BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Converting To Delco ECU From Carby Or Other Injection Systems
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BennVenn
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BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by BennVenn »

2016-03-10 14.08.24.png
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90% of the N13's EFI setup is a straight forward transplant. The other 10% consists of generating a suitable spark trigger, fabricating a fuel system and tuning.

This is the build log of all that is necessary to retrofit an 808 ECU and injection system to my beetle, Frankie.

It is common to gut the existing distributor and fit a reluctor and rotor and use the delco spark module. I've decided to take the path taken by many before me and modify the pulsar dizzy to fit the 1600.
20160307_181034.jpg
The pulsar dizzy on the lathe, turned down to 1" dia, 2" length. A perfect fit into the 1600 block.

Next: the fuel system...
Last edited by BennVenn on Thu Mar 10, 2016 1:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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festy
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by festy »

Subscribed - I like where this is going ;)
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by BennVenn »

Like most carburettored vehicles from the 60's, there is a single fuel line from the tank to the engine bay. From about the mid 80's fuel tanks became sealed with the vent running to a charcoal cannister to capture those nasty hydrocarbons. This second line can be used as a return line for an EFI system. The beetle being late 60's has no such return so it is up to us to fabricate a fuel system which ticks all the boxes.

This is what I have come up with.
20160215_190709.jpg
A low pressure lift pump (lower right) draws fuel from the tank and fills the surge tank. Once the surge tank is filled we need to either stop pumping or return the excess to the tank. I have a return plumbed back to the tank though I'm looking for a more elegant solution - perhaps a carby float valve&float switch to control the lift pump? More on this later.
The High pressure Bosch pump then supplies the 3-3.5 bar of fuel to the injectors, through the regulator and back into the surge tank. This fuel circuit is used for not just running the engine but also cooling the fuel pump and injectors.

I've added an easy to access fuse box and a high current 5v regulator (which powered all the sensors plus my homemade ECU - seen at the far right). The regulator will be gone with the Delco install.

Why not install an EFI pump in tank and run the fuel to the engine bay? Looking back I probably should have done just that. EFI rated hose was around $27/meter when I first started this build so a 6m length plus another 6m of regular carby fuel hose seemed a bit excessive. Plus there is no swirl pot in a VW tank so cornering on less than a full tank could starve the engine of fuel etc... Plus the surge tank is shiny!

I'm not sure if a fuel system like this is premitted inside the cabin. I figure the fuel tank is only a foot away from my face without a bulkhead in between so as long as everything looks above board I shouldn't have an issue. I guess we'll see!

Next: The custom bits - Manifold, Injectors, Supercharger?
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by antus »

Also subscribed, 100% agree with festy :)
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by Gareth »

BennVenn wrote:Like most carburettored vehicles from the 60's, there is a single fuel line from the tank to the engine bay. From about the mid 80's fuel tanks became sealed with the vent running to a charcoal cannister to capture those nasty hydrocarbons. This second line can be used as a return line for an EFI system. The beetle being late 60's has no such return so it is up to us to fabricate a fuel system which ticks all the boxes.

This is what I have come up with.
20160215_190709.jpg
A low pressure lift pump (lower right) draws fuel from the tank and fills the surge tank. Once the surge tank is filled we need to either stop pumping or return the excess to the tank. I have a return plumbed back to the tank though I'm looking for a more elegant solution - perhaps a carby float valve&float switch to control the lift pump? More on this later.
The High pressure Bosch pump then supplies the 3-3.5 bar of fuel to the injectors, through the regulator and back into the surge tank. This fuel circuit is used for not just running the engine but also cooling the fuel pump and injectors.

I've added an easy to access fuse box and a high current 5v regulator (which powered all the sensors plus my homemade ECU - seen at the far right). The regulator will be gone with the Delco install.

Why not install an EFI pump in tank and run the fuel to the engine bay? Looking back I probably should have done just that. EFI rated hose was around $27/meter when I first started this build so a 6m length plus another 6m of regular carby fuel hose seemed a bit excessive. Plus there is no swirl pot in a VW tank so cornering on less than a full tank could starve the engine of fuel etc... Plus the surge tank is shiny!

I'm not sure if a fuel system like this is premitted inside the cabin. I figure the fuel tank is only a foot away from my face without a bulkhead in between so as long as everything looks above board I shouldn't have an issue. I guess we'll see!

Next: The custom bits - Manifold, Injectors, Supercharger?
These are the go, a lot less to go wrong..

https://aeromotiveinc.com/phantom/
According to chemistry, alcohol is a solution...
BennVenn
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by BennVenn »

Biggvl wrote:
These are the go, a lot less to go wrong..

https://aeromotiveinc.com/phantom/
They look sweet! I'd hate to think of the price of one of the kits. Now I've got my foundry all set up I might build one with an exact contour for the corrugated tank. I couldn't quite see how they could clamp to a non-flat surface.
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by festy »

Have a look at the Corvette returnless filter/regulator setup - cheap and easy way to convert a car with no return line
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/w ... l/corvette
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by BennVenn »

Is there a diagram of how this works? Where does any accumulated vapor go? If the lift pump sucked in a bubble it would keep circulating until it finds its way through an injector?
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by immortality »

Subscribed :)
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festy
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Re: BennVenn's VW Delco Conversion

Post by festy »

It's a fuel filter and regulator in one, the filter has a return line but because it's located right at the tank there's no need to run a return line or FPR on the rail.
They're standard fitment on corvettes and very commonly used in LS1 conversions, so I assume they must work well enough.
If I'd known about them when I did my conversion I would have gone this way for sure.
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