THE AUTO BUILDER

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All summer you’ve dreamed of passing all those boats that have blown by you since June. Now that time has come. You plunk down a large stack of greenbacks for a nasty supercharger and wrench all weekend bolting it in. Now comes the moment of truth. As you tear down the lake, all eyes are on the gauges, and the oil pressure is heading south too quickly. What could be wrong? You let off the throttle for a bit and all the vital signs return to normal.

We’ve ran into this exact scenario before. We installed an R-Tech Supercooler on the ProCharged Dorr’s Marine Engine 502cid motor in our Baja 250ES. The install was a huge success with a whopping 9mph increase in top speed. The boat worked well, but what we weren’t expecting was the huge increase in oil temperature from the gain in horsepower. If we had stayed on the throttle for a good 5,000-plus-rpm run, the oil temperature would have shot for the moon and oil pressure would have dropped to an uncomfortable level, forcing us to back out—what fun is that?

Too Cool

When Billy Durant approached Louis Chevrolet about designing a new automobile, Chevrolet was a famous race car driver whose exploits in the Indianapolis 500 were legendary. The year was 1911 and Durant, who could see the writing on the wall for his horse-drawn buggy business, figured who better to design an all-new, high-performance vehicle than a successful driver. Chevrolet, a company that was founded by racers and has produced some of the best high-performance vehicles ever to hit the pavement, has once again gone where no other manufacturer has dared to venture. With truck sales making up nearly 50 percent of their sales volume each year, Chevy wanted to create a Flagship vehicle for their pickup line. It had to be a totally new idea in pickups. But what was to be the angle? Luckily, someone at Chevy figured that since the Corvette holds that title for the autos, maybe the new truck should be equally as high performance. With that, the new Chevrolet Silverado Coolside II was born.

PONY RIDES

Growing up in a “car family” is always interesting, as many of you reading this can attest. Having raised two kids in a household dedicated to vintage automobiles, this author is an authority on the subject.

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RETRO IS ALL THE RAGE

Installing the Retro Tek EFI 6-Pack

Hot rodders are a picky lot; some want their rides to look as if they stepped out of a time warp, but they also want them to be equipped with the latest of mechanical improvements. Disc brakes, power steering, air conditioning and even full surround-sound stereos and videos are the norm. So it should come as no surprise that the benefits of electronic fuel injection have been fully embraced by those who drive vintage trucks. But with notable exceptions, the look of the fuel injections systems was mostly unpleasing to the eye.

Author

Matt Emery

Story & Photography

Those who longed for their engines to look as they did back in the old days of multiple-carb setups were out of luck. Cool as they were to look at, there are lots of reasons why the multi-carb setup fell out of favor, and most of them had to do with the fact that they were a bear to sync. The advent of the four-barrel carb was the death for these systems, though the purists among us prayed for a breakthrough.

Thanks to Ken Farrell and his company, Retro Tek, those prayers have been answered. Farrell started off converting old mechanical fuel injection systems (Hilborn & Enderle) when the first aftermarket EFI systems became available. His new system, which uses the latest in EFI mated together with the classic Stromburg 97 design, came about when Farrell saw that there was interest in the benefits of EFI, but he also knew that they were lacking in the looks department. The idea was simple take the best aspects of both and add them together.

One of the problems with the EFI systems was the need for an engineering degree just to get them to work. Retro Tek has addressed that, as its new Injection Logic ECU was designed to give the novice a chance to get with the program. The Retro Tek QTC brings the tech stuff to real terms so that any person who can tune a carb can understand how to work the new system. Retro Tek says that its new PC software takes the ease of tuning to a new level.

While this customer wanted to use an external coiled HEI GM distributor, the Retro Tek system will work with the majority of factory and aftermarket ignition systems. For those with an LS1 engine, operating systems will be available soon, so call for information.

For those who want to have the muscle car look, Retro Tek also has a new 2×4 system that will fit on any existing four-barrel manifold, and 2×4 intakes are available new and used. It is a similar bolt-on using the same ECU, but the regulator is built in and the fuel system is a low-pressure design. According to Farrell, dyno results at Westech have been exceptional, and this is a great kit for a budget-minded build ranging from $1,200 for a single to $2,500 for a polished 2×4 setup.

We were on hand as the crew at Barry White s Street Rod Repair Company installed the system onto this 40 Ford pickup. The truck has been equipped with a Chevy engine, but the Retro Tek system will work on any engine. The install took only about half a day, and it is one that most folks can do in their own garages.

Retro Tek is a family-owned business with Ken as the engineer, Susan Farrell handling the phones and computer programming, and Ken, Jr. and Rebecca helping out where they can.

So, if you like the benefits of the latest technology but love the look of the old days, the Retro Tek system may be for you. Read on and see.

Looks are everything, and the Retro Tek EFI units, which are based on the Stromburg 97, look great. And with the installation of the fuel injectors deep inside of them, they work great, too!

The 40 Ford has been equipped with a 350 Chevy engine.

The first step is to remove the unwanted parts and pieces that will be in the way of removing the intake manifold.

The four-barrel carb has served the truck well, but the future is electronic.

With the carb out of the way, the valve covers and distributor are next.

Last but not least, the intake manifold is removed, but care is taken not to drop any debris into the intake ports.

As with any intake manifold installation, the mating surfaces need to be very clean so that the gaskets will seal well. Here, an angle grinder has been equipped with a light sanding disc, and a few soft passes are made to clean up any remaining residue from the old manifold.

A few hits with compressed air are used to remove any remaining debris.

Gasket material is used on the end rails. It is allowed to set up slightly before the new intake manifold is set in place.

A few passes around the water openings ensure that there is a good seal.

The gaskets are set in place. Some gaskets are designed to be installed with a certain side up, so look over the gaskets to be sure that they are installed correctly.