Home Made Fuel Injector Cleaning Machine

[60dgrzbelow0]

Dear Santa... Please send me a CNC Machine 4 Xmas!

damn, that's a lot of work...

Yup... And again...I was thinking about why I didn't take "The Blue Pill" when I was doing it, too. Now if Santa will only send me a CNC Machine for Christmas... (and that 7th Lobe in the Brain that Brainy Guys like CNCguy and John and Brad have for doing all the math and CAD work I would need to know in order to make it work...+ a Manual..) Why... I could have whipped this thing out in NO time!

The only reason I'm taking it past its present "Proof of Concept" stage is because I want to compare the same set of EFIs on this rail that gave me some dissimilar Flow Balance Test readings when using the clock stock GM Fuel Rail. If I don't see some very significant differences... then I'm going to just recommend that other builders stick with the working outcome of Version II of "Frank"...

Still... It's fun working with metal..and making things...even if they all wind up looking like props for the Cheech and Chong Movie, "Up in Smoke"

"Kinda grabs you by the Boo-Boo ...Don't it?"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078446/quotes

[robertisaar]

damn, that's a lot of work...

[60dgrzbelow0]

Cliff Notes Visuals...

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

Okay... I got wise to the notion that building one "complete" Proto-Type after another of "The FrankInjector" was a very Bad Idea, given my hubris at imagining that every time I think of something and get down to actually building it...that it will work. The Failed Effort I put into the last (Version III) happened because I did not consider any thermal implications in the use of Copper Tubing, with a Brass Pipe Insert as the means to hold and seal up the "BLUE" O-Ringed ends of the Six (6) Rochester Multech EFIs I installed in the rail. It failed miserably and that took me, "Back to the Ol' Drawing Board" for a complete Re-Design of the "NON-GM-NON-FACTORY" EFI Cleaner (Fuel) Rail.

As you can see from the attached images and my latest video... I got wise enough to use only one of the "EFI Nipples" I carved off of an old 3X00 Anodized Steel Fuel Rail for this experiment. Of course, the issue I knew I'd be facing was that sticky little problem of the difficulty in Brazing/Welding a Ferrous Metal (Steel EFI Nipple) to a Brass Metal (EFI Fuel 6" Brass Pipe for the EFI Rail); especially since its harder than an early morning "Pee Chubbee" when the BASE Metal turns out to be Brass instead of Steel. Very HARD!

So what to do? Well the secret in this case was to make certain that both items (see the pics for a better idea) were squeaky clean, bench ground and wire wheel polished and then mounted in such a way that there is at least a little space between them B4 you even light the Brazing Torch and then add the O2. Next ...it helps to "Pre-melt and Cover" all the pieces being brazed with a good Bi-Metal Fluxing compound and heat the stuff until it bubbles and looks foamy...then let the pieces sit for a bit to cool. Finally... you need a good roll of coiled Brass/Silver Brazing wire and unwind about 6"-8" so that when you apply it and it eventually begins to flow into the joint...you won't burn your fingers by getting too close tp your work. When the Feed Wire starts getting shorter...unroll the tip of the wire (one-handed, wire extended along the surface of your work bench) to keep a decent length to work with.

Next is the torch. I was able to get away with using an older "Mini-Map Gas -Oxygen" Dual Hose Torch I've had for years and after cleaning the tip with a Brass brush, and after lighting the MAP gas with only a 16th" turn, when the flame is orange and still close to the end of the tip, burning with black plumes of unburnt carbon floating in the air... introduce your O2 to the MAP Gas just a little at a time until your flame is a nice, Dark Blue on the outside with a lighter, hotter 'Blue' Center Flame. When you apply the heat...try to start with the Brass Pipe first and then move the flame around the base of the EFI Nipple until both are glowing nearly red. By now...your Flux will have melted and gone from a crusty coating to a milky smoothness....and when it finally turns clear enough to see the underlying joint...you are very close to Braze Time! (Wear Brazing Goggles and protective clothing!)

At this point...work the flame back and forth over the Brass Pipe and EFI Nipple Fitting while also holding your "Wire" in between to heat the metal up enough to melt. Don't be impatient... Work the flame back and forth enough to see an even distribution of heat. The Filler Metal in your "Wire" will melt first...so feed the stream of it into and under the clamped EFI Nipple while dragging the flame back and forth between the fitting and the Brass Pipe. When everything gets hot enough...the wire will melt like a Butter Paddie and all you need to do is not get fascinated enough while watching to stop the back and forth motion with the Blue Flame. Don't be cheap with the Filler Wire!...Feed plenty into the "Wound"...You can always grind off whatever you don't need or want on the finished work. And all of the "extras" are re-usable and recyclable. Be prepared to have several MAP Gas Bottles on hand and three times as many O2 Canisters as well. Check your work often and be careful where and how you lay out your hoses. This work is best done outside where there is plenty of light and distance from flammable liquids and other things you might accidentally set on fire. Keep a decent ABC Fire Extinguisher on hand... but there really is no substitute for common sense and thoughtful judgment when working with open flames around explosive fuels and accelerators. Keep that in mind when you set up your work area to do this job. If you have the least bit of doubt about your abilities to perform all these tasks at once... Then STOP... Get some professional help before you manage to accidentally burn your house down while trying to do this!!!

These are the Bare Essentials for the Brass Hardware you will need:

1.2- 6" X 3/8" Brass Plumbing Pipe
2.2- 3/8" Hex Bolt Head Brass End Caps
3.1- 3/8" Triple (T-Shaped) Fitting (Female on all ports)
4.1- 3/8" Male Threaded Barbed Fuel Inlet Fitting
5.6 (Or 8 for doing V-8 EFIs) 3X00 EFI Ports (With Equal Spacing along the Bottom of the Rail and Brazed in Place. Center Drilling opens each port AFTER BRAZING!)

Don't “Pre-Drill" the three holes in each 6” Brass Pipe! That is almost the last thing to be done, short of cleaning and scrubbing the New EFI Fuel Rail Assembly scrupulously clean with Scotch Guard Pads, some Three and One Oil, a Wire Coat Hanger...and some “Elbow Grease”. Remember that as you Braze...make certain that you have removed all of the extra Brass Fittings from each pipe prior to beginning. It will take an enormous amount of heat to get the Brass Pipe to cooperate in this endeavor. Don't add to your woes by adding or leaving parts from the construction on the Brass Pipe that will do no more more than rob you of the heat you will need to concentrate at the weld joint. When it comes to holding the Steel EFI Fitting against the Brass Rail...use the smallest pair of Framing Vice Grips you can find. I had to grind one of the contact pads of the tool down in order for it to fit all the way down inside of the EFI Nipple. Once there, clamping the Steel Inlet in place was easy! Don't be tempted to drill out the center holes in the Rail (Three (3) Per Rail) before they have been brazed on as solidly as you are able. Later...You can find just the right sized drill and bore through the Factory Made Hole in the bottom of the EFI Nipple and through the Brass Pipe to make an opening to the EFI Cleaning Fluid stream. Dress up the pipe and clean away all contaminants. Spray Brake Cleaner works wonders in jobs like this,...but remember not to spray down the work when its hot enough to ignite the solvent spray pattern. When finished, make certain you use compressed air and a nozzle sprayer to dislodge and remove any metal chips, burrs or residue, because once assembled, the next stage of action comes when the fluid in the piping is flowing through the EFIs and then down into the Acrylic Drain Harness, so the fluid stream must NOT be flushing little bits of metal and crap into the tops of the EFIs, defeating the purpose of the cleaning in the first place..

Proof of Concept:

This would be in the affirmative, but for the fact that I have yet to braze the remaining five (5) EFI Inlets in place and wonder now whether the average Mechanic would want to mess with something that requires so much planning and precision to do the assembly right. But even if this experience turns out to be unique to my own work, I can at least have the satisfaction of having defeated all the major problems and constructed all the necessary working Prototypes successfully.

“The FrankInjector Machine” Works.... Period.

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[60dgrzbelow0]

Maybe I'll whip up a fancy drawing for you, since I am a CAD guy.

That would be and EXCELLENT idea, Brad...and perhaps either John or CNCguy will take pity on me and use your drawing to machine a rectangular aluminum block into a "Space-Age" EFI "Kleanser Rail" as a sub-component of the final design for "The FrankInjector Machine". This thread has just broken the number 2,000 for interested followers of this project, so I would be willing to bet there would be a market for selling these things to interested parties intent upon making their own versions of my device... and without all the hassles I've been dealing with on the R&D side lately.

Here are the general specs... Noting that the width measurement of the Vertical Stand is set at an arbitrary 16" wide (16.25" if you don't radius the cross member pieces that join the base and upper "Uprights" on the Bed Frame Angle Iron Stand that holds all the hardware.)

With the present available Brass Hardware:

1. 2- 6" X 3/8" Brass Plumbing Pipe
2. 2- 3/8" Hex Bolt Head Brass End Caps
3. 1- 3/8" Triple (T-Shaped) Fitting (Female on all ports)
4. 1- 3/8" Male Threaded Barbed Fuel Inlet Fitting
5. 6 (Or 8 for doing V-8 EFIs) 3X00 EFI Ports (With Equal Spacing along the Bottom of the Rail and Brazed in Place. Center Drilling opens each port)

The overall length will be somewhere between 13" to 15" in order to be able to be mounted somehow onto the Axial Support. Then I've got to find the right kind of metal retaining clips that hold these EFIs to the individual ports.

That is pretty much the overall measurement restrictions. I've searched high and low for some kind of separate external fittings that would snugly accept and hold tightly the Rochester Multech Style EFIs...with no luck. In the absence of using an original GM Fuel Rail-Manifold... The only other option is to sacrifice some kind of 3X00 Fuel Rail to scavenge, re-orient flush and braze them onto the Brass Pipe segments. That will be done in the next few days. I have to laugh at how easy this part of the project would have been using a clean chunk of billet aluminum, your design CAD data...and any CNC Machine...

[bszopi]

trying to work the Brass Parts into something resembling the attached Diagram of what it is I'm trying to fabricate...(Sorry... I'm no CAD designer, so this is the best I could do.)

Maybe I'll whip up a fancy drawing for you, since I am a CAD guy.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Ther Curse of Presbyopia....

Today has been one of those days when I woke up and didn't know whether I was Shot, F*cked, Stabbed...or Snakebit.... Or perhaps... One of Each...

I went and re-upped what Brazing/Welding Supplies I could find from the minimum available at Home Depot and came back to dive in on trying to work the Brass Parts into something resembling the attached Diagram of what it is I'm trying to fabricate...(Sorry... I'm no CAD designer, so this is the best I could do.)

It all Seemed simple enough until I wound up wasting too much O2/MAP Gas trying to get the brass fittings to "wet" enough with the beading flux-coated rod to fill in the base metal with what I thought was thin Brass.... It took me a couple of failed attempts at trying this before I realized that the microscopically fine label text on the welding rod package said "Nickel-Silver". Dammit! So...tomorrow, I'll go to the local AirGas Company instead and buy the right materials to get this accursed EFI Rail built. Hopefully by then, I will have also un-wedged my Head from my Ass and I'll be able to RTFI,DA!

(Read The F'n Instructions, Dumb Ass!)

What's Presbyopia? When you turn 40....You'll find out!

http://www.aoa.org/x4697.xml

[60dgrzbelow0]

Simplicity is Key.

Sage Advice that my enemies will want as a remarkably telling and intelligent statement embroidered in bold red into my Death Shroud and also...clearly outlined in the Stone Pathway they desire to have available to traipse down while walking over my Grave...

[robertisaar]

we have those annoying little bugs as well, they seem to float around in a swarm that you can't see until you walk through it.... "luckily" its too cold for them to be out here...

simplicity is key.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay...A short update...

I took the 3100 Fuel Rail to the bench and cut out the EFI External Ports that were either stamped in ...or robot-welded on.. by simply cutting a 1/2" section of the Fuel Line on either side of the fittings and then cut and ground off the back side of the attached Fuel Line Pipe to leave enough of a flange to clamp the fittings in a straight, level line along the length of new pipe 14" Brass Pipe I'll be brazing them to in the morning.

I wanted to do this tonight... but unfortunately, down here in wonderful Florida...we have this infinitesimally small "Bug" called "No-See-Ums" that are invisible...that is...until they fly up your nose...down inside your ears and along your ball cap... and BITE you like a friggin' Land Shark! And besides that... my O2 Tank is empty and I'll need to get the brazing kit re-upped with supplies in the morning. If all goes well... I'll have the parts and pieces together and mounted on "Frank" for a pressure test ASAP...and I'm going to pick up some Brand New "BLUE" O-Rings to be sure that they are eliminated as being a problem on the older sets I've been using for the cleanings so far. When I'm done with it... I'll shoot new photos and, if it is not leaking all over everything, some video of the damned thing finally working just as I imagine it will.

[60dgrzbelow0]

I just got another idea on how the making of this New Composite Fuel Rail can be done more effectively:

First, please note that there will be a Brass Barbed EFI Cleaning Fluid/Fuel Inlet Fitting brazed into one end of the 14" X 1/2" length of Copper Tubing and an appropriate Copper End Cap brazed onto the other end to effectively seal the EFI Cleaner within the Copper Tubing, with no place to go but out through the Six (6) Inlet Ports and stream under pressure through the Six (6) mounted EFIs. The Brass Barbed Fuel-In Fitting will NOT be exposed to the JB-Weld, as the Lexan "Mini-Cake Mold" will be modified on one end to allow the Brass fitting to slide through a drilled out section on the end of the mold; tight fitting enough to prevent the JB-Weld from oozing out of the Mold or contaminating the Brass Barbed EFI Fuel Inlet.

If the Direct Brazing of the Inlet Ports onto a 14" length of Brass Pipe Idea fails, then instead of pouring the JB-Weld down and on top of the Copper Pipe and all around the Inlet Ports with the 14" X 2" Square Lexan Mold standing on its end, I'll just make a rectangular "Mini-Cake Mold" that sets down in a flat, horizontal position and after being "Buttered" inside with some Petroleum Jelly to keep the JB-Weld from sticking to the Mold, I will either:

(1) Pour the stuff into the Mold FIRST and slowly submerge the Copper Pipe in a level, horizontal position with the Inlet Ports facing straight up, right to within say 1/4" of the stuff reaching the outer, upper edge of the Inlet Port, right below where the metal rim is rolled over to allow the "BLUE" O-Rings their entry point...

--==Or==--

(2) With the Inlet Ports held to the Copper Tubing with self-threading screws facing straight up, then rigidly fix the the Copper Tubing horizontally and level within the Lexan "Mini-Cake Mold" to the proper depth. Then gradually pour in the mixed JB-Weld to the same level I described exactly as in (1) above until the apparatus is properly submerged and covered.

Regardless of which of these two methods is chosen, when the JB-Weld and the Copper Tubing "Become ONE", then the "Mini-Cake Mold" gets covered with Saran Wrap and set on the level shelf for at least a whole day to "cure" and solidify rock hard. After that... I can remove the finished, molded item from its Lexan Mold, tape off the Inlet Port Openings and the Brass Barbed EFI Fuel Inlet to keep crap from getting inside the Fuel Rail...and carve, grind and adjust the final molded product into the finished rail. If this "Recipe" turns out to be a good one... the next post(s) of mine will show the latest images and videos of the finished item I'm calling "New Composite Fuel Rail" mounted on "The FrankInjector"Machine and actively being tested and put through its paces. (Fingers Crossed...)


Morpheus says..."This is your last chance... Once you take the Red Pill to Design and Build "The FrankInjector"... There is No Going Back..."

Later...Deep Inside "The Matrix Project Area"...

Bobby says... You know what I'm thinking..., "Why...Oh Why Didn't I take The BLUE Pill?!!!"

[60dgrzbelow0]

YOU'RE the one that keeps coming up with fixes, not me, i just make observations....

I'm sorry Buddy... But all Successful Problem Solving is a Participatory Sport...So you'll just have to accept the "Genius" title... because each and every time you've mentioned something... It has made me Bang My Coconut Against the Idea Wall even harder to come up with New Stuff... Stuff I would not have thought of on my own...Otherwise!

[60dgrzbelow0]

Or.................................

Just get a sturdier length of Brass Pipe....and braze the Six (6) cut-off Multech EFI Ports DIRECTLY on the pipe????

Hmmmm....

I wish I had another 3100 Fuel Rail to experiment with. But ...What the Hell! ... I have the one to work with right now...so what have I got to lose? If it works, I'll have a much simpler and easier-to-replicate design and I can get back to trying to improving the "FrankInjector's" performance and clean me some more EFI sets...Really Good!

[robertisaar]

Robertisaar...YOU ARE A GENIUS!!! ..What do you think?

YOU'RE the one that keeps coming up with fixes, not me, i just make observations....

[60dgrzbelow0]

I didn't know it was safe to have Lexan in constant contact with fuel/solvents....

I'm not certain that ANY of them can resist these solvents, either... this idea is tenuous at best until somebody can give me some definitive information.

But YOU Sir, have just given me another interesting idea to try out!

What if I were to stand or suspend a 12" X 1/2" length of Copper Tubing, with a Brass Barbed Fuel Inlet brazed in the upper end of the Copper Tubing, centered inside of a 14" X 2" square vertical rectangular mold (I have some sheets of Lexan available to construct such a simple container) and then fill the damned thing entirely up with a big batch of JB-Weld... and then let it cure for a day or so? THAT stuff is completely impervious to any kind of chemical or fuel.

Hmmmm... This Could Work!

The presence of the Copper Tube inside precludes the need to drill out a primary channel for the EFI Cleaning Solutions to reach from one end of the rail to the other...and would act like a length of 'Re-Rod' inside there to give it structural strength and avoid having it fracture when drilling out the six, symmetrically spaced Inlet Holes for the "BLUE" O-Ringed ends of each EFI!

Wait... It gets better!... Scratch the need for drilling the port holes into the hardened JB-Weld at all! Remember Pocket-Rocket's idea about the using 3100 LIM that lead to the discussion about my failed try at using the 3100 Tubular Fuel Rail with the oddly angled EFI Inlet Ports? Well... Now I CAN use those same ports by trimming/grinding them off of the Stock GM Pipe Rail and attaching them at equally spaced intervals along the Copper Pipe via small drill holes and hold them in place there with some small sheet metal screws. Then, after taping/sealing off the open feed-in ends of the Six (6) ports, I can mix up the JB-Weld in quantity and pour the stuff down into the vertical mold. Then...set it on a shelf....and let things get harder than Chinese Math.

After a decent cure time of 24 hours, I can the remove the New Composite Fuel Rail from inside the Lexan Mold and peel off the taped-sealed off EFI Ports, unscrew the hold-down screws inside of them and carefully drill out slightly larger holes in the middle area where the holes in the Copper Pipe mate up with each EFI Port. When this is complete, I'll spray some high pressure air and cleaning solvent throughout the piping from the feed-in end of the rail to clean out all traces of any loose metal drilling fragments and the New Composite Fuel Rail will be complete and ready for testing!

Robertisaar...YOU ARE A GENIUS!!! ..What do you think?

[robertisaar]

i didn't know it was safe to have lexan in constant contact with fuel/solvents....