best ecu for ford straight six mpi conversion

hey all,been lurking here for a while, i have been rolling this around in my head for a while, i have a 72 ford maverick with the 250 straight six, for the last few years i have been wanting to go injected, to "smooth up" the idle and runability. (these things shook and vibrated at idle like crazy when they were brand new and this one is on it's 3rd overhaul) i did convert another of these to tbi a couple years ago and was happy with it, but i want to go multiport this time. i had considered a jeep system from a 4.0, but i already have an autoprom,(and know nothing about the jeep systems) so for tunability and compatibility i want to use a GM obd1 system. Are any other systems compatible with the autoprom? What would be the best options for this swap? dis would be nice, though i would need to figure out a crank trigger. any opinions appreciated.

The easiest ECM to use would the from a 60* V6 application. I would lean towards the 1227730 ECM, and if you want DIS, just about any FWD application from 1987 to 1992, and some 1993. If you want to stay dizzy, the 1990 to 1992 F-body would be a good donor for bin at least, the ECM is the same.

You will need to fabricate a trigger wheel for the DIS if you go that way.

If you stay dizzy, and there was a magnetic trigger based dizzy, you can use that to trigger a GM dizzy ICM for signals to and from the ECM.

FWIW, I have a Nissan L28 (2.8L inline 6 cyl) running off a 1227749 and code $59.

upon further digging through parts, i have 01227727 (AUSF)from a 91 lumina 3.1, (and even located an old harness to rape the plugs from.)can this ecu be used with a dizzy? if so what code would be optimal for a starter bin? I don't have a problem fabbing/buying a crank trigger, but this car is already using a(90s TBI) GM ignition module, so it should handle spark control simply by hooking up the unused connections and locking the advance on the dizzy right?

also, how could i go about handling knock sensing? i assume factory 60 v6 knock sensors would not pick up in the old straight six?
is there an adjustable knock sensor that might work?


EDIT: after some searching, it seems the 1227727 and the 1227730 are similar inside? and unless i understood wrong the 1227727 will run the code from the 1227730? which would probably put me running the v6 camaro code . what masks are available for these? which would be the simplest?

Yes, you researched correctly. The '7727 and '7730 are nearly identical, as far as circuitry goes. You can use the same code in either ECM.

The easiest way to get the engine up and running would be to use the 3.1 F-body code, sorry I don't recall the mask ID off hand.

Yes, the vacuum and mechanical advance needs to be locked out.

You can start with one code, that supports the dizzy and then if you feel like swapping to DIS, you can simply swap to code that supports DIS, such as the Lumina code, likely to be $A1. Alternatively you could start with the DIS code and adjust some of the timing offsets to get the dizzy to work correctly, and then change them back when you swap to DIS.

I did something similar, I started with dizzy code ($59), and then when I swapped to DIS I adjusted some of the offsets to add the 60* of advance needed by the DIS system. Not sure why GM did that, but they did.

Knock sensing will need some tweaking, if you want it to work reliably. I have started with a 2.8L knock sensor in my case, then added a brass elbow to desensitize it, and then further reduced it's effect in the bin. I have mechanical valve train so I think it's really messing with the knock sensor. Most people have had successful results by going off bore size when selecting a knock sensor, even in a non standard layout of an engine. There has been some discussion of late that this may not be as accurate of a guide as it was once thought to be, so some research is suggested and go by the technique you feel most comfortable with.

3.1 F-body = $88, along with a bunch of other 1990 60V6 applications.

Thanks guys, im gonna spent the week collecting the rest of the parts i need, i sent the head off to the machine shop to get the intake sliced off and a new one built, as soon as it comes back i can start assembling things :)

Oh, it's an old Ford straight 6.

I have one of those engines too, well my Girlfriend does, in her '65 Mustang. It will be coming out in favour of a newer engine when get to rebuilding the car.

My buddy has a straight six in a Maverick. It was his moms, yellow 2 door black interior and so clean and sweet. She stopped driving years ago and he built the motor, cam ported head etc... never fired it up. She passed away and it's been sitting now 8 years. Now he wants me to finish it in EFI. So I think I'll machine the intake for MPFI and go the DIS route like the other thread for my kids four cylinder Toyota...