Fe3 into 74 ford courier

[Skate]

So I'm collecting parts for my kia sportage swap into my 74 ford courier. It seems y'all are over seas, I'm here in the good ol USA. So far I have the fe3, b2000 trans, courier 5 speed tail section. The problem is I've been looking into an ecu and now I'm completely confused. This engine will be going into a pre computer car. Wiring and all that isn't really my cup of tea. I'm looking for something simple that won't cost an arm and leg but will run my engine with the ability to add turbo in the future. I have been reading threads, how too's, and the entire megasquirt web site. I still don't know what to buy to make a simple install, or if I should just use the kia ecu... Any help would be appreciated.

[Fred]

Where *exactly* are you? There are FreeEMSers around the US who might be happy to help you get your FE3 running!

[Skate]

Fred, I'm located just outside of Los Angeles Ca.

[Fred]

Reading your post again, FreeEMS may not be right for you. Then again, if you don't want to wire it up right, neither is Mega$quirt, and nothing else is cheap.

There are at least 4 people with varying levels of a clue south of LA and in SD, but I don't know how much help they'd be able to give, and you might be "outside LA" to the east or north for all I know

If you go the M$ route, there are people everywhere who know stuff. Any of them could also help with FreeEMS, too, I guess, but it'd be a learning experience for them, too.

If you DO go the M$ route, go ms2 on V3 board for maximum value. Be aware that your wiring has to be done a particular non-standard way to get good results from a M$ box.

As you know, my truck runs FreeEMS on an FE-DOHC with boost. The boost part should be fine with almost any reasonable ECU. Vids of FreeEMS in action are available on the FreeEMS and diyefi.org yt channels.

Fred.

[fastivab6tg25mr]

how is this project coming along? i just picked up a 1973 courier and im doing the same swap but im using the S5 Tii trans with the b2600 bell housing. what are you doing about the front suspension and brakes?

[Skate]

[Skate]

Hey y'all.. so I have been running my fe3 in my 74 courier for some time now. Its a great commuter now. Now I'm looking into turbo options. I just bought the upper intake from a 2.2 mazda 626 and the turbo throttle body. I know what header I'm going to use, miata or custom. My biggest question is the ecu... do any of you know what I'm going to need? fuel, or fuel and spark??? Can I just do a piggy back??? help please!

[Fred]

You definitely want both fuel and ignition control when turbo charged, I promise. How you get these things, up to you. There are a lot of ways to skin the cat. Which ever knife you choose for skinning, I highly recommend getting it installed and setup on the known good configuration that you already have, and learn to tune without boost, first. NA engines are MUCH more tolerant of your learning experience than turbo engines. Trust me as the guy that wrote the system that has run 40 engines/cars around the world over the last 7 years. I know this stuff If you have the setup dialed in NA, as is, then you can take steps:

0) Fully tune your existing setup with your system of choice, this will take weeks or months to perfect, if ever. Get this right before proceeding.
1) Fuel system upgrade with SAME injectors - tune should not change, if it does, you no longer have sane/the same fuel pressure, fix this before proceeding (with better FPR, or pump derating etc).
2) Injector upgrade, changing just injector parameters should suffice, tune may need minor tweaks, but nothing major. Driveability and cold start may suffer, fix these as much as possible before proceeding.
3) Add boost. Use your NA timing curve, but add in additional retard above 100kPa. Use your stock VE curve, but add in a lot of additional fuel above 100kPa and expect other differences below 100kPa, too. Get a friend to help you tuning going slightly higher each pull validating it's in a good place, if not, tweak and repeat, once good, go a little further. Do not spend any time leaner than 12:1 AFR in boost. Do not attempt to tweak timing until A) your fueling is perfect B) you have appropriate listening equipment.
4) Profit.