'68 Cougar Sniper Install

[mbrunson427]

The weather is turning nicer here in Colorado and I have gained back my motivation..... decided last week to clear the drag car project out of my workshop while it sits and patiently waits for the engine block machining to be finalized. The '68 Cougar will take it's place for a Holley Sniper install.

This car is the first car I ever worked on. My uncle flew me out to Colorado from Omaha on my summer break between 2nd and 3rd grade. We took the car around for a drive, got it back in the garage and dumped all the fluids, and spent the week pulling the 390 2 barrel engine out of it. It's a fond memory of mine. I love any chance to work on this car now.

History on the car: Ever since it has been completed it has always been the most temperamental car we own. My aunt calls it "Christine". It's like Eleanor, have to talk to it and tell it to cooperate with you. I think a large portion of the problem is under-hood heat issues. A few summers ago I put a very good electric fan setup on it and that helped quite a bit. The next step is to get one of these Sniper units on it and have the Sniper manage the fan controls. I'm also hoping that accurate fueling can help out engine heat as well. Running new large fuel lines wont hurt either.

The engine is a 427 w/ 428 crank (452"), Edelbrock ported heads, blue thunder dual plane intake. Transmission is a C6 (I don't think this helps with heat issues either).

I will need some help from you guys once I get everything complete and ready to run. There are some of you on here (like Ross) that seem very savvy with the setup of these things and I'll need some guidance. I have never done anything that wasn't carbureted.

[mbrunson427]

The very first thing I did yesterday is do some investigation on the unit wiring, and then snipped their UGLY connectors off. The unit has 23 inputs/outputs and I need 8 of them. I going to combine those into one clean connector and get rid of everything that is unnecessary. I'm drawing up a wiring diagram for myself today and going to start getting some of the wires pulled this week. The battery is in the trunk so that adds a bit of a hurdle for getting the unit powered.

[Tommy-T]

I have but one suggestion.
In years past, when we were running minimal accessories, running a battery in the trunk involved welding a bung to the chassis next to the battery and bolting the ground from the battery to the chassis at the rear. Then, at the engine running a cable from the block to the chassis by the motor. It worked fine for what we all were doing.

Now, many of our hot rods are running sophisticated electronics, like fuel injection that also runs our ignition systems, that we never dreamed of before. And that's a good thing as time does not stand still.

These electronics are very sensitive to grounds and electrical "noise". The battery can and does serve as a "buffer" to this noise. What I'm getting at is it may be beneficial to run a battery cable from your engine block directly to the ground post ON THE BATTERY.

It is surprising how poor a conductor of electricity steel is as compared to copper or aluminum. You don't need those problems when wiring up a fuel injection system. I know it's a hassle and heavy to run a 2ga. cable the length of your car along with your positive cable, but you may find it worthwhile in the long run. 

[mbrunson427]

Thank you for the suggestion! Makes tons of sense to me. I'll have to look at how the battery is grounded right now.

[jmlay]

I know of at least one modern car that has the battery in the trunk. However, I 'm not sure if there is a dedicated ground cable that runs front to back.

[JamesonRacing]

Are you planning to have the ECU control the ignition timing?

[jayb]

+1 on Tommy T's suggestion, I always run two dedicated wires (power and ground) from the battery right up to the ECU, to minimize noise issues.  I also put a big capacitor between those two wires right at the ECU, again to minimize noise issues.  MSD makes a good sized one with a mounting bracket.  Clean electrical power is your friend when it comes to EFI.

[My427stang]

Mike, sorry I missed this.  The first two things I would do for any Holley kit

1 - Check the pinout location and color on any plug to the diagram. One Terminator X I used had 3 pairs wired backwards,  I know you cut some, but my recommendation would be to check everything to the schematic before you install.

2 - Make a list of every part you plan to use, then go to the Holley support page and see if it needs a special setup.  In other words, in some cases, a plug and play distributor is chosen from the drop down by it's part number during programming, in others, it's set up as Generic with desired settings to make it work.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason which way any specific distributor will go.

Last, I am happy to look at the config file before, or after if you have problems, just let me know.

[mbrunson427]

Are you planning to have the ECU control the ignition timing?

If everything goes well, I thought about running the dual-sync distributor with the hyperspark ignition box, so I could have the sniper run ignition timing as well. If you look at some of Holley's posted information, they warn against making a total conversion all at once. They suggest starting with the sniper and then replacing the ignition components after everything is sorted. I figured if I get all the way through this and don't have all my hair pulled out, then I'd keep plugging along with the ignition too.

I also put a big capacitor between those two wires right at the ECU, again to minimize noise issues.  MSD makes a good sized one with a mounting bracket.  Clean electrical power is your friend when it comes to EFI.

Jay, I ordered one this morning, thanks for the tip.

1 - Check the pinout location and color on any plug to the diagram.

Ross, I spent a solid hour looking back and forth at the wiring yesterday. Their pinout on each harness setup was correct. What I thought was fairly dumb is the colors leaving the sniper don't match the colors at the harness. So I had to make myself a conversion chart of what wire I need from the sniper and what color it will change to at the new plug I'm making.

[My427stang]

If everything goes well, I thought about running the dual-sync distributor with the hyperspark ignition box, so I could have the sniper run ignition timing as well. If you look at some of Holley's posted information, they warn against making a total conversion all at once. They suggest starting with the sniper and then replacing the ignition components after everything is sorted. I figured if I get all the way through this and don't have all my hair pulled out, then I'd keep plugging along with the ignition too.

 
Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead! The dual sync is easy LOL

[Gaugster]

Glad to see another 68 Cougar getting some love! Totally agree on the need to dedicated clean power. For the ECU that runs my transmission I have dedicated power wires, proper fusing, relay switching for 12V accessory etc....

The electrical system on my 68 XR7 is generally stock. Ford was fond of using rivets or similar for ground returns. That works but was never intended to last 50+ years. I have "tastefully" added dedicated ground wires from the dash panel as well as from the voltage regulator back to the negative battery power.

If you have an AMP gauge and want it to work don't get too creative. I forget the particulars but you can bypass it if the electrical system is modified extensively. Sort of a personal preference thing as many add a voltage gauge which is what I did also.

[mbrunson427]

I took Ross's hazing to heart. Bought a dual sync distributor, it showed up Friday. The capacitor Jay recommended showed up. We were grumbling a little bit yesterday because this 650 horse Sniper kit looks like a $1,400 conversion at first glance, but by the time you factor in the ignition control, fuel management, and misc components needed, the price is quickly up over $3,000.

I was able to consolidate all of the input/output wires into a 6-plug connector and then I have another 2 plug connector for the power/ground connections. Now that the sorting and planning is all done, wires will be run quickly. I'm thinking about getting our neighbor to machine me a mount for the MSD capacitor and the coil driver module that will mount to the carb stud and hide at the back of the unit.

This is the wiring diagram for this dual sync distributor situation. Note that there is a "coil driver module" that's not really talked about anywhere that I had to buy.

[JamesonRacing]

What does the coil driver do in the installation?  I've installed Sniper/TermX Stealth on two FEs with locked out Duraspark/MSD6A ignition setups and didn't need any additional boxes or other stuff.  Also installed a Holley HP on a sequential setup using a Sniper CD box, and a Ed PF4 on my Z2363 small block with a 6A box.  I guess all my stuff has a MSD 6A or Sniper CD box installed.

[mbrunson427]

This is the route you take if you want to avoid a CD box. I thought about running the hyperspark CD box that pairs up with all this, but I don't have anywhere I care to mount it. From my understanding of what the "coil driver module" is, seems to me that its a transistor in a box. The Sniper unit signals it, and it opens/closes the coil circuit. This way you don't have all that electrical noise from the coil messing with the Sniper.

[My427stang]

Mike, I have only used the 565-205 Dual Sync on a Terminator X, however, that distributor asks you to do a custom setup in the ignition drop down, not selecting "Dual Sync" from the drop down

I am not sure if it would run either way, but a Holley EFI tech that helped me on the dyno insisted that I follow.

See this link  https://documents.holley.com/199r11491r8.pdf

Additionally, I ran into a day long battle with reversed cam and crank sensor wires.  We figured it out, but if the Sniper has a cam and crank sensor light, be sure that the correct light is lighting up on the distributor and the ECM.  On mine, they were opposite, indicating swapped wires.  (2 days of frustration on the dyno until we found it)

I'll have a 650 Super Sniper in hand later today and will look to see if it has the lights like a Term X, but if looking at it today, look for that

[mbrunson427]

Noted! Thanks Ross

[mbrunson427]

May not look like much, but big hurdle for me.....buttoned up all the wiring Saturday and clicked the key on, everything powered up as it should! I was pretty nervous about this whole deal, especially after cutting the sniper harness completely apart, but it all worked out. I will push the car out of the workshop this week and get it on the 4 post lift for some fuel lines, then we can see how it works.

[My427stang]

I feel your pain, starting this one right now....347 AFR heads, blower, Ford branded Victor Jr and a Sniper

Building the engine is the easy part, need to make an air tight pass through the bonnet for all the Sniper wiring!  May need to hire you

[mbrunson427]

Haha you're going to be in the same spot I was! Snipping all their wires splicing everything back together. It's really not that bad, the biggest headache for me is it was such small gauge wire, harder to deal with.

That setup looks neat!

[mbrunson427]

I haven't made it a ton further on fuel lines, however Neal (at Tin Element) is almost done with the hood scoop. We gave him the fiberglass one that was on the car and he built one from aluminum that is about 2" taller, trying to get some more airflow through the engine bay. We drop off the hood today so he can final fit it.

Dilemma: Do we paint it the same color as the hood again, or paint it a lower gloss black?

[Gaugster]

Interesting question about the hood scoop color. Just my opinion but I'd say paint to match the hood. It's taller that stock so will be plenty visible. The vinyl roof already provides a different black texture.

[machyoung]

Any updates on the Sniper? 

[mbrunson427]

Noting yet! I've had 2 trips and just got the COVID last week, so not much car stuff has been getting done. Just needs fuel lines and it's ready to test out. Hopefully within the next month.

[482supersnake]

I'm looking at possibly doing either the sniper stealth or the terminator stealth for my mustang.  What fuel pump are you planning on running?

[66FAIRLANE]

Make sure you flush the fuel lines real well and after a little running check the prefilter screen on the built in Sniper regulator. It is very small and fine and is easily blocked. I check mine now as a part of regular maintenance.