BUILD-OFF CHALLENGE: Tygaboy's '75 LS3, It seemed a good idea at the time... Options

[djway]

Plasma table said it’s lonely. Ok, it’s me, I miss all the new cool bits you come up with.
May your tuner be pitch perfect and the road rise to you.

[tygaboy]

Plasma table said it’s lonely. Ok, it’s me, I miss all the new cool bits you come up with.
May your tuner be pitch perfect and the road rise to you.

Oh, please! I still have to fab a front latch / catch system for the trunk lid, replace the rear tail light panel (what might that open up, design-wise?), invent some sort of door panels...

I also have what I think is a neat-o design for the rockers as well as the rear bumper. All I'm saying is that there's plenty of fab left to go.

Oh, and the hood vent, too...

[djway]

Plasma table said it’s lonely. Ok, it’s me, I miss all the new cool bits you come up with.
May your tuner be pitch perfect and the road rise to you.

Oh, please! I still have to fab a front latch / catch system for the trunk lid, replace the rear tail light panel (what might that open up, design-wise?), invent some sort of door panels...

I also have what I think is a neat-o design for the rockers as well as the rear bumper. All I'm saying is that there's plenty of fab left to go.

Oh, and the hood vent, too...

Just hook me up to an IV drip and keep the cool flowing....

[ri914]

Plasma table said it’s lonely. Ok, it’s me, I miss all the new cool bits you come up with.
May your tuner be pitch perfect and the road rise to you.

Oh, please! I still have to fab a front latch / catch system for the trunk lid, replace the rear tail light panel (what might that open up, design-wise?), invent some sort of door panels...

I also have what I think is a neat-o design for the rockers as well as the rear bumper. All I'm saying is that there's plenty of fab left to go.

Oh, and the hood vent, too...

What are you thinking for a hood vent? I am designing one now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Andyrew]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[tygaboy]

I dub this post "(Hopefully), you know you're working with the right tuner when:"

- you start your car to get it off the trailer, it fires right up and idles pretty well. You pull it into the shop and the tuner instantly says "yeah, that's not right..."

- ITBs are on every one of the engines in the shop.

- the restomod Pantera he's working on is easily Ridler/Singer-level build quality, and he did the engine wiring, which is all but invisible and what you can see is, well, perfect. I need to get pics of this thing. It's beyond incredible.

- every question (those who know me know I have lots!) is patiently and thoroughly answered.

He expects to have things essentially sorted in a few days, then I go back up late this week for an "I drive while he tunes" session.

Can't hardly wait!

[Andyrew]

I dub this post "(Hopefully), you know you're working with the right tuner when:"

- you start your car to get it off the trailer, it fires right up and idles pretty well. You pull it into the shop and the tuner instantly says "yeah, that's not right..."

- ITBs are on every one of the engines in the shop.

- the restomod Pantera he's working on is easily Ridler/Singer-level build quality, and he did the engine wiring, which is all but invisible and what you can see is, well, perfect. I need to get pics of this thing. It's beyond incredible.

- every question (those who know me know I have lots!) is patiently and thoroughly answered.

He expects to have things essentially sorted in a few days, then I go back up late this week for an "I drive while he tunes" session.

Can't hardly wait!

Awesome!!! I love those days (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Your gonna need a lot of space (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

[Cairo94507]

I know the feeling when you find the right shop for the job. Glad your car is at the tuner to get it sorted. I can't wait for the driving video and to see it in person. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[djway]

I dub this post "(Hopefully), you know you're working with the right tuner when:"

- you start your car to get it off the trailer, it fires right up and idles pretty well. You pull it into the shop and the tuner instantly says "yeah, that's not right..."

- ITBs are on every one of the engines in the shop.

- the restomod Pantera he's working on is easily Ridler/Singer-level build quality, and he did the engine wiring, which is all but invisible and what you can see is, well, perfect. I need to get pics of this thing. It's beyond incredible.

- every question (those who know me know I have lots!) is patiently and thoroughly answered.

He expects to have things essentially sorted in a few days, then I go back up late this week for an "I drive while he tunes" session.

Can't hardly wait!

Pictures of the Pantera please. Most fun I ever had driving was in a Pantera.....

[Dion]

“He expects to have things essentially sorted in a few days, then I go back up late this week for an "I drive while he tunes" session.”
—————

That’s fantastic Chris. It’ll be great to see this engine at its potential !

[tygaboy]

PROGRESS!!!!

The tuner jumped right on it and reports that he's found and fixed a few issues. Some that I created...
Despite my best efforts, I had flipped a couple sensor wires. Embarrassing but I told you I'd be fully transparent. In my (weak-ass) defense, it was the first time I've done any wiring work and we all know I need at least 3 tries to get anything right! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

Hey, at least I'm consistent!

I'm just thankful there are experts I can work with to help debug and fix my mistakes!

The good news is, it's getting there!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JuZC3077C4

[tygaboy]

Update II for the day:

Turns out I only messed up the wiring on one of the sensors. The tuner said the IAC was wired to what the Borla system needs but I ended up with a different model sensor. His perspective is that the "mis-wiring" isn't something I could have known about and he gave me a pass on that one.

So, I'm only 1/2 as bad a wiring tech as I thought I was 20 minutes ago! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif)

But this sort of thing makes me wonder how many folks are out there with poorly performing systems and are only a simple wire swap away from greatly improved drive-ability. Remember, the car starts and runs, just not as well as it should/could. And a big part of my car's issue is/was the ITBs being in sync and having a correctly adjusted linkage.

But this wiring thing is perhaps a good example of a situation that could lead to folks hearing that ITBs don't work well at anything but WOT/race pace.

[Andyrew]

I watch a LOT of tuner videos and Dyno shop owners. This is so common that its always the first thing they check... Injector wiring, IAT wiring, MAF wiring, and a few other common ones.

Awesome progress! This is the kind of thing you would waste months or years (my case) chasing. The few extra dollars you pay for a quality tuner are worth their weight in gold.

[bbrock]

I know the feeling when you find the right shop for the job. Glad your car is at the tuner to get it sorted. I can't wait for the driving video and to see it in person. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Screw the video! I just need to know when to set my gaze toward the west as Chris streaks across the Montana sky just before the sonic boom hits. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[solex]

please delete

[tygaboy]

First drive after ITB sync, linkage adjust and new tune being loaded. It's the tuner driving - I wasn't there. And yes, he apologized for the less than stellar video. The rattle you hear is the shifter. The car has no tunnel cover, carpets, or glass so it's quite noisy.

All the adjustments and tuning prior to this drive video was done with the car sitting still, before any of the critical "tune while driving" work, so still a ways to go.

The tuner is recommending I get the car home and take care of a couple things we now know need addressing. In particular, the throttle tip in is too abrupt, which has been a concern since it first fired up, as you all know. I have some ideas about how to improve it, now that we know for sure it needs help.

So, I'm heading up to tomorrow to retrieve it, redesign the throttle linkage and address a couple other things like put in the windshield (!) then it goes back up and I drive while he tunes.

In the meantime, it is drivable so I expect to take it out this weekend and start to get to know a bit more about what I've created. Should be "interesting". Getting closer every day...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-O4McFE7E

[tazz9924]

First drive after ITB sync, linkage adjust and new tune being loaded. It's the tuner driving - I wasn't there. And yes, he apologized for the less than stellar video. The rattle you hear is the shifter. The car has no tunnel cover, carpets, or glass so it's quite noisy.

All the adjustments and tuning prior to this drive video was done with the car sitting still, before any of the critical "tune while driving" work, so still a ways to go.

The tuner is recommending I get the car home and take care of a couple things we now know need addressing. In particular, the throttle tip in is too abrupt, which has been a concern since it first fired up, as you all know. I have some ideas about how to improve it, now that we know for sure it needs help.

So, I'm heading up to tomorrow to retrieve it, redesign the throttle linkage and address a couple other things like put in the windshield (!) then it goes back up and I drive while he tunes.

In the meantime, it is drivable so I expect to take it out this weekend and start to get to know a bit more about what I've created. Should be "interesting". Getting closer every day...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-O4McFE7E

I really like the cleclo pins holding the dash together (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif) Dont you love a good time crunch

[Andyrew]

Chris,

I'd be happy to supply a Gopro and windshield mount for future "Test Drives" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Love the sound of that engine!

[tygaboy]

After time with the tuner, most stuff has been fixed but he was struggling with a consistent "hanging idle". Something's up where the butterflies don't/won't return to fully closed and it ends up with a 1500+ RPM idle. A blip of the throttle lowers vacuum and the idle settles in where it's supposed to be. So it could be that there's an issue with one or more of the return springs.
The tuner was in touch with the Borla engineer and there's agreement that something may have happened when the ITBs were messed with to remove the return springs.
Anyway, I drove about 10 miles yesterday and this issue makes it "not fun" to drive.
The tuner gave me a couple homework assignments and I'm trying to take care of them today. But I suspect the throttle bodies will be making a trip back to Borla to be inspected/reset.

I don't fault the tuner or Borla. Sometimes we are presented with situations that aren't what we hoped. While I certainly find this frustrating, I'm choosing to view it as a learning experience. I will come out of it with a far better understanding of this tech and my car.

Now, on a totally different note, here's the Pantera I mentioned earlier, along with an Aston Martin V12. What's that partially completed induction system on the V12 you ask? Oh, just a one-off stack system that the tuner designed and had fabricated from scratch.

And there's my ratty little 914, staring longingly at the tech-porn and eye candy it spent a few days with.

[horizontally-opposed]

Panteras have always had an engine bay for the ages, but that one contains art full stop. Wow. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)