Twin turbo 4.6 dohc build - trying to avoiding sensor overkill (dominator efi)

Doodler

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I'm in the middle of wiring up a Holley Dominator EFI for a high hp street car (twin 62mm turbocharged 4.75 stroker in a 1964 Falcon). I'm having a hard time trying to figure what sensors are needed and what would just be good to know. My buddy that's helping races his chevy II a lot, so he wants to see all the data available. I on the other hand will probably make 10-12 passes at the track in a year. I have no problem with getting sensors, but there is a point when it's just overkill for a street car. I have no experience building something THIS big and it's my first mod motor. Looking for advice from people that have been there and no what to look for on these motors. Thanks in advance!

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badcobra

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That's a pretty neat combo. Where in MN are you located?

You have a dominator, so you can monitor and control things in an almost unlimited capacity.

At minimum, I'd do these
driveshaft speed
front wheel speed
Pre-intercooler air temp
coolant pressure
transmission temp

You'll also have to control the fuel pump(s), fan, transmission cooler fan, bump, and transbrake

Nice to haves:
crankcase pressure
exhaust backpressure
shock sensors
converter pressure
trans pressure
pre-intercooler psi

It's much easier to run all the wires now for these 'nice to haves' and just wrap them up. My car is a similar build as a 'mostly street car', but having all the data you can is pretty important. We have a pretty incredible wiring guru/tuner in MN located a bit north of Rochester who has done an unbelievable job on my car getting all this stuff to work together. I can pass along his info if you are interested. Also, join the Holley mod motor group on Facebook if you are on there. Mod Motor W/ Holley EFI
 

Doodler

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Thanks! I'm in Woodbury. I tend to go way overkill and don't realize it until i'm so far in that I can't turn around. The car was supposed to be a simple big block swap. That turned into a supercharged big block and that turned into a teksid based stroker twin turbo on a tube chassis. All I can do is shake my head and wait for it to happen again, lol! It should scoot though being that weighed around 2700 with a 302.

I'm running 2 A2W coolers (one on each turbo for lack of room). Would it be more beneficial to run a temp sensor after the coolers to monitor since that's the temp going into the engine? I didn't think about front wheel speed. Otherwise your "minimum" list was what we were planning plus shock sensors and ride height sensors in the front. Do these engines have a tendency to lift heads under a lot of boost?

Who are you using to help tune the car? My buddy that's helping me wire the car up is good friends with a tuner from Holley. He was probably going to get us a solid baseline tune, but i'll still need someone local to really dial it in.
 

badcobra

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Thanks! I'm in Woodbury. I tend to go way overkill and don't realize it until i'm so far in that I can't turn around. The car was supposed to be a simple big block swap. That turned into a supercharged big block and that turned into a teksid based stroker twin turbo on a tube chassis. All I can do is shake my head and wait for it to happen again, lol! It should scoot though being that weighed around 2700 with a 302.

I'm running 2 A2W coolers (one on each turbo for lack of room). Would it be more beneficial to run a temp sensor after the coolers to monitor since that's the temp going into the engine? I didn't think about front wheel speed. Otherwise your "minimum" list was what we were planning plus shock sensors and ride height sensors in the front. Do these engines have a tendency to lift heads under a lot of boost?

Who are you using to help tune the car? My buddy that's helping me wire the car up is good friends with a tuner from Holley. He was probably going to get us a solid baseline tune, but i'll still need someone local to really dial it in.
Pre-intercooler temp is really nice for understanding how efficient your intercooler is. As part of your Holley main harness, you already have a provision for manifold air temp (MAT), just need to buy the motorcraft sensor. Similar to oil and fuel pressure, those wires are built into the harness.

Heads will lift if your tune is out of whack or an event happens. I typically run 35+ lbs trouble free. Monitoring coolant pressure is a great way to spot problems and also build a safety around it that if a problem did occur, it would shut the car down.

Front wheel speed, coupled with driveshaft speed will allow you to set up traction control which is really useful on the street especially.

Anyway, my tuner/wiring freak is Steven Kiehne. He is down in Zumbro Falls, has a dyno and one of the best tuners in the country. Will definitely want to get with him when the time comes.
 

01yellercobra

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Is a knock sensor worth having at this level? To possibly keep the head lifting event from happening?
 

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