10.5Vette

I have a Kent Moore Fuel Injection Calibration Instrument (J7090) that I got in a swap about with other Vette stuff about 20 years ago. I have the orginal instructions and the box, although the box is not mint. It appears to be a complete kit judging by the instructions, but I'm not entirely sure.
At this point I don't figure to own a early FI car anymore, out of my price range with kids in college. So I may sell if if there is a market for it. If there is, where would a good place to sell it be? Are they useful? Is there any demand for them? A friend of mine who has a 57 Chevy says he's seen them go for $1000 at swap meets, but again, that may've been something different.
Any help/info you guys could give me would be helpful.

YesA59

I think nice units go for $600 and up on ebay, although I have not followed any sales for a couple of years. I believe that shipping the mercury is a problem, however. Finding a local buyer is a good answer for that problem. Other than the shipping issue, ebay is probably the way to go.

Are the units still useful??

Some of the FI rebuilders can best weigh in on that. I don't think the units are much good in the hands of a novice, however.

Russ

MikeM

I'll take it for a reasonable price. I think your friend is over-estimating the value of it.

Yesa59 is in the ballpark. I had one. Mis-placed it so I want another. I know at least one FI restorer who prefers his own homade guage set-up.

Shoot me a PM with a firm price.

jim lockwood

In my opinion, Russ is in the right ballpark on price.

Are the units useful? I absolutely depend on mine to calibrate the FI units that cross my bench. I wouldn't be without it:



Jim

10.5Vette

Thanks for the info guys. I've had it for about 20 years now and never really even looked at it. It looks as if everything is there, but I'm going to double check, and look at all the fittings, etc. sometime this week. MikeM when I get a price in mind I'll send you a PM. I just want to check everything first.

DZAUTO

I bought mine about 30yrs ago when they were still available from Kent-Moore (about $200). It now sits on top of my Delco cabinet collecting dust (I took it down and blew off the dust for these pictures). I made the case for it soon after I got it.




The little compartment on the lower left contains extra oil, mercury, clamps, hoses, fittings, etc, that are used for various settings.

Injected Stingray

My manometer was purchased on eBay. It took me about 2years of bidding on them to find one under $600 Most of the complete units went for $750 to $1000. There hard to find and very sought after. You will have no problem getting $600 to $700.

Here is one for sale but it appears to be missing the fuel pressure attachment that Jerry B. noted.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Auto...3756.m14.l1318

Good luck with the sale. Chris

YesA59

This is a fascinating thread. We have three really good FI guys - Jerry, Jim and Tom - commenting. While Jerry and Jim use the Kent Moore unit, Jerry's comment about the GM specs being overly rich takes us back to the question raised by the original poster:

Are the Kent Moore units useful (to the average bloke)? Here is how I read the answers:

Tom doesn't use his beautifully boxed KM unit to calibrate FI units.

Reading Jerry and Jim's comments together, Jerry and Jim believe that the KM unit is useful, but you need to know the right specs. And you may not be able to rely entirely on GM specs (and what happens if your engine is not completely stock?). Once you figure out the right specs, however, the KM unit works fine.

As an average bloke...I don't see any need to buy a KM unit. I trust I could use the unit properly and set the engine to whatever GM spec that I wanted to apply. But to me the result would likely be random - I have no faith whatsoever that the spec I used would be appropriate for my particular setup (my engine is not completely stock, the spec could be overly rich as Jerry suggests, etc).

Thus, the KM units strike me as either a toy to play with but not rely on, or something that should just be left to the experts.

Jerry - do you think the GM specs were overly rich originally? Or did the specs become overly rich as things have changed over the years (gas formulations, etc)?

Russ

wmf62

i have never used one in the 45 years i've had FI'd corvettes; right or wrong, i've always used the 'lean it out until it surges, and richen it back up until the surge stops' method.

but with today's technology, i would think that you could do a much better job by using a wideband O2 sensor to set your A/F ratio.
Bill

10.5Vette

I checked mine out and it does seem to be missing the fuel pressure adapter fitting and one of the long hoses. Being a machinist and knowing machinists I could probaly make one up if anyone has a pic or dimensions on one.

wmf62

Jerry
i understand,,,

Bill

Joel 67

Maybe Jerry or someone can help us out here. I'd certainly be interested in buying one if they were available, as I plan on building my own makeshift manometer using the commonly available parts.

ohiovet

If you plan on building a setup using a manometer you will need both a mercury manometer and a water manometer. The water one is much more accurate and sensitive then the mercury one.

Yes the USPS will not ship mercury but if you must do it put the bottle (usually plastic) inside a few zip lock bags, pad well and don't admit it is in there.

DZAUTO

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Admit to nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!

jim lockwood

More sensitive, yes, but accuracy isn't the reason the water manometer was part of the calibration tool. The water manometer was required to detect and measure the venturi signal which is extremely weak. The manometer needs to resolve changes in venturi vacuum as slight as ~.02 inches of water.

The mercury manometer included in the calibration tool was used to measure fuel pressure and resolves changes on the order of 0.1 PSI. It would have been worthless measuring the faint venturi vacuum signal.

For reference, 1 PSI is equivalent to almost 28 inches of water.

The old Kent-Moore manometers can not be counted on to calibrate an FI unit nearly as well as a modern wide-band O2 gauge. Anyone who is serious about accurate calibration needs stop sitting on their wallet and buy modern equipment.

Jim

wmf62

I said that years ago, but Jerry took issue with it...
Bill

MikeM

If the Kent-Moore tool doesn't tell you anything else, it would at least measure the venture signal and the fuel pressure. Might come in handy troubleshooting.

jim lockwood

A problem with the venturi signal as measured on the KM tool is that the engine isn't under a load and the range of measurement is pretty limited. For instance, the .5" water signal can occur at engine speeds as low as 1800 RPM.. The full range of the venturi signal can easily reach 64" water which greatly exceeds the 1" full scale range of the KM manometer.

I routinely log the venturi signal as I drive at normal hiway speeds. As entertaining as it is to review the captured data plots, I've actually found little practical use for the information.

MikeM

Well, I learned something. Thanks.