Newbie with a 196

[Grrlscout]

Hi,
I am new to this whole fuel injected thing - trying to make sense of it all. We have a 78 Scout II 196/at/ps/pb no ac. It is in fantastic shape - we are planning on shoring up the minimal rust (for a scout) this summer and driving this as a daily driver/camping rig. We had the carb adjusted this summer to correct run-on, and replaced the gas tank due to a top leak. It seems though that we are getting worse gas mileage (~ 11mpg) than our old 384 scout (which was sold for parts last spring :-( ) which got around 15 on the highway. All in all, we think switching to fuel injection is probably smart and more environmenally friendly, so here I am. I have been looking over the board and the faqs - and maybe I'm just so unfamiliar with this to not know what's what, but where do I start? I tried to read the "TBI Tips for IH" but it was a dead link. Does that go through the general "parts needed" and "do this"? Or do I just go to the "mall" look at a 4cyl late 80's S-10, and assemble the parts similarly onto my scout? Or are there any recommended books/articles/etc. to help me get my feet wet so that the parts-specific links start making sense? Sorry to be such a dummy. Thanks for any help.

[Bill usn-1]

Re: Newbie with a 196

Originally posted by Grrlscout
Hi,
I am new to this whole fuel injected thing - trying to make sense of it all. We have a 78 Scout II 196/at/ps/pb no ac.
It seems though that we are getting worse gas mileage (~ 11mpg) than our old 384 scout which got around 15 on the highway. All in all, we think switching to fuel injection is probably smart and more environmenally friendly, so here I am. , but where do I start? Or do I just go to the "mall" look at a 4cyl late 80's S-10, and assemble the parts similarly onto my scout? Or are there any recommended books/articles/etc. to help me get my feet wet so that the parts-specific links start making sense? Sorry to be such a dummy. Thanks for any help.

Grrlscout,
Welcome.
You ask some good questions, the problem is I don't think anyone has completed the conversion on an IH 4cyl yet.
I have been gathering the parts to do one but I don't own a 4cyl and no one in my club has committed to let me play with theirs.

In theory what you propose will work. "Or do I just go to the "mall" look at a 4cyl late 80's S-10, and assemble the parts similarly onto my scout?"
If I was going to go that route I would look for a 2.5 litre or something close. The bigger the better. Maybe even a fiero. They had hot little 4 cyl in them.
The only problem I see is the chip tuning. Some of the computers out there are not that popular and there is not much support as far as programming software. But this is where AFI (sponsor)could probably help you.

The distributor conversion is just like the V8 provided you have a holley dist. A 78 should have one. The only difference will be the reluctor. Either get the 78 2.3 litre mustang II reluctor or just get the V8 reluctor and grind every other tab off.

My plan is to use the 7747 truck computer, but checking some of the EFI info sites, there are quite a few computers avail for the 4 cyl.
ECM's

I'm a little concerned though. You said you took your scout somewhere to have the carb adjusted...........
Are you planning to tackle this conversion or pay someone to do it?

HTH

[Grrlscout]

We were planning on doing this ourselves with the help of some friends. (right Jeff?) Automotively speaking, we are definitely not experts, but mechanically inclined enough to do most repairs - assuming we can find information about what needs to be done. One of our neighbors helped us with the carb, but it seemed to run worse after following his suggestions, so we sent the truck quietly to the mechanic to get it tuned right. Not to worry - we usually know which end of the screwdriver to hold on to,
but like most people, like to get some info on which screw to stick it into before we start. Jeff Eggemeyer lives close to us - we plan on consulting with him extensively before we get any further - he'll let us know before we get too far over our heads. Thanks for the reply. Are there any books or articles on general fuel injection systems that you recommend? That would help.

Happy Turkey Day.

[Bill usn-1]

There is a lot of information on the web. Start with the links on the main FI page.
The DIY-EFI site used to have everything but the server crashed and we lost a lot of good reference material. Still need to check it out.
The ludis site I referenced above and the AFI FAQ.
The ECM's we are using right now are the C3 series. Most of the good 4cyl ECM's are the P4 series. They run a faster chip in them and the wiring is completely different. So what ever system you decide on, you will need the corresponding pinouts and wiring diagrams for that ECM.
Some things to consider are items like VATS(vehicle anti theft), knock sensor...

You might want to start looking at the 7165, 7730/7727 ecms. I'm sure there are others. The big thing is supportability.

I'm sure Jeff can assist.

HTH

[Bill usn-1]

Bump for red dragon Also check the distr conversion post at the top of the forum.