Holley Sniper EFI
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Holley Sniper EFI
So I wasn't finding a lot on the VW aircooled engine with the Holley Sniper EFI. So on a whim I bought the Sniper 2300 kit (2 bbl) from RADesigns. Here's a rundown of what this kit came with: the Sniper throttle body with O2 sensor, RADesigns custom intake w/ the intake boots, 380 lph fuel pump, accelerator cable, and throttle linkage. I'm using stock end castings. Now for my engine set up: 1776cc engine with GTV-2 heads from EMPI with 40.5x35.5 valves and 110 cam also from EMPI. It's a stock crank with stock connecting rods. I have a stock oil cooler and a spin on oil filter/oil pump. I'm using a 1-3/8 header with the stinger. Originally had dual Weber 34mm ICTs and yes it was severely undercarbed but I bought the carbs thinking I was going to stay stock on the engine build. Anyway, after several months of installing and working with Rodney from RADesigns (who is an awesome guy and very knowledgeable) all the kinks are worked out. It actually runs very well and definitely notice a pick up in performance over the dual 34s and I still don't have the tune 100%. I will post pics at a later time along with some difficulties I had during installation. It is worth noting that the kit did not come with any fuel line or fittings but I found an awesome website that got the fittings to me quickly. I'm just seeing if this generates any interest before posting a ton of info. And I'm not trying to start a debate between Megasquirt and the Sniper. Just to help inform people on the choices of EFI.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
With sniper throttle body
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- woodsbuggy1
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
Thanks for posting and please show some pics, I have seen a very similar setup earlier this year. Don't worry about starting a debate, open minded folks on this forum. What are you using for ignition? I am using Microsquirt with crank trigger ignition but have many hours invested in research and fabrication. Nice to see more options.
Good Luck
Kenric
Good Luck
Kenric
Good quality is getting harder and harder to find.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
I'm using stock ignition. Well almost stock. It's a 009 dizzy with the electronic "points". I want to do a crank trigger as soon as I get the tune 100% down. I was going to do the Fitech and RADesigns offer both the Fitech and Sniper but recommended the Sniper because it is more user friendly and can handle boost if I decide to go that route. According to Rodney it can handle 300 hp and 15 lbs of boost. It really is a simple install but I did a few other things while I had the engine back out and was only able to work on weekends. The ecu is part of the throttle body so all I had to do was hook the battery wires up, a wire to the coil (-) since I'm running a distributor, a wire to the ignition switch (accessory power), and the fuel pump hot (+) wire. The tricky part was running the accelerator cable.
I cut the rear apron just to have more room to work. I will definitely post more pics tomorrow on how I did the accelerator cable and the fuel pump and return line. The return line is actually the stock fuel line since there is little to no pressure on the return. Most of my mistakes were due to human error. Like loose exhaust nuts and lose intake nuts on the throttle body. EFI is not very forgiving on vacuum leaks. I'll also list whatever part numbers I can find for the fittings I used.
My favorite part is the tuning software is free and I made a custom cable to run the hand held that comes with the kit and laptop at the same time. And data logging is super easy. I'm still trying to navigate the software but I have had excellent support from Rodney at RADesigns. Along with tech support, he is also good with moral support because I almost lost my mind with setting it up but after I found my exhaust leaks and intake leaks I couldn't be happier with this system and my decision to swap over from carbs.
I cut the rear apron just to have more room to work. I will definitely post more pics tomorrow on how I did the accelerator cable and the fuel pump and return line. The return line is actually the stock fuel line since there is little to no pressure on the return. Most of my mistakes were due to human error. Like loose exhaust nuts and lose intake nuts on the throttle body. EFI is not very forgiving on vacuum leaks. I'll also list whatever part numbers I can find for the fittings I used.
My favorite part is the tuning software is free and I made a custom cable to run the hand held that comes with the kit and laptop at the same time. And data logging is super easy. I'm still trying to navigate the software but I have had excellent support from Rodney at RADesigns. Along with tech support, he is also good with moral support because I almost lost my mind with setting it up but after I found my exhaust leaks and intake leaks I couldn't be happier with this system and my decision to swap over from carbs.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
All right I got a few pics today while working on the dub. Everything is function over form so everything is kind of sloppy at the moment but once everything is running well then I'll clean it all up and make it look more presentable. First I'll show what I can of the fuel pump/lines. As stated before I used the stock fuel line as the return.
I used the T fitting from CB Performance and the brass compression fittings are from O'Reilly's. In hindsight I probably could have ran a hose off the original fitting and put in a brass T there. One line runs to the filter then to the fuel pump. The other fitting runs to the stock line. Builder's discretion on what fuel filter to use. The goal is to basically let the return line loop back into the feed line. This set up works well.
I put the fuel pump in the spare tire spot and yes that is a muffler clamp holding it..2" if anyone is wondering. Don't over tighten. I will note that the pump is loud and I will eventually wrap it with some sound deadening material. Also the blue wire is the hot (+) and is part of the main harness and it reaches from the back of the car all the way to the front. I zip tied up the extra incase I decide to move the fuel pump. As you can see I drilled holes into the bottom and ran the fuel lines thru the bottom. Not ideal but works for now. I'm sure I'll redo all this later.
The fuel line just runs along the floor pan lip and it will be clamped down later. Just kinda hanging out like a hair in a biscuit right now.
The fuel line then runs up over the rear beam area and I added a bulk head fitting to run the line to the throttle body. This is incase I want to remove the engine and get the fuel line 100% out of the way.
The fuel line then just runs right up to the throttle body and attached on the side. I can't remember all the fitting sizes and stupid me threw the packaging away. I'm going to go thru my emails and see if I can find the order slips if anyone really needs the sizes. I guessed at most of it so trial and error and reordering was necessary.
This is the return line hook up. I should have ordered the 90° fitting but this works for now. The feed line is fuel injection hose rated for fuel pressure but I think I used regular fuel line for the return. The line just disappears back behind the shroud and into the stock fuel line. Next up I'll post the wiring and throttle cable.You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
All right now for the wiring. First and foremost make sure the battery is not hooked up. Next, if you are not an electronics guru that's ok cuz it is seriously just a few wires.
The red (+) and the black (-) hook directly to the battery. I used i-let connectors and hooked then under one of the battery terminal clamp bolts. The blue is the positive (+) side of the fuel pump. You'll have to run a wire of the negative (-) post of the fuel pump to ground. I used the same ground where the fuel gauge ground is. The pink wire is for your ignition switch power (key on). Depending on where you hook it you may need to splice in extra wire. I ran it to the power to the radio. There is a 5th wire (yellow not pictured) and it goes to the negative (-) on your coil. That's only if you are running stock distributor. There are harnesses if you run an MSD ignition and a harness if you use crank trigger. Instructions are included on how to wire everything up but it's that simple.
This is the fuel power and ignition switch power wires. I ran then along the passenger side of the tunnel and out the front bulk head. Again this is all at your discretion...your car your way, right?
The main power has an inline fuse all ready and the fuel pump has a relay wired in as well.
The harness runs from the ecu that is installed on the throttle body itself. I zip tied the plugs for the main harness and handheld harness to the fan shroud.
I forgot to zip tie the handheld harness and the laptop cable and both got sucked into the cooling fan. So instead of ordering a new handheld and laptop cable I got inventive.....
I made some terminals and plugs for the handheld and laptop and both can run at the same time now.
The coolant temp sensor is placed in the fuel pump block off plate. I was skeptical of this position at first but actually work very well. The key is to get engine temp and still have oil splash on it. I know when vw first did fuel injection on the aircooled engine they placed the temp sensor on the #4 side head I think. This was easier lol. The harness again runs right off the throttle body.
I took the header down to a muffler shop and they welded the o2 bung in for me. The o2 is supplied with the kit and screws right in the plugs up to the harness coming right off the throttle body. The IAT, throttle position sensor, and MAF sensor (or may be MAP I can't remember honestly) are integrated right into the throttle body. The FPR is part of the throttle body as well. Next up will be the throttle cable/linkage and I'll go over intake options...You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
- woodsbuggy1
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
Jay, thanks for all the pics and info. Just a thought, the return fuel line can have fairly high fuel pressure especially with a large fuel pump and low fuel demand from a smaller motor, might want high pressure line throughout the fuel system.
Kenric
Kenric
Good quality is getting harder and harder to find.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
I was thinking the same thing on the return line having high pressure but there is very little pressure if any at all with this system on the return. But I think if I ever do a turbo set up then I will need to run a return line for higher pressure. I saw a lot of guys using this on the V8's and used the stock fuel line with zero problems. Guys with toyota 4x4 and the 22r uses the sniper and same thing...stock return line with zero issues. I'm no expert bit the FPR is on the back side of the system and the return line comes directly off the FPR may be why there's no pressure on the return line.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
Now for the ugly part of the install (as if it's not all ready ugly lol) the throttle cable. I'm not sure what other guys are using for the other fuel injection kits out there but I ordered the throttle cable and linkage from Redesigns. I think Dune Buggy Warehouse carries the same kit. The throttle cable seems to be about 8 to 10 feet long and comes with a seath over it. One end with have that funky "s" link on it for the pedal. The other end will come out the seath and have a hook on it. The hook will need to be cut off and below is how I hooked it up to the unit...
As you can see the seath bolts to the mount..the mount is bolted to the throttle body. I'm not 100% on how this went so this is merely a suggestion. The cable slides into a sleeve and the sleeve bolts to the throttle arm. The sleeve has a set screw to hold the cable in place. Pretty straight forward set up.
Kind of hard to see in this pic but the throttle cable then runs thru my rear breast plate.
The cable then runs inside the car on the driver side near where the brake line comes in. This is where it gets tricky because the sheath runs out just past here and I didn't want the bare cable exposed so....
I grabbed some brake line from autozone and attached it along the tunnel so the cable could run thru it.
The flared part butts up to the cable seath perfectly and there is zero drag thru the whole tube and seath.
And hooks to my roller pedal. Side note: if you decide to swap to a roller pedal add washers to each side of the shaft to keep the pedal from wobbling. That's pretty much the gest of my install. Everyone will want to know how much it cost. Around 2k. The kit itself was 1800 from RADesigns. The actual sniper efi throttle body is only about 850. But I bought the intake from RADesigns which is awesome construction. Also got the fuel pump, throttle cable and linkage, and a baseline tune. And on the tune Rodney went above and beyond to get this thing running well so I can make adjustments. You can use the 2 barrel intake that is normally used for the progressive carb. However you will have to buy an adapter plate from LC Engineering (I think that's the company). I've seen the Fitech used with this intake but I have no idea how well. Any questions maybe I can help lol. But anyone interested in my kit installed more info can be found on RADesigns website. Hope this helps some guys looking for alternative solutions to fuel injection. Thanks for reading!You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
It looks like you now have a year of driving on the Sniper EFI....
Could you give a review of how it's been working and how many miles you have driven?????
Have you been tempted to turbo it yet?????
Could you give a review of how it's been working and how many miles you have driven?????
Have you been tempted to turbo it yet?????
Stripped66 wrote:The point wasn't to argue air temps with the current world record holder, but to dispel the claim that the K03 is wrapped up at 150 HP. It's not.
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Re: Holley Sniper EFI
Well my odometer is broken but I’ve driven it back and forth to work several times (50 mile round trip) along with beating around town so probably estimate 3000 to 5000 miles. It has been great and the tunability is very user friendly with the use of a laptop. The handheld isn’t much use when wanting to make big changes and looking at an actual fuel curve. My only complaint is the cheap rubber stoppers Holley uses to plug up vacuum ports that are not used. The get brittle quick and vacuum leaks are then inevitable. Despite my overall happiness with the sniper on the air cooled engine I’ve taken it back off and reinstalled my carbs so I can strap it onto a G60 engine and see how it does on there with possibly a twin screw charger (if funds allow it lol). Supposedly it can handle up to 15 psi I think and support 250 hp. Hopefully come this summer we will find out. My 1776cc wasn’t built for forced induction so I didn’t want to attempt it. Once I get the sniper on the G60 I’ll decide if I want to put it in the bug or into my 74 vw bus. If I find a decent mk1 rabbit or mk2 golf we might shove it in there. But as far as an affordable alternative to efi I would say it works well with our little air cooled engines for those that aren’t efi savvy like I was before I started. I wouldn’t consider myself an efi pro but definitely gained lots of knowledge with this kit. And on an added note I saw fuel mileage around 25mpg average so not a lot of gains of the dual 34s I started with. But driveability was awesome and nothing to back it up as far as dyno sheets but I could feel a gain in horsepower. The Honda boys sure couldn’t keep up lol. Stay tuned for the G60 experiment!!!