[RallySnake]

Part 2

The first problem popped up as soon as I connected the wires to the battery. The EFI system started up and the key was not on! After some research, I learned the the pink (switched power) wire could not share connections with other devices. So, I wired it to a relay so when the power was off, it was not connected to anything. Evidently, residual voltages from other devices will confuse the ECU. The relay solved the problem.

When I turned the key on and the system booted up, I was able to enter the basic information and restart. Then, the fuel pump started and I started chasing leaks. I had 2 fire extinguishers and a bucket of water standing by while I tightened up one connection after another. So, 63 psi is NO JOKE! Finally, when everything was dry and the gasoline soaked rags were outside, I hit the starter. The engine started fine! I went back to looking for leaks and found another in the return line.

I eased the car out of the garage and let it warm up. With it up to 160 degrees, I started around the block. It was not pretty! The system felt like it had a huge delay in my gas pedal movements. I took it to the gas station and filled it to 1/2 tank, then headed home. It was running better but the throttle did not feel right. It hit it hard for a few seconds and then the throttle felt really bad. When I got home, I found that my old home made bracket had twisted and the cable was severely misaligned. I took it off and used the throttle cable bracket that came with the Sniper EFI. This fit much better and with the cable aligned right, the car was transformed. So much better! I set the idle speed to 800 and this turned out to be a little low. It's up to 890 now. I tried changing the target A/F ratio from the default 14 to 1 to 14.7 to 1. The engine ran rougher and started getting hot, so I went back to 14. The oxygen sensor seems perfectly happy on one cylinder's input.

My son and I took the Cobra on a trip. We left LA and cruised up to Fresno. We ran an old 1996 rally called "The Gold Mines" through North Fork, by Bass Lake, to Oakhurst. We ran up many back country roads through the historic gold country near Yosemite National Park. The car was amazing and the gas mileage was greatly improved over my carefully tuned 750 Holley Ultra Double Pumper and the gasoline fumes were gone! I have to mention an amazingly beautiful piece of pavement called Hornitos Road. The hills and meadows filled with cows, horses and rock outcroppings is just gorgeous! We ran over 800 miles on the 3 day trip. The power was so effortless with the 406 ci engine and the new EFI. A little pressure on the loud pedal gets it to triple digits very quickly in 5th gear!

I am very pleased with the Holley system. After studying all the information about tuning and buying a cable to connect to a laptop, I didn't use any of it (except idle speed info). I did turn the "ramp down" to 1 second so the engine would drop down faster while shifting. Otherwise, it just tuned itself and made me a very happy camper.