So, I hate the thought that I'm actually "done" with performance improvements on the Camaro.... so out of boredom I'm kinda looking around for the next "improvement"... nothing major... the 383, Miniram, heads, cam, etc... I'm very satisfied with all of that. So I was looking at potentially the ECM as an opportunity. Was perusing through the EBL website and reading up a bit on it as well as some threads on the EBL.. I noticed the website says that "Once tuned your engine will run better then it ever has." Genuinely curious... for someone like me who (at least IMO) has his calibration dialed in to the point where any significant changes result in noticeably worse performance, what is it about the EBL such that it would run better than a standard well tuned 7730/8D? Understood there's probably a lot of proprietary stuff that can't be divulged, but how would it manage fuel and spark differently enough to feel an actual noticeable seat of the pants improvement? As of now too, I'm running permanently off the Ostrich emulator so tuning can be done on the fly.... pull over, make change and upload without even shutting the engine off, then keep driving. So the chip burning thing is always a thing of the past. I have it permanently mounted up under the dash with the Ecm with a USB extension cable routed to a panel mount USB receptacle. So I just plug the laptop info the receptacle as if it were an OBDII port to "reflash" the ECM.

 

This is my opinion based on my experience. If you have a perfect tune using $8D I don't think that EBL would make any difference. I ran $8D for years and was always trying to tweak something or other trying to improve something or other but never had the perfect tune. Chasing that perfect tune can be difficult when you are dealing with cam overlap, headers and bigger injectors, changing heads and intakes, etc. With EBL the dump log gave me so much more information to work with. Example: I had a stumble at light throttle tip in. Wideband read lean. Dump log showed it was going rich first which caused the stumble. The resulting misfire caused the wideband to read lean. Wideband VE learn gets you in the ball park faster. You don't have to swap chips. Burning 8 different bins before you back out of the garage that you can switch between while driving to instantly see if changes make things better or worse gets you there faster. The EBL support on this forum is awesome if you want to learn. With your tuning experience I have no dought that you can do a perfect tune with $8D. But for me I never got there until I switched to EBL.

 

I know all about it!!!

 

Hmmm... what about something like a 0411 conversion?

 

A concern I had when evaluating EBL versus $8D was what happens if you are out on a road trip and have an ECU problem. With $8D, everything is essentially OEM and you can plug in your Chip to another ECU. Not sure about EBL.

I guess you could carry an OEM ECU as a spare. (which I do anyway)

Don
Williamsburg

 

Get another F-Body
And, another after that.
That's what I did!!!
Now looking for a V6, LG4 or LO3 in good shape to start all over again and turn it into a Pro Touring. I kindda like the idea of a 350 Ramjet. Not ready, mentally, to go for LS, but it'll come.
But wife might stop me and say "if you're that bored, let's travel or go somewhere warm in the winter"

 

When I was building street rods and vintage land cruisers for a living, I did several RJ 350 installs. Bolted to a 700R4 in the street rods and a NV 4500 in the land cruisers (needed the Xfer case). Very clean set up and trouble free.

Don

 

yeah then my wife will be looking for a new husband.... not because she she'd leave me but because she'd kill me... lol...

​​​​​​​she "gets" why like I hot rods because her dad was a hot rodder (talk about the perfect father in law!). But tthere are definitely limits!​​​​​​​

 

 

The actual coding itself is improved and things have been changed to be more performance friendly. I believe RBobs words. I had a TBI that was dialed in very well using a 299 ecm back when I switched to the old EBL Classic. It absolutely ran a heck of a lot better after the EBL went on. Not so much power at WOT, just better all around.

On the other side of the fence the 0411 swap is nice; but my 97 Express has a LS P59 PCM running a calibration based off a Mexican 2005 L31 350 truck. I just finished putting a L31 marine intake back on the 383 and put a set of Ford 6.2L 42 lb/hr injectors in it. Very little was needed in the way of tuning changes. I love being able to run E85 for a nice jump in power.

Cold Start on E85 in 45*F temps.

 

Fairly certain GM has discontinued the Ramjet. I never was a big fan off the MEFI controller. I can get more for less using a L31 with a port fuel intake and an LS1 0411 or P59 PCM using 96-02 van electronics. I much prefer a 4L80E to a 700r4.

 

The electronics come and go- it's the hardware that is timeless. The old BBC and SBC Superrams are still sought after- the electronics are binned.

 

The EBL is extremely close to the oem ecu- it is a modified oem ecu. I've been running one for many years. Since for the most part it's plug and play- you could burn a chip close to the EBL and carry a spare. I don't carry a spare. Need a laptop to scan errors tho.

 

I have had the bones of a 0411 swap in a box for years- is it still a good choice if:
- E85 not needed.
- looking for the lean cruise function.
- looking for the LS ignition system.
- looking for 4L60E command.
- throttle by cable.

Was talking to a harness guy locally- he was pushing the Holley Terminator- any particular reason to agree?

 

Not sure why your harness guy would push the Terminator. Looks like there is about to be a big shortage of aftermarket ECMs and tuning stuff shortly though. JEGs has dropped all programming stuff.

 

I think he likes the new harness vs dealing with a oem harness. I'll have to talk to the tuner as he does the oem tuning.
I'm not a huge fan of Holley- maybe for high hp racing where 100% reliability isn't a concern, too many stories of poor customer service- the oem hardware has proven itself and you can grab a 0411 virtually anywhere for a spare.