Patina Build

[904Bronco]

So what are your thoughts on the Sniper now that you have a good unit?

So Patrick, I wouldn't do this again, not when I have to invest 5+ hours of my time waiting to get Tech support. Or buy a SD card reader to do Data logging to send to the Tech, hoping to get a reply. The 1st one (Tech) has yet to reply to my follow up that I emailed him.

Yeah, sure the 2nd one (Sniper unit) runs as well as the 1st unit did, but at least it idles better. IAC was believed to be bad on the 1st one. And I had to take some timing out since there was pinging under my heavy foot. which is hard to believe with a motor with only 8.8 compression ratio?

I have any number of people I can chat with when I have an issue with Mustang OBDI or Explorer OBDII, I can plug a scanner into it and get instant info.
If I need a part, almost any auto parts store can help me. Holley, not so much...

That is my Honest opinion. One more cold start, another 30 miles around town. Probably hit the freeway again just to be sure it is good to go for Dr Bill.

Doug

[70 Steed]

Doug, it’s disappointing to hear that it takes so long on hold to talk to Holley Tech Support. Here are a couple of other resources for Sniper problems:

https://forums.holley.com/forumdispl...?82-Sniper-EFI

https://www.fastmanefi.com/

[crawlin68]

Yeah, that is really too bad that their tech support has gone down hill like that. They used to be top notch. When I had a few questions when installing mine, I just went to their online forum. Every question under the sun has been asked there with tons of answers and procedures to fix what problem you're having. That seemed to work really well. Better than waiting on hold. Anyway, I'm glad you got it sorted out and running good!

[904Bronco]

So to wrap this up... Bill is coming to get the TA this weekend. I put another 30+ miles on it yesterday without issue. Even hit the freeway again. That makes it about 130 miles I have put on it in total. It seems to run pretty well, but I have no comparison as it was dead when I got it back in July. I am ready to have it leave.
I filled that tank for him for the drive home, and well $60 of premium to fill the new tank!!!
I talked with my Buddy John who is setting up my rear end, his shop has set up 3 of these units on various rigs. The 1st one they did had RF issues that they worked through, the other two had some issues as well. They have declined to do anymore of the Holley installs. When you are a busy shop, you don't have time to do extensive follow up when there are issues with the product.

To be fare, Holley Tech, like so many other businesses, were overwhelmed by the sudden need of their clients. Business that thought the Covid was going to hit them financially were surprised at the demand for their products when everyone was told to stay home. As all those folks said, well I am stuck at home, so lets work on my car/truck/boat/motorcycle. Stimulus money also helped. Some companies did well, as they had a good stockpile of inventory to sell, other got hit by back orders as their suppliers were shut down too. There was a ripple effect throughout this industry, as well as so many others... Home improvement as another example. The last Tech I talked to, the most helpful by the way, said they were stuck at home answering calls at first, then Holley got social distancing set up so people could return to work. But the call volume continued to rise, they added more tech's and increased their hours, and did Saturdays too. But wait times were excessive, 50 mins being my shortest, twice I gave up after 1.5 hrs. As they wanted to provide good Tech service, they were also under the gun to limit their time dealing with customers to some degree. Let's just say that in Customer service you get to talk to people that cover the scale... Clueless to over educated

So do I blame Holley... No, Would I do this again... No.

[904Bronco]

So Back to Mater now...

Rear springs are hanging on the frame. Supposed to get the 3rd member all freshened with the new gear set and locker back Sunday? I started tearing down the D30, gears are getting changed out to 4:10. It looks pretty good inside, no rust and water. Drum brakes were a pain to get off, down to the rivets on the shoes, grooves in the drums. Going with GM front disc brakes. Keeping the factory Dana hubs, hoping Ford still has service parts. And the Napa parts all showed up, wrong 10" drums ordered. All of Napa's premium line stuff is made in China now... which is frustrating to say the least. So with any luck, the rear end will be back together or close to it by the coming weekend.

[70 Steed]

I know people who have put FiTechs in their vehicles and people who have put Snipers. Some have had issues and some have had no issues. Also from what I’ve read it seems there are more issues with the FiTechs. Also I’ve heard from friends and read online that FiTech’s tech support was horrible even before COVID. I know you said Bill wanted fuel injection that looked like a carb. Unfortunately their aren’t a lot of choices for throttle body fuel injection.

A lot of people have had good luck with the Edelbrock direct injection but that is pretty spendy.

[904Bronco]

Skip,

The thing I am really concerned about is... Bill is moving to Southern Oregon. I can't troubleshoot issues from here. He is a Car Guy that doesn't work on his stuff.
If anything pops up with the Sniper he will need to find a shop that can deal with it up there. He was spoiled with the Ford EFI conversion I did on his Bronco some years ago. He wanted the same for the TA, I am not so confident that the Sniper will be able to be trouble free for years... I hope so, time will tell...

[904Bronco]

Mater's D30 needs King pins, should have guessed that when I saw the drum brakes condition and the Ford freewheel'in hubs packed with grease.
King pins kits, need 4 of them, are pricey like ball joints for D44. Plus the shim kits for the right preload too. WH's seem to have all that is needed.

Anyone here here done them and can offer any words of wisdom or a good U-tube Video?

[904Bronco]

And back to Mater...

Frame is back from powder coater and rebuilt/locked rearend, brake lines, Aero fuel tank, fuel vapor/CC line was bent up, Installed. D30 rebuilt, now struggling to get the king pins apart to clean, paint, and rebuild. Sure takes longer to get parts these days?

[crawlin68]

Looks awesome Doug! This is the fun part now.

[904Bronco]

Working on a D30 for the 1st time... It is different

New tool of Enlightenment... on one side the King pin required an attitude adjustment.

[M_luther]

Best way to learn new things is to dig in and do it. Looks great.

[904Bronco]

Chassis is a roller now, Moved towards getting the engine ready to install and ordered some parts from Rock auto.

I saw some things I didn't like after I pulled the intake... So off came the heads... And things went way south after that. Short block and heads are at the Machinist now and I am cleaning parts.

Just hoping to get the body back on the frame so I can take a break...

[crawlin68]

The rolling chassis is beautiful Doug! The cylinders and pistons on the other hand are no beuno! Over heated maybe? Yuck!

[904Bronco]

The rolling chassis is beautiful Doug! The cylinders and pistons on the other hand are no beuno! Over heated maybe? Yuck!

Thank you Patrick. More likely overheated and/or run lean...
Cam is done... As in paperweight,
Ordered a new Comp cam on EFI Guy's recommendation, went looking for the thread that was started here, on the EFI cam to buy, but couldn't find it.
Machinist guessed that we are looking at .020, will know more this week. Took him the HB and flex plate so the rotating assembly can be balanced when they get there.

Such fun...