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76 K5: Megasquirt EFI, Electric Fan, and ICON Coilovers

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All toes survived the day. I actually put shoes on right after he took those pictures. I originally walked out there to clean the shop up a bit before they got here, was out there too long, and it turned into "hey, let's get the plasma out and start cutting stuff off!". Oh well...

Got the axle out today, torched off all the brackets, ground everything down nice and clean, and got everything prepped for the new brackets to go on once I have the plasma guy cut them for me. Hopefully I can get them by next weekend and start welding everything back up and get it back on it's own feet again... Then to start tuning the fuel injection a bit more.

Hoping to have it up and running for a test run in Johnson valley the first weekend of October.

Huge thank you to @sreidmx and @bergerking for the help today, you guys are awesome!
 
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I've been wondering to myself if a Windstar fan from the junkyard will be more reliable or even stronger, than an aftermarket unit from RA. I'm on the fence since the OG fan is probably made by Delco or (oh I'm blanking on the electric motor company)

Which one did you get and did it come with those plugs? Also, do you know what years are best?
 
K85 Octane said:
I've been wondering to myself if a Windstar fan from the junkyard will be more reliable or even stronger, than an aftermarket unit from RA. I'm on the fence since the OG fan is probably made by Delco or (oh I'm blanking on the electric motor company)

Which one did you get and did it come with those plugs? Also, do you know what years are best?
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An OEM JY fan may be more reliable. Honestly I didn't have time to go junkyard diving, and my bum knee wasn't up to the task of hiking the yards looking for one.

I got the Dorman, probably not the best quality, but it was in stock the day I ordered it, and I'm too impatient to wait... It didn't come with the plugs, but I ordered then from RA also. If anyone wants the part numbers let me know, I'd be happy to post them up.

I ordered a 91 fan, and it fits my 76 almost perfect. Had to make a little notch to clear my lower radiator hose. If you're using the auto trans cooler in the radiator then you'll want to notch to clear the upper instead. I'm hoping to get it mounted in this weekend, but we'll see. Going out to the poker run tomorrow, and should probably spend some time with my family Sunday after my crazy work week...
 
I'm interested in the part numbers. Do you have the shorter (height) radiator? I put an aftermarket alumin radiator in mine and it's shorter than the original camper special radiator. I guess the easier question to ask would be... what are the dimensions?
 
Sorry everyone, I seem to keep disappearing for a month at a time... Between working, trucks, and kids, been keeping busy...

Anyways, in case you haven't guessed from the video from @sreidmx, the blazer is now running on Megasquirt fuel injection and computer controlled ignition. There were a couple roadblocks along the way, such as corrupted firmware, distributor module dying, etc, but it's finally running. Now to start working in getting base maps tuned in. One thing we realized pretty quickly, is this engine likes to run pretty rich, and not a lot of advance. Seems happiest at around 12:1 between idle and around 2500 rpm when static in the driveway. Tried pressing it back to 13.5, just wasn't happy there at all. Lot of exhaust popping and cutting out.

Another thing I'll say, I wouldn't recommend megasquirt to anyone that isn't pretty familiar with electronics... Steve and myself spent a little over an hour Saturday night going through board schematics, checking the VR and Optoisolator circuits for the ignition input, trying to troubleshoot an issue where the engine wouldn't rev above 2080 rpm. The second it would go above that the engine would totally cut out and flutter a bit until it recovered into a normal idle. Ended up being a firmware issue, but if someone weren't familiar with the electronics circuits and knowing how they work, they probably would have never come to the conclusion that it was a software issue...

The front end is pretty much complete, just need to mount my bumpstops.

I'll post pictures soon of my electric fan setup, so far it's working awesome, keeps my temps below 200° sitting in the driveway idling for a half hour or more, with just one of the fans running. I plan on writing the other side to a switch just for a backup, in case I ever get warm running in sand or something, or in the event of the primary fan failing.

I'll also get the part numbers for the stuff I got from RockAuto for the conversion. Hopefully pics to follow soon. Need to get it out to a lakebed to do some baseline tuning now, can't wait to really run this thing...
 
I considered megasquirt, but honestly I was afraid of it because I really don't have the knowledge or patience to figure it out. Some things come easy but others are hopeless. I always thought it was cool though. I wheeled with a guy that ran it on his ramcharger and was pretty impressed.
 
F.S.F.W said:
I considered megasquirt, but honestly I was afraid of it because I really don't have the knowledge or patience to figure it out. Some things come easy but others are hopeless. I always thought it was cool though. I wheeled with a guy that ran it on his ramcharger and was pretty impressed.
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It's definitely a very powerful system, it's really amazing the speed at which it processes all these factors... Then controls all kinds of stuff, fuel pump, injectors, electric fan... But it definitely is not easy to work with. Not only do you have to know the electronics and software side of it, you also have to know the mechanical side of how to tune it, how to set up the current limiting on your injectors, what to set your dwell and spark duration for, and on and on. But if you have someone local that's willing to help you out with it, go for it! Otherwise go with a fast EFI or Holley commander, much more user friendly.
 
secutright said:
It's definitely a very powerful system, it's really amazing the speed at which it processes all these factors... Then controls all kinds of stuff, fuel pump, injectors, electric fan... But it definitely is not easy to work with. Not only do you have to know the electronics and software side of it, you also have to know the mechanical side of how to tune it, how to set up the current limiting on your injectors, what to set your dwell and spark duration for, and on and on. But if you have someone local that's willing to help you out with it, go for it! Otherwise go with a fast EFI or Holley commander, much more user friendly.
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Yeah definitely not for me! I went with the fitech system and just from the little bit I have read through the user manual it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. We will see I guess!
 
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