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Magna EFI. Am I silly for thinking this?
General_Failure - February 1st, 2009 at 10:48 AM

G'day.

I just wanted to ask about something that drifted through my mind.

In our backyard we have my other halfs ill fated 1st gen EFI magna. It died due to oil pump failure. For some reason it has a nice shiny EFI system on it. New injectors, rail etc.

I know that people have successfully machined Astron distributors to fit VWs somehow. i haven't found any info on that.

Yes, I've read the stickied EFI tread many times since it was put there. This is more of a specific implementation question.

So essentially there is a complete EFI system sitting out there. How do people connect the injectors to a manifold?

My van has a typeIV 1.8L carb motor in it. Currently running a single progressive weber, but I still have the dual carb setup kicking around incase I need it.
My thoughts were that the flat bits on the dual carb manifolds near the inlet ports looked like the perfect place to mount injectors. But then I would need dual throttle bodies and a way of connecting a MAF sensor to the whole lot (Via the air filter maybe?)

I have also wondered about TBI in the past. Does it actually offer any tangible advantage over carburetted?

This is just another thread of conjecture. I probably won't do it unless it really seems possible and I get permission to use the parts.


Newt - February 1st, 2009 at 03:40 PM

My question would be "how do you change the air to fuel mixture ratio from a) 14.something :1 to b) 12.something :1"


Newt


Joel - February 1st, 2009 at 05:22 PM

ppl have welded injector bosses into stock manifolds with type4s but best bet would be find a stock efi manifold setup
there should be plenty lying around in ppls shed as they get ripped off cos most modern mechanic have no understanding of the L-jet system and parts are hard to get

knocking toghether a megaquirt ECU for it would be right up ur alley

TBI isnt worth the effort
basically an electric carb with all the same faults plus electirical ones thrown in for good measure


shaihulud - February 2nd, 2009 at 11:39 PM

Given that it was done properly, I see no reason why that should not work,

I've heard of Camira EFIs being put on Beetle engines to good effect, but I have no idea how it's done.


VWCOOL - February 3rd, 2009 at 08:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shaihulud
Given that it was done properly, I see no reason why that should not work,

I've heard of Camira EFIs being put on Beetle engines to good effect, but I have no idea how it's done.


... that's because Holden ECUs can be easily reprogrammed and the dissy is a close fit.

So, GeneralF, it's not a silly idea but there are better hardware sets to begin with


Stanley - February 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by General_Failure
G'day.


I know that people have successfully machined Astron distributors to fit VWs somehow. i haven't found any info on that.




I run one of these on my car. Although i can't take credit for it's modification I have measured it etc to make another one. They seem to work great.


General_Failure - February 4th, 2009 at 11:43 PM

Ah, sorry. I was going to reply but... yeah.

Stanley, can you tell me about the dissy? I have been trying to figure out if the ones that have been machined have been made to take the VW single offset spline thing, or if they have the gear on the end and require removal of the case end of the VW spline thing?

VWCOOL, I don't know much about the Magna ECU, but it doesn't bother me much. Putting together a megasquirt, or if I'm feeling saucy building an ECU of my own design doesn't really bother me.

Just how close is the fit of the holden dissy? what needs to be done to make it physically fit? What trigger mechanism does it have?
I've been trying to find a relatively easy electronic replacement that I can use for my own evil needs.


yasdnil01 - May 5th, 2009 at 09:32 PM

I have done several sigma dizzy conversions for my vee dubs
there is an easy way and a not so easy way ...the easy way is to just take a sigma dizzy drive out the drive gear locking pin, remove the gear pull the guts out of the dizzy drive the bottom bronze shaft bushing up into the dizzy around 12mm and then cut off the excess alloy housing till flush with the bushing, put the dizzy back togeather, holding the rotor in aline with the No1 mark on the outer casing of the dissy, slip on the fiber/ steel washers and a vw drive spline
mark and drill a hole for a locking pin, cut off the excess shaft as it will be to long and need to be trimed off ...and put it all togeather once more and use the vw wire ring so the locking pin never comes out .. thats about it...stick it in your vw case, wire it up to the sigma bosch ignition module ...time it ...and bobs ya uncle !
I'm going to try the magna EFI on a vee dub as soon as i can get all the bits i need togeather...anyone got an old 2.6 magna with efi that they want to donate to a good cause ???? :dork:


bajachris88 - May 5th, 2009 at 10:14 PM

Its not as hard as people say, its just a bit of work. I have had to revise a few efi systems completely on other cars.

They all follow a generic trend. like said though, be gone with the factory ecu. the rest is good though. Dissy is ur biggest hike, even trying to find someone confident enough in a workshop to take the job at hand of adapting the 'efi' guts into a vw dissy housing and shaft is hard. Well, i had trouble, but i have concluded that workshops in springwood are lazy and rush jobs anyway. But, If you had a tig welder or a knack for the stuff and was switched on, u would be fine, or if you can find a decent engineering shop that will give it a go..

If you knew exact sizes etc and what you wanted done, you have the efi dissy housing & vw dissy housing, cut the vw housing that holds the main oil seal and bearing that slides into the engine case, and get an engineering shop to weld it to replace the shaft housing of the the efi dissy housing so you have the appropriate housing to fit into the engine case and the right mounted efi sensor guts mounted on top etc. Best keeping that efi top part, as the precision of the clearances between the signal rotors and pickups (depending on sensor type) need to be pretty precise and accurate. By maintaining the stock efi mounting for the pickups, and with a pro at the engineering shop who can align the vw bottom half of the dissy housing, your on your way.

Then for internal shaft, you will have to compare lengths, diameters etc, if not long enough, source an engineering shop that can supply you it at the length with the hole drilled in the bottom for the dissy drive key. or if the diameter's of the efi vs carb shaft are different, redrill the efi signal rotors to bigger holes or get a tight sleeve from 'yet again an engineering shop' pressed and tacked on to make the wider diameter hole for the efi signal rotors/crankshaft pos-sensors. these signal rotors are generally pressed on, and you can usually strip apart a whole dissy by lubing the shaft and pressing it out on a bench vice.


Best ideas to start with injectors and what not is look at vw's original setup on the old 1600cc efi setups like the type 3's and what not. Same goes for AFM or MAP sensors (depending on efi system). try to go MAP, its alot less sensative to issues like annoying vacuum leaks etc, sensative, in that it won't leave ya stalling and sitting in a curb trying to work out the issue, you will be able to get home fine.

I almost scored a complete vw efi system from the states last yr on ebay, thats a less painful way for you to go, but you will have a type 3 pancake setup in ur bug instead as a result, and i don't know how they go fittin into a standard beetle. would save some headache for ya, and money.

maybe instead of the whole system. you just get the type 3 dissy? and adapt the rest? the rest is relatively easy then. The dissy is ur hardest part.


bajachris88 - May 5th, 2009 at 10:19 PM

wait... don't the type 4's have 009 dissy's as well? does that mean they are the same?

You would have better luck finding an efi type 4 dissy (1700cc to 2ltr) rather than mucking around with making one. Yet again, international ebay is your friend. and don't just stick to vw, porsche as well.
(if igot the right idea about being the same, i'm just suggesting based on a rough suspicion that i may have heard, cause it sounds familiar)


bajachris88 - May 5th, 2009 at 10:27 PM

hmm it would be a good improvement for fuel mileage, very accurate fuel/air ratio across whole rev range, emissions, no more points to change and less moving parts.

Great cold starts too if you can work out a way with the ISC valves on the intake. You could make it work with a temp sensor adapted with your oil pressure sensor (if you get a VDO junction screwed in to fit both through the same factory hole). Be careful though, some are thermostat based on the coolant lines rather than temp sensor which is no good for an air cooled, choose carefully.

Get hydraulic valve lifters to polish it off and imagine how maintenance free it would be compared to factory carb 1600.


yasdnil01 - June 19th, 2009 at 08:34 PM

Got all my Mexican efi gear last week so i'll be making a start soon


cam070 - September 27th, 2009 at 09:41 PM

any updates on this?


vw54 - September 28th, 2009 at 07:16 AM

the magna dissy is the best itme on the car

they modify to suit a bug engine I have one in my car works well


colonel mustard - September 28th, 2009 at 10:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by vw54
the magna dissy is the best itme on the car

they modify to suit a bug engine I have one in my car works well


yeah, i have seen this on a few type 1 engines. any ideas what the modifications are???


yasdnil01 - September 28th, 2009 at 06:42 PM

Still mucking around and not had time to get the mexican efi set up running as yet .....work just keep getting in the road of me having fun...maybe in a week or 2
I got 2nd Mexican efi setup for sale if anyone wants to get in contact with me and i'll send some pics


vw54 - September 28th, 2009 at 08:14 PM

yeah the shaft has to be turned down in size to fit in the dissy hole plus the drive gear has to be installed

talk with HS618 on here he did mine and knows the sizes etc etc to machine too


mackaymanx - November 15th, 2009 at 03:49 PM

Here are some photos of the magna distributor modified to suit a type 1. Might be some clearance issues with the standard fuel pump with this one but it was done for EFI.