Holley Sniper EFI

[yossarian19]

I live in a smog county, I just know a guy who doesn't believe in smogging his G-body Chevy.

[SpudWrench]

Just installed this on my 83 J10 Sunday, Huge improvement, smooth acceleration, reduced warm up, crisp throttle response, did have a problem with RPM's couldn't get it down below 850, a couple calls to Holley techs and they told me the fix. Just a matter of some tuning thru the hand held now its idling at 720 to 740.......smooth as silk.

Thanks for this.
Any install notes to be aware of?
Timing control simple modifications?

[wayne-o-]

As far as smogging, I know a guy. And for the sniper install, pretty simple 5 wires, I've got the rpm idle fix from holley, took about 3 minutes. I got 3/8 x 6an fittings from a hose shop and 3/8 fuel injection hose and fuel inj clamps from Napa. You can go down 1 size for your return and run 5/16. I do recommend this system.

[rang-a-stang]

When I was working on getting my Chero through smog, I came across a guy with a 79 CJ7 with a 401/Holley sniper in it. He said he originally had a Howell and it went through smog a couple times, but he wanted more power so he put a Edelbrock intake on it (but ground off the logo, and painted it to match the engine so it looks like a stock manifold), and the Holley Sniper. He said when he takes it to smog, they kind of scratch their heads when they look at it, assume the Holley Kit is the Howell kit, and do the sniff/evap tests. He said he has passed twice like that. He's banking that the smog techs can't tell the difference and twice it has worked for him which means he's been driving it for at least 4 years like that. I, personally, wouldn't want to risk failing but he swears by it.

[wayne-o-]

Ok, smog, if you download the Howell install manual, they tell you all the smog crap you can legally get rid of when you run their system, smog pump, plugging off exhaust tubes that used to be needed for your headers (I have Doug Thorley) gotta keep the charcoal canister, big deal.

[babywag]

When I was working on getting my Chero through smog, I came across a guy with a 79 CJ7 with a 401/Holley sniper in it. He said he originally had a Howell and it went through smog a couple times, but he wanted more power so he put a Edelbrock intake on it (but ground off the logo, and painted it to match the engine so it looks like a stock manifold), and the Holley Sniper. He said when he takes it to smog, they kind of scratch their heads when they look at it, assume the Holley Kit is the Howell kit, and do the sniff/evap tests. He said he has passed twice like that. He's banking that the smog techs can't tell the difference and twice it has worked for him which means he's been driving it for at least 4 years like that. I, personally, wouldn't want to risk failing but he swears by it.

No offense but holley sniper just hit market so not sure I'd buy anything the guy said. Also has ginormous Holley Sniper EFI script on it.
You would have to know smog guy, or find one ignorant enough to risk losing his license and a fine for a $xx smog test fee.


wayne-o be careful what you post in future.

[rang-a-stang]

No offense but holley sniper just hit market so not sure I'd buy anything the guy said. Also has ginormous Holley Sniper EFI script on it.
You would have to know smog guy, or find one ignorant enough to risk losing his license and a fine for a $xx smog test fee.

No offense taken! My thoughts were similar but more like "that's a lot of time and effort to bank on the tech not noticing". Dude didn't do any of his own work (had a local custom shop do all his work). I had to explain the difference between 4bbl and 2bbls and what "long block" means during our discussion.

I called the shop to see if his Howell system was still there (because I would have bought it if it was) and the owner said he sold it "years ago". So, long story long, I don't put much weight on what this guy said but a) he seemed loaded (lots of money, not drunk) so I didn't doubt his story about having Howell and updating to a better system, b) He knew very little about how engines work, generally, so he may have been giving me info that wasn't a lie, but not necessarily correct and c) the shop, generally, didn't contradict him. Here's his Jeep, I contacted him because he had a '79 401 that had been smogged. He lives really close to me. Intake does not look engine color.

https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/5980569396.html

I did smog my Chero at the same place he went and I watched the tech smog my truck. He did some poking around during his visual inspection but he didn't take out any pubs to verify my configuration and when he was inputting the values for the inspection, he did not turn away from the computer to check anything.

[Phaques]

Just curious if anyone has installed this kit. And if so do you like it?

Have you pulled the trigger on this? It looks like a good setup.

[Darwin1876]

Have you pulled the trigger on this? It looks like a good setup.

I have I've ordered it. But it is on back order and won't ship out until next month.

[Tte531]

Hey curious how this ever turned out?

[malabo]

Recent Holley Sniper EFI installed

I recently installed a Sniper EFI (2bbl) in my 78 J10 360.

Very happy with the performance afterwards. Smooth acceleration, no more cold start. Easy initial programing with included touchscreen. Touchscreen display stays connected and is a nice engine monitor (RPM, AF ratio, Temp, etc). Acts more like a modern engine now.

Easy install, took about 3 hours working slowly. Electric fuel pump install took more time than half the EFI install time.

Price was around $1,200 total including electric fuel pump.

[Mikel]

Any MPG improvements?

[Texas993]

Any MPG improvements?

I have 2 GW's, one an 89 with Howell TBI and an 88 with Sniper. The Howell gets much better mpg - approx 14. Sniper gets 11 mpg.

Howell GW is much slower - but generally runs well.

Sniper GW is quick - but just got a fresh rebuild and Eldelbrock 4 bbl intake. So the engine may not be totally broken-in and I may be driving it harder.

Of the two, I definitely prefer the Sniper.

[the5ilenced]

I too just installed a Holley EFI sniper over the weekend, like one user posted, installing the fuel pump/ lines,return line took longer than installing the EFI. So far I?m very impressed with the startup, acceleration etc. I couldn?t tell you about any mpg increase though. A question I have for the ones that have installed a sniper efi... what did you do about your timing? Or what is your timing set at? I?m using the distributor setup (-coil) but thinking about going HEI soon.

Thanks

[posulli88]

I also installed the Holley Sniper 4 barrel master kit this weekend ahah. Huge improvement! I had never worked on carburetors before and have been struggling with mine for quite some time and finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the Holley system. So for me this was a huge step forward.

It literally took me 30 minutes to hook up all the wiring and install the unit on the intake. Took me about 1.5 hours to drop the exhaust and install the clamp on bung. Longest part was dropping the fuel tank, modifying the tank and the sending unit for the 3/8th hose. I ran the external fuel pump in the master kit and made a bracket for that. Its so much better! I can actually drive this jeep now and it feels like its brought my jeep into the modern world.

I cant go full throttle yet as I have a brand new engine and a brand new clutch, but the little acceleration I have given it, it is incredibly responsive. It idles down great and it got rid of my issues when getting off the gas. So far I only have about 10 miles on it so its a small sample size but I cant wait to see how it works going forward.

I have an MSD distributor but for now am running it without timing, but hope to use the timing control in the future. I plan on writing a detailed write up on Wednesday with a lot of pictures if you are looking for more information.