Hey guys,
I starting posting this toward the end of the "Enderle Injection in a Cruiser" post once I bought my dad and brother out on the boat and decided to try converting it to EFI. I wanted to start a separate post specific to some of the unique aspects of making a Bird hat work on EFI and to solicit some feedback and suggestions (I know, be careful what you wish for hammers). I'll paste the relevant parts of the last thread and will try to add pics soon. Thanks again for all the input so far!
Sean
"The motor has a brand new 540 with a dart block, scat crank, scat rods, JE pistons and large solid roller cam. We have a set of dart aluminum heads, and a set of brodix aluminum heads, and I think we would use which ever head would yield the lowest static compression. We have roller rockers with a stud girdle or jessel shaft mount rockers. Currently the motor is intercooled with a magnesium 1271, and our goal is to retain the intercooler and possibly trade the blower for a polished aluminum one. For ignition we have a MSD pro-mag or a vertex mag. (EDIT: I will be going with sequential ignition using LS truck coils. I will add a 36-1 toothed wheel on the crank and using a mid-90's Vortec distributor for the cam sensor and to run the oil pump)"
"I bought my brother and dad out on these motors and plan on putting it in a 21' v-drive Rayson Craft I just purchased. The "idea" is to convert to EFI while retaining the Enderle Hat. I've seen examples of modified butterflies etc. to help increase the driveability so I will be trying some of these options. I'll be using an MS3 to control everything and plan on setting it up to run on 91. There are a couple of guys on here that have shared some great information and suggestions that has helped with the research phase of this project (as well as guys on other sites). There are a couple EFI projects I am working on (including an all aluminum twin turbo 4.6 4v Cobra motor going in a 65 fastback mustang) and half of the fun for me it trying different approaches and learning along the way. There are definitely easier ways to go in converting this to EFI (4-barrel throttle bodies, Hilborn Stack injection etc), but trying to get the hat to a point where it is effective during partial throttle is part of what interests me in this project. I'm probably 2-3 months away from getting this project started, but I'll try to set up a post with pics and progress when I do to get feedback and suggestions. Thanks to all of you that have responded so far, it's what makes forums like these so great."
"Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on this project. Needed to put it back burner for a while because I'm finishing up a 63 1/2 Galaxie 500 with a 99 Mustang Cobra 4v and trans, but summer will be here before we know it and I'd like to have this running before it's over (pipe dream, I know...)
I was originally going to try and set this up with seq. port injection and include an additional 4 injectors set up on batch fire above the blower to keep the rotors lubed but none of the "off the shelf" intakes left enough room between the intercooler and valve covers to fit the injectors (if anyone knows of one, please let me know!). The only option I could see was to spend $1.5k+ on a custom sheet metal blower intake or build one my own. Since I already have quite a bit of money to spend on other parts and don't feel comfortable building the intake myself (yet... ), for now I'm going to build an injector plate and have all the injectors running above the blower on batch fire while I have the boat in mock-up. I plan on getting the boat running for this summer while I finalize how I want to build the interior and decide on the gelcoat colors etc. Next winter I plan on pulling it all apart, sending the hull out for gelcoat etc, rebuild the trailer, send all the alum out to powder coat, build the interior and look back into the seq. port injection etc for the motor.
As for the Enderle hat, from what I've found in my research and the feedback I've received, the main issue with the bird hat (or any Enderle hat) is the non-linear air flow delivery that occurs once the butterflies open past the narrow venturi (I know it isn't a "venturi" per se, just not sure what else to call it). My idea is to remove the butterflies/shaft, make a mold using 4.375 polished tubing and back-fill with an epoxy resin to extend the "venturi" an additional 2-3" behind the butterflies. This should help regulate the air through the bottom half of the butterflies (since the bottom rotates into the hat). I will then build a plug that will attach to the back side of the top half of the butterflies that will regulate the air coming through the top half (imagine a sphere cut into 4 pieces and using one of those as the plug that would allow the opening to progressively get bigger as the butterfly opens) since there isn't enough room out front to extend the "venturi" .
I know this is a hell of a lot of work considering I can just buy 2 4-barrel throttle bodies, throw them on top of the blower and call it a day but as I said in my original post, half of the fun in projects like this for me is trying something new and seeing if I can make it work. I'll try to post pics as I progress. There are quite a few of you on here that have already offered a ton of great information, any additional feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again and wish me luck, I'll need it!!!!!"
"Throttle bore..... Thanks Budweiser! I hadn't had my cup of coffee yet when i wrote this and was having a bit of a brain fart
Thanks for the complements but I can't take credit for the "1/4 sphere" butterfly plug idea, it's a variation of an idea I got from one of the guys on the boards here (Maximus I think?).
I poured the epoxy last week and was able to extend the throttle bores back into the hat, looks like it actually came out pretty good. I didn't realize until just before I poured the epoxy that the front-most mounting holes inside the hat are just behind the butterflies. Once poured, I could have drilled the epoxy out using a bit the same dia. as the mounting hole, but I would have had to clearance for the head of the mounting bolt by hand since i wouldn't be able to get a drill or any other tool inside the hat. This sounded like a nightmare so I decided instead to lean the hat back (towards the top of the hat) so that the epoxy built up and dried at an angle. This left me with a throttle bore that was extended around 2.5" on top and about .5" on the bottom. Since the bottom half of the butterfly comes out of the hat and only the top goes in as the throttle is opened (I think I got this backwards in my last post), I really only needed the top half of the throttle bore to be extended to get the desired effect (I hope....).
I'll start building the 1/4 sphere butterfly plugs next, just trying to figure out the best way to make them. I have a cheap mill with a rotary table so my thought was to take a 4.5" x 4.5" x 2.5" piece of aluminum and machine it into a 4.375" circle first, then starting at the bottom I'll bring the end mill up and in (I'll do the math to get rough estimates of just how much) in incremental steps to get the rough profile and finish by hand. I'll have to do this twice and then cut them in half to end up with a 1/4 sphere. I'll end up with an extra plug but there's a damn good chance I screw AT LEAST one of these up so it will be good to have a spare. Can anyone think of a better way to do this (short of buying a CNC Mill or Lathe )?
Just ordered the injectors and I'll start building the injector plate once they get in. I already have the material and design drawn out, just want to confirm the dimensions of the injectors before the cutting starts."
I starting posting this toward the end of the "Enderle Injection in a Cruiser" post once I bought my dad and brother out on the boat and decided to try converting it to EFI. I wanted to start a separate post specific to some of the unique aspects of making a Bird hat work on EFI and to solicit some feedback and suggestions (I know, be careful what you wish for hammers). I'll paste the relevant parts of the last thread and will try to add pics soon. Thanks again for all the input so far!
Sean
"The motor has a brand new 540 with a dart block, scat crank, scat rods, JE pistons and large solid roller cam. We have a set of dart aluminum heads, and a set of brodix aluminum heads, and I think we would use which ever head would yield the lowest static compression. We have roller rockers with a stud girdle or jessel shaft mount rockers. Currently the motor is intercooled with a magnesium 1271, and our goal is to retain the intercooler and possibly trade the blower for a polished aluminum one. For ignition we have a MSD pro-mag or a vertex mag. (EDIT: I will be going with sequential ignition using LS truck coils. I will add a 36-1 toothed wheel on the crank and using a mid-90's Vortec distributor for the cam sensor and to run the oil pump)"
"I bought my brother and dad out on these motors and plan on putting it in a 21' v-drive Rayson Craft I just purchased. The "idea" is to convert to EFI while retaining the Enderle Hat. I've seen examples of modified butterflies etc. to help increase the driveability so I will be trying some of these options. I'll be using an MS3 to control everything and plan on setting it up to run on 91. There are a couple of guys on here that have shared some great information and suggestions that has helped with the research phase of this project (as well as guys on other sites). There are a couple EFI projects I am working on (including an all aluminum twin turbo 4.6 4v Cobra motor going in a 65 fastback mustang) and half of the fun for me it trying different approaches and learning along the way. There are definitely easier ways to go in converting this to EFI (4-barrel throttle bodies, Hilborn Stack injection etc), but trying to get the hat to a point where it is effective during partial throttle is part of what interests me in this project. I'm probably 2-3 months away from getting this project started, but I'll try to set up a post with pics and progress when I do to get feedback and suggestions. Thanks to all of you that have responded so far, it's what makes forums like these so great."
"Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on this project. Needed to put it back burner for a while because I'm finishing up a 63 1/2 Galaxie 500 with a 99 Mustang Cobra 4v and trans, but summer will be here before we know it and I'd like to have this running before it's over (pipe dream, I know...)
I was originally going to try and set this up with seq. port injection and include an additional 4 injectors set up on batch fire above the blower to keep the rotors lubed but none of the "off the shelf" intakes left enough room between the intercooler and valve covers to fit the injectors (if anyone knows of one, please let me know!). The only option I could see was to spend $1.5k+ on a custom sheet metal blower intake or build one my own. Since I already have quite a bit of money to spend on other parts and don't feel comfortable building the intake myself (yet... ), for now I'm going to build an injector plate and have all the injectors running above the blower on batch fire while I have the boat in mock-up. I plan on getting the boat running for this summer while I finalize how I want to build the interior and decide on the gelcoat colors etc. Next winter I plan on pulling it all apart, sending the hull out for gelcoat etc, rebuild the trailer, send all the alum out to powder coat, build the interior and look back into the seq. port injection etc for the motor.
As for the Enderle hat, from what I've found in my research and the feedback I've received, the main issue with the bird hat (or any Enderle hat) is the non-linear air flow delivery that occurs once the butterflies open past the narrow venturi (I know it isn't a "venturi" per se, just not sure what else to call it). My idea is to remove the butterflies/shaft, make a mold using 4.375 polished tubing and back-fill with an epoxy resin to extend the "venturi" an additional 2-3" behind the butterflies. This should help regulate the air through the bottom half of the butterflies (since the bottom rotates into the hat). I will then build a plug that will attach to the back side of the top half of the butterflies that will regulate the air coming through the top half (imagine a sphere cut into 4 pieces and using one of those as the plug that would allow the opening to progressively get bigger as the butterfly opens) since there isn't enough room out front to extend the "venturi" .
I know this is a hell of a lot of work considering I can just buy 2 4-barrel throttle bodies, throw them on top of the blower and call it a day but as I said in my original post, half of the fun in projects like this for me is trying something new and seeing if I can make it work. I'll try to post pics as I progress. There are quite a few of you on here that have already offered a ton of great information, any additional feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again and wish me luck, I'll need it!!!!!"
"Throttle bore..... Thanks Budweiser! I hadn't had my cup of coffee yet when i wrote this and was having a bit of a brain fart
Thanks for the complements but I can't take credit for the "1/4 sphere" butterfly plug idea, it's a variation of an idea I got from one of the guys on the boards here (Maximus I think?).
I poured the epoxy last week and was able to extend the throttle bores back into the hat, looks like it actually came out pretty good. I didn't realize until just before I poured the epoxy that the front-most mounting holes inside the hat are just behind the butterflies. Once poured, I could have drilled the epoxy out using a bit the same dia. as the mounting hole, but I would have had to clearance for the head of the mounting bolt by hand since i wouldn't be able to get a drill or any other tool inside the hat. This sounded like a nightmare so I decided instead to lean the hat back (towards the top of the hat) so that the epoxy built up and dried at an angle. This left me with a throttle bore that was extended around 2.5" on top and about .5" on the bottom. Since the bottom half of the butterfly comes out of the hat and only the top goes in as the throttle is opened (I think I got this backwards in my last post), I really only needed the top half of the throttle bore to be extended to get the desired effect (I hope....).
I'll start building the 1/4 sphere butterfly plugs next, just trying to figure out the best way to make them. I have a cheap mill with a rotary table so my thought was to take a 4.5" x 4.5" x 2.5" piece of aluminum and machine it into a 4.375" circle first, then starting at the bottom I'll bring the end mill up and in (I'll do the math to get rough estimates of just how much) in incremental steps to get the rough profile and finish by hand. I'll have to do this twice and then cut them in half to end up with a 1/4 sphere. I'll end up with an extra plug but there's a damn good chance I screw AT LEAST one of these up so it will be good to have a spare. Can anyone think of a better way to do this (short of buying a CNC Mill or Lathe )?
Just ordered the injectors and I'll start building the injector plate once they get in. I already have the material and design drawn out, just want to confirm the dimensions of the injectors before the cutting starts."