Fuel Injected 3350s?

[spacegrrrl]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

It was very true that the Blind Mans Bluff team were all car guys that had this "we'll show them how its done" attitude. It produced some really bad ideas as a result. It definitely proved that unlimited racers are just like "race cars that fly"!

Michele

[Box A35]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

Man-O-man!, I work with a guy who was on the BMB crew at the times mentioned above - he would have been about 19 at the time.

I can also see how Mr. Slack's stories are accurately stated, (as if there is any doubt......)

On the upside though, this crew member says he has hundreds of pictures from those days, I will put some pressure on him to share with me so I can hopefully post them sometime soon.

[BellCobraIV]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

ummm....

OT,?!? What could be more on topic? this whole thread is about air cooled Fuel injected engines.

Haruummmppphhh (sarcasm)

Well, now what, atleast we weren't talking about small block Chevrolets, that discussion belongs on the Mouse thread!

Now, I'll give you off topic,

Lyle used to love his Big Block El Caminos, he finally just sold the last one a couple of years ago. well he used to get one of the guys to drive an El Camino to the races or sometimes he'd take his dog and they would be off together. Well at the Pheonix race in 1994 when the plane first arrived the guys got the pit parking passes, and all passed them out not saving one for the El Camino that was on it's way.

Lyle got out there the next morning and had no pass the gate guy wouldn't let him through and hewalked the couple hundred feet over to the pit with the El camino still running and told me to figure out how to get it in. Well I went over and explained to the gate guard that Lyle was somebody not just some crazed maniac in an El camino, But nothing doing no budging, this inspite of the fact that they had let Preston in with a kit Cobra without a pass. All of the pit parking stickers were attached to the team cars that were there so, no do-over. Oh yeah and we were still checking the exhaust out for cracks on the Bearcat. The promoters guy came over and asked if it was such a big deal about the El camino not getting it's sticker and I said if it doesn't get a sticker Lyle would probably take it home, the guy gave me a no big deal look, Then I told him if Lyle's white El Camino went home, His White Bearcat would go with it. The extra sticker showed up a little later. Alan never did have to have one for the Cobra.

Which is not near as funny as the Bakersfield air race in 1985, I ran into Lefty Gardner at Breakfast, Lefty was lamenting needing another pit parking pass. I said, "No problem wait here." I went out and got mine out of the car and gave it to him. Lefty asked me if this was a spare? I told him no but I'd had some great rides with him in the P-38 so anything I could do for him....., Well Lefty wouldn't take my pass until I had an idea, I got a napkin off the table and wrote a note that said, "attention gate personell, we are out of passes at race headquarters so please allow this vehicle pit and ramp access" Jimmy Leeward was sitting at a table nearby so I asked him to sign it.

With this plan in effect Lefty agreed to follow me to the gate if they let me in with my pass, then he would use the one I gave him. Well, the CAP guys stopped me and would not let me through the gate, finally a race official came up took a look at the napkin pass and told them "can't you see that it signed by an official?" "let him through, sorry sir" Oh, yeah that was Lyle's first Big Block El Camino come to think of it. We had two there that race as I had one of them.

Now that is off topic, LOL

[Red]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

Thats a riot. Thanks for sharing

[No1FBfan]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

Thanks for sharing the memories John. Stories like that keep me coming back to this site.

[sleddog]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

Now, I'll give you off topic,
..............

It's OT's like this that really make this site entertaining!... Keep it up!!!

[thunderstangfan]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

hmm, i saw bearcat and p-38 in there so in my humble opinion it was perfectly on topic, funny too

[440_Magnum]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

John,

I used to have a dark blue metallic (beautiful) '75 914.. LOVED it.. except the Fuel Injection sucked!

Back in the 80s when I just got out of college and was nursing my Mopars along on "fresh out of college" wages, a co-worker was doing the same with a couple of 914s. We shared a lot of war stories, but he beat me hands-down in total number of parts destroyed, but at least prices hadn't gone stupid back then. A lot of them were related to the "fuel ejection system" as he called it." Its amazing how big a hole you get in a 914 piston when one injector leans way out and you don't catch it in time

[h34race]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

The best thing I ever did to a 914 was put a 383ci chevy in it,it was on rails and ran real nice at willow springs in CA.the bigest problem was the SG balance it was like a hockey puck,the trans adapter was the hardests part. NO BODY mods needed looked bone stock.the only thing that was tricky was installing the pontiac fe airo cooling system was a pain but looked factory when done

[BellCobraIV]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

The best thing I ever did to a 914 was put a 383ci chevy in it,it was on rails and ran real nice at willow springs in CA.the bigest problem was the SG balance it was like a hockey puck,the trans adapter was the hardests part. NO BODY mods needed looked bone stock.the only thing that was tricky was installing the pontiac fe airo cooling system was a pain but looked factory when done

Yeah,
I have seen that done, maybe it was yours. I went home last night and asked the little kraut if it wanted to learn english.

[440_Magnum]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

The best thing I ever did to a 914 was put a 383ci chevy in it,it was on rails and ran real nice at willow springs in CA.the bigest problem was the SG balance it was like a hockey puck,the trans adapter was the hardests part. NO BODY mods needed looked bone stock.the only thing that was tricky was installing the pontiac fe airo cooling system was a pain but looked factory when done

'Course the other trick is putting a SBC (particularly a 90s EFI LT1, or better yet a Gen III like an LS-1) in a Fiero. Talk about a rocket on rails, from what I hear it doesnt even mess with the CG since its close to a mid-engine. There are lots of things the General should have done, and COULD have done right out of the AC/Delco parts bin :-/

[Skyracer]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

Its amazing how big a hole you get in a 914 piston when one injector leans way out and you don't catch it in time

STP Gas Treatment was the F.I. curesome. A bottle every 3-4 tanks of gas seemed to keep the injectors working. Biggest problem I had was vapor lock. The fuel pressure regulator return line took a circuitous route around the engine then tee'd into the fuel line just ahead of the fuel pump. The fuel would vaporize in this line and the fuel pump would quit pumping. Tried insulating the return line; it was better but not 100%. So I ran the return line all the way back (forward) to the gas tank and finally cured the problem. I had a '71 and married a '72. Had 85K on the '71 when it was t'boned by a truck; 105K on the '72 when we sold it.

[BellCobraIV]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

Yeah,
I have seen that done, maybe it was yours. I went home last night and asked the little kraut if it wanted to learn english.

Oh,yeah it responded it would like to but knows it has to wait on the little Ford primadona to finish her trick.

[Peashooter]

Re: Fuel Injected 3350s?

STP Gas Treatment was the F.I. curesome. A bottle every 3-4 tanks of gas seemed to keep the injectors working. Biggest problem I had was vapor lock. The fuel pressure regulator return line took a circuitous route around the engine then tee'd into the fuel line just ahead of the fuel pump. The fuel would vaporize in this line and the fuel pump would quit pumping. Tried insulating the return line; it was better but not 100%. So I ran the return line all the way back (forward) to the gas tank and finally cured the problem. I had a '71 and married a '72. Had 85K on the '71 when it was t'boned by a truck; 105K on the '72 when we sold it.

My very first car was a Kelly Green VW Squareback with that injected engine. It did the same thing lots of times, quite unpredictably -- hot or cold! Finally, a new mech solved it your way. I remember one night in Columbus, Ohio sitting in the parking lot after a Robin Trower concert about Fall of '75 and grinding away on the starter, waiting and grinding, waiting and grinding. Eventually it started! Thankfully, it took very little juice to crank that motor.