The StreetRod Store Blogger

Engine Swaps - Is Fuel Injection For You?

2010-01-28T05:22:00.000-08:00

Your classic, custom, muscle car, or street rod has impeccable paint, beautiful interior and all of the comforts that you need to give you a proud feeling when driving down the road, or pulling into a show. One would think that this would be enough, but you feel that something is missing. You scratch your head, and take a walk around the vehicle trying to figure out exactly what is missing. You sit in the driver seat, turn the ignition key, and then it hits you. Your engine and transmission just don't measure up to the overall beauty of your ride.

When you look in the engine compartment, everything looks ok, but there are a few things that you just are not happy about. Here are some things that you may be unhappy about:

When you hit the gas pedal, you aren't happy with the response. It simply doesn't have the pop that you would like.

You plan your trips around gas stations.

When the vehicle sits, it cranks and cranks then finally starts.

When driving down the highway, your engine is screaming and your tach is well over 3,000 rpm.

Last, but not least, you don't open your hood because you really don't want anyone to see the dated engine and mess of wires all over the place.

If you nodded your head to any of the bullets listed, then it may be time for you to consider upgrading to fuel injection. There are companies that specialize in building fuel injected engines that could replace that carbureted engine that you are running. If you engine is fairly new, you may only need to upgrade to a fuel injected top end. The aftermarket industry has made great improvements in the technology of fuel injection. It may be time to upgrade.

I am not trying to make this sound like an easy swap. There are a lot of things that you need to consider before making the first step toward this upgrade. You will need to know if your current wiring can support the addition of the EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) computer, sensors, etc. Does your fuel tank have a return line and you will more than like likely need to change your fuel pump and add a fuel return line. Also, some of your problems may include the transmission and differential gear ratio that you are running. This is a good topic for another blog.

Whatever your plan for future upgrades, fuel injection should be something that should be considered. The benefits of upgrading to fuel injection could include:

Better fuel economy - in some cases, you could double your fuel economy while increasing the overall horse power.

Quicker throttle response - get off the line quicker!

Starts faster - no need to pump the gas pedal - turn the key and it fires up!

We are always looking at ways modernize the vehicles that we love. Power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, security and navigation are more and more becoming common accessories in our builds. Should fuel injection be something that you consider for your future upgrade?

Phone: 856-719-8030

Website: http://www.thestreetrodstore.com/

Forum: www.thestreetrodstore.com/phpbb

Complete Automotive Wiring

2010-01-25T14:28:00.000-08:00

In a given year, we wire a lot of street rods, classic, custom and muscle cars. I have read on different forums where people post questions about automotive wiring and I try to assist where possible. I even take it a step farther and draw schematics to resolve certain issues that people may have. It is my belief that wiring a vehicle is not something that everyone can do, or even attempt to do.

We correct many vehicles wiring problems where the owner of the vehicle felt that they could do it on their own and end up getting in over their head. What's so hard? You get a box of wire and a set of instructions that anyone can follow, so why are you having such a hard time?. To properly wire a vehicle is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of things that you need to consider before you open the wiring kit.

Familiarize yourself with the contents of the kit:
Open the kit and take a look at the contents. DO NOT open any of the bags or individual packages. Usually the kits are assembled to be installed in a specific order. You will easily become confused if you jump ahead of yourself. Read the instructions to gain an understanding of what you will be doing.

Tools of the trade:
You will need some standard tools to properly install your kit; screw drivers, drill, drill bits and hole saw, etc. In addition to the standard tools, you will also need a good pair of wire strippers and the proper crimpers for the connectors that you will need to crimp.

Mount the fuse panel:
The hardest part of wiring a vehicle for me is determining where to mount the fuse panel. The criteria that I use to get this part right is:

The location of the fuse panel should be out of plain view, but not stuffed up under the dash where you can't get to it. You should be able to change a fuse without breaking your back. Trust me, the older you get, the less flexible you are. I always mount the panel so that I can add a large wire clamp to run the wires thru to keep everything neat. Did I mention that you should run all of your wires neatly? Did you mount your fuse panel? If so, now you should plan how you will run the wires. I know that you are tempted to open that box but you are not ready for that just yet . . . close the box.

How should you run your wires:
How and where you run your wires depends on the vehicle you are wiring. On Model A's, I can usually run the wires down the side kick panels. I use the driver side for engine management, front lighting, and usually rear wiring. The passenger side kick panel is used for the ignition wiring and anything else. How you run the wires is up to you, but there are a few things that you should keep in mind.

Run your wires neatly:
I use a ton of zip ties because I run a circuit and zip it to the harness. When I run another circuit down the same path, I cut the previous zip tie and install a new one. This helps to keep everything nice and neat. Grommet all holes that the wires will pass through and keep all of your runs away from heat and sharp objects. Try to hide as much of the wiring that you can. Don't hide it so it is impossible to maintain, but don't have wires slung all over the place. Don't run your wires under your carpet where you will have a lot of foot traffic because at some point in time, this will present a problem for you.

At this point you should be ready to start wiring. Follow the instructions in your kit and you should be fine. Don't get discouraged if it seems that the wiring is taking too long. You are not in a race and you don't get bonus points by wiring your vehicle quickly. It takes me a minimum 40-50 hours to fully wire a car from start to finish. I am very particular when I wire a car and you should be to. The last thing that you want is to break down on the road, or worse, have an electrical fire.

Automotive wiring is not for everyone, and I am not suggesting that you should take on this task yourself. There are many things that could go wrong with the installation and I feel that this is one task that should be left to a professional. We flat-rate our wiring labor to help you save money because we feel that you shouldn't be paying anyone hourly to properly wire your vehicle. You really don't want to pay us hourly to wire your car! Just keep one thing in mind, it will cost more for us to troubleshoot and correct a faulty installation than it would for us to completely wire your vehicle.

You should have a better than basic knowledge of automotive wiring before attempting to wire your own vehicle. We want to be the first one that you think of when you think of having your vehicle wired. When you are ready to talk to us about your wiring needs, contact us to discuss your options.

Phone: 856-719-8030

EMAIL: sales@thestreetrodstore.com

http://www.thestreetrodstore.com/

What does it cost to build my car?

2010-01-21T05:26:00.000-08:00

We are constantly asked "What does it cost to build my car?". Believe it or not, this is a very hard question to answer. You would think that we would know what the price would be for us to build the car of you dreams, but we simply cannot because there are too many variables that affects the bottom line. We could analyze you and throw a number at you that is safe for us and that we feel that you would accept, but we will not do that. I have seen other shops do this, and it is you who will usually end up paying more than what you should have.

Parts are parts, and we could create a detailed list of what will be needed. We could create a total parts cost sheet, but I guarantee that by the end of the project, that price will also change because the parts will change. We will miss some things and you will change your mind on others. We are all human, and this does happen.

We could take an educated guess as to the cost to build. We could guess approximately how many hours your project will take, but in all honestly, it is only a guess. We hear from customers that they were quoted a price from a shop, only to find that the price continued to go up as the project progressed.

You know as well as we do that it is not cheap to have a shop build a vehicle for you. You are paying someone hourly to do the work for you. You are paying for their expertise to safely build the vehicle of your dreams. A vehicle that you can feel confident to drive to any show.

If you read the last sentence, you will notice that I said "drive to any show". We build drivers! Your vehicle will be built nice enough to trailer, but safe enough to drive anywhere!

How are we different?
We will meet with you and get a good understanding of what you want us to build for you. We will go over our rates and our weekly invoicing procedure. You will know on a weekly basis exactly where your money is being spent, and the total amount of your project. On a weekly basis, you will receive a copy of your detailed invoice and a journal that depicts your total project cost.

We are very particular as to how we build vehicles. Your vehicle will be built for comfort and will be structurally, mechanically and electrically sound and safe. We would love to build you a custom vehicle that has all of the latest comforts while being fuel efficient using the latest in fuel injection and overdrive transmissions.

We take a lot of pictures of your build. We select pics to post on our website giving you the opportunity to see the progress of your project without having to come to the shop. During certain situations we record short videos that we also post on our website for your review. This has become very popular for our customers who live far away.

We do not charge to talk to you, nor do we charge you for us to order/receive parts. You are charged for "hands-on" your vehicle. You are only charged for the parts used to build your vehicle and the time we spend working on it. The time that it takes us to complete your vehicle depends on how many hours you would like us to spend weekly on your build.

We make every attempt to make this a pleasurable experience for you. Give us a call to discuss the vehicle of your dreams, and how we could make that a reality.

Phone: 856-719-8030
EMAIL: sales@thestreetrodstore.com

www.thestreetrodstore.com

The Passion, the dream, the reality

2009-11-12T04:10:00.000-08:00

The reality is that I am living the dream every
day. Every day I get to go to work with my son and his Boston Terrier Petey and do what I love to do . . . build cars. For most of my life I worked in Corporate America and liked what I was doing, but I could not say that I loved it.

I can't say that it has been easy, but the passion outweighs the sacrifices that we have made and continue to make to bring this passion, this dream, to reality.

Living the dream is a wonderful thing. We aren't getting rich doing what we love, but we love going to work every day. Gone are the thoughts "I don't feel like going to work today" or having to do something that you don't feel like doing. If you are willing to work very hard and sacrifice at something to make your passion and dream a reality, then you can do it too.

Let us know your thoughts . . . we would love to read your thoughts.