Thanks, Freeman I love the sound of this car and would be afraid it might change if I were to revert to the stock indUction system.
Seasons greetings to all Dino owners and drivers, reading this thread made me think that you might be interested to hear that we at Sports Car Restoration, Vintage and Classic Car Restoration, Surrey, London recently converted an immaculate " Classiched " Dino GTS to fuel injection using the Jenvey throttle bodies ........... the results are astounding and demonstrates that engine tuners of the day didn't know what power lay untapped ( and I guess that quote will come back to haunt us as further progress is made ) The subject cars owner who uses his Dino for serious classic car rallies in the mountains was frustrated by the cars poor - dangerous cornering performance and starting issues ........... he had recently had Stratos Carbs fitted which unfortunately resulted in a noisy and un-drivable car due to the lack of a silencer / air filter box, also the car had no bottom end performance ............ Further to the fuel injection conversion work we carried out the car now starts on the button hot or cold and has fantastic drivability thanks to the increased power and better, better torque; the car can now be driven in 4th gear around a mini roundabout with no glitches pulling away cleanly and impressively !!!!!! If there is interest I'll post some further infos and photos, Happy Xmas cheers all, Kev.
Kevin, Seasons Greetings to you as well! Yes! It would be very interesting to see further info and photos! What ECU and ignition system did you use? Freeman
I have been on the edge of doing this for a while - would love to know exactly what the gains are - please share with lots of photos! Nick
Hi Freeman, we are on holiday at present skiing in the Austrian Alps, on my return to work I'll happily deal with your enquiry fully, in the meantime you might care to check out our website Sports Car Restoration, Vintage and Classic Car Restoration, Surrey, London if you go to the " About Us " page you will see a section on the Dino EFI conversion we did ........... for your infos we initially set the car up with an English "DTA" ECU and a crank trigger wheel _ sensor and from memory we got 205 BHP up from 165 BHP which pleased us greatly ............ subsequentally we changed to a "MOTECH" system due in part to our work on "Travellers " F40 LM ( as detailed elsewhere on the F Chat forum ) and also due to concerns regarding back up as we heard that DTA had at that time ceased trading, the power went up to 227 BHP !!!!! I don't have the torque figure to hand and will send this onto you upon my return to work. As for the air box we developed a conversion adaptor plate which we neatly bonded into the floor of the original airox ............ the original airbox can be returned to standard, as this work prooved very time consuming we took a mould so that we could make any future parts cheaper in carbon fibre in order to cut future costs and reap back some of our development work. In my opinion this is the way to go, previously the car was undrivable due to exsessive noise and carburation flat spots ................ as I,m sure you know the Motch ECU can acommodate changes in altitude, temperature and humidity ............. further to that all changes are non invasive and can be changed back to standared if you ever get sick of driving a car which starts hot or cold and displays improved performance and not least, excellent fuel ecomomy ;-} I'll be in touch, cheers and kindest regards, Kev. ps should you require any validation as to the projects performance that's not a problem.
Kevin, Thank you! I think your post could be one of the most important and pivotal posts in the Dino section of F-Chat to date to change opinion for those that truly want "more" out of their Dino. I went through your photos on your website Ferrrari Dino injection. It really shows how you preserved the stock look of the engine bay and retained the stock engine lid. It really checks all the boxes for me. I like that it is completely reversible and non-evasive as we'll. When you get back, if it's possible, would you be willing to post a laundry list of what to order and from whom? One last question before you hit the Après Ski, would the Motec ECU system work with stock Marelli/Dinoplex style points ignition or does it require an optical trigger ignition? I'm really sorry about all the questions but you truly are the first to tackle this and do it right! Again, Thank You! Freeman
Freeman, if you go the Motec route get ahold of Shane Tecklenburg. He is one of the most well known Motec tuners. The ECU will handle the fuel curve but you don't want to stop there. It will also do the ignition curve too since the mechanical advance in the distributor leaves a lot to be desired. And with a MAP sensor you will have a 3D ignition curve like on modern cars.
Hi Freeman, E mail is a bit dodgy her in the Alps but no worries as we are short of snow and it's good to have a diversion .......... upon my return I'll check the spec of the Motech unit we used and will report back accordingly, I understand that since this project everything has moved on and so there can be further gains to be had over our last set up such as pre-ignition knock detection per individual cylinder. If you want, I'll check out as to whether we could supply you with an ECU loaded with all the necessary Dyno data so that it would be a plug and play set up ( subject to your final dyno run for setting local refinement settings. My thoughts are that the ignition distributor unit could be left in place as a visual attraction but be advised that it is in fact redundant as we use a crank trigger wheel with a pick up sensor ........... the great benefit in using the Motech system is that it is a World wide recognised leading system which has great back up and respect ........... please feel free to pop over to visit us we are but 40 mins from central London by train; but please be aware, we are a but minor player albeit staffed by some reasonably clever folk ;-} cheers as ever, Kev. ps, I bet the day job keeps you on your toes ...............
Thanks Kevin. We're really fortunate to have you post here. On the Dino you converted, were there any performance upgrades done to the pistons, compression, cams etc from stock? 227BHP is pretty strong! Getting an ECU loaded with all the necessary Dyno data would be a huge advantage. My day job starts back up on the 4th. Meanwhile I'm just enjoying doing as little as possible! Sorry about the snow! We seem to have lots of it in the California mountains! Freeman
Hi Freeman, we did not re-build the Dino engine as it had been recently been overhauled prior to our clients purchase by persons unknown to ourselves ......... I understand that the company who fitted the larger Stratos carbs had also fitted softer camshafts ( I have their spec back at the office ) it's safe to assume that this fitment of softer camshafts is a contributory factor towards the cars exceptional drivability but also suggests that more power could be achieved .......... we also fitted a modern geared starter motor which improves starting as the ignition trigger has more time to read the situation and it was felt advisable to fit up-rated alternator given the car was still running on it's original unit. The figure of 227 BHP is from the same Dyno we used for Travellers 700 BHP plus F40 LM,It's an independent company to ourselves with no axe to grind, obviously we all know that Dynos vary ......... the important issue here is performance and drivability all the rest is vanity, I hope this infos helps, cheers as ever, Kev. ps, This conversion works ;-}
Not to divert this thread too much, but is anyone familiar with this as something viable or a solution to the loss of power in bends issue? Have been going through an old collection of FCA Newsletters and getting quite amused about what was readily available but especially the prices. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Kevin, I read with great interest the Evo article about the F40LM that you restored/rebuilt. Amazing! Really impressive! I think you're tapping into the right balance between preserving visual originality but at the same time keeping an open mind to evolving the car technically to make it more fun, reliable and usable. I think you've achieved the same balance with this Dino. I received an email from the curator of the Dino. He was ecstatic about how well it worked and how impressed he was by the instantaneous performance and response. It has unleashed power and flexibility in the motor and has made hot or cold starts instantaneous. He basically said he boxed up all the stock parts for a future owner but can't imagine ever reinstalling them during his curation. The car has been used and is planned for high performance tours and rallies. I know of some vintage 50's Mille Miglia eligible Ferrari's with modern gearbox internals inside stock looking gearbox cases. Vintage "crash box" gearboxes are no fun in modern traffic or on hills. I also don't think there isn't a philosophical difference between the approach you're taking with the Dino EFI/Motec system vs what many are doing with an optical trigger distributor and hidden modern ignition. It's more a question of degrees. I think you're pioneering a new branch of the tree for the Dino enthusiast. Freeman
What a great thread. I’d love a lightly modernised Dino with electronic ignition and hidden injection like this.
