I currently have a 4th gen, but I was thinking of selling it and getting rid of a payment. I figured I may purchase a 3rd gen again. Will a TPI system handle a 383 and give good performance? What about the programing for the PCM? On mine it was easy, just sent it off and had a pro do it. I run in the 8's now (1/8), can a 3rd gen go in the 7's with the right motor and TPI system? (Affordable that is) Just curious.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Yes, a 383 will give you some good results. A thirdgen can hit 7s, but may be kinda pricy. TPI is expensive :/ It all depends on how much money you have to spend. I run high 8s now with headers/exhaust and underdrive pulleys on an otherwise stock 1990 5.7l.

As for programming a chip, that's possible the hardest part. I am going to be learning soon, don't really have a reason to now or enough mods to affect much. But you will want to look into burning your own proms, it will save you some money in the long run and you can change ANYTHING you want.

 

with a 383 and tpi you are gonna nned to worry a lot about traction. tpi makes a nice fat powerband. torque comes on qwuick and hard. 7's are pretty easy really, just give it a little gear and make it hook. you could have a fairly mild motor and get the job done really.
chip burnign is one of those things that is really coming along for th edo-it-yerselfer. if you go to thirdgen.org they have a message board that is all about home burning proms. all the parts and pieces you need cost 300-400 which is only slightly more than paying for a single custom prom from most major companies.

later
tim

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NJ SPEEDER
91 Camaro RS
305TBI/700R4
12's Coming Soon
2nd Annual East Coast F-Body Nationals
July 20,2002
www.geocities.com/njspeeder
My MAFB.ORG Home Page
http://www.mycar.net/mafb/registry/detail.cfm?id=299

 

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone ever produced a program like LT1 edit or something like that for the TPI (aside from burning chips). What about using a laptop with your PCM to monitor what the car is doing?

 

How will it save me money in the long run? I had my EPROM professionally done years ago for around $400 and now it is around $500. After you are happy with the burn, each time you need something changed, it is $150. They take your mods and do a burn. Let you run it for a while and monitor it with recording software like Diacom. You send them the readings for WOT, Cold Start, Warm Start, Warm Idle, Cruise, etc and they will fine tune it till you are satisfied before taking your initial $500 or the reburn $150. I have used www.fasterproms.com and have been very happy with their results. I also used Lingenfelter but he requires that I have the car at his facility for a couple of weeks to a month.

The only time you will need to keep making changes is if you are experimenting. By that, I mean if you haven't got it right yet. This is assuming you don't blow up the engine like a buddy of mine with DFI (Can reprogram on the fly). In all this time, 6 years, I have only needed it reprogrammed twice. 1 time because I swithched to a 383 with 30 pph injectors (I got a set of freebie injectors) and the other time because I had to rebuild the motor (valve hit piston), changed heads from TFS (junk) to AFR, changed to 26 pph injectors. Each time the downtime was 0 because the chip allowed me to drive it althought it was rough at certain sport till they got it fixed.

Sure, you could change anything at anytime.

1. How often do you make major changes like injectors, radical induction changes, camshaft, exhaust manifold to headers, etc

2. If you have got it dialed in like my EPROM, why would you need to make changes? If you are racing and need the absolute maximum out of it, go with a carburator so you can make the changes easier. EFI was so you do not have to make changes every day, every time to get it running just right for the condition.

Just my $0.02

 

if you have a chip professionally burned on a dyno you willget accurate results. but most companies just hand you a sheet to fill out and tell ytou they will get the chip right from that. they are full of it, correct tunign does not come from a sheet of paper, it comes from data logging and adjusting based on the conditions the car is driven under.
also as mods are made, since we all know that anyone who builds cars to go fast is only goin g"fast enough" for a little while, you can continue to modify the program without any additional cost.
if you have the cash to go sit on a dyno and pay someoen a few hundred bucks an hour to tune you computer that is all well and good, but if you wanna be able to tune the car in and always keep improving the program for less money then you need to burn your own chips or use a dfi that you can tune yourself.
i know people who tune dfi professionally, and to get a car fully dialed in will cost 700-1000bucks between paying the tuner and paying for dyno time. compared to spending at most 400 bucks on parts and having an infinate number of chips at your finger tips i think that is a very expensivce wayt to go about things.

later
tim

------------------
NJ SPEEDER
91 Camaro RS
305TBI/700R4
12's Coming Soon
2nd Annual East Coast F-Body Nationals
July 20,2002
www.geocities.com/njspeeder
My MAFB.ORG Home Page
http://www.mycar.net/mafb/registry/detail.cfm?id=299

 

When I went to www.fasterproms.com they had me give them the specs of the motor. After that, they lent me the software to do the datalogging and took my complaints about the chip. From that, they burnt a new one. It still had some issues that I needed worked out. Gave them feedback and datalogs and they burnt yet another that was on the money.

My arguement with DIY is that there is an initial outlay of money that is close to what I paid them. After that it is $150 to redo the burning process if I change something major. With Diacom or other datalogging software, you only need a laptop and a lonely road for WOT runs. Other runs are done on the street. Cruise and Start and idle is all done on the street with no risk unless you are curising at 150 mph.

Does the $400 come with experience on what to do? If not, it could explain why a person would have to have the stuff at their fingertips to keep doing it again. A lesson I learnt in life is that "Do it right and you do it less than if you mess it up". When I did the reburn on my second 383, it was because I cheaped out and used TFS heads and the valves on the driver side were fine while those in the passenger side wobbled around, broke the spring and crashed into the piston. Since I was getting it rebuilt, I changed the heads to AFR 190cc heads, Fuel injectors to 24 pph because I had other plans for the 30 pph ones when all I needed were the 24 pph ones. $150 for the reburn was nothing compared to the money (3000 over + my time to R&R the engine) I spent on it. If I saved the $150 and had to do it all again in 6 months like my buddy who HAD the DFI, upset would be putting it mildly.

I can't think of anythign I can do to the car that would be mandating a change of the EPROM unless I wanted to do a cam swap or NO2 or a blower. NO2 or the blower is out of the question because I have already got 10.8:1 compression. The cam swap would cost around $1000 because I lost access to helping hands and mostly the facilities to do it in. In that case, what is another $150? What is my time worth for me to learn all the nuances of the EPROM, the time for Trial and Error and the time and money for the R&R if I break something?

I agree that off shelf EPROMs are good for getting a starting point. I have tried them and found them lacking. The reason I recommend www.fasterproms.com is they take readings and reburn the chip till they get it right before asking for $150. www.lingenfelter.com is also good but they will want your car for a couple of weeks to a month because they do the dyno on the street unless it is dangerous. That is what I saw John Lingenfelter do to my car on the street and not the dyno. www.hitechmotorsports.com also wants the car for a week because he does it on the street.

 

Look in the sig, 3rd gens can go into the 7's with no problem if you buy the right car first. I would suggest an iroc or a 91-92z28 with a 5.7l 350 tpi. Then just start your build up. It is kinda expensive but worth it when you come up on people that are stereotypical about these cars, then you smoke the **** out of them. thats fun. I dont have time right now to break it down for you in my point of view but i will later.
Bobby

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89' red Iroc-z
386 stroker
Mini ram, 58mm tb
30#lbs,255 high flow fuel pump
slp cam, 1.6rr
edelbrock performer heads p+p 2.02 1.60
Hooker super comps, Mufflex 4' exhaust
Ford 9' 4.11 gears, detroit locker, 31 spline
Full suspension
B&M mega shifter,2800 stall
baer rear brakes,line lock
converted to speed density
Ed Wright dyno tuned


89' red Iroc-z
LT-1, 4L60E
free mods,chip,no cat, flowmaster

 

That's quarter mile?

If so there are serious mods to get into that level

 

No, thirdgens use chips, not programmable PCM's, so burning new chips is your only route. There are several different programs for burning chips, and for data-capturing. Popular choices are Diacom, Ease, Datamaster, and WinALDL.

aklim, the poster is referring to 7's in the 1/8 mile. Thats mid 12's or so in the 1/4 mile. I'm almost there, as my best 1/8 mile is around 8.25 @ 85 MPH.


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1991 Camaro Z28
350 L98 w/ T56 (originally 305 LB9 w/ T5)
318 RWHP, 419 RWTQ
12.803 @ 108.50 MPH (1.932 60')
Member: SoCal F-Bodies
ThirdGen 4-Life!