Upgrade to EFI good choice or not?

[DANNY8]

Well at the moment I'm rebuilding my motor. After I finish it and put it back in my VH, and finish the respray and interiour makeover, my next step was going to be to save up for a wrecked EFI 202 and convert my 186 to EFI, then after that I was gonna save up and chuck a SC14 blower on the side.

I read that the EFI motors are useless to 'modify' coz as soon as u do a small thing like an upgraded cam ya need to upgrade the computer. Is this true? Coz I would be putting the EFI system on my worked 186, so the way I see it the EFI wouldn't be any good unless I spent more and upgrade the computer.

Is that true?

And just out of curiosity, wat sort of aftermarket EFI 202 computers are available, and wat sort of price would I be looking at?

Cheers,
Danny

[Wrayza]

Never understood why people said modifying a 202 was pointless and you won't get anywhere. The computer should be good for a mild cam, plenty of people are running them. If its what you want to do mate don't let anyone stop you.

[Goon]

Never understood why people said modifying a 202 was pointless and you won't get anywhere. The computer should be good for a mild cam, plenty of people are running them. If its what you want to do mate don't let anyone stop you.

I'm with ya mate, it all adds up

Have u got Twin thermos VHPirie?
What pistions do u have in mind?

[DANNY8]

Yeah I got twin 12" thermo's. And pistons, I got 186 Federal Mogul's going in. The ol' 173 is getting bored out as we speak!

[vkberlina]

Definitely go EFI, more power better economy (when turned properly), more reliable.
Get yourself a Delco computer and re tune it to suit the 202, dont use the analog VK computer on a worked 202 you just wont get the performance & economy. Else consider either a Haltec E6X (This is what I used on my 202) or an Autronic.

Before you do spend money rebuilding the 186 or a 202, work out how much its going to cost you then consider doing a V6 conversion.

cheers
Scott

[Goon]

Yeah I got twin 12" thermo's. And pistons, I got 186 Federal Mogul's going in. The ol' 173 is getting bored out as we speak!

Nice choice in pistons mate, same sort ill be using in the future..

Considered getting the cam shaved back abit? u could improve on high end torque if it can be done, i know it can be done on skylines but there might be other mos that follow with that... wish i knew right now, but my minds clouded of my own carwork atm

**Before you do spend money rebuilding the 186 or a 202, work out how much its going to cost you then consider doing a V6 conversion - Then after you do rebuild your 186 or 202, be happy that the cost on the persons face when u dust that 8 or 6 ahead of ur rides time will be priceless.

Plus the only V6 conversion that would be cheap is a rice VL or an abc motor VN.

Takecare all my babys calling.

[DANNY8]

Haha to late with the spending money bit...I've already bought everything needed for the rebuild, cam, bearings, pistons, rings etc etc....and it's currently at a workshop getting machined. I hope to have it back soon so I can start assembling it.

Overall it prolly would have worked out cheaper for the V6 conversion, but rebuilding the motor has taught me a lot, and if I just got a V6 and put in it, I wouldn't of learnt anywhere near as much as I have.

Do most aftermarket computers go for around $1000-$1500? That's a bit to much for me so I'd have to look into finding a 2nd hand one which I'm guessing wont be easy.

[craigvk]

Good to see you are keeping the old 186 alive.

My old man when younger bought a brand new Monaro 186 just before the V8 Monaro's came through and he had to sell it after a few months because of the fuel he had to pay! Gah, so much time later and there is 5 litre Commo's everywhere. Amazing how things change over the years.

Good luck with it. Sounds like it's going to come back good! I love it when motors come back to you and they are so clean and tidy

[DANNY8]

Mine isn't an original 186....it's a 173 which is bored out to a 186 Well not right now but when I get it back it will be!

To start with I wasn't sure whether to rebuild my 173 or 202, but a few people said that the 173's went harder then the 202's. Apparently they rev better, which I'm guessing is coz the 202's have a slightly larger stroke. So I just decided to stick with the 173 and rebuilt it. Originally it was only gonna get bored out 30thou with new pistons, but a mate had some new 186 pistons which I could get cheap....so now its getting bored out 130thou haha!

[gd81]

Personally if you're spending the money on the motor, I'd go EFI.
I'm running the autronic on my 202 and it goes very well. When i was looking at after market computers for my 202, I investigated a few DIY kits including one called megasquirt,modifing a VN Delco, I found the hardest is the sensors,wiring and plumbing for whatever system you install. Plus it's a great learning exercise.
It's great when I take it to club days, some people mistake it for a V8. They never let me enter standard class, always modified don't know why

[DANNY8]

haha sounds good mate!

How much did ya get the Autronic system for?

So the aftermarket computers give better performance & economy hey? Are they really worth the money?

Cheers.

[gd81]

Memory was around 1.2 grand, that was a few years ago now.
My original tune cost me a lot as the pressure regulator failed and the place the car was at didn't call me, and just fixed it adding to the bill, also charged me for 2 times on the dyno as they took it of then put it back again once they repaired it. Needless to say the tune for the new cam didn't go to them.
I heard you can use the VN Delco with good results, they should be a bit cheaper. After market comp for a 202 is definitely worth it. My Autronic made it a whole new beast on a stock motor, so much more responsive, and since i've also put the new cam in, I've had a lot higher economy out of it, about as good as my VS on the freeway.

[vasrox]

Hi guy's...I spent over $6 g's on my black 202. (no crap)....I cant even tell you what I had done...Its about a4 page long. Anyway..im running a 350 holley at the moment and its using $20 worth of fuel to 55K's...So i am in the process of converting to efi... Considering the compression is at 10:1 it should be interesting...lol

[DANNY8]

Hi guy's...I spent over $6 g's on my black 202. (no crap)....I cant even tell you what I had done...Its about a4 page long. Anyway..im running a 350 holley at the moment and its using $20 worth of fuel to 55K's...So i am in the process of converting to efi... Considering the compression is at 10:1 it should be interesting...lol

Sounds like it's a tuf motor. A mate of mine has a 12 second NA 186. I don't know my old Holdens but it's in an old tank of a thing, if he had it in a torry or sumfin I'm sure it get a bit qwiker again.

But on the EFI discussion, I think I might just get a VN delco computer and wire that in. Not gonna do it for a while tho, after my motor is finished and run in.