Craftsman 12HP Fuel Injection -Project

I have been riding motorcycles since ... well, let us just say a little more than half a century. I have always done all of my own mechanical work. At the moment my wife and I own two bikes, mine is a full sized Harley and her's is a late model Harley Sportster. Her bike is carbureted and mine is the first fuel injected bike I've ever owned. I will never buy another bike with a carburetor - just plain never. Computer controllers are available for them all over the place and I'm sure the same manufacturer's will jump in the market when injection becomes commonplace on smaller engines. The controllers, which allow you to make minute adjustments to both your fuel and ignition all the way through the RPM band, are very easy to use. As for injection itself, its way simpler for the home mechanic than carburetors and when it comes to performance - and emission control - injection is far superior to carburetion


By the way, I personally thank the EPA and other Government Agencies for cleaning up the air I breath.

ThomWV said:

I have been riding motorcycles since ... well, let us just say a little more than half a century. I have always done all of my own mechanical work. At the moment my wife and I own two bikes, mine is a full sized Harley and her's is a late model Harley Sportster. Her bike is carbureted and mine is the first fuel injected bike I've ever owned. I will never buy another bike with a carburetor - just plain never. Computer controllers are available for them all over the place and I'm sure the same manufacturer's will jump in the market when injection becomes commonplace on smaller engines. The controllers, which allow you to make minute adjustments to both your fuel and ignition all the way through the RPM band, are very easy to use. As for injection itself, its way simpler for the home mechanic than carburetors and when it comes to performance - and emission control - injection is far superior to carburetion


By the way, I personally thank the EPA and other Government Agencies for cleaning up the air I breath.

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And I, as a contractor, curse the EPA with every other breath....

Pressure treated lumber, for the most part, is no longer rated for ground contact (it'll rot out quickly). You can thank the EPA for regulating that one...

Concrete sealers... you can no longer get the good stuff that actually works. Nearly everything is now water based and it doesn't work for .... beans... A couple years ago we were making a lot of people happy using a commercial grade water repellant for their concrete. This stuff was so good you could paint half of a concrete brick with it, let it dry, then drop the brick into a bucket of water. Pull it out 10 mins later and the half that was coated, the water would instantly bead up an roll off. And the stuff would last a minimum of 10 years. But now you can't get it, EPA said it has to be water based instead of solvent based (who ever heard of a water-based water repellent anyway.... ). Of course the new stuff doesn't work for crap and doesn't last more than about 2 years. Thank the EPA for that.

I can no longer work on homes older than 1973 unless I am EPA certified for the removal of lead paint. This entails a $250 course to get the paperwork to send to the EPA with another $300 to get certified. Then I am required to use an EPA certified lead paint test kit to test for the presence of lead paint (the test kits are made by a company that went out of business at the beginning of this year, the ones you find in Home Depot and Lowes are not EPA certified). Then when I'm done cleaning up after the work I have to use a special wipe to make sure I got it clean enough and compare it with a card that has a strip of clean and dirty wipe (of course, that company that makes the EPA certified ones is no longer producing them). With luck we'll have new test kits and wipes by the end of this year... or so the EPA assures us. The fine for not being certified and following the rules is $32,000 and up. Yep, thank the EPA, they are doing such a FINE job.

I could go on, but I'm already falling OT....

ThomWV said:

Sounds like you need to find a new trade, one you can cope with. Regulation of toxic materials is sound policy - get used to it because it ain't gonna go away, but people who can't deal with it certainly will.

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My complaint is that they are regulating away things that WORK and trying to make it harder for the small companies to do business. It is not that hard to handle lead paint disposal safely - people have been doing that on their own since they found out the dangers in it. I'm complaining about a government agency that decided to tell us that we HAVE to do it their EXACT way or be fined out of business. Then telling us that since the things they require to do it the "right" way are not available, we can't work on any of it until after that stuff is available. Sorry, I need to pay my bills now, not in some indeterminate future point when the test kits and wipes are available again.

The private sector has proven that it can and will work ON IT'S OWN to fix problems (like safe handling of lead paint). Sure there are guys out there that just don't care, but there are also homeowners willing to accept that (if more homeowners would insist on better quality work, then the guys that don't care about safe handling of things would be forced into either finding another line of work or improving their methods. There is no need for government to tell us how they think we should do things - they could accomplish far more by simply educating the average Joe out there than trying to regulate the construction industry out of work (and it will happen if they keep pushing new regulations through without a thought for the consequences).

Speaking of regulations without a thought... try this on for size. The EPA came up with a new regulation for controlling the amount of run-off and any "contaminates" (including silt) from construction areas. Internally, the EPA has admitted to itself that these new guidelines are impossible to meet... but in true government fashion they're going for it anyway.

Oh, and one other one that anyone looking to build a new home might be interested by... the government is pushing through a new regulation to require the installation of a full-house fire sprinkler system in EVERY new home and business. That means roughly an extra $15,000+ on the cost of any new structure plus you'll have to get commercial water service (more $$$ per month) if you have city water. If you have well water... well, everyone I've talked to so far has not been able to give me an answer (which means it likely was not considered that anyone would want to build where there is only well water available - I'm suspecting though that when they actually do realize that this is a problem, they will probably do something ridiculous like require the installation of a small water tower).




I'll leave it there. I've cluttered up this thread enough, if you want to continue this discussion, lets make another thread or do it via pm.

One of my biggest peeves about the EPA and emission laws,is the fact only WE are the ones expected to follow the rules or face fines or be driven out of bussiness..but if its a cuty,state,ir federal government agency,and the military, who buries toxic wastes and poisons wells and leaves things like ammunition dumps and other toxins on govenment owned lands,oh ,thats OK..those living nearby who die of cancer or get sick otherwise are just "peasants" anyway,and dont matter---.

If I spill any oil in my driveway while changing my vehicles oil,I can be fined a huge amount..a friend who used to live in my hometown had a nosy neighbor who hated him,and detested him having several old Chevies in his yard that he was restoring,and the neighbor especially hated the fact he painted them in his garage,and was constantly calling the town selectman ,police,and even sicked the EPA on him for "running an illegal body shop",and took photos of him changing the oil in his truck one day,and was sure to get a close up of the oil he spilled (maybe a pint or two) in the picture,and showed it to an EPA enforcement officer..he was fined nearly 10K dollars for the "oil spillage" and "illegally storing and disposal of laquer thinners and other paints and solvents"--and since some of the antique cars had air conditioning,and he had no proof the Freon had been properly removed,they assumed he just let it escape into the atmosphere--they could have charged a LOT more,but he had a lawyer working on the case,and they settled at 10K..(then his neighbor moves away shortly thereafter!)..
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He moved to TN a year later,and said he wishes he had gone there 20 years prior!--the difference in what you can do in one state and not in another ,is pretty amazing..not that he moved so he could pollute and poison ,in fact he was very anal about any polluting as a result of his hobbies..

Where he lives now there isn't much for building codes or enforcement,here your under scrutiny the minute you start doing anything like driving nails or digging,the building inspector will be paying you a visit ,demanding to see your permit,and want to know who the contractor is..if it is YOU,you had better have all your ducks in a row,you'll be sure to have your "project" under surveillance,and if you did your own wiring or plumbing,it had better be right ,and up to code..its almost like they dont want anyone to do anything unless your a licensed contractor,even though there is no law saying you cant..

While I think it is very cool ,to see someone coverting a one lunger to use fuel injection,I dont see it becoming a popular "do it yourself" project..personally I hate complicated electronics,and feel they dont belong on autos and other internal combustion engines,but I wont argue the vehicles that have EFI and electronic ignition & timing control DO run amazingly effeciently and deliver impressive HP ratings from a dinky displacement engine..I find the biggest drawback to todays sophistcated electronics is few people understand just how they work and they can be sensitive to temparature extremes and corrosion problems..many "mechanics" dont even know how they work,they just keep replacing this sensor or that one,or other components,till they get lucky and find the faulty one..I have seen many cars scrapped because no one wanted to spend days chasing down a chafed or corroded wire,after wasting hundreds on parts and repair bills and the car is still unreliable or wont even start..

Here is a zip file with the .pde code for the micro controller and the schematic for the controls/injector/fuel pump/LCD. The code is well documented. Here is my approx cost for parts.

1. arduino duemilanove2009 $28-$35 (ebay)
2. 4x20 LCD $18-$25 (ebay)
3. Mr Gasket 7psi Fuel Pump $52 (auto parts store)
4. Brass fitting for injector mounting $3 (Home Depot)
5. Project Box and Misc Electronic Parts $25 (Radio Shack)
6. GM Injector (Free from my van)
Total Cost $126-$140 or alittle more...

My thoughts are to cut cost by:
1. Using a cheaper Arduino micro controller version $14
2. Ditching the fancy 4x20 LCD Display and Use simple 7-Segment displays $4
3. Price shop around for a better deal on fuel pumps. Hopefully $25 ??

when I build and re-code for the cheaper version I wil post it also..

--Joe