Discussion
Morning all,
I was doing some mooching about the internet as one does of an evening, and wandered across the Holley Sniper EFI system. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I am toying with the idea of ditching my carb and replacing it with something more plug 'n' play.
https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/fuel_...
I've by no means a large budget but thought that this system might be able to get me past all the manual tweaking that a carb needs, with the added benefit it might pass an emissions test come MOT time.
Cheers chaps,
Kev
I was doing some mooching about the internet as one does of an evening, and wandered across the Holley Sniper EFI system. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I am toying with the idea of ditching my carb and replacing it with something more plug 'n' play.
https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/fuel_...
I've by no means a large budget but thought that this system might be able to get me past all the manual tweaking that a carb needs, with the added benefit it might pass an emissions test come MOT time.
Cheers chaps,
Kev
phazed said:
Why not source all the original parts and put it back to standard?
I am sure that you could obtain a kit of parts from what people have lying around in their garages!
This is what I'm thinking. I am sure that you could obtain a kit of parts from what people have lying around in their garages!
Also look on the thread -: New Emerald to be
If this mod proves itself this could be a way to go back to an Ecu with all its benefits and self mapping that the Gems can do. That's like someone tuning your carb on the move,,, perminantly. Sounds very interesting.
Edited by ClassicChimaera on Wednesday 12th April 09:39
I was toying with the idea of going back to standard, but it seems that people are forever having issues with the standard setup.
This method just seemed like a quick and easy way to go back to "injection" without too much faffing. Plus I'm not sure my budget will stretch to getting all the bits again, then getting a new ECU and getting it tuned etc.
This method just seemed like a quick and easy way to go back to "injection" without too much faffing. Plus I'm not sure my budget will stretch to getting all the bits again, then getting a new ECU and getting it tuned etc.
I think you could pick up a good used original Lucas CUX set-up for not a great deal from many adopters of after-market ECU on PH's and just alow yourself a weekend to swap it all over, providing you dont want to start modding or making engine size changes to the motor this will work just fine IMO 
or of course if you do decide to mod you have Emerald/Megasquirt/Canems etc in no particular order
or of course if you do decide to mod you have Emerald/Megasquirt/Canems etc in no particular order 
When considering these type of systems people should understand what they really are, what they're designed for (to replace a carb), and educate themselves a little bit on the history and evolution of fuel injection.
A Holly Sniper and all the many other similar looking EFI kits on the market are just throttle body injection (TBI) systems, its the sort of carb/injection bridging system we saw on cheaper cars in the early 90's, even back then anything decent got proper port injection. As the price of injectors came down everything (even cheap compacts) eventually got port injection, by the end of the 90's no one was using throttle body injection, even the very cheapest cars benefited from port injection.
This is because throttle body injection is nowhere near as efficient as port injection where an injector per cylinder is placed at the end of the inlet manifold as close as possible to the inlet valve, port injection gives far superior fuel atomisation but even more importantly much much more accurate port to port fuel distribution than TBI.
Saying that these throttle body injection kits (which are really designed to replace carbs) give you the chance to move away from the single plane port injection inlet manifold we have, and replace it with an Edelbrock Performer 2198 dual plane manifold.
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/mc/manifolds/r...
Dual plane inlet manifolds are well know to deliver better low speed drivability than single plane manifolds, combine this the more accurate and controllable fuel metering of electronic fuel injection (even throttle body injection) and I'd be surprised if it didn't work extremely well. Single plane inlet manifolds as fitted to the RV8 Range Rover (and so the Chimaera) are best suited to higher engine speeds, they dont relly work well below 2,000rpm which is why it's not uncommon to find a well set up Range Rover converted to a Holly carb using the Edelbrock Performer 2198 dual plane manifold idles beautify and offers fantastic low speed drivability, the disadvantage of a dual plane manifold is it can start to become restrictive above 5,000rpm.
Edelbrock claim their 2198 dual plane manifold works from idle to 5,500rpm, at this point we should remind ourselves there's little to no point in revving the standard Rover V8 engine fitted to a Chimaera much above 5,000rpm so all you end up with the 2198 dual plane manifold is the low down drivability advantages and none of the disadvantages, as such while TBI is not as efficient as port injection I would be genuinely surprised if using one of these TBI carb replacement kits paired with a Edelbrock 2198 dual plane manifold didn't deliver outstanding drivability results.
You could easily complete one of these TBI conversions at home yourself including buying the Edelbrock 2198 dual plane manifold for under £1,500, it's worth remembering we already have the high pressure fuel pump and the fuel lines in place so it could be even cheaper. You could never claim it'll be the last word in efficiency and fuel injection technology, you could also easily argue it's madness to bin the port injection for a less efficient TBI system.
But it's not quite as simple as this on a Chimaera, in certain circumstances a TBI kit could be just the ticket so shouldn't be completely dismissed, lets say your suffering incurable or expensive to cure issues with your old Lucas 14CUX system, one of these TBI kits on an Edelbrock 2198 is a simple to fit and cost effective solution. Being self tuning it'll also be massively easier to set up than a carb not to mention more efficient and reliable than a carb too, finally I'm sure it'll deliver fantastic drivability.
So if you just wanted a cost effective home installed solution to solving frustrating 14CUX issues that simply delivers a lovely driving TVR without hassles, these TBI kits have a lot going for them. If you can't stretch to an MBE, Emerlad or Canems full engine management system then they are a really credible option, sure you're still stuck with distributor ignition but that's no different to what we got from new and no one can argue a distributor and single canister coil isn't proven & reliable technology that works just fine.
In summary for many these TBI carb replacement kits have a lot going for them, if you're on a budget and are sick of shunting and poor drivability behaviours from you 14CUX equipped Chimera, one of these TBI kits paired with an Edelbrock 2198 could be a fantastic solution.
A Holly Sniper and all the many other similar looking EFI kits on the market are just throttle body injection (TBI) systems, its the sort of carb/injection bridging system we saw on cheaper cars in the early 90's, even back then anything decent got proper port injection. As the price of injectors came down everything (even cheap compacts) eventually got port injection, by the end of the 90's no one was using throttle body injection, even the very cheapest cars benefited from port injection.
This is because throttle body injection is nowhere near as efficient as port injection where an injector per cylinder is placed at the end of the inlet manifold as close as possible to the inlet valve, port injection gives far superior fuel atomisation but even more importantly much much more accurate port to port fuel distribution than TBI.
Saying that these throttle body injection kits (which are really designed to replace carbs) give you the chance to move away from the single plane port injection inlet manifold we have, and replace it with an Edelbrock Performer 2198 dual plane manifold.
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/mc/manifolds/r...
Dual plane inlet manifolds are well know to deliver better low speed drivability than single plane manifolds, combine this the more accurate and controllable fuel metering of electronic fuel injection (even throttle body injection) and I'd be surprised if it didn't work extremely well. Single plane inlet manifolds as fitted to the RV8 Range Rover (and so the Chimaera) are best suited to higher engine speeds, they dont relly work well below 2,000rpm which is why it's not uncommon to find a well set up Range Rover converted to a Holly carb using the Edelbrock Performer 2198 dual plane manifold idles beautify and offers fantastic low speed drivability, the disadvantage of a dual plane manifold is it can start to become restrictive above 5,000rpm.
Edelbrock claim their 2198 dual plane manifold works from idle to 5,500rpm, at this point we should remind ourselves there's little to no point in revving the standard Rover V8 engine fitted to a Chimaera much above 5,000rpm so all you end up with the 2198 dual plane manifold is the low down drivability advantages and none of the disadvantages, as such while TBI is not as efficient as port injection I would be genuinely surprised if using one of these TBI carb replacement kits paired with a Edelbrock 2198 dual plane manifold didn't deliver outstanding drivability results.
You could easily complete one of these TBI conversions at home yourself including buying the Edelbrock 2198 dual plane manifold for under £1,500, it's worth remembering we already have the high pressure fuel pump and the fuel lines in place so it could be even cheaper. You could never claim it'll be the last word in efficiency and fuel injection technology, you could also easily argue it's madness to bin the port injection for a less efficient TBI system.
But it's not quite as simple as this on a Chimaera, in certain circumstances a TBI kit could be just the ticket so shouldn't be completely dismissed, lets say your suffering incurable or expensive to cure issues with your old Lucas 14CUX system, one of these TBI kits on an Edelbrock 2198 is a simple to fit and cost effective solution. Being self tuning it'll also be massively easier to set up than a carb not to mention more efficient and reliable than a carb too, finally I'm sure it'll deliver fantastic drivability.
So if you just wanted a cost effective home installed solution to solving frustrating 14CUX issues that simply delivers a lovely driving TVR without hassles, these TBI kits have a lot going for them. If you can't stretch to an MBE, Emerlad or Canems full engine management system then they are a really credible option, sure you're still stuck with distributor ignition but that's no different to what we got from new and no one can argue a distributor and single canister coil isn't proven & reliable technology that works just fine.
In summary for many these TBI carb replacement kits have a lot going for them, if you're on a budget and are sick of shunting and poor drivability behaviours from you 14CUX equipped Chimera, one of these TBI kits paired with an Edelbrock 2198 could be a fantastic solution.
Well seeing as my Chim already has a Offenhauser 360 manifold (not sure if it is single or dual port) then from the sounds of it I may benefit from the Sniper system.
The only thing that would concern me about is that it's designed for a US market, so not really sure if it would meet regs here in the UK? Plus would I even be able to fit it on to a Rover V8?
The only thing that would concern me about is that it's designed for a US market, so not really sure if it would meet regs here in the UK? Plus would I even be able to fit it on to a Rover V8?
its for L/H drive only then 
ChimaeraKev said:
Well seeing as my Chim already has a Offenhauser 360 manifold (not sure if it is single or dual port) then from the sounds of it I may benefit from the Sniper system.
The only thing that would concern me about is that it's designed for a US market, so not really sure if it would meet regs here in the UK? Plus would I even be able to fit it on to a Rover V8?
Exactly what regs are you worried about?The only thing that would concern me about is that it's designed for a US market, so not really sure if it would meet regs here in the UK? Plus would I even be able to fit it on to a Rover V8?
If you're talking about emission regs then if your car still has cats and you just tune your Sniper to give 14.7:1 at idle and above on the test day it should pass just the same as a 14CUX equipped Chimera will.
The thing is you say you're currently running a carb, if that's the case you must have an understanding MoT tester already as carbs don't pass emission tests, even 1990's emission tests which were quite lax by modern standards.
With all this in mind I really don't understand your regs concerns?
ChimaeraKev said:
I just wasn't sure if there was any regs with it being a US based system, but if not then great!
I've not had the car MOT'd since I purchased it hence me going through this now.
No mate, just buy it, fit it and make sure you choose a decent old skool tester.I've not had the car MOT'd since I purchased it hence me going through this now.
Discuss the car with the tester first but you'll not face any regs issues, as far as emissions are concerned the Sniper will be way better than any carbs by a country mile.
Personally I'd find a tester who will be flexible on the emission test anyway, this way you can ditch your cats (if you still have cats) and set your Sniper so the car idles at 13.3:1 rather than the inappropriately lean 14.7:1 idle the 14CUX tried to deliver.
Your Chimaera will idle better at the richer 13.3:1 and ditching cats typically gains as much as 10HP. TBH if your car came with a carb I doubt you've still got cats, if you do still have cats the carb would have killed them a long time ago anyway so you must pull them out immediately.
ChimaeraKev said:
Morning all,
I was doing some mooching about the internet as one does of an evening, and wandered across the Holley Sniper EFI system. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I am toying with the idea of ditching my carb and replacing it with something more plug 'n' play.
https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/fuel_...
I've by no means a large budget but thought that this system might be able to get me past all the manual tweaking that a carb needs, with the added benefit it might pass an emissions test come MOT time.
Cheers chaps,
Kev
http://fitechefi.com/products/30003/I was doing some mooching about the internet as one does of an evening, and wandered across the Holley Sniper EFI system. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I am toying with the idea of ditching my carb and replacing it with something more plug 'n' play.
https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/fuel_...
I've by no means a large budget but thought that this system might be able to get me past all the manual tweaking that a carb needs, with the added benefit it might pass an emissions test come MOT time.
Cheers chaps,
Kev
Cheaper and just as good
OleVix said:
Some models have ignition timing control too.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x32BphqgS0
I looked at the FiTech models but saw a few forum posts here and there about poor customer service, and units that just randomly drop off. That said the Holley hasn't been in production for that long, but the company itself has been around for decades so they must be doing something right!
I'm not too worried about it controlling the ignition timing right now, plus I'm not sure my budget would stretch to that model.
I'm not too worried about it controlling the ignition timing right now, plus I'm not sure my budget would stretch to that model.
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