Stu Hilborn, the early days (Photo courtesy Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum)
Stuart Hilborn was born in 1917 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was the son of a migrant worker who moved to southern California when Stuart was young. He died on December 16, 2013 at the age of 96. He was the inventor of the first successful mechanical fuel injection system for racing applications.
“For Racing Applications” is a key phrase. One of the early problems with fuel injection was the transition from partial to wide open throttle (WOT). Hilborn’s FI system was targeted at racing applications where transitional performance wasn’t a concern. Hilborn’s only concern was that of racers – WOT performance, and Hilborn’s system did it better than anything else.
Hilborn at Muroc (Photo courtesy Hilborn Fuel Injection)
Hilborn began racing at Muroc, a California dry lake now part of Edwards AFB, in 1938. As with most racers at that time he had trouble with carburation that was based upon OEM units obviously not intended for racing. Hilborn’s Model A with a Ford flattie was fast, but not necessarily more so than his fellow competitors.
When WWII drew the US into the global conflict and suspended Hilborn’s need for speed, at least on land, he became part of the US Army Air Corps (later the USAF). During his tenure with the Air Corps he developed his first FI system at a machine shop close to his base in Mississippi.
After the war, while working as a chemical engineer for a paint company, Hilborn designed and built his first workable fuel injection system and installed it in a streamliner that he had purchased for $75. He then became the first hot rodder to go over 150 MPH at Muroc.
The classic Hilborn SBC setup (Photo courtesy Hilborn Fuel Injection)
I never built an engine with Hilborn fuel injection. The only fuel injection system that I ever fiddled with was the Bosch system on my ‘78 Rabbit, and unlike the other Bosch components on the car, it required very little attention.
But I built a bunch of scale models in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Lots of 1/25 Fords and Willys gassers. Of course, they all had tiny Hilborn injectors.
Stu Hilborn (Photo courtesy Hilborn Fuel Injection)
Thanks Stu, not only for a great product, but lots of great memories.
We owe much for that greatest generation for what they have given us. Yep, I was one of those baby boomer kids piecing together a Hillborn injection set up for some Willy’s gasser model kit! But those guys were real pioneers, brilliant engineers with high test running through their veins. Zora Arkus Duntov with the Ardun cylinder head and his later work on the Corvette…..Vic Edelbrock, Phil Wieand, Harvey Crane, so many car guys whose work paved the way for a more efficient, more powerful automotive engine.
A nice remembrance of one of those pioneers, may he rest in peace now. And thanks to Kevin for bringing this to our attention. Things would be a lot more drab on the American automotive scene without these guys leading the way…….kind of like what we have these days!
Thanks for another great read Kevin,I was a keen model maker as a kid(I had a lot more patience then) and remember making fuel injection drag racers and hot rods.
I grew up thinking these pioneers were the greatest. Thanks for the story.
Old mechanical fuel injection setups from the early days of hot-rodding are the coolest. A lot of people who run these now convert the stacks to EFI in order to get solid idle and partial throttle response out of them. Some consider it sacrilege, but personally, I think that’s awesome and very much in-line with the spirit of what Hillborn was doing in the 40s. I’d love to get my hands on one of these to play with – Hillborn is still in business and has a very good rep for quality and customer service from what I hear.
It’s almost unbelievable that someone who was basically a backyard mechanic – albeit a very well equipped and intelligent one – was able to get so far out on the cutting edge of technology back then. A true visionary, RIP.