There's nothing that screams...
There's nothing that screams Mopar power like a cross-ram manifold. Thanks to FAST Man EFI, now you can enjoy your cross-ram with the efficiency of EFI.
When most of us talk about Mopars, our discussions often revolve around the "good old days" when cars were simple and we could work on them ourselves. Carb tuning involved a screwdriver, and ignition timing was simply changed by turning the distributor a little bit. While these memories can be fond, what most of us forget is the hassle of filing and setting ignition points, and being stranded when the carburetor's needle and seat valve sticks, flooding the engine with fuel. And if you've ever tried to change the metering circuitry of a carburetor, you know that carbs are not simple at all, containing complex internals that can be quite difficult to modify for optimum fuel metering. For these reasons, auto manufacturers gave up using carburetors on their vehicles many years ago, instead deciding that fuel injection was a more accurate and efficient way to meter fuel.
Although electronic fuel injection has long been used by OEMs, and offers huge improvements in drivability, reliability, and economy when compared to carburetors, there is still hesitation among enthusiasts to use fuel injection. While this can be somewhat blamed on the misguided perception that fuel injection is complex, hard to understand, and hard to install, there are other reasons Mopar enthusiasts don't use fuel injection on their cars. One reason is that there simply aren't a lot of fuel-injection compatible intake manifolds available for Mopars. Sure, simple throttle-body injection systems can bolt onto a four-barrel intake, but that's not what we're talking about. To really see the benefits of fuel injection, the injector needs to be placed directly over the intake port, requiring special provisions in the intake. And while the aftermarket is slowly providing intake manifolds with provisions for port injection, there just isn't much available for Mopar enthusiasts yet. Luckily, Richard Nedbal at FAST Man EFI is solving that problem by modifying existing intakes for port injection, and his latest creation is a Hemi cross-ram intake, with port fuel injection hidden inside.
Starting with a factory Mopar...
Starting with a factory Mopar Performance Hemi cross-ram intake, the goal was to make this into a modern, port-injected intake, while retaining the look of dual quads.
The Hemi cross-ram is likely one of the most recognized intake manifolds that was ever bolted on a Mopar engine. Available from any Mopar Performance dealer, the cross-ram intake offers good flow, and is relatively low, providing decent hood clearance in most body styles. Once the hood is lifted, the cross-ram also offers the intimidating look of dual-quad carburetion, making it a favorite among gearheads. So when Richard got a call from a customer asking if the Hemi cross-ram could be converted to EFI, and further, could the EFI be hidden so the manifold would look basically stock, his answer was "why not?" Richard stated that the throttle bodies would bolt on top and be hidden by the air cleaners, and the rest of the components should fit inside the intake plenum. As a former computer engineer, and founder of Mopar Engines West, Richard loves a challenge, so he quickly got busy designing a fuel injection system for the cross-ram intake.
Although he'd fabricated and designed EFI systems for various intake manifolds in the past, Richard stated that the cross-ram intake presented a couple of unique issues. First, would the fuel rails, hoses, and fittings fit inside the plenum of the intake without major modification, and second, would the injector wires and connectors stand up to the heat and manifold vacuum of this application? To help resolve these issues, Richard consulted Mike Bolla from Enterprise Motorsports to decide if this was a feasible installation. Mike agreed that with some work it could be done, so together they tackled the job of designing, engineering, and building a port-injected cross-ram intake manifold.
With the covers removed, the...
With the covers removed, the crew at FAST Man EFI began by drilling each port of the intake for the fuel injectors. Each injector is placed directly over the intake port from the opposite side.
Three injectors per side could...
Three injectors per side could be installed vertically, but the design of the intake required that one injector be as a 22-degree angle.
A custom bung was then designed...
A custom bung was then designed for the angled injector. This bung "swallows" the injector and places it in the right portion of the port, at the required depth.
Richard found that standard...
Richard found that standard fuel rails could be cut at angles for the end injectors, then machined 1/10 inch vertically to fit inside the intake. If it all works out, the intake covers will hold the fuel rails in place.
Though it would have been...
Though it would have been nice to run the fuel supply or return line from the passenger side of the intake, there will be no room between the firewall and the intake once the engine is in the car. Therefore all the lines and connections are made on the rear of the driver side.
With the bung installed, the...
With the bung installed, the angled injector is now in the best position allowed by the intake's design.
The rest of the injectors...
The rest of the injectors are installed vertically as shown here.
The passenger-side fuel rail...
The passenger-side fuel rail is fed by a line from the driver side, through the intake's crossover, to the angled injector at the number two cylinder.
Since this application requires...
Since this application requires two throttle bodies, each having their own Idle Air Control (IAC), they can't be run in parallel and must be plugged. Then a central IAC is placed in the vacuum port provision of the manifold.
The first step of this process was to carefully measure the intake manifold and the various components of the fuel injection. By performing these calculations, Richard and Mike found that if they placed three injectors per side vertically and one at a slight angle, and by using specially designed fuel rails and a military spec electrical connector, they could likely accomplish their goal of hidden electronic port injection. Follow along and we'll show you how they turned this theory into reality.
Since there will be wiring...
Since there will be wiring inside the intake, a connector had to be found that would withstand the heat and manifold vacuum created by this application. While researching this issue, Richard found a military style connector that utilizes an O-ring for vacuum seal. Even nicer, the connector fit right into one of the factory core plug locations in the intake.
With the injectors and IAC...
With the injectors and IAC installed and the plumbing complete, it's starting to look a little busy. Next the injectors must be wired to the connector.
With the plumbing and wiring...
With the plumbing and wiring complete, you can see the fuel injection components fit nicely into the cross-ram. Although they do take up space, these intakes offer plenty of plenum volume so performance shouldn't be compromised.
To hold the fuel rails in...
To hold the fuel rails in place, the intake manifold covers were modified on the bottom. The covers will later be bolted in place using the Mopar gaskets and stainless hardware.
Standard cross-ram throttle...
Standard cross-ram throttle linkage is modified for the throttle bodies, and is compatible with standard Mopar throttle cables.
Looking like a factory cross-ram,...
Looking like a factory cross-ram, this intake is clearly a master of disguise. As a unit, it will simply bolt in place and plug into the EFI wiring harness. When installed, improved drivability, reliability, and economy will be dead giveaways that this cross-ram is port injected, not carbureted.
Dual four-barrel throttle...
Dual four-barrel throttle bodies are used to top this system, but only the passenger side has a Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) that's connected to the EFI computer.
From this angle (passenger...
From this angle (passenger side), you can clearly see all the fuel injection provisions exit at the rear of the intake. Once in a car with air cleaners installed, this system is virtually invisible to all but the well-trained eye.