I pretty close to getting the engine fired for the first time and I have no chip yet. I keep changine my mind on which way to go. Over the phone custom chip from Fastchip or tow my car a few hundred miles to have it dyno tuned and broken in. Option one is cheaper and a LOT easier but im nervous that the chip wont be the best my engine can get. I do not have the time to learn how to burn my own and my car is the last car I want to learn on. I have way to much invested under the hood to grenade it becuz of a tuning mistake. Which way should i go here guys. Im loosing sleep over this... really.here are my mods

383 Holley stealth ram with 58MMTB
10:1 CR
AFR 190 heads w/ 1.5 roller rockers
Comp cams 224/230 .503/.510 112 LSA

rest of mods are in sig.

 

HR cams don't require break in.
And as long as you don't seriously under/over fuel it, then the pistons and rings will be fine. Be more concerned with the over fuel. That is a lot harder to feel. Way lean will let you know. I had a small vac leak on my carb that made it run way lean at cruise. Didn't hurt the motor a bit. I know because my tach was off 500rpm and hurt the valve springs and cam. So it got pulled at 700mi for fresh bearings and polish and different cam.

From what I've heard, buying a custom chip won't get you much.
You could do what they will do for less.
Moates FlashnBurn-$85
Adapter & chips-$35
Software-Free
IF you tune it yourself, you can get the part throttle stuff close and drive it to the dyno for WOT tuning. Which you should do anyway.
If you want it right, then you'll have to DIY.

More than likely, all a custom chip will get you is the constants for engine size and injector size changed, maybe fan temps, turn off any emissions stuff you want and a little timing tweak. Then a guess at what the VE table should be for your combo to try and get close on the fuel. Once you learn a little about the chip calibration, you'd be amazed/disgusted that people charge money for the guessing they "must" do on a mail order chip. If they have taken the time to tune that exact combo, then it would be different.
Then again, from other posts I've read, they don't always guess. They just change the constants mentioned above and leave the fuel/spark tables stock.
$300 please. You can change the constants yourself very easily.
In fact, that is the easy part.

Speaking of injectors, you'd be better off getting 30's. Ultimately, the 24's? will be a little small. Not that you can't do it. It has been done. It will just take more tuning. Then you'll eventually swap to 30's, tune it again, and rav about how much better it is with the 30's. At least that's what I've seen on these boards.

Btw, I've built a similar engine. Except I'm retrofitting EFI so I don't at least have a known working system to start with. You can always use a carb to break it in.
Just get a carb style return regulator.
You could use your ecm and dist. too, not much work chip wise. Uncheck a few boxes, change some numbers in some spark tables. I'm in the process of doing this. One way to get my feet wet, and prove all the hardware is good too.

 

What good is building a neat motor if you can't tune it?.
You have two choices as I see it, spend a ton of money and get a fully dialed in chip. Or do it yourself. A dyno session will only get Full Throttle done. There's alot more to a chip the just with the throttle punched open. No one's going to get you chip done for the way you like to drive over the phone. Even with sending them data logs, the best they can do is kinda close.

If you'd gotten involved with doing your own chips on a stock motor, this would have been mush easier for you. Now with a hotrod, you have a much steeper learning curve.

 

I now have the 30 lb injectors. I didnt buy themjust because you mentioned it but I knew that the 30's would be better for me. As for the tuning,if I got a chip to at least get me driving and enjoying the car, then how simple is this software to learn in a short amount of time? I take it I will need a laptop in the car right? I just dont want my car sitting in the driveway all summer while im in the house with my eyes glued to this screen trying to figure out a new languge.

Grumpy, yes I want to be able to tune my new engine and know whats going on with it. I just want to drive this car this year. its been down since last may. im just frustrated right now because I have all this done and a simple chip is gonna hold me up . i want my chip PERFECT. I heard a lot of good stuf about faschip and they told me they could get it 99% right over the phone but now that you guys say all this about mailorder chips, Im starting to change my mind

 

Have you noticed salesman always make lots of claims?.
The only thing 99% correct is that they don't touch anything near 1% of the calibration's data.

In this law suit crazy world, how can they begin to even try to get really close?. They have to leave a large buffer in there, or they'd be sued out of business. Not to mention the amount of work that really goes into a chip that's well optimized.

The DIY PROM board has all the info., you need. Some of the guys that post there, have been at this for along time, and have helped more then just a few guys get going. Read the stickies at the top of the PROM Board, and once you have some guestions to ask, just ask them. Well formulated questions can get precious answers. So doing your homework pays off infinity.

go slow, take notes, make small changes, keep the engine happy. It works, it's been proven MANY times.

 

I was just looking at the tunercat website and seen a lot of different programs they offer. I take it that I will need the program called TUNER correct? not RT TUNER. This sound right? Price is $69 after 30 days. If thats right then I will get that, get the programmer from xtronistics PN: I-PP2. Then get the GP1 package from Moates which will include the "adapter", ZIF socket and 2 chips. The chips included in this kit are 27SF512. I take it these should work for my car. The tech article states the the 90-92 TPI takes a '27C256' EPROM and the 27SF512 is a replaement for that prom. This comes from the Moates site"The 27SF512 chips should be applicable in any car which normally takes a 27C128, 27C256, or 27C512 chip. This includes pretty much all the cars which will accept the adapter and memcal form factor described above.
Now whats the deal with this UV light eraser for the proms. If I get the AT29C256 prom then I dont need the eraser then right? If thats the case then I dont need the 2 extra proms in the GP1 package. Can someone give me a little more info on this deal? I put the part number in the digikey website and 30 matches came up. Can you get this prom in different configuations and speeds?

thats is then here is the list of stuff I need
programmer $150
editior(tunercat) $69.95
GP1 hardware from Moates($35) still debating on this package
extra proms "AT29C256"

Does this all look right

 

Yes, if your using either flash or eeprom, you wont need the eraser. The flashroms you stated are larger but will still replace the origional prom, you just wont use the whole chip. The 'GP1' doesnt look like a bad deal. Probably would pay more if you bought it all seperatly. With the tuner you will also need to pay an additional $19.95 for your ecm definition since it only comes with the $42 (thats hex, not money). Although its pricey and the two part terrif pricing stratagy isnt that great, I really like TC. So far its the only software package I can't crash... much. The other freeware ones are nice but I had lots of problems using them. He also has a TDF editor/creator so his software is modular and will work with whatever you may be running or can dream up. Good for me... After paying close to a hundred bucks for the software and somewhat sparse but non the less functional $4D def. Id be PO'd if I couldnt use it with my present calibration. Had to pay an additional $39.95 for it, though.

 

Check-out JayCar Electronics...These Aussy's really get the job done with home grown automotive electronics for modifying the VAC, MAP voltages and Oxy sensor for backyard tuning!!

 

Ok I'm still fairly new here, so this will probably get me thoroughly flamed from head to toe, but here's another option:

Buy a FastChip tune and get the car running. It won't be 100% optimal, but it will start and run just fine and you can work out any of the "bugs" with the new engine (i.e. won't start, wiring mishaps, exhaust/oil/coolant leaks, etc). Then once you're crusing around reliably you can, ideally, get the tools to tune it yourself and get it optimized.

I don't know how many motors you've built, but you will be lost if the motor doesn't start AND it's your first tune. I've built-up a bunch of motors, and I've love to say that I do such thorough and complete work that they always start on the first try, but that's not always the case. If you do enough motors you'll make a mistake and it won't fire. Then you're on a hunt for that hidden connector, or blown fuse, if you forgot to supress the passkey in the pcm, or whatever. Trying out your very first tune on a custom motor that is being fired for the first time is just asking for a headache.

While I'm into honest opinions I'll push it a bit further... If you buy the chip and run with it, my guess is that it will run just fine and you'll not want to bother with paying for the programming tools and the learning curve. I dealt with Ed Wright at FastChip a bunch in the 90's before I began tuning my own cars, and he's an honest guy with a lot of experience. Sure, you'll know that it could have a little bit more if you spent days/weeks/months learning how to tune for the first time and getting it done, but if you're not motivated to learn for the sake of learning, I doubt you'll care.

Ron