Per Tom, here are my experiences with MSEFI.

I purchased two ECU kits, version 2.1 I believe and a stimulator, (test unit) and one relay kit in 2001-2002. The kits are cheap, about 100ea, the relay kit for the fuel pump, injectors was $60 or so. I think they are well worth the effort.

The Stimulator is a test module that simulates the sensors, injectors, fuel pump etc so you can make sure you built the unit correctly. The coolest thing is that since you built the computer you will be able to fix it yourself if it fails in the future. Or have a spare just in case.

Here are the catches you find.

The ECU, Relay are cheap. I spent about 3-5 hours assembling the first unit. The second ECU went much faster. I had orginally planned on building them and then reselling them on a regular basis. The expensive part was the injectors, plumbing the manfold for the injectors buying the throttle body. The water temp, air temp, sensors are cheap. I was in college and all I had was time. So I slowly started buying parts one month at a time until I had everything I needed.

Here are the expenses
$225 Victor Jr. Oval BBC
$350 37lb/hr Injectors
$350 1000 CFM throttle body, Accel unit off ebay
$450 Machining the Manifold for injectors and mounting the fuel rails
$200 Misc sensors, wiring Hardware, ETC.
$160 for the ECU and Relay Kit
$150 for Fuel Pump
$150 for Fuel connectors for fuel rail crossover lines and lines to the tank
$300 for building the sump fuel tank for a send/return fuel system.
$100 for Fuel Pressure regulator

I did not expect to spend this much, If I would have know this I would have just bought a Holley, Edelbrock or Accel System.

If I was going to do a MS again which I will not, I would find a complete manifold already setup (Rails, Injectors, Throttle Body, Manifold) on ebay. I saw one that was for a BBC that was for Marine applications with BUY IT NOW for $350. He said he had ten units. I wish I would have grabbed one now.

Otherwise I would find a TBI Throttle body kit. That way you can run your engine with a carb and a TBI. So you can still drive your car with the carb until you get the TBI to run correctly. Plus this will keep your costs under $1000 bucks. Another thing, you definately need a Wide Band Oxygen sensor. Otherwise if you use a regular sensor you get three readings. Lean, Stoich, Rich. It is really hard to tune with such a wide range of feedback. A wideband O2 Sensor allows you to see how rich or lean you are exactly.

Many EFI manufactures state you can tune your car while driving it. I doubt that many people have actually done it this way. It says have a buddy drive while you tinker with the computer. I tried this and was just plain frustrated. Taking the car to a Dyno is much easier not to mention safer. This way you can concentrate on tuning rather than worrying about having the car die on the road. Find a wheel or engine dyno guy that has experience tuning Fuel Injection Systems, otherwise you will spend many extra dollars trying to tune it yourself. Also try tuning your car at the dyno on the off season. I got my dyno rates cut more than in half. I paid $250 for 5 hours on a dyno here in Omaha getting my carb tuned in. If I would have done this during the summer it would have cost $625.

I did get the car idling and I drove it also with the MS, It did not drive well though. The MS is a good controller for the money. I think that I will stick to a carb or go with a RamJet 502 after all my run arounds with EFI.

Please ask any questions about this system. If you want to give me a call I would be more than willing to discuss this. Thanks

Ben

A friend of mine just did a MegaSquirt unit on an Olds 455 and he wouldn't do it again either. And we had a wide band O2 and the help of someone who had done 3 other cars. It was OK for a while but I think it's easy to tune yourself out of the ballpark. Right now, the car barely runs. I don't know enough about the MS unit and software so I have to rely on the other person. I've done everything mechanical that I know how to do but the whole thing is basically a catastrophe.
It's too bad because I really wanted to do it for my Chevelle but I think I'll stick with a good ol' carb. At least I know what to do when something doesn't work.

Thanks for taking time to post your experience. that kind of info is really hard to come by.

Thanks for posting the costs. That helps in truely evaluating a budget EFI compared to the total kits from Holley, Edelbrock, etc.