Hamilton TBI Conversion on a 308

Kdancy

Hamilton
TBI 

Bill
Hamilton (Hamilton Fuel Injection) has been doing Throttle Body Injection
conversions on International projects for a while and

due to the
success of his kits and satisfied customers, was asked to do the conversion on
other makes as well. He has converted

“stove
bolt” Chevy 6 engines, Studebaker V-8, both non SC and R2’s as well as other
makes. Bill purchased a 49 Hudson for a father-son

project and
that is where this conversion came in. Bill lives in Washington state and his
mother lives in St. Pete FL. He flew down to Jacksonville

and drove
over to perform the conversion on a single carb 308 I have on an engine run
stand. This 308 will be going into Ruth Leaders

52 Wasp
shortly.

 Bill
had already shipped the single TBI kit as well as a Twin H kit to me so we
opened up and spread the single TBI kit items on a table for organizing and

bench
testing before installing on the 308.

The kit
consist of –

1-Wiring
Harness with fuse block and relays

2-ECM
 and with custom calibrated chip

3-Fuel pump
with filter

4-Throttle
Body 

5-ECT (
engine coolant temp sensor)

6-MAP
(Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor)

7-O2 sensor

8-Adapter
Plate for throttle body to intake manifold

9-Distributor
 Ignition control module ( converted Hudson to Chrysler electronic)

10-
Ignition control module

11- .6 ohm
round coil to replace the stock one. Internal resistor

12- Check
engine light

13-Data
Logging cable

14- VSS
(Vehicle Speed Sensor- optional)

15- Knock
Sensor and ESC (electronic spark Control – optional)

 ******system is complete fuel and timing
control so there is no mechanical or vacuum advance in the distributor.

 Bill
then bench tested all the components.  Afterwards when everything checked
out, the installation begin by installing the sensors in

their
proper places, the distributor and control module in place, removing the carb
and installing the adaptor plate and throttle body on the intake

manifold.
Fuel pump was installed and the stock Hudson mechanical pump was
by-passed.  Gas line intake and return hoses were placed into the fuel
tank. 

( A more
detailed description is printed in the manual for “engine in vehicle”
 install.)

 
Engine was then ready to fire up and run so Bill turned the ignition key (the
electric fuel pump runs for 2 seconds) then fired it up. Started checking
timing

and
tuning.  The tach kept spiking or jumping every few seconds so we knew
there was an electrical issue somewhere. Everything checked out on the bench

testing
phase so we checked grounds and changed the plug wires in case we were getting
EMF interference.  In the end, we discovered that the new

ignition
module (which bench tested good and also AutoZone tested good) was actually the
culprit. We installed a new Echlin TP25 module and the 308 fired up and ran
without any tach spikes. Bill then used his tuning program to do the initial
tune for an engine running on run stand. After installing in the 52 Wasp, I’ll
hook up my laptop to log actual “in vehicle” load running and record that data
to send back to Bill who will then create a new tune chip based on the logged
data.

 The
engine fires right up and the throttle response is much quicker with the TBI
system. Can’t wait to get it on the road!

Here are
pictures of the project in my Photobucket album—

http://s294.photobucket.com/user/studebaker2/media/Bill%20Hamilton%20TBI%20system/DSCN0936_zps6lonbziu.jpg.html

http://hamiltonfuelinjection.com/

http://www.pattonmachine.com/TBI-Main.htm

 

•  

RL Chilton

Very interesting.  Please keep us posted on the progress.  

BillUSN1

Just did a pre and post dyno run on a 308 with the standard 2bbl TBI.

I explained to the owner that dyno runs really don't mean anything for a driver since you are only checking power and torque at wide open throttle.

It's good for bragging rights on the web but doesn't really translate into drivabilty.

Any ways the results were the run on the carb showed it to be a little lean and my tune on the EFI was a little rich. So a little more time on the dyno would have resulted in a little better numbers.

The vehicle/shop was at about 2000ft elevation so numbers a re a little lower than sea level.

With the EFI we saw about 10% increase in power and torque.

             HP                       TQ

Carb = 97                          201

EFI = 113                          215

Lee ODell

Impressive results Bill.  Will you be posting MPG, 2 barrel carb & EFI comparison on the 308 also. I would be very interested to see that.

Lee O'Dell

BillUSN1

MPG is a little more subjective.

There are so many variables such as driving styles, gear ratio.

Since I don't drive vehicles with carbs I can't provide numbers so the only ones that could would be a guy that drives his enough to have a good avg MPG and then convert to EFI and do the same.

Keep in mind that I always explain HP and MPG as the 2 most asked questions during my seminars. And I can't answer either one.

In reality, any system can be "properly" tuned to achieve the same results in both HP and MPGs.

The difference is that a carb will only be tuned that one time and as soon as any variable such as temp, weather, altitude, engine wear, dirty filters, change then the tune will change.

With EFI using the sensors for feed back to the ECM, the tune is always corrected for the changes.

A carb can't. So EFI will always get a better overall MPG. But a carb can be tuned very lean, losing power but actually getting better short term MPG than the EFI would with a "correct" tune.

So you have to look at it as your engine always being in the correct state of tune for power and economy.

I provide a custom baseline tune for each system I sell so the ECM has it's full range of correction available no matter where you drive. From sea level to 14K ft in CO like we just did.

I'm working on having my 49 running to take to the NW regionals in June.

It's the original worn out 262 that I did all the repair write ups on here. I originally built it with a single 2bbl EFI but I now have the Twin H with dual 1bbl EFI and since I couldn't find an exhaust manifold that wasn't cracked(O2 sensors don't like unburned O2) I waited over 6mo for the Cliffords to arrive.

 

BillUSN1

Getting closer.

Playing with different style air cleaner adapters to retain the Twin H look.

 

53jetman

I like that look Bill

BillUSN1

Thanks Jerry, It's getting there till I can get my 308 built.

Lee,

I did get some initial MPG figures from one of my customers.

Needs more trips to get a feel for a good avg MPG.

50 Hudson 308 single 2bbl EFI

Highway

65MPH+ = 15.6mpg

55mph= 20.6

Lee ODell

Thank you Bill. Is the transmission stick shift, stick w/od, or automatic, what gear ration. I'm liking the fuel injection more. I realize it's all subjective but helps to have information. Maybe i'm getting too old, I tend to drive more today to see how far I can go on a tank of gas rather than to see how quick I can get to my destination. But it is still nice to know there is a improvement in engine performance as well with your system. Lee O'Dell

BillUSN1

It's a pretty original 4 door. 3spd/OD no idea on gears.

BillUSN1

Anything can be done for enough money. ;-)

I suggest the better option to just unbolt the factory parts and drop them in a box for the next guy that may buy it.

Everything is bolt on except the O2 sensor bung in the exhaust pipe.

You have to set up the throttle linkage and air cleaners.

50C8DAN

Bill any updates on your Twin H fuel injection setup?  It has been quite while since your last report.