WhitsEnd Transformation

[Joshgt87]

How’d you end up doing your A/C setup? And where did you get your hoses? My truck had factory air and I more or less have everything I need. The factory evaporator is in place (crossing my fingers it’s good) I ordered a new condenser, drier, and expansion valve, and I’m hoping to use the factory sanden compressor off the 96 f150. I just need to have some custom hose built. I am loving your truck so far man! You need some more engine and interior pictures. It’s gorgeous!

[WhitsEnd]

How’d you end up doing your A/C setup? And where did you get your hoses? My truck had factory air and I more or less have everything I need. The factory evaporator is in place (crossing my fingers it’s good) I ordered a new condenser, drier, and expansion valve, and I’m hoping to use the factory sanden compressor off the 96 f150. I just need to have some custom hose built. I am loving your truck so far man! You need some more engine and interior pictures. It’s gorgeous!

The A/C is an aftermarket heat and cool unit from Classic Auto Air. Hoses came with the kit, but since I mounted my compressor on the opposite side of the motor, I had them send the hoses and fittings disassembled. I cut the hoses to length and had a local hose shop crimp the fittings on.

More engine pictures? You need to scroll back a few pages. I built the motor from scratch and a lot of it is documented here. Granted, not every detail, but this isn't an engine forum.

I'll agree, not a lot of pictures of the interior and it's probably one of the nicest originals I've seen. Maybe I'll load a page full of photos when I'm completely done.

[Joshgt87]

I think you misunderstood me about the engine pictures. I meant pictures of the completed engine bay. I’ve gone back and looked and didn’t see very many of the engine bay as a whole. That’s ok though thanks man!

[hdman90]

WhitsEnd! Turned out fantastic! Love the look and the stance. Now you'll have to find yourself another one to do!

[WhitsEnd]

I think you misunderstood me about the engine pictures. I meant pictures of the completed engine bay. I’ve gone back and looked and didn’t see very many of the engine bay as a whole. That’s ok though thanks man!

Well, let's fix that!

[WhitsEnd]

And a couple shots of the interior. This is completely stock, with the exception of the air conditioning and the automatic steering column.

I probably should have cleaned it first...

[hdman90]

Gosh, I can't wait until I have the time to clean mine up that much... Looks great! Enjoy it!

[DuckRyder]

NICE

[Joshgt87]

Oh my gosh!!! So gorgeous! Thanks man!

[Idaho Chris]

Just beautiful. Congratulations on an outstanding truck!

[WhitsEnd]

Some final thoughts on the Holley Sniper:

This is based on my poisition that if you're going EFI, you should go all the way. What I mean is that ignition timing should be within the control of the ECU. Anything less is really just an electronic carb. I should also mention that I use the PC software package and don't do my tuning with the silly little handheld screen.


Tuning ability and software is awesome.
The ability to tune dynamically is awesome. Fuel and timing control can be fully 3D, not just simply based on manifold pressure. As an example, I thought the final tune was complete and was driving the truck in some traffic on a hot, humid day. After sitting at a long traffic light, the gauges showed the inlet air temp rose to 140F and the water temp was up above 200 (I have an open element air cleaner that pulls from the engine bay). Not terrible, but much higher than when cruising. Getting on the throttle hard as I drove away, I heard some light pinging that normally isn't there. After 2 minutes of driving, the air temp was back down to 104 and the water was at 180.
Normally, I would be forced to drop the overall timing and suffer less performance overall, or, remember not to get on it heavy when its hot. The Holley system has a couple options to remove timing based on air temperature and water temperature. I chose to modify the air temp table within the spark control to remove 1 degree of timing above say 105 and then pull another degree above 115. It worked great. No more pinging at elevated temps and I don't have to drive around with sluggish performance all the time.
I have a mechanical fan and will not likely change that soon, but the Holley ECU will also control multiple cooling fans to manage this in a similar way. You can program one fan to kick in at 170 and a second fan at 210, for example. I know most EFI systems have these controls, but this is my first experience with an aftermarket setup and I'm pleased with the dynamic tuning ability and software.
Another example is the ability to add or remove fuel based on a number of inputs. I found that if I stepped on the throttle quickly (as if to activate the transmission kick down), the motor would "pop" in the exhaust. If I gradually laid into it but went to full throttle, it wouldn't do this. The problem was based in a table that changes the amount of extra fuel added based on the rate of change of the throttle position sensor. The effect is sort of a controlled version of a carburetor's power valve. Anyway, I reduced the amount of added fuel at the higher end of the scale and the ignition of the raw fuel in the exhaust went away. This is a good example of a problem that could arise with the complexity of the system that a "bolt-on and drive" consumer would not be pleased with. You must be able and willing to tune the setup, or have someone do it for you.

Configuration...not so awesome.
I will not buy another Sniper and would not likely buy or recommend a FiTech unit either. Having the ECU mounted in the throttle body, sitting on top of the engine is not preferred. Holley has issues with this configuration because of the amount of electrical noise around an engine. Add in high performance ignitions and magnetic pickup distributors and Holley is chasing problems to save its product image. So much so, that they have introduced their own ignition box and line of distributors (non-magnetic pickup) for the Sniper product...and are HEAVILY suggesting you go that route. For Ford guys (distributor in front, close to the ECU that is at the front of the throttle body), the problem is worse. During this build, I experienced issues when I tried to convert to a large cap on my distributor.
Having said this, I would prefer one of the other Holley products that uses a standard throttle body or their Stealth throttle body with the ECU mounted remotely. Aside from the electrical noise, the heat and vibration can't be good over time. I will likely be converting the 428 in my Cyclone to EFI in the near future and I'm thinking about using the Holley Dominator EFI with a simple throttle body and injectors in the manifold.

[Lone Ranger]

Great job!!! It looks super clean. I usually don't like the wide trim in these trucks but it looks so good on white!

[Manny]

Truck looks amazing. That is a gorgeus FE unit you got there. Brett my friend fought a Fi tech efi on a 74 bronco. It was terrible and wound up with a carb on it.

[69428fastford]

Real great job on that fe thats a lot of work. I also am a fe guy

[WhitsEnd]

Well, it's been a while. Since my last update, I...

Changed the gas pedal to a Lokar cable unit mounted on the floor.
While updating the linkage at the throttle body, I apparently dropped a small nut INTO the throttle body.
Not knowing the potential disaster about to take place, I tried to start the (fresh) motor to test the new pedal.
#7 cylinder split, as the piston kicked sideways when it couldn't continue upward.
Cleaned the head, replaced both valves in #7, machined another FE block, purchased all new pistons/rings/pins, balanced crank, assembled another new 390.

So...now I'm back to where I was several months ago, but with less cash. Anyway, current project is installing a new sound system in the truck. The plan is to add Bluetooth capability for hands free operation for my daughter. There are too many distractions these days for new drivers and a bit of an upgrade in sound quality doesn't hurt.