i just ordered a new 350 bored .030 with a big cam and other performance stuff. i'm going to use the holley stealth ram for the intake and 24lb injectors. the engine was dynoed with 375 hp @ 6000 rpm and 380 tq @ 3300 rpm. i'm also going with the slp 1 3/4 headers with straight pipes. the only thing i don't have is a custom chip. my question is do i need one for the install or can i put the engine in and put the chip in later. i know it'll decrease preformance but i figured i have to break the engine in before i can see what it can do, so would waiting for the chip be a bad idea or would it be ok for a couple of weeks. thank you for all your help and do you know of any places where i can have someone make me a custom chip. the only place i know of is fastchip.com thanks again

 

Yes, you HAVE to have a chip burned for your setup. I made the mistake of spending the $350 on a chip from fastchip and it was way off! I should have used that money to buy all the PROM tuning stuff (and all that PROM burning stuff costs less than the fastchip!!) I just started tuning my own PROM's and I'm still learning, but I wish I would have went the DIY route in the first place. Ed Wright wont leave you hanging if the chip is way off, but it will never be perfect for your combo unless the tuner is there in present, looking at and tuning your car in person. If I was you, read Traxion's PROM tuning article on the DIY - PROM forum. Then buy all the stuff and start with the stock .bin file. From there, change injector constant to 24 lb. and start making little changes until the car runs better and better. The guys on the DIY-PROM forum are really helpful and will help you if you get stuck. Just my $.02

Mike (1bad91Z)

 

Its worth it, look into learning. Good advice in that post.

 

I think you should get the prom now and not wait. I did not want to burn my own and went with Formato's Fasterprom's, Inc. Burning your own is the best but I don't have the time to learn.
Formato's will work with you until your happy.

 

I know of several people who have built strong motors and run them off of stock chips. It deffinitely won't bring the motor to its potential, but it will give you a baseline to tune from. - just my $.02. - I'm going to run an Ed Wright chip, but I'm going to start w/ my stock chip. My motor will be a Stealthrammed, 355, w/ Pro lightning aluminum heads. Another guy on here built a AFR headed HSR motor an it is almost identical to my set-up. He took the car to Ed Wright to be tuned, so I'm going to get a chip that is just like his.

 

I went with an Ed Wright chip too. Only b/c i was going from my 305 chip to a decently modified 350 with over 400hp, so tuning that chip would have been a PITA! I know myself, i would have given up long before i had things right so i went with an aftermarket for now. Like mentioned above, it will never be perfect when someone is tuning your chip 1000 miles away while your car sits in your driveway. It will never happen! I plan on tuning myself in the spring when i get a hold of a lap top. Then i will be able to tune it correctly. I dont know, its up to you what you want to do but for now i am glad i went this route. good luck

 

Again, all the advice on buying your own equiptment is very wise and cheaper the a custom prom from the big guys.

If you're not ready to go all out shoot me an e-mail and I'll set you up cheap for starters.

 

thanks for all the inputs, my friend just told me he knows how to burn a chip and i just have to get the different bin files, so i'm just going to make my own instead of buying one. i have a couple more questions though, where is the chip located and do i have to desoder it. thanks again

 

If your friend is able to "burn chips" for our cars, he should be able to answer that for you. Also, it plugs right into the computer, no soldering required at all! If you really want to know, its under your pass. side dash in the ECM, a square silver thing behind the dash. good luck