Over the past year or so I've posted several times looking for help with my two K-jet children. Most of the problems involve warm-up regulators, but having not done a whole lot of work with K-jet in the last buncha years (our first 240 was a 78--sold in '97), I hit the board for tips and hints. The sad truth is that our K-jet cars spend a lot of time sitting, and this system is not happy with that sort of treatment. We have a 79 Bertone with a 4 banger in it as well as an 82 245Tic. Plungers stick, lines clog, regulators fail, etc.

Some years ago, with the help of a friend, I converted a K-jet car to LH2.0. So long ago though. Recently I've been involved in a huge project upgrading a '77 sedan to newer specs. This included swapping the B21 for a B23, swapping the BW55 for an M46 and dumping the K-jet in favor of LH2.2. The reasons for the project stretching out for over a year are numerous, but Monday the engine fired for the first time, and I simply cannot say how worthwhile this swap is. This car had several wiring--fixes--already in place. This was another reason the upgrade was such a good idea. Nothing like figuring out what someone else was thinking. Melted wires, taped connections, other such junk. As a result of this, the fuse box was upgraded to the later, larger style. No reason the K-jet wiring can't be excised and the older, small fuse box and junction block used. For later K-jet cars, everything is already there as far as power distribution. Because of the re-wiring, the LH upgrade--wiring alone--took me a couple of days. I had already installed everything including the later harness on the engine when I built it. It only took two days to wire because I chose to upgrade the fuse panel and a bunch of circuits. Early cars will need a hole in the firewall for the big, LH ECU connector, later ones won't. I think the wiring end of a K-jet to LH upgrade could be done in less than a day easily.

Cars suffering from biodegradable harnesses can really benefit from this swap, in my opinion. If you are going to upgrade the harness, why not move to electronic injection? My experience is that the LH injectors are almost impossible to clog, mileage is better. LH2.2 is widely applauded as the most reliable and simplest system to maintain. No speed signal required, good performance, good mileage, easy starting, etc. The engine/ECU harness carries all the worrisome power connections for the fuel pump relay. There is a sub-harness with two connections for the coil/tach lead (a plug-in affair on later harnesses) and a four pin plug from the ECU that takes care of everything else. For me, the worst part of the whole affair was dealing with the Haynes schematic for the '77--the only one I had available. Bentley's schematic for 87-88 (thanks to Bruce and the "update" crew) was more than sufficient on the new end of things. I was even able to upgrade all the AC wiring with ease. Anyone with basic understanding of reading schematics can trace this stuff out and make the connections. And yes, swapping the K intake is more work and involves some changes. This car, with a B23 block and head, was already LH2.0 originally, so no injector issues. As to fuel lines, this car is running the filter on the firewall with minor changes to the fuel lines that look completely stock.

I've been sitting on all the LH upgrade goodies for my 82 turbo for six months. The ease with which all of this went together is very encouraging, and given the time, I want to get the turbo converted over as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if there are bricksters out there considering this type of swap, please feel free to message me at dpsam-at-sbcglobal-dot-net. I'll be happy to share what I've learned.

DS