i've never been a big fan of the computers in my car, but i'm slowly comin around. i was hooing to get a few things cleared up... heres a few... if i throw a cam in my car can it be any STREET/STRIP size i want. and how do i tune it, i understand the lt4 if a common choice, but i want to hear my car cammin at lights and wen i'm stopped. also i hear i need to get the car tuned if i bum up the injecter size?

is this all true, how can i tune it myself, what do i need, or do i have to take it 2 a speacilty shop to tune it??

 

With an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, you can quasi-tune your car but the best way is to get it dyno tuned. As for the injectors, you need the injector constant set. Its not the same as dyno tuning. Actually its a lot easier.

 

what is quasi tune.. and what all the talk i hear about re-chiping the car or modified ecu

 

You may want to head over to www.thirdgen.org for info on tuning your TPI. Alot of great guys over there, and TPI is there babies :-D

Josh

 

All you need is a PC, Eprom programmer, blank eeproms, and an adaptor.
Having a laptop and datacable and datalogging software will allow you to run the car and look at what the ecm is doing, also good to have a wideband O2 to get an A/F reading while tuning, but that is anouther $400 or so.
So, here is a total of the parts:
PC $100 (I've got an old P2 450 in the garage, can be had for cheap)
Programmer $150 for the xtronics one I have
Tuner Cat $95 with the Def file for your motor
Moates Adaptor and 2 blank eeproms $55
If you get a laptop then you can use that instead of the PC for both burning and datalogging, $150-250, don't need any fancy one, I've got a P2 366 with 32megs of ram and Win98
Datalogging cable, $50 or you can make one for $20 or so.
Innovate Wideband O2, $400

 

and this will help me adjust my car for anything??? cam, fuel pressure???

 

Yes, you have the ability to alter virtually any tunable parameter within the car's programming. Let's say that you log a few dragstrip passes, & notice that (for whatever reason) you're going a bit lean between 3700 & 4300 RPMs. You can actually burn a new PROM that will add a bit of fuel at that RPM range, without adding it where it's not needed. (You can't do that with a screwdriver! ) Heck, with a carb, you probably wouldn't even KNOW you were running lean through that range! That's just one example, there are plenty more...

Thought I'd give you a few links to check out so that you can see whether or not it's something that you might be interested in. Hope it helps.

This page gives some fairly basic information about what PROMs are;

Here is a good writeup to give you a good "overview" of the process;

Do NOT make a decision as to whether or not you want to do this without taking a look at Moates.net! I've contacted Craig before, & even though I wasn't a customer, he was very courteous, helpful, and quick with his replies.

Here is the DIY PROM forum on thirdgen.org - probably the best place to try to learn from. (I would strongly suggest that you check out the "New To Prom Burning?(or Just Need A Reminder?) Step Inside" and "The Prom Tuning Guide Book and FAQ: Common Questions and Answers" threads on that page...) There is also a "DFI and ECM" forum there as well.

As mentioned above, you will need some equipment, although it's fairly straightforward, & not too expensive (as tools go):

You can get cables from Ruse Electronics or AKM Electronics (AKM's been around for a while, I think that Ruse has too...);

You can't do it without software. Here are links to the TunerCat and TunerPro websites.

(There are probably sites out there where you can pick up an EPROM burner/eraser, I just don't have any bookmarked right yet...)

Here is the home for the ECM programming e-mail lists - they can very likely answer just about any question you might have...

If you decide that you don't want to get into it yourself, I've heard some good things about the programming done by PCM-for-less...

Basically, if you already have a fairly good handle on how to tune a carb'ed car, then you've got the basic knowledge you need to get started. Yeah, there are a lot of new terms, & some new concepts, but once you get past the initial curve, a whole new world will open up, & you'll be able to do things that you couldn't even dream of doing with a carb!

Learning how to do this is the project I have planned for this winter - and if I can do it, there's no excuse for anyone else to not be able to do it...

 

oh hell yea!!! thats awsome, thanks so much for all the help guys!!!! i guess the tpi under the hood is gonna get growing!!!