I did a bunch of reading and decided since there was quite a bit of negative press on the FiTech I would go ahead with the Sniper. I ended up buying from Jegs with a price match in the $880ish range. My first impression with the unit was that it was a high quality piece, well designed and complete down to every nut and bolt.
I decided also to run the external Holley pump and Earls Vapor Guard hose and fittings and run along the right side frame rail with the pump under where the spare tire was. I ended up deleting the tire well, I never used it and it was rusted out anyway and there was a small spot of rust next to it too.
Here's a picture of the engine before the install with the Street Demon carburetor and after and another shot with the new Holley air cleaner, I also moved the temp sender for the gauge to the head and installed the coolant sensor in the intake. For the fuel sender I bought a Eckler (Synders) unit with the modified return line. I cut off the end of the return line and installed a Earls compression fitting so I could use a -6 fitting.
I had a bit of a problem with the set up as the hand held froze on the coil set up screen, I had to reboot it several times until it went through. And on pre start I had a fuel leak on the clamp on the post filter. After I finished the set up screen, turned the key and it roared to life idling at about 1400 then down to around 1000rpm. After warm up I moved the idle down but couldn't achieve 750 rpm like I wanted, so right now it's at around 830. I still need to finish driving around as maybe it still needs more learning. I also made a bracket to attach the throttle arm to the throttle body, it changed the ratio a bit more so the throttle wouldn't open so quick
I had a bit of a problem with the set up as the hand held froze on the coil set up screen, I had to reboot it several times until it went through. And on pre start I had a fuel leak on the clamp on the post filter. After I finished the set up screen, turned the key and it roared to life idling at about 1400 then down to around 1000rpm. After warm up I moved the idle down but couldn't achieve 750 rpm like I wanted, so right now it's at around 830. I still need to finish driving around as maybe it still needs more learning. I also made a bracket to attach the throttle arm to the throttle body, it made the linkage arm ratio a bit more so the throttle wouldn't open so quick
Only drove it for about 10 minutes.....the weather was getting windy (tornado watch now) so more tomorrow, it drives really nice, still learning though
So I fiddled with it a bit trying to get the idle down (currently 860rpm), done some more reading, found this Holley forum, read some more and decided before I go any farther with the idle issue or even the recent talks of dual plane intakes and the Sniper, I would bite the bullet and order a single plane. I was in need of one anyway so I'll get that installed tomorrow and follow up this weekend.
Ok, got it figured out, all I can say was it took to reading the manual and get into the settings and reset them to what you want. It now is idling at 750 rpm. I also fiddled with the hang time after you rev it up or between shifting gears.....it's spot on now. In the video the noise you hear is the regulator on the unit...loud I must say. Other than that :congrats: https://youtu.be/nZE0T5pwW6g
Wow I am simply amazed you actually got a Sniper that works.
My 1st one went back to Summit on Friday and my 2nd one managed to find the ECU long enough to load the software and now is DOA.
Its going to back to Summit on Monday for a refund.
Now my dilemma is whether to purchase yet another Sniper to see if I get lucky and get one that actually works. Although at this point I am finding that highly doubtful.
Or just call it good and remove all the new lines, EFI tank, pump & sender and buy regular 57 tank and sender and put my carb back on.
I've been on the phone with Holly tech support a dozen times this week and all I get out them is that this is the first they've heard of it.
Either I've managed to be so lucky to get two defective units and they really haven't had any problems until now or they do know and are deflecting it with obtuse answers.
I wish if there was an issue with them they'd just say so.
I also swapped out the intake from a dual plane to a single plane. I went with the Weiand X-CELorator, very nice and low too. I topped it off with a new Holley air cleaner.
Volksnut do you remember the part # for the Earls compression fitting used on your sending unit return line I'm going to try the same sniper set up you have. Thx
I used Summit Racing's brand (that costs a bit less) https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-2200075B
I also bought the -AN couplers to get it to a male fitting, because I did not see the ones below.
With me, it also seems to be backazzed somehow.
Your throttle linkage you have did you make it ? I'm at the same spot you were with touchy throttle pedal.got the extended bracket for the sniper .working on the linkage now if you can help me thxs
I installed a Sniper about two and half years ago (one of the early units) ... installed on a 1972 Chevy Pickup with 454 swap, but experience was pretty painless. Fuel system parts were VERY complete (still have a random collection of nuts, clamps, fittings left over in a box) and wiring is a snap. Loved the way they have a simple "saddle" for the O2 sensor mounting. I was dreading that, and it took about 2 minutes with a step drill bit.
I had the truck up and running on Sunday (started the relaxed pace install on Saturday) and that included a bunch of relocation of the gas tank out of the cab and rejiggering the fuel system routing and plumbing. Fired right up, learned in the basic MAP and then I reset the idle air setting (the "secondary screw" mentioned above) to get the IAC in the right percentage to control idle adequately.
Pretty darn slick!
Biggest complaint ... it was on the truck and flawless (and I got it really dialed in ... started cold/hot with a touch of the key and pulled strong at WOT) .. until one morning all of sudden on my little drive into town to get coffee and it went dead RICH and I barely got it sputtering to limp home. It acted like the WB O2 failed, but turns out swapping the sensor had the same symptoms (luckily I have a few of these WB O2s for other scanners/ECUs and such lying around). At about the same time, the connector on the touch screen got flakier and flakier until the screen was hit or miss whether it would work or freeze up after you hit a bump.
Got ahold of Holley tech line and after the inevitable 20 questions and sending a (worthless) log, they took the unit back for service. About 3 weeks later, they determined that the ECU had failed (my guess, drivers for the WB O2) and they returned a new unit to me with a new touch screen with a more robust connector on the screen. Installed it in about 15 minutes and it's been running fine since then. I think there were some teething problems with the first couple batches ...
Anyway, I love it now ... makes the truck a pleasure to drive in all temps instead of either pig rich or spitting lean when the weather gets cold (or hot) like the Edelbrock 1406 carb that was on it.
Still working the bugs out on my Sniper after a few weeks since install. It's definitely not been a bolt on and go experience for me, but my car wasn't really up to accepting sensitive electronics either. It's good to read some positive stories, it gives me hope that mine will run right eventually. I plan to do some testing tonight after doing a bunch of things to eliminate RFI/EMI.
You can read about it here if you want: https://forums.holley.com/showthread.php?22650-Major-Issues-After-Install
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