the mail from Redhorse today so I started to connect the fuel pump. I really wanted to use the Aeromotive stealth in the tank pump but after looking closely at the fuel tank the pump would not go all the way to the bottom. Being such a small tank as is I didn't want to loose 1 precious gallon. I hope this in line pump is not to loud. Next winters project will consist of a new tank that I will custom build a intank fuel pump.

10x1mm to AN 6 fittings on the fuel pump

I used 5/16 hardline to AN6 adapters on the new line I ran. I could have used the stock line as a return but the line came in a 25' role so what the hey.

underneath pic with the return line connected.

I'm still waiting for my Russell inline fuel filter to arrive so I can finish the supply side. Its hard to tell in the pics but I used a piece of fuel line as a grommet for the new lines so it wouldn't be rubbing on the tunnel.

[NY thing]

Where is that gen stand/plenum from?

It looks like a nice little project you got going.

[Jzsquared]

75-79 fuel injected beetle usually called the German plenum. They come up forsale once and while on this site but I found mine on eBay. After some time in the media blaster they can come out pretty nice.

[Jzsquared]

I finished up most of my fuel lines yesterday with a few changes from the original design. I was going to use the CB fuel tee which most likely would have worked fine but I just didn't like the fuel not having time to cool a bit before recirculating. I decided to have a AN6 bung welded on the top of the tank for the return instead. Bung $5 , welding $10 since i don't a welder my happiness priceless

Here is the tee that goes on the bottom of the tank, again probably fine I just like to be different

line entering trunk area

New fitting on bottom of tank that a 90 degree AN6 will connect to fuel filter on the way to the pump

connected and out of the way for the most part

I wanted to run SS lines through the front cover so I made little lines for this. because of the regulator design I had to run 5/16 line AN6 was to big so I figured I will run the soft line off the back on both sides. The front cover is hacked up since I could not seam to figure out where the throttle cable tube was going to end up. This is an on going project so I will at some point get a new one but for now it works and you don't see it anyways.

super special fuel regulator mount $1.50 Home Depot special rived on

Regulators Mount Up !! (come on what movie reference)

line to and fro regulator to rail

cheap rivet gun that broke with 1 rivet to go, always happens to me like that

pressure gauge mounted

I ran the line from the one side to the other on top of the shroud. thought it looked clean and return goes back out on passenger side

[mcmscott]

Good call on not using the "t" on the bottom of the tank, I have had multiple problems with cavitation with it.
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There are no stupid questions, only stupid people,

68 Ghia
67 T-1
65 Notch
02 Mexican beetle
74 Thing
15 Long travel rail
07 Nomad
05 f-250

[GI Joe]

[clonebug]

Looking good!!!!

I ran a German Plenum for a year on my FI.

I also cleaned up the inside of my intakes to get rid of the step.

If you ever decide to upgrade to turbo you might want to find a better connector for the intake since those stock ones tear at about 13 lbs boost.
They were a PITA to change in my buggy since I have to pull the motor to lift the shroud to remove the intakes.


Are you local to the PNW???

If so you should go to the Burger Meet in Seattle in July so we can take a peak at your FI system.
I'll be there and Mario is most always there too.
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[Jzsquared]

[phulc]

Great project, nice work!
Looking forward to doing the same, still collecting parts ...
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If I can sent you anything you look for that can be bought in Germany more easily I´d be glad to help ...

http://www.181-berlin.de

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[Jzsquared]

Did a few things today my Russell fuel filter came in so I finished up the lines leaving room to easy lift out tank later if needed. I also hooked up the pump wiring

[Jzsquared]

I had a few things arrive in the mail today woohoo. I used double sided tape to mount the relay board to make sure I like it here. One thing I know for sure is I want all the electronics in the engine compartment since its a convertible. I don't want to worry if get caught in a heavy rain that I need to worry about a short somewhere. The airfilter mounts were a great spot to mount the coils. I'm running the LS2 coils instead of wasted spark look out corvette owners
I had to mark the 2 yellow wires to make sure I routed the O2 and tach wires correctly I need to buy more colors.

[clonebug]

I used Mario's twisted pair wires for the TPS, IAT, CLT, trigger wheel and the four injectors. They come with the correct connectors on the ends and a nice covering that protects them.
You can't really beat the price and it is so much easier to hook up since all you have to do is follow his color coded wiring diagram.

It looks like this when you are done if you do a little house keeping to make it look nice..

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[Jzsquared]

I did order the rest of the wiring from there as well so the other wires will look as tidy. Once you really get into this kind of project it's really not hard at all just a few more wires to run.

[Bobalos]

VERY cool project. Your doing very nice work.

Bob

[Jzsquared]

Time to stop looking at the engine on the stand and put her back in the car.

The manifolds are a little wider than stock but not enough to cause issues installing.
I did have to remove the fuel regular since it kept getting caught on the engine seal

I bolted a piece of metal to my old HF motorcycle jack and slid
the engine from the lift table to the jack

After fighting with the engine for 20 minutes because it wouldn't go all the way

in my old age kicked in and said relax take it back out and figure it out.

Rookie mistake the Kennedy clutch has a center piece only used on the older transmissions.
So off it came and wow it fits

fuel line installed

Air temp sensor

Engine temp sensor

I think I picked a good spot for the relay board,
still need a little tiding up but it is tucked away but accessible

Been a long day time to sit back relax and have a cold one

[PumaVW79]

Nice project, great creativity. I'm sure it will be a joy to drive.