How is the original Rochester fuel injection for regular driving?
05-01-2012, 07:26 AM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
How is the original Rochester fuel injection for regular driving?
A friend of mine bought a numbers matching 64 convertible that is originally a fuel injection.
I know that he wants to buy the fuel injection unit and air filter parts which is missing on his car but he use this car every sunny day and he is afraid that if he put on the factory fuel injection there will be a lot of trouble having the car running like it is with a carburator like he have on the car now.
He said he had read that you should use special fuel for the factory fuel injected Corvettes and that there was quite a lot of issues with the fuel injection.
I just wonder if he is right about this because i thought that if you have a restored fuel injection the car would run just fine?
I know that he wants to buy the fuel injection unit and air filter parts which is missing on his car but he use this car every sunny day and he is afraid that if he put on the factory fuel injection there will be a lot of trouble having the car running like it is with a carburator like he have on the car now.
He said he had read that you should use special fuel for the factory fuel injected Corvettes and that there was quite a lot of issues with the fuel injection.
I just wonder if he is right about this because i thought that if you have a restored fuel injection the car would run just fine?
05-01-2012, 07:29 AM
#2
Team Owner
Tons of threads on this....some no more than a few days old.
And reading up on Jerry Bramlett's web site "Ram Jets that Run" will give you great info too.
And reading up on Jerry Bramlett's web site "Ram Jets that Run" will give you great info too.
05-01-2012, 07:37 AM
#3
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Looks like you need special fuel when reading what Jerry Bramlett is saying and that makes it a bit more difficult compared to a carburator car
Will not always work properly on a stock engine using modern pump gasoline. You must use undiluted 108 or 110 octane racing gasoline
Will not always work properly on a stock engine using modern pump gasoline. You must use undiluted 108 or 110 octane racing gasoline
05-01-2012, 07:51 AM
#4
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I leave here in the northeast and when the temp is over 85 I park my fuelie and then use my carbureted 61. I love my fuelie but with todays fuel it can give you driving issues in hot weather. I am too cheap to pay over $10.00/gal for racing fuel.
When the weather is cooler there is nothing like driving the fuelie.
Joe
When the weather is cooler there is nothing like driving the fuelie.
Joe
05-01-2012, 07:56 AM
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St. Jude Donor '07
Looks like you need special fuel when reading what Jerry Bramlett is saying and that makes it a bit more difficult compared to a carburator car
Will not always work properly on a stock engine using modern pump gasoline. You must use undiluted 108 or 110 octane racing gasoline
Will not always work properly on a stock engine using modern pump gasoline. You must use undiluted 108 or 110 octane racing gasoline
Bill
05-01-2012, 08:00 AM
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St. Jude Donor '07
C2 FI is a bit better behaving in hot weather because of a difference in design of the fuel distribution system. fuel circulates through the spider hub in a C2 rather than being deadended as in a C1.
Bill
Bill
05-01-2012, 08:28 AM
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I know that he wants to buy the fuel injection unit and air filter parts which is missing on his car but he use this car every sunny day and he is afraid that if he put on the factory fuel injection there will be a lot of trouble having the car running like it is with a carburator like he have on the car now.
Otherwise, AS LONG AS THE ENGINE IS UNDER A LOAD (like when the car is moving) the FI unit will perform well.
So a prudent FI owner trains him/herself to avoid stop and go driving, to avoid driving on hot days, and to look for ways to keep moving.
Jim
05-01-2012, 08:34 AM
#9
Team Owner
I drive my dual quads on 87 octane day, night, hot, cold, traffic or country and 22mph when I can get it into overdrive.
And to be honest Bill drives a sophisticated F/I hybrid which he is much too humble about...it's darn slick..
And to be honest Bill drives a sophisticated F/I hybrid which he is much too humble about...it's darn slick..
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 05-01-2012 at 08:44 AM.
05-01-2012, 08:53 AM
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St. Jude Donor '07
i don't have a clue as to what type of gasolines are available in Norway or what the temperature extremes are, but as long as you can stay away from ethanol, or mix ethanol and unleaded, you will be fine...
and even ethanol seems to be OK when ambient temps run below about 75 degreesF
Bill
but, as a caveat, as Jim Lockwood says, you have to be a special person to drive a FI car... willing to suffer a bit (like an rider of an old Harley Davidson)..
and even ethanol seems to be OK when ambient temps run below about 75 degreesF
Bill
but, as a caveat, as Jim Lockwood says, you have to be a special person to drive a FI car... willing to suffer a bit (like an rider of an old Harley Davidson)..
05-01-2012, 09:06 AM
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St. Jude Donor '07
if you haven't gathered yet from my postings in defense of Rochester FI, i am one of it's biggest fans. i have driven Rochester FI fueled cars for over 45 years...
my 'hybridization' (as Frank generously describes it..) was probably the end result of many factors, the major one being ethanol gas. BUT i also added a/c which exacerbates the heat/percolation problem.
til ethanol was added i had no problem, winter or summer, even with the a/c. and highway driving winter and summer has never been a problem, ethanol or not... it was just that summer stop & go traffic got to be too much of a hassle, and an expense if i wanted to mix 2 gallons of 110 leaded racing fuel and the remainder of a full tank of 93 ethanol pump gas.... and i drive a LOT, i liked to say "every day it doesn't snow" (and it doesn't snow all that much in Florida...).
what i find amazing is that people are still paying tons of $$$$ for FI units on ebay; i just hope they realize what they are getting into and what they will have to learn to live with...
Bill
PS: i still have my last unit, stored in a box...
my 'hybridization' (as Frank generously describes it..) was probably the end result of many factors, the major one being ethanol gas. BUT i also added a/c which exacerbates the heat/percolation problem.
til ethanol was added i had no problem, winter or summer, even with the a/c. and highway driving winter and summer has never been a problem, ethanol or not... it was just that summer stop & go traffic got to be too much of a hassle, and an expense if i wanted to mix 2 gallons of 110 leaded racing fuel and the remainder of a full tank of 93 ethanol pump gas.... and i drive a LOT, i liked to say "every day it doesn't snow" (and it doesn't snow all that much in Florida...).
what i find amazing is that people are still paying tons of $$$$ for FI units on ebay; i just hope they realize what they are getting into and what they will have to learn to live with...
Bill
PS: i still have my last unit, stored in a box...
Last edited by wmf62; 05-01-2012 at 09:08 AM.
05-01-2012, 10:14 AM
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Looks like you need special fuel when reading what Jerry Bramlett is saying and that makes it a bit more difficult compared to a carburator car
Will not always work properly on a stock engine using modern pump gasoline. You must use undiluted 108 or 110 octane racing gasoline
Will not always work properly on a stock engine using modern pump gasoline. You must use undiluted 108 or 110 octane racing gasoline
), I have been driving Rochester fuel injected cars for over 45 years.I have never found special fuel needed to be used in these engines and we have had ethanol laced fuel in this area for 30 years or so.
On a rare occasion, very hot day, if I stop and idle for a short period, the idle will get a little flakey. Give it a little gas and it smooths out. On hot days, you don't get an instant hot restart, engine has to roll over 5-7 times with the throttle open and then the engine lights off. Sometimes, but not always with a some roughness. Again, goose it a few times and everything smooths out. Seems like the '64-'65 7380 FI unit I have with the fuel enrichment solenoid on it does the hot restart better than the '63 7375 unit.
Be advised, there's many different blends of fuel mandated by the EPA in this country so it should be no surprise that some areas of the country could have problems and maybe some not have. I had my car down in Wm62's neighborhood a couple years ago and filled my tank twice with "his" gasoline. I can say that my car had run well for the two years prior to that visit. It never has never ran worse than that week I was there. It returned to "normal" when I got back home. There must be something in the water down there (maybe it was water, don't know).
I'm not sure the problem is the ethanol itself but rather the blend of the gasoline with it's other components. I'm not qualified to say yea/nea.
Also, I run 89 octane in my engine(s). Don't know how 89 is blended compared to 93 octane which probably almost everyone here thinks you have to run.
As for the Rochester injector being troublefree? I ran one '63 unit from 1965 until sometime in the late '90's. Ran another one from '65 up through about 1980. Neither had ever been opened up for cleaning or rebuild. One of them, I set the fuel pressure on only because I had just bought a new Kent-Moore FI calibration setup. In other words, they're dead reliable if you keep clean fuel running through them.
People talk about the pump cables breaking. I'm still running a virgin '63cable. If you have a problem with broken cables it's probably a reproduction cable that's made wrong. See John DeGregory in Pennsylvania for a good replacement.
Last edited by MikeM; 05-01-2012 at 10:21 AM.
I concur! I have rebuilt my unit twice in those 45+ years, and broken two drive cables. Of course, I only drive mine on weekends
05-01-2012, 12:02 PM
#15
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To borrow a line from Wm62(), I have been driving Rochester fuel injected cars for over 45 years.
I have never found special fuel needed to be used in these engines and we have had ethanol laced fuel in this area for 30 years or so.
On a rare occasion, very hot day, if I stop and idle for a short period, the idle will get a little flakey. Give it a little gas and it smooths out. On hot days, you don't get an instant hot restart, engine has to roll over 5-7 times with the throttle open and then the engine lights off. Sometimes, but not always with a some roughness. Again, goose it a few times and everything smooths out. Seems like the '64-'65 7380 FI unit I have with the fuel enrichment solenoid on it does the hot restart better than the '63 7375 unit.
Be advised, there's many different blends of fuel mandated by the EPA in this country so it should be no surprise that some areas of the country could have problems and maybe some not have. I had my car down in Wm62's neighborhood a couple years ago and filled my tank twice with "his" gasoline. I can say that my car had run well for the two years prior to that visit. It never has never ran worse than that week I was there. It returned to "normal" when I got back home. There must be something in the water down there (maybe it was water, don't know).
I'm not sure the problem is the ethanol itself but rather the blend of the gasoline with it's other components. I'm not qualified to say yea/nea.
Also, I run 89 octane in my engine(s). Don't know how 89 is blended compared to 93 octane which probably almost everyone here thinks you have to run.
As for the Rochester injector being troublefree? I ran one '63 unit from 1965 until sometime in the late '90's. Ran another one from '65 up through about 1980. Neither had ever been opened up for cleaning or rebuild. One of them, I set the fuel pressure on only because I had just bought a new Kent-Moore FI calibration setup. In other words, they're dead reliable if you keep clean fuel running through them.
People talk about the pump cables breaking. I'm still running a virgin '63cable. If you have a problem with broken cables it's probably a reproduction cable that's made wrong. See John DeGregory in Pennsylvania for a good replacement.
), I have been driving Rochester fuel injected cars for over 45 years.I have never found special fuel needed to be used in these engines and we have had ethanol laced fuel in this area for 30 years or so.
On a rare occasion, very hot day, if I stop and idle for a short period, the idle will get a little flakey. Give it a little gas and it smooths out. On hot days, you don't get an instant hot restart, engine has to roll over 5-7 times with the throttle open and then the engine lights off. Sometimes, but not always with a some roughness. Again, goose it a few times and everything smooths out. Seems like the '64-'65 7380 FI unit I have with the fuel enrichment solenoid on it does the hot restart better than the '63 7375 unit.
Be advised, there's many different blends of fuel mandated by the EPA in this country so it should be no surprise that some areas of the country could have problems and maybe some not have. I had my car down in Wm62's neighborhood a couple years ago and filled my tank twice with "his" gasoline. I can say that my car had run well for the two years prior to that visit. It never has never ran worse than that week I was there. It returned to "normal" when I got back home. There must be something in the water down there (maybe it was water, don't know).
I'm not sure the problem is the ethanol itself but rather the blend of the gasoline with it's other components. I'm not qualified to say yea/nea.
Also, I run 89 octane in my engine(s). Don't know how 89 is blended compared to 93 octane which probably almost everyone here thinks you have to run.
As for the Rochester injector being troublefree? I ran one '63 unit from 1965 until sometime in the late '90's. Ran another one from '65 up through about 1980. Neither had ever been opened up for cleaning or rebuild. One of them, I set the fuel pressure on only because I had just bought a new Kent-Moore FI calibration setup. In other words, they're dead reliable if you keep clean fuel running through them.
People talk about the pump cables breaking. I'm still running a virgin '63cable. If you have a problem with broken cables it's probably a reproduction cable that's made wrong. See John DeGregory in Pennsylvania for a good replacement.
05-01-2012, 12:22 PM
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How do the FI cars in Canada run on E10 gas? I know it gets hot there too.
05-02-2012, 11:01 AM
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Yes - we get lots of hot weather in the summer - 90 - 95F lots of times and I have never had a problem with 10% ethenol. I also own a 2012 Merc, CLS AMG with the perfromance package and no trouble - but I always use 93 octane on all cars - incl my wifes Audi, 2.0T. But I bought the 62 fuelie and didn't want to use unleaded gas because I assumed they need leaded gas for the high compression - but I don't really know much more other than that assumption and thought there were additives to make it like leaded? If it is not the leaded gas, then what is the problem with just the 93 octane?
05-02-2012, 12:03 PM
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St. Jude Donor '07
Yes - we get lots of hot weather in the summer - 90 - 95F lots of times and I have never had a problem with 10% ethenol. I also own a 2012 Merc, CLS AMG with the perfromance package and no trouble - but I always use 93 octane on all cars - incl my wifes Audi, 2.0T. But I bought the 62 fuelie and didn't want to use unleaded gas because I assumed they need leaded gas for the high compression - but I don't really know much more other than that assumption and thought there were additives to make it like leaded? If it is not the leaded gas, then what is the problem with just the 93 octane?
the problem with ethanol gas in a C1 (and to a lesser extent c2s) is percolation (boiling/vaporizing) of the gasoline in the tiny spider lines leading to the injector nozzles from engine/under hood temps, as the pressure in those lines at idle is only a couple of pounds...
something that helps in traffic is to leave the hood unlatched to let more of the heat out. i prop my hood up a bit further with a couple of plastic fittings..
...if you are not having a problem... enjoy
Bill
you can wade through this....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
Last edited by wmf62; 05-02-2012 at 12:11 PM.
05-02-2012, 12:28 PM
#20
Yes - we get lots of hot weather in the summer - 90 - 95F lots of times and I have never had a problem with 10% ethenol. I also own a 2012 Merc, CLS AMG with the perfromance package and no trouble - but I always use 93 octane on all cars - incl my wifes Audi, 2.0T. But I bought the 62 fuelie and didn't want to use unleaded gas because I assumed they need leaded gas for the high compression - but I don't really know much more other than that assumption and thought there were additives to make it like leaded? If it is not the leaded gas, then what is the problem with just the 93 octane?
Black 62- as other have said there's no need for any 'lead' in gasoline, in fact the removal was one of the best things that could have happened to engine longevity and performance.
As for octane ratings- keep in mind that the rating system itself (not the gasoline) changed in the mid-late 70s. What used to be sold as 98 or 99 back in the 60s is now called 93 but has the same anti-detonation properties. Your car will run just fine on 93 or possibly lower from what I know from other fuelie owners in Canada.