jerbar43

Hello Everyone....Just a general question. I'm interested in a 61 fuel injected Corvette that a gentleman has for sale. I honestly am afraid of the darn thing because of
the complexity of the fuel unit. Are they relatively reliable for long distance driving or will I have to constantly keep it dialed in so to speak?
I know it's a very collectable car but is it more of a fine tuned performer as opposed to a good ole carburetor?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts....JerBar

Rdelvalle

The Fuelie is a great car. I bought mine August 2017 a 59 FI290. I love the car although I have to admit that I have not driven it much because we have been restoring it and is almost finished. I had a choice of a dual quad 270 or the fuelie. The dual quad was in much better shape and of course cheaper. However I chose the FI one and I am very glad I did.
I did do a complete restoration of the FI unit. That is completely disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. New seals, diaphragms, new hoses, gas pump shaft seals bushings. Restored to it factory to like new condition. The car runs perfect with no hesitation. However on a hot start it gets finicky as it gets vapor lock. It is very hot here in Miami and it does not help. I was using E10 93 Octane gas but just switched to Rec90. I have not driven it since the switch.
We did design an inline marine blower that we installed that blows 120 CFM of outside air into the spider and that helps greatly. Also insulated the gas lines from the fuel pump to the FI unit intake. Me I would buy the fuellie and live with its idiosyncrasies. If you buy it I can give tips of what to do to domesticate the fuellie.

jerbar43

Thanks so much for your input and offer of future help.....Regards.....JerBar

Rdelvalle

You are welcomed. There is nothing like the motor sound of a fuellie with solid lifters and high lift cams. Go fullies.

jim lockwood

If the FI unit is rebuilt and calibrated by a competent rebuilder it will be extremely reliable. You, the owner, have to have the good sense to NOT tinker with it, though, after it's been properly set up.

FI units do have their quirks or "endearing qualities" as my bride says about my quirks. You need to educate yourself about these endearing qualities and how to work around them.

Back to reliability: I have two fuelies. I've driven both of them from coast to coast and on other long trips. I trust them completely.

Jim

DZAUTO

I have two cars with FI. Both are VERY dependable and as Jim mentioned, they also have their quirks. I can, and do, drive them anywhere.

Todd H.

Jim and Tom and a few others on here know FI inside out. They're usually available for good advice.

I've been driving my '57 FI for more than six years now. No FI related problems. A '61 FI is a better setup because of the cold air intake.

Don't fear the FI. If it runs well now it will very likely stay that way if you leave it alone. These old engines have other vulnerabilities that the FI is sometimes unfairly blamed for.

wmf62

my only advice after 50 years of FI fun, carry a spare drive cable... otherwise, enjoy
Bill

bbison

Where do you live? I bought a '59 fuelie that ran fine on Texas no-ethanol gas where I bought it, but hated the crap gas here in California. Given the chance to do it over again I would have probably gone a different way.

There are a million threads on here about this, and it's well worth your time to read them all before taking the plunge.

Rdelvalle

bbison,looks like you have the same car as mine, white 59 fuellie. Is yours 290hp? Can you elaborate on the crap gas of California. What problems did you encounter with the Cal gas vs the Texas no- ethanol. Is the Cal gas rec90? When you say you would do it different can you tell why? What problems have you encountered wit the FI that makes you think like that. This will help the OP and my curiosity.

I admit I have not driven mine much because I have been doing a major restoration but I would go fuellie again if I had to. All the problems I have encountered are mentioned in all the postings you refer to but they give solutions. Like the others in this posting stated they have many years of usage without problems.

Mine works beautifully with the exception of hot start which is only a small inconvenience some times on a very hot day. But it just means cranking the engine a few more times, nothing drastic. I switched to Rec 90 to see if I can improve on the hot start. Have not tried it yet.

MikeM

I have the last/later units that were built. Always have. "63--65 model FI's. Been running them since 1966.

Back then, most of the service parts were not stocked at the Chevy dealer. The furtherest I ever got from home was about 500 miles. I had a spare unit sitting behind the driver's seat with enough tools to change out if something went wrong. That was years ago. I never had any trouble.

After running one unit for about 20 years with no problem, I switched to another one that had been idle for about 20 years. It fired right up and ran perfectly without touching it.

Today, I look at these things like I look at a Pertonix ignition. If the FI should happen to fail unexpectedly which isn't likely, you'll have to make decisions about what to do next. Worst case, look on C'SL for a carb/manifold and throw in on the engine and drive home.

As far as the pump drive cables go, there have been some very bad repop cables put on the market that will fail, quickly. Some are too stiff. Some are wound backwards. See John DeGregory in Pennsylvania for a quality replacement.

I am still running vintage 1963 cables in my units and they still look okay.

If you have an old Corvette with FI, the biggest problem reported seems to be a hot restart. Well, big deal. How many of them do you make in a day where you can't handle a piddly problem like that? .

Todd H.

And engines with carburetors often have the same hot restart issue, which is pretty insignificant on my '57.

Like every FI driver, I carry a spare cable for the high pressure fuel pump.

Rdelvalle

MikeM

Agree the only problem I have is an occasional hot start. Just crank the engine a bit longer, I have the solenoid system that is attached to the spider hub that by passes the system and squirts gas directly into the spider, the equivalent to a choke. When the FI acts up on hot start I just press the solenoid switch and crank the engine a few seconds more then it sputters and then wham it starts. Not bad at all. I have the same problem when I wake up in the morning getting out of bed. Press the coffee solenoid and in a few seconds I am up and running. It happens with most old systems.

MikeM

Same thing on restarts applies to the difference between the 7375 and 7380 units. The 7380 units fire right up on a hot restart.

reddog5

I have only had mine 4 years so a newby compared to others here. I have not touched it and car is completely reliable. Hot restarts not usually a problem where I live but they are better than my Valiant 408 with modern Fitech. Working on getting the Fitech as reliable as the vette! I try to run premium Shell here if I can as it contains no ethanol.

Dan Hampton

If paranoia dominates, simply change the unit over to a carbureted system and put the FI on the shelf for the next buyer. No harm, no foul.

DZAUTO

Yep, my T-bucket has a 7380 unit. Works like brand new! And runs like a scalded dog! John DeGregory rebuilt/restored it about 20yrs ago.

Railroadman

It's never too late to move. And you already know the car votes for Texas!

DZAUTO

Fortunately, in Okla, there are MANY gas stations that have NON-ethanol pumps. I run 91 octane NON-ethanol in everything except the 04 Imp SS and the 12 Tahoe. Even the 420SB in the boat runs fine on 91.

ddlanes