FITECH EFI 600 Basic and Command center intall with pics, factory tank

[swampbog]

Originally Posted by nc_john

here is something else that occurred to me. what do we do if we are out on a road trip and the unit fails (something in the ecu or command center)? I think we'd be screwed as there is no local support for this stuff anywhere. At least with an ls engine you can limp or get towed to a dealer. If a component fails on this we are stuck.

I was going to sell it but might keep my edelbrock around for just in case. If i do plan a big road trip (out of state for example), and the fitech takes a dump, i can bolt the carb on roadside, bypass the command center since we still have a mech fuel pump, and at least get home.

Might be worrying for nothing but i don't like being on the side of the road helpless without any options.

I'm an off roader and this is going in my Jeep. I thought of this right away and I made a call to FiTech to inquire if I can buy just the ECU for a spare. They say I can but as of that time they didn't have a price since every single one was still under warranty. The guy I talked to said he thinks the ECU will be selling for "around a couple hundred". I already plan on buying extra sensors and, as soon as I can get a firm price, a ECU.
If it really does sell for $200 I wouldn't bat an eye at picking one up and tossing it in the spare parts bin, a whole lot smaller than carrying a carb around.
I haven't bought the EFI yet since I'm waiting till warm weather to swap everything over. I have though, modified my gas tank to take an electric pump, bought all the fuel line I need and a couple of fittings.
Come on summer hurry up and get here

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by steveo3318

That's no where near as far back as I thought it would land. Is your motor in the factory v8 mounts and forward bolt holes. I would love. Detailed list of parts needed including which model trans you used. Did you have to do anything to the center hump? And was your truck a starboard to start with

I am running the CPP tubular motor mounts in the regular 2WD V8 location. Some guys have been able to squeeze it in under the low hump but I could not get the bellhousing up on the block. Maybe because of the CPP mounts?

This was the first try



After trying with no success to get it lined up, I gave up and cut out the tunnel.



I got it to fit but still had to trim beyond the tunnel at the back to get it to fit properly.



Bolted a high hump and did a little sheetmetal work to finish off the additionally cut area.



The benefit of all the additional work in the fitment was that the transmission is mounted very nice and high, completely above the frame rails.



I'll see if I can get some info on parts specifics for you tomorrow.

[steveo3318]

Looks great. Thank you for the pics and info. I basically can split shift my three speed and make it s six speed but to much work. What kind of RPMS are you running around 70. I am running 1900 at 70. With 373 gears. I can run a 100 and still be well under 3000RPMS. done it a few times. It blows my friends minds I can cruise at the 100 mark with them in their 2015 camaros and mustangs

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by steveo3318

Looks great. Thank you for the pics and info. I basically can split shift my three speed and make it s six speed but to much work. What kind of RPMS are you running around 70. I am running 1900 at 70. With 373 gears. I can run a 100 and still be well under 3000RPMS. done it a few times. It blows my friends minds I can cruise at the 100 mark with them in their 2015 camaros and mustangs

I don't recall offhand but am probably lower than that with 4.56's. The six gear lets you run a ridiculously numerically high rear end gear and be a monster at the stop lights but still cruise easy on the interstate. I'm bringing my notes to the office tomorrow and will post some pn's.

[NC_John]

OK, I bought a '93 T-56 locally on craigslist. I think I paid $1,200 or 1,300 including the bellhousing. I think it was a 93, it might have been later, but it was luckily a good one- avoid the earlier ones according to Tick, they are considerably weaker and won't take the same upgrades.

Had Tick Performance do their level 2 build. (I added more upgrades to the base build and they told me it'll take abuse from 700RWTQ easy all day long)

http://www.tickperformance.com/tick-...maro-firebird/

Our Level Two Upgraded Rebuild is the perfect choice for 93-02 Camaro or Firebird/Trans Am owners making 600RWTQ or less and needing a little more strength than our Level One offers you!

This complete price includes Parts, Labor AND Free Shipping on your T56 (both ways!)

Our Level Two Upgraded Rebuild includes the following:
•Complete tear down, degrease & thorough inspection of entire transmission
•Bronze 1-4 Fork Pads
•OEM 5-6 & Reverse Fork Pads
•Billet 3-4 Synchronizer Keys (with upgraded springs)
•New OEM 1-2, 5-6 & Reverse Keys & Springs
•Complete Carbon Fiber Synchronizer (blocker) Ring Set
•New Front Seal
•New Rear Seal
•Cryogenic Treatment of All Transmission Internals
•End-play set to our custom specifications
•Professional Reassembly done 100% by hand
•One Year, Unlimited Mileage Warranty (details below)

The rebuild, upgrades (viper second gear) plus some other parts (from normal wear) I needed cost somewhere around $3K. I spent way more than I planned but wanted it done right so I didn't have to plan on doing it again in a couple years.

I got a front shift conversion kit from SST. PN T56FSA for $414.95 shipped. (Tick installed it for me during the rebuild). This puts the shifter up where you see it in my pics. In front of the bench seat instead of in the middle of it.

I got a 6.5" short shifter off of ebay "Black 6.5" short shifter stick 1993-2002 Camaro Z28" to use as the base for my new shifter. $25.53 (I welded my four speed shifter stick to this base to fit the T-56)

I got a Camaro clutch slave cylinder from O'Reillys. This one has an aluminum housing while most others are plastic. If you get one, make sure it is aluminum. They kept sending plastic ones under the same PN until we found the right one. PN CS2227 $34.20

I had to get an "84-97 Chevy T-5, T56 Hydraulic Clutch Line Fitting, AN-4, 5&6 speed swap" ebay item 130992050230 for $4.99 to convert the goofy GM pinned hydraulic line fitting to an AN-04 at the slave cylinder.

I also bought an AN-04 braided line that goes between the slave cylinder and the clutch master cylinder, not seeing the receipt here in my pile so will have to find it.

I called Tick and asked what clutch master cylinder to use (everything has to match or the hydraulics won't work- it'll be too stiff, too soft, not enough travel etc). They recommended (and I bought) a wildwood from summit PN WIL-260-3374 for $69.93. My clutch pedal is stiff without being too hard with good even actuation.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-260-3374

You'll have to convert your clutch pedal from the factory hard linkage to work the master cylinder for the hydraulic clutch. I mounted my wildwood in line (well, slightly offset) with the clutch pedal in the cab, drilled a hole in the pedal arm and had to use threaded rod, heim joints, etc. to make a pushrod. There will be a bit of playing around to get the throw right. With my clutch the master cylinder will over travel the clutch pressure plate and the fingers will make contact and make noise (google it, its common with the swap). You can either get used to it and you'll know where to stop the travel like many do or do what I did and installed a spacer to shorten the clutch pedal throw on the pushrod. That way if it is at an exhaust shop or garage for something, or my wife or buddy drives it, they can just work the clutch normally instead of having to be coached on how to do it so they don't damage anything.

I used a CPP crossmember PN CLP-CP9424 bought from summit for $78.97

I used a performance suspension transmission mount (have to find the PN).

I got a single disc conversion flywheel and clutch set from Ram Clutches.

http://www.ramclutches.com/tremec.html

My conversion kit came with an aluminum flywheel, which I was skeptical about since my engine is built more for top end, but it seems to rev really quick with the EFI setup which is awesome. Call the vendor you choose directly and get your PN's. I went by this chart, which seems pretty straight forward and found it didn't work with my external slave clutch setup. Can't find the receipt but I believe the cost was $1,600-1,700 for the conversion set. Not cheap.

I used an original four speed truck shifter and trim plate (bought here on the board). I had a hard time finding a boot that would work and the repop stuff is junk (I tried several but didn't like any of them). I ended up getting a boot from a kenworth application that I was able to cut to fit very nicely. And of course I had to buy a high hump here off the board and then a new carpet kit.

I think getting my driveshaft shortened and rebalanced was somewhere between $100 and $200 here locally. I had to change my 3OTT steering column to a floor shift column which you of course won't have to do. When I did the column I completely rebuild it with all new bearings and wear parts. Since I had a 3.07 rear end, the six speed geared my truck for Talledega/Bonneville so I installed the 4.56 eaton posi setup (around $1,000, parts and labor).

I still need to get dust/flywheel cover for the bellhousing, the switch so I can wire up my reverse lights and figure out what to do about my speedometer. I use a phone app or GPS but want to get my odometer working since I am OCD about maintenance.

Let me know what else you need....

[Aztec.A]

Originally Posted by steveo3318

Looks great. Thank you for the pics and info. I basically can split shift my three speed and make it s six speed but to much work. What kind of RPMS are you running around 70. I am running 1900 at 70. With 373 gears. I can run a 100 and still be well under 3000RPMS. done it a few times. It blows my friends minds I can cruise at the 100 mark with them in their 2015 camaros and mustangs

I'd love to know what you did with your transmission set up. I still have the 3 speed column shift on my '72 C-20. If you have a link to it, please forward me to it!

Love the write up on the FiTech. I'm definitely doing this set up if the LS swap is just gonna be too far to reach right now. Besides I can always get a 6LS MSD and still use the FiTech.

Thanks for the write up!

[steveo3318]

My transmission is a factory gm saginaw 7 bolt with factory Borg Warner R10 out of another 67 truck that I completely went through and rebuilt. It's the rare truck overdrive tranny because it has the 1.5 inch solenoid rod that's extremely hard to locate. Very few were made in 67-68. I absolutely love mine. It's made the truck a true cruiser. I never really done a write up of the trans. But it took me a year to source all the repair parts and another solenoid. Well worth it though. If you have any questions just ask. I don't know what info your looking for.

[Aztec.A]

Wow, I had no idea that was even put into those years of truck. I'm kinda new to the manual transmission nomenclature and where to source them outta which trucks etc. I'm confident my transmission is a 3 speed Saginaw. The tree shift parts are next to impossible to find. I have yet to get my truck on the road. It runs, but my brakes are not working. Those are next.

I think something in the blinker assembly broke since they no longer work. I've slowly got the lights on the exterior working.

Any recommendations for manual transmission options is appreciated. My shifter is very stiff, not hard to get into gear but is just not easy like some of the ones I've seen in the past.
Posted via Mobile Device

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by NC_John

I did a preliminary check for vac leaks but didn't see anything obvious. No power brakes, no vac advance.... Just the PCV return to the manifold. I do have a 6-spd so yeah, if it is set for automatic, that could be the cause of some of the behaviors I am not liking.

That's a pretty in-depth idle setting procedure. The FITech stuff I read said "set your idle with the idle screw, then shut your engine off to allow the ECU to relearn it." Where are you getting all this information from?

I appreciate the help. I'm pretty happy over the huge jump in performance on the first test drive, I just wish there was more information like this easily available from FITech.

Thanks- I'll keep you posted when I can get back on this thing late this week.

Did you do any more tinkering with your Fitech and idle?

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Did you do any more tinkering with your Fitech and idle?

Actually, yes. I worked on it yesterday. I made the recommended changes but they didn't fix what is going on. Basically, when I run down the road and start decelerating, the rpm seems to hang at 2000 rpm and doesn't want to drop. I have to kick the pedal a couple times to drop it down to the 800 rpm.

I'm going to call Fitech tomorrow and see what they say.

I did get my return line run from the command center back to the tank.

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by steveo3318

Try this and report back. Your going through an extremely similar case I had. Just stay calm and it can be tuned out!

I called FiTech today and talked to Cody. The one thing he wanted me to try was to change my cam setting in initial setup. I apparently have more vacuum than what the cpu wants to see for a "4.' He said a 3 or even a 2 might work better for me.

Another thing he told me to do was do a relearn after every change otherwise a change doesn't really affect anything. Doing a relearn starts the cpu from scratch as far as the self-learning and tuning.

We got into the "pro" setup (which is hidden unless you activate it), but we stopped when he found out where my cam setting was. We were going to tweak some of the decay rates on decel.

I'll see how she runs on the way home from work today. The relearn reset itself might help if none of the other changes I did have had no affect without doing it.

[LostMy65]

While in Park at idle the IAC STEPS bounces around 0-2, but when I put it in drive it bounces around 4-6.
Is that where it should be?

[LostMy65]

Do you know if mine is set correctly?

Originally Posted by LostMy65

While in Park at idle the IAC STEPS bounces around 0-2, but when I put it in drive it bounces around 4-6.
Is that where it should be?

[Transam461]

The IAC Steps are suppose to read between 5 to 10 when at target idle speed, IN PARK at operating temp, with fans OFF(it will raise the rpm 30 rpm when fans kick on, and this causes the IAC steps to increase, so make sure you check it with the fans OFF). Ours usually read between 3 to 5, and seem to do great so for.

Hope this helps... Brian

[LostMy65]

So, to get mine from where it is, to where it needs to be, do I need to adjust my idle screw out or in?

[Transam461]

Adjust them out, just a little at a time, to close the throttle blades, it doesnt take much to make a big difference, and adjust the front and rear screws as evenly as you can. When you adjust the screws out and close the throttle blades, this causes it to have to open the IAC more, to give it more air, to get back to the target idle speed, which increase the IAC steps. Do the adjusting with it running, and remember to key the car off for 30 seconds after you adjust each time, this will make sure to reset the TPS back to zero. Let me know if you have any other questions...

Brian

[LostMy65]

Thank you

[LostMy65]

Got it.
Thanks again.

[steveo3318]

Is she idling better for you?

[LostMy65]

It idled fine before.
But before, when I punched it, there was a slight bog.
Now it has better throttle response

[Transam461]

Fantastic news! Glad to hear it helped....

Brian

[steveo3318]

Y'all just gotta trust me a little bit lost my 65. Lol

[LostMy65]

Sorry Steve, it wasn't that I didn't trust you. I just wasn't sure if mine was off enough to matter. And which way to turn the screw to get it there. Now it all makes sense.
Thanks again for all your help.

[steveo3318]

Originally Posted by Transam461

Adjust them out, just a little at a time, to close the throttle blades, it doesnt take much to make a big difference, and adjust the front and rear screws as evenly as you can. When you adjust the screws out and close the throttle blades, this causes it to have to open the IAC more, to give it more air, to get back to the target idle speed, which increase the IAC steps. Do the adjusting with it running, and remember to key the car off for 30 seconds after you adjust each time, this will make sure to reset the TPS back to zero. Let me know if you have any other questions...

Brian

Whoa whoa whoa. You said adjust THEM out. Am I missing something. I thought there was only one screw to adjust for IAC. i am about to go look and if there's two I gotta start over lol.

[steveo3318]

Never mind. I found it on the back side on the passenger side. Guess I will recalibrate this week. I felt like both moved off the front screw though.