So.... Holly Sniper 2300?

SonOfaTomP

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been giving it a thought. i'm young and none too familiar with carb tuning and all that jazz. my Gran Fury is daily driven even in winter (it's my first and only car) shes been chugging gas and most repair shops around here (Baltimore Metro Area) just don't wanna or know how to mess with a vehicle of this age. so i might have a lead to get a holley sniper put on. my concern is how much will need to be done especially taking out all the weird electronic doo dads and vacuum lines galore. i found one article only on EFI on a Diplomat. have any of yall got experience with these systems. i chose to go with the 2300 2bbl type with 318 hyperspark ignition distributor. not sure if i'll need any other parts like a new intake manifold or something. for the time being i'm running a Chinese knockoff Carter BBD which a mechanic said is "the wrong carb for the car and is more fitting on a 60s 318"
 

Aspen500

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Aside from a high pressure fuel system, the Sniper kit should have all you need. It bolts to a stock intake.

Not sure but, you MAY also need the correct kick down lever, available from Holley.
 

dm330

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I'm having one installed on my 88 5th Ave. If you can get that in a master kit, it'll have most of what you need. I'm having the 550-866K unit installed. In addition to what comes in the kit, I needed about 30 extra feet of fuel injection hose, a fuel sump and fittings for the tank.
 

Duke5A

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been giving it a thought. i'm young and none too familiar with carb tuning and all that jazz. my Gran Fury is daily driven even in winter (it's my first and only car) shes been chugging gas and most repair shops around here (Baltimore Metro Area) just don't wanna or know how to mess with a vehicle of this age. so i might have a lead to get a holley sniper put on. my concern is how much will need to be done especially taking out all the weird electronic doo dads and vacuum lines galore. i found one article only on EFI on a Diplomat. have any of yall got experience with these systems. i chose to go with the 2300 2bbl type with 318 hyperspark ignition distributor. not sure if i'll need any other parts like a new intake manifold or something. for the time being i'm running a Chinese knockoff Carter BBD which a mechanic said is "the wrong carb for the car and is more fitting on a 60s 318"

I also run a Sniper with the complete ignition to complement it. It's a great system and it was money well spent. That being said though, it sounds like this is your daily? You're going to be in $2k dollars before this is done. There is nothing wrong with that carb. Strip out the Leanburn and smog shit and replace it all with the standard Mopar electronic ignition kit. It'll be far, far cheaper and will do the exact same thing.
 

Duke5A

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I'm having one installed on my 88 5th Ave. If you can get that in a master kit, it'll have most of what you need. I'm having the 550-866K unit installed. In addition to what comes in the kit, I needed about 30 extra feet of fuel injection hose, a fuel sump and fittings for the tank.

You're going to run into issues of having to keep at least a 1/4 tank of gas in the car going that route. No baffles in the tank and simple lane changes or mild accelerations will uncover the pickup and it'll suck air. The winter project is installing a new fuel tank with the pump mounted inside with baffles.

Also, do NOT use 30ft of hose in that system. It needs to be steel with rubber only to make the connections. The outside diameter of that hose is thick and there is no safe way to run it under these cars. Run new 5/16 or 3/8 steel if you have to. Or copper-nickel.
 

dm330

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Were you able to use a fuel tank from Holley for these cars? They will be baffling the tank before the install, I know that, and I will discuss the plumbing of the tank to the engine with them, since we haven't yet, at least to my memory. Thanks for the tip. It's been there nearly 2 years now.
 

SonOfaTomP

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thanks for the useful tips. i would get the lean burn delete and i have attempted some parts of it but i just don't exactly know what i'm doing if i'm being 100% honest. i figured this system could bring a little bit of power and reliability esp with EFI not needing me to sit in the car for 5-10 minutes on a cold morning. most repair shops around here just don't really know what i'm taking about or want to do the swap out. cars are too old for the modern car shops and too new for the classic car shops. for now the car remains my daily driver into the winter months and with my work schedule i don't find much time to work on the thing. thing sucks gas. maybe 15 mpg? will make a weird clicking noise when it acts up and thing jumps a bit when it does. takes a while to warm up and get to slow idle when cold. still gets me to work and back and i love it. have you guys noticed mpg improvements with the sniper system?
 

dm330

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Ha! Mine has been in almost 2 years, but I'm also having other work performed on it and with one guy there qualified to do the work, it's been time consuming, but I do believe I'll have it back before June lol. I'm not expecting much in the mpg area, but hopeful that it will be a smoother performance overall, and maybe a modest increase in hp since most of the smog equipment will be gone. Mine is undergoing an engine overhaul with this fuel system, but I'm also having the front suspension rebuilt. Once I get it back I'll post a video on YouTube and what my mpg's are with the Sniper. I'm still running the 7.25 rear with the 2.2 whatever gear ratio. Later on I'm upgrading to the 8.25 and probably the 3.07 ratio with new leaf springs, so I'll be able to do mpg's with each phase. Here's the last pic I snapped and honestly, missing my car, but I also can't wait to report on the performance of the Sniper. My patience and my tech's patience will hopefully net a quality ride. I would also guess that the different Sniper kits may yield varying performance results.

FifthAve1.jpg
 

Camtron

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I still drive my car daily in Chicago, all through winter. Lean burn delete, 625cfm Demon carb (which is honestly too big for the 80s smog engine), shit starts like a top year round. Can get in and go without letting it warm up or let it warm up if I’m not in a hurry. I ordered the tuning kit for the carb with the different metering spring and rods, installed an air/fuel gauge and spent a week dialing it in. If I go through the tuning kit, I could tell you what springs/rods are in it right now.
Nothing wrong with the sniper if that’s what you want but, I think you could save a little and still get daily reliability. Like 100% certain. Lean burn delete, 390cfm carb and an EdelBrock intake and you’d be surprised how much better it runs; let alone if you slapped header and dual exhaust on it later down the road; and you could do all that for less than the sniper.
 

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About the fuel system. There is a set up that uses the stock pump to fill a small reservoir. Inside the reservoir is the electric pump, regulated at 58 psi. Hyperfuel Command Center 2.0 is the name. It gets mounted under the hood. Believe Edelbrock makes a similar unit. A pump that's always submerged in fuel lasts longer by staying cooler and, is a lot quieter. Just an idea.
 

LSM360

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My latest belief is that if you can't get an in-take fuel pump system with an EFI swap, stay with carb. The pump outside of the tank can be problematic with heat issues.
 

Duke5A

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My latest belief is that if you can't get an in-take fuel pump system with an EFI swap, stay with carb. The pump outside of the tank can be problematic with heat issues.

With these cars, absolutely. The tanks just don't work with external pumps and they're too shallow for an Aermotive Stealth retrofit. Precisely the reason I'm having a new tank built.
 
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SonOfaTomP

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Update: so i chose to postpone getting the sniper put on and instead went with lean burn delete. thing runs like a dream. its so nice not to have to drive with the anxiety of the mysterious clinking noise and possible stall. thing is quite a bit louder than it was previously but runs like a dream. kinda sounds like an old pickup truck now/ normal? and can i just say how nice this Buick at the guy's shop was too? well if my $70 Ebay Carter BBD ever dies i might go full sniper or finally slap a thermoquad on this thing

IMG_20230810_102448059.jpg
 

Camtron

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Update: so i chose to postpone getting the sniper put on and instead went with lean burn delete. thing runs like a dream. its so nice not to have to drive with the anxiety of the mysterious clinking noise and possible stall. thing is quite a bit louder than it was previously but runs like a dream. kinda sounds like an old pickup truck now/ normal? and can i just say how nice this Buick at the guy's shop was too? well if my $70 Ebay Carter BBD ever dies i might go full sniper or finally slap a thermoquad on this thing

View attachment 50686
Normal sound. Congratulations, you have a healthy ignition system. Let me know if you decide to go TQ, I’ll send a EdelBrock performer intake your way if you cover the shipping. I had a member help me out substantially with some big block parts, I’ll pay it forward if I can.
 

SonOfaTomP

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Normal sound. Congratulations, you have a healthy ignition system. Let me know if you decide to go TQ, I’ll send a EdelBrock performer intake your way if you cover the shipping. I had a member help me out substantially with some big block parts, I’ll pay it forward if I can.
appreciate it. is the swap relatively easy and do you get that good ol' Blues Bros sound?
 

Camtron

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appreciate it. is the swap relatively easy and do you get that good ol' Blues Bros sound?
Intake and carb swap are real straight forward and a good project for anyone learning their way around an engine. Carb, intake, headers/exhaust will help anyone on a mission from god.
If my arm chair calculations are correct, it puts the ol’ smogger closer to 200hp and 300lb-ft of torque; which still ain’t much but, any extra bit helps these cars move out of their own way pretty noticeably.
 
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