I took my son's 02 z28 to get a 'box tune' yesterday. I was telling him about the 383 tpi motor i want to build for my '91 and that i plan to keep the tpi, etc... i asked if he thought he could help me get the tuning right after i got the motor in the car. he said no way.. he wouldn't touch it. i went to another local tuner... same thing.
these guys both said that the ecms in these cars are so primitive that there would likely be drivability bugs in the car that could never be worked out. they said chips were too much of a problem and tuning these ecms was just plain too much a pain in the *** and they couldn't guarantee the engine would ever run right.
both suggested an aftermarket ecm (fast, big stuff3, etc...) but that is thousands of $$$.

are they right that the computing power is so primitive that it may never run right? any suggestions? thoughts?

 

NO! They are not right as hundreds of people on this board can attest to.

 

Do some reading here. Look at the EBL. Or learn to burn chips yourself. No reason you cant get it done.

 

Probably just doesn't have the equipment to burn the tune for you, many guys have done it, just read some of the posts.

 

What both of them told me is that yes, they could tune it, but it would never be as good as they could do with OBD II. They also said that sometimes when they make changes in these older computers it changes other things as well and it is hard to get it exactly right. I have read and read and read posts on here and I see where it looks like guys have done it, but since I haven't myself I just wasn't sure if these modified cars run as good as the newwer cars when the tuning is done.
The other thing they said was it would cost over $1000 just to buy the equipment to burn the chips, but from what I have read here that isn't so; are the wrong or am I misinterpreting what I read here?

 

The equiptment is at crag moates. Software is almost free at tunerpro. Your stock ecu should do just fine it is just more of a learning curve. EBL is most likely the most user friendly(dynamicefi.com) if you want to invest. Visit stickies above.

 

Part of what he said is right, I would never suggest building a 383 with a Tune Port.
It would choke it to death.

 

The "tuners" never said anything about a TPI on a 383. Just that the "primitive" ECM couldn't be tuned and it would never run right.

RBob.

 

Read this...

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/diy-...m-burning.html

Prom Tuning can seem very intimidating at first but once you have the Autoprom and tuning software on your computer it makes alot more sense...

 

long story short: they want you to buy an ECM that they already know how to "toon".

i'm quite content with my "ancient" computer, with all of it's wonderful 1985 era inner workings. considering the large amount of algorithm and calibration(in A1 at least) dedicated specifically to drivability fixes, i'd wager that tuned correctly it will have far less issues than any non-factory ECM.

 

man... you guys are really helping me out here... as little as I know about our ecm's I was taking their word for it and was ready to sell my car and get a 4th gen.

I want 400+ hp (355 is ok by me Dyno Don), I want to keep the TPI (otherwise I would just buy a 4th gen), and I want the driveability to be as good as say 2002 z28.

If I am understanding everyone correctly....this can be done (right?). Also, you guys are saying I should keep my factory ecm to do it. (I also want all my factory guages, fans, etc.. to work and it looks like this is much easier to do with the factory ecm). I have read the stickys and it looks to me like I can buy the chip burning stuff for a few hundred bucks. Am I missing anything here? These tuners are flat out wrong?

 

i highly recomend the ebl flash from dynamic efi ...

 

Cheaper yes not easier. IMO

Easy button is here: dynamicefi.com

 

so... if i build a 400 hp tpi motor is there a chance that i will have a problem (a cold weather stalling problem, hot weather stumble, some sort of miss, etc....) that simply cannot be 'tuned out' because this is an obd 1 ecm or should that not be a concern for me?

 

i put a 7730 ecm(from a 92 pontiac sunbird) in a mustang, all the bolt ons, ported polished heads intake, lopey cam, etc. point is, very versatile tuning. and some of the best support in the business right here.

 

Shouldn't be a problem for you...
I am useless as far as computers are concerned and I did it...;$
Of course there were hicups along the way, but I screw around with it when I can...
My car runs just fine but I'm always looking for more...
And you can fool around with it all you want with fairly basic mechanical knowledge...
I let my friends hold my lap top and tell them what to change and they do it while I emulate...
See what it felt like while I datalog and change things on the fly!!!
Did I pull any knock counts???
How much total advance was I running?
What was my Air Fuel Ratio?
How much extra fuel did I add?

You'll see...

 

I had no tuning experience. I put AFR heads, HSR, and a cam in my L98. After a good solid week of reading. I was able to burn my own chips and tune the car. I just need a wideband now.

 

this is a very good read for someone just starting to tune :
http://www.smokinvette.com/corvettef...ad.php?t=41184

 

As long as you can get heat to manifold in a cool climate you will be Ok. That is my issue when air temps<40dF. I have no coolant crossover under manifold nor to TB. I think I had an ice up years ago where TB stuck WO.