Jim Shelton's '32 Roadster
MSD is understandably proud of its Atomic™ EFI System, which helps to regulate throttle control and fuel injection for vehicles - like our beloved hot rods - that weren't built with electronic fuel injection. It replaces the carburetor in carb-engined cars with the EFI for better perforance. Jim Shelton has first hand experience with how much of a difference this system can make on a vehicle, and an adventure.
In the summer of 2012, Shelton set out on an amazing journey, one envied by hot rodders everywhere, but one not easily attempted with the traditional engine. Jim left his Las Vegas home in his ’32 Ford Roadster on Tuesday, May 22, and didn’t return until Saturday, July 7th.
In that time he traveled through 20 states in 47 days, completed the Hot Rod Power Tour, took in the NHRA Reunion, two Street Rodder Road Tours, MSRA Back to the 50s and the Goodguys Heartland Park Nationals. By the time he pulled back into his garage, the 327 had logged over 8,900 miles. In fact, his ’32 roadster now has over 90,000 miles on it!
“The engine starts and idles regardless of temperature. It doesn’t pop or sneeze if I drive it cold. I can pull into traffic without praying the engine won’t stumble or lurch," says Jim. "It runs beautifully at the beach or on the Eisenhower Pass (11,150 feet) whether near freezing or on a 100-plus-degree day. Wide-open performance feels the same but the part-throttle response improved so much that you’d swear the engine got bigger. And if I can keep my foot out of it, it returns a consistent 15 to 20 percent improvement in fuel economy which was at a pretty respectable level beforehand. The even bigger reward was the excellent driveability that it provides. The roadster drives even more like a modern car now.”
The Atomic system can be installed quickly, allowing folks to go from shop to Saturday cruise in a day.
“We were helping a shop that was working on a mint Nova with a 396 that was .040” over," explains shop owner Chris Straub. "It was the customer’s baby but issues with fuel smell, bucking in high gear at lower rpm and hard starting had him hating the car. The car had a pretty stout solid roller cam which wasn’t helping with the issues so we spec’d a hydraulic roller for it.
"First, we dyno’d the car as it came in and it made 510-hp at 6,000 rpm with 446 ft-lbs of torque at 5,000 rpm. We left the timing, carb and everything else the same but swapped in a Clay Smith 160-3101 with a set of Morel Street lifters. The engine made 521-hp at 6,200 and 30 ft-lbs of torque!
Next, we installed an Atomic system and started tuning from the handheld monitor. The end result was 550-hp at 6,500 rpm and 510 ft-lbs at 5,900 rpm! Not only a huge difference in power but it starts, idles and runs like a totally different car now.”
Questions about the EFI and your vehicle? Go here: http://www.atomicefi.com/AtomicFAQ.aspx
MSD's Atomic TBI, LS EFI and TCM systems are on sale from April 1 - May 30
Founded in 1970, MSD is one of the most recognized industry names in ignition system products, EFI products and high performance parts. The company designs, develops, tests and manufactures its entire line ignition boxes, distributors, EFI systems, coils, spark plug wires, crank triggers and other performance parts from its headquarters in El Paso, TX. MSD is part of the MSDP Group LLC family.
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