Since 1999 CustomEFIS has sold electronic fuel injection kits for all types of vehicles using General Motors Electronic Control Modules (ECMs). I built kits for everything from a 1969 Ford Escort to a Triumph TR-6 British sports car. I have sold over 1000 kits to satisfied customers in that time. In late summer of 2007 I intentionally shut down selling kits because I realized that while a great many customers had a good experience with me there were also too many that did not have a good experience with my business. Instead of continuing to work harder and longer (not sure if that was even possible) to turn this business around selling more kits I decided to shut it down. Now that I've had time to look at why this business failed to grow and prosper, I would like to start it back up with a new strategy and provide the best products that I possibly can. I still feel that I have something good to offer with this business if I can learn from my mistakes.
My new strategy is to sell quality products and back them up with reasonable service for the right price. Note that this new strategy is a result of using the wrong strategy in the past. The wrong strategy was selling too many different kits with insufficient installation information and trying to provide more service than my prices allowed. I tried to personally perfect each and every customer's calibration via email and solve all problems regardless of whether the problems were related to my products or not. This eventually took more time than I charged for and harmed this business. If you search the internet for comments about my business you will see that I initially had a good reputation for quality work and service but as time went on I was overwhelmed trying to provide more service and support than I should have. Part of that stems from the fact that I have perfectionist tendencies and that's not always a good thing when it comes to making a profit. My intentions were to provide a better product and service than my competitors but I found I could not do that for the same price.
I also now realize that not everyone who bought and tried to install my kits should have done so. Many of my customers were not qualified to install an EFI kit on their vehicle. If you don't know basic automotive engine tune up procedures such as setting timing with a timing light, adjusting the idle speed screw, or don't have mechanical aptitude in general, you should not attempt to install an EFI kit. It is not my role with this site or my products to teach automotive mechanics. If you don't feel qualified to install my kits or use my information I recommend that you hire a qualified mechanic or find a qualified person to help you. Also, EFI will not cure a bad or broken engine. If the engine was not running decent (ex.; hitting on all cylinders) then EFI won't change that. Several of my customers who bought and returned my kits (after me spending weeks trying to solve problems) ended up selling their engines on off-road website classified boards or on Ebay. I can only assume they determined the engine was defective. One more thing, if you have an "Endless Project", it's your endless project, not mine. I can't be involved past basic settings and troubleshooting support without additional fees.
I don't want to go into too much detail here but the reason I sell GM EFI is that I still think it's the best there is bar none. The fact is the ECM (or ECU as some call them) is the heart of an EFI system and the code and calibration is what makes or breaks the whole system. GM spent millions on research and development of their electronics and software (code) and because of this the hardware is very reliable ( I almost never have an ECM go bad) and the code runs an engine in a very smooth manner. Not only that, emergency replacement parts are as close as your nearest auto parts store and spare parts can be found on Ebay and in junkyards for almost nothing. When I design a kit I try and use as many factory parts as I can so that replacement parts are not unique and hard to find. To keep costs down I can't always do that though. For ex. the fuel pump that I use cannot be found at auto parts stores. I buy them wholesale since they are not offered retail anywhere that I am aware of.
In the past GM EFI had a reputation of being cumbersome for using "chips". Chips were a big mystery and you needed an expert to get them re-programmed at great cost. But thanks to new technology chips are a thing of the past. You can now connect a laptop to an ECM using a USB cable, load the calibration into the ECM, make some changes while you drive and perfect it as often and as quickly as you want. All my future kits will have this capability to eliminate the "chip". But I'll make you one free chip if you want to use the ECM programmer in another vehicle.
Part of my new strategy is to have the customer take the lead and fine tune the ECM calibration using my DIY GM EFI Tuning Guide sold herein (a copy will be provided with every kit). I will be there to help out if you get stuck but you'll be expected to learn GM ECM re-calibration well enough to do the fine tuning yourself. This is not unreasonable as the major EFI manufacturer's are doing the same thing. They provide a manual and the means to calibrate their systems without their involvement except when you get stuck or things don't work as they should. If you don't have the 3 P's (patience, persistence, and passion) to fine tune the system on your vehicle then you probably shouldn't buy one of my kits. Of course I'll be happy to fine tune it for you for a fee. Every engine is diiferent and will probably need fine tuning. I'll set up the initial calibration based on the engine specs, EFI parts and my experience but don't expect an EFI kit to work perfectly right out of the box. Many times they do but don't be surprised if they don't.
Before I implement my new strategy and offer my new products, I'll direct newcomers to my legacy site. My legacy site is only being provided as a sort of history to where this business has been. The products and services found on my legacy site are no longer offered at this time.
My legacy site is: www.customefis.com/legacy.html
Notice in the third paragraph in about the middle of the page he says its taken him two years to get to where he is now and you can't expect to convert your car to MS over a weekend. Well with my kits that's exactly what you can do. I have worked out all the technical details such as 250 PSI high quality fuel fittings and found all the small incidentals needed to install a GM kit (which has better reliability) without multiple trips to the parts store. I've also set up the calibration in the ECM using 10 years of experience re-calibrating GM ECMs so that its a good chance you can drive the vehicle the same day you start the kit installation. You can forget that with a Megasquirt project. I knew this particular customer had DIY inclinations and I recommended he just purchase my GM EFI DIY Tuning Guide since I don't sell partial kits but he insisted I provide a quote anyway. But to compare my kits to Megasquirt is like comparing a real Enzo Ferrari to a Ferrari kit car. Good luck with that.
Since I am a small business with a small staff, I do not have time to answer phone calls so I don't provide my phone # in this site. However, if you feel that your question/issue will best be handled in a phone call, email me with your phone # and a time to call you. Also if you email me and don't get a reply, you may have a spam filter blocking my reply email. I usually answer with the email address "customefis2@aol.com". So if you will add this to permitted emails or turn off your spam filter, my reply will get through. You can also email me directly at customefis2@aol.com.