Prologue or is PostScript?

NOTE: Throughout this write-up, you'll see references to John Wilson who supplied the electronic components of the TBI conversion kit for my upgrade done in 2006. While John is still doing a Triumph conversion kit, Rick Patton has now partnered with Affordable Fuel Injection (AFI) for all of the electronics. The main advantage to this new partnership is that you now have one stop shopping with Rick. Everything from the adapters to the electronics to the distributor modifications are all handled and shipped by Rick. In addition, AFI will provide all technical support and up to 4 custom chip programs.

Anyway.....this gets written after the system is installed to share some thoughts now that I've gone through the whole process. Let's start with the fact that I am "automotively inept BUT mechanically adept" and I'm also a good problem solver. In other words, I've never rebuilt an engine, transmission, suspension, differential or even done my own brake job etc. etc. I have tremendous admiration for people who can and would love to do that someday under an expert's watchful eye. But it's nothing I would ever tackle alone, no matter how good the instructions are. So why would I ever consider tackling the installation of Throttle Body Injection (TBI)? The answer is simple.....this is basically a "plug & play" system that anyone with basic mechanical skills can do. I did this in my garage with the car on jack stands. No lift required. It was done with all the tools I have on hand, which is nothing out of the ordinary. I did, however, spend a lot of time emailing and talking to Rick Patton (Patton Machine Products) and John Wilson to get comfortable with what work was required of me and how responsive they'd be to my endless stream of questions. Being overly cautious and not a risk taker, I did ask them hundreds of questions as I moved through the installation. For others more adept then I, the questions would probably be far fewer. The one thing I did do was have John Wilson do the distributor conversion for me. Basically he guts the existing distributor, installs a ball bearing race around the shaft to prevent wobble and converts it to electronic via some custom parts he has machined. The option is, he will supply the parts and you can do it yourself. Not a route I'd recommend. The hardest part of the installation was running the fuel lines and installing the new fuel pump. It just took me a few different routes to find the one I liked best. The most stomach churning was removing and then re-installing my distributor, a task I haven't done since 1978 on my old Chevy Suburban. Again...uneventful. Beyond that, everything is a direct bolt on product or a plug ended connection that can only go to one place. There are absolutely NO MODIFICATIONS (except distributor) required to make this all work. With the exception of the distributor conversion, everything is reversible if, for some reason, you'd want to go back to the original parts.

Rick and John are very different personalities to work with. Rick owns two NAPA stores in Maine and enjoys interacting with customers in a business-like yet fun manner. I always know that Rick will be answering his email at 3 AM after he comes up from his shop. Rick's components are typically delivered immediately upon receipt of payment and if there's a problem he will let you know. John is an engineer who's a TBI expert and can diagnose and fix any injection problem you come up against. Emails are secondary to problem resolution and it sometimes takes a creative subject line to grab his attention. Subject lines such as: HELP NEEDED or ANSWER PLEASE usually worked for me, but your experience may differ. You should also expect delivery to take 6 - 8 weeks as each unit is custom assembled for your car. I know he's working on reducing his delivery times but if you expect it in 8 weeks and get it in 2 weeks, all the better.

So, who should do this conversion? Well, if keeping your car original is your goal then this isn't for you. But there are so many British Car owners who consider their cars original but are running modern shocks, other upgraded components, electric fans, electric fuel pumps and electronic ignitions that this is a logical next step. The cost is about $1300 but you'll never have to rebuild your carbs again or even do a "tune-up". No more misses, stumbles, hesitations, hard starting etc. Drivability is like a modern car with the same reliability. More power and torque coupled with significantly better fuel economy. You've probably spent more then this just maintaining your car over the years. I know that in the past 10 years I have.

Bottom line..............If I can do this, anyone can.

The Background

Ever since hearing about Rick Patton's adapter kit for converting ZS carbs to TBI, I've been intrigued with the idea. Now that he's had almost 2 years experience with the kit, has made various improvements and "partnered" with John Wilson  for the electronic components I've decided to take the plunge. A number of people on the Triumph Mail List have asked why I'd spend the money (probably be close to $1800.00 when finished) when these cars run fine when properly maintained. Well, I figure I've probably spent close to that over the past 9 years keeping the car running from a carb/fuel and ignition standpoint. When I got the car I had the carbs rebuilt ($300), 5 years later another rebuild ($300) and earlier this year I had them totally refurbished/rebuilt by PalTech ($400). So that's $1000 right there on a maintenance component that I felt should be done by a professional. This summer my mechanical fuel pump started acting flakey so I converted to a Facet electric pump and a Holley regulator. Between the main components, filters, hose, clamps, etc...another $150.  Now on top of all this there's been a carb backfire issue that just refuses to go away. To compound the issue, it's an intermittent problem. Sooooo.....I finally brought it to a professional who fixed it and then fixed it again. After the second visit, they found that the Holley regulator is inconsistent at holding fuel pressure. A problem they've seen in their MGB race car so they no longer use the Holley regulator. Let's just say the cost for the Pro gets me up close to the cost of the TBI conversion. Then there's the failed condensers and rotors which caused all kinds of misses....aggravation factor - Priceless!

So in response to the "WHY" question from a List member I wrote the following response:

Ok...so what makes up this system? As mentioned before there's two ordering components: Rick Patton and John Wilson

Rick's Part:

Two carb adapters to hold the GM fuel injectors	A GM Throttle Position Sensor (TPS), Adapter and Block Off Plates

What I love about dealing with people like Rick or Dan Masters or Jeff Palya is the creativity they show in creating products to make our cars better as well as the outstanding quality of their product. I feel that they take great pride in what they produce and won't ever provide an inferior product.

I won't receive John's components for a few weeks as each one is custom built for the application, but here's what he includes:

Moving on to Removing Stuff