Finally got a nice few day here in Ohio! Just got the car pulled out and it finally moves under its own power after its swap!

Anyways, Just a few questions for you guys.

1. I actually have a check engine light! lol Does it work after the swap? (im using Pockets harness) I should have a light because me Maf isnt plugged in yet.

2. I swapped in a cam 571/573 112 lsa. Once it warms up a bit it just doesnt wanna stay running without giving a little gas. Now i was told that i might need to drill the Throttle hole a bit bigger? I'm not sure here but this thing is running very rich as it was just a quick startup tune to get her running and into the dyno.

3. Exhaust routing i think is figured out but im more worried about a muffler. Im stuck on glasspack? Straight pipe or a spintech center in/out. basically stock routing over the rear. Suggestions on these guys?
Thanks in advance!

Use a scanner to see what the code is. Your MIL should work like stock

Do not drill the TB. Have the tuner sort that out on the dyno

Check out powersticks. Look similar to glasspacks but dont sound like an old farm truck and wont wear out

Awesome thanks Pocket. I figured it's because it's just stupid rich but I just wanted to make sure. On the side note i just got off the phone with my tuner and he said its not uncommon for it to be drilled out up to a 1/8 in bit...

I had a thrown together Y pipe with a Thrush glasspack on it (cherry bomb basically) it sounded absolutely horrible... Old farm truck is exactly what I would have described it as.

Check my build thread, I did a custom 2.5" Y pipe in to a 3" dynomax cat back that is designed for the 4th gens, with some exhaust hangers made to fit, it went in great! Oh, and it sounds pretty decent as well.

I've been doing my own running and I can say this yes it's not uncommon to drill but that's last resort if you can't lower your IAC counts to 50-60 range bigger the cam becomes harder to get stable idle

You seem like your running small cam so shouldn't need to drill
Once you adjust your VE tables and Desired air flow spark etc you idle will settle and IAC counts drop under 1200 a can is not efficient and will must then likely running lean and computer then dumps fuel to correct it

As for muffler I in love with my hooker max flow , low key idle part throttle and screams wot and minimal power lose

Can build your self a 4" and or 3" I would go 4" as you wouldn't have to upgrade after that lol I build mines for under 200ish

Good to know, I think I have a extra throttle body so I might drill that then swap them out for the tune. The problem I have is the dyno is a little over an hr away. It seems fine until it needs to idle. It doesn't look like I can get a truck and trailer together to get it up their either. I guess if it comes down to it the spare will get drilled but I'd rather trailer it

Just give it more gas when idling when driving to get a tune
Or tune yourself

Just because you drill hole doesn't automatically correct your idle a lot more comes into play with the tune

Just changing the VE tables and spark advance can greatly improve idle under 1200 rpm

Just something to consider.... A mail order tune from Texas Speed will sort it out. Let the pro's get it running & driving right and then you can decide if you want to make small adjustments from there.

I used Texas Speed mail order after a "professional" tuned/ruined a car for me. Texas Speed does good work!

I have the guy I just need to get it there. Lol not to mention it's already half paid for

Welp I played with it some more today. Noticed theres a screw to adjust the stop. Turned it all the way up and it still doesn't really make a difference. It just won't idle at all. Not sure if it's road worthy just yet. Looking at 350 for a dyno tune IF I can even get my car up there. Wish I had someone local with a tuner to see what's going on. Bums me out that I'm this close and still can't drive it. Not sure what to do right now because I and every1 I know plays with carbs lol

I know the guy is good (big 3 racing). But how much was a mail order tune from Texas speed? I assume I mail in the ecm and they ship it back?

Honestly its a stock 5.3 with a 571/573 112 lsa cam with longtubes. Ls1 intake w/ truck throttle body. Id imagine that would be a easy tune to do for them since im not doing anything crazy. What do you guys think?

Just talked to Eric @ Texas speed. Said its more or less straight forward. I think im just going to go with this instead. Also called about the powersticks. I may have just ordered one haha

Also before I send it, do I need to change anything for tach or speedo for them to be correct? Also should I change my fan temp on/off if so what to?

Depending on which tach the car has you can have it corrected so that the factory tach will work. I had my tuner adjust the tach hi/low output settings for a v8 tach signal.I cant recall right now what the setting was..I think it was 3/3 but they will understand what you are asking for.Just make sure you know which tach to program for since the 6cyl and 8cyl tach gauges require proper signal or it will read incorrectly or sometimes just drop to 0. For the speedo I told my tuner what my rear gear was and what rim/tire size is was using to have it read correct also.

My fan on/off was tuned to 180*..factory was 220* i believe. They ran those things rather hot for emissions.My secondary fan is wired to my cruise on/off switch since I dont have cruise control on my swap.I did skip shift delete,rear 02 delete,vats delete,emissisons delete and permanent ready status etc etc basic things your tuner would tell you about.

I wouldnt drill the tb either.Its just not needed for your swap at very mild setup.Its a small tune adjustment to be fixed. I will say I had a mail order tune done by Frost and it took me several attempts for my car to idle...I had to get the motor hot enough for it to learn and then restart the car and it was fine since.I since then put the car on the rollers and fine tuned things and picked up 20whp.Mail order tunes are good base to start from..but every motor will run differently and need to be tweaked to find its sweet spot and perform.Never assume a mail order tune is spot on till you see it on a graph as it runs.That 20whp was nice on paper but the driveability is what made a drastic difference in making me happy and felt like I got value.

$.02

Just out of curiosity, have you plugged in the MAF yet? Running without a MAF will allow you to drive okay but it won't idle worth beans.

They'll take care of you. And free updates for a year.

You don't have to mail in the ECM if you already have software to flash the file. Just have them e-mail it. You'll be driving in 2 days or so.

Unfortunately I don't have a tuner. I'm really starting to wish I did. No it maf isn't plugged in as I don't have a intake yet. I did plug it in briefly. Yes it helped but you can tell the tune isn't right at all. It smokes a decent bit from how rich it is. So I think I'll just go for the mail order and get some drive time in. Then later I'll drop in on the dyno and get it dialed in. Car hasn't really had alot of miles on it for the past 3 or so years. Stock rear gears for 87 gta is 3.23 right?

Can you guys recommend tuning software?

Also if I can find someone to bend 4in pipe should I go that route? Any other recommendations? Looks easy enough 4in coupler 90 degree. Another coupler to maf then pipe slides in the back of maf then filter. Right?

Order a J bend online from either steel or alum, whatever you can weld. Cut and weld

Check your RPOs for the gearing. Could be 2.73, 3.08 or 3.23 for autos

The cam is why it wont idle, get a tune and dont worry about it

I used (3) 90 degree bends (1) 60 degree and (1) 24" long straight pipe And single in and out muffler of your choice

Thanks Pocket , yea Texas speed is going to tune in for me. I was thinking about setting the fan to 180/195 to keep it cool.

Ha! I actually bought my LS6 intake from a guy that works at Texas Speed. I'm about 2 hours away from them... depending on how well they do for you, I just might get them to do it for me since they are relatively close.

If I may ask, what did they quote you? I'm going to have similar things tuned out.

They said 250, I need to call them Monday to make sure they got my ecm and to pay them. Also find out what tuner the recommend so I can tweak it as needed if they email the tunes to me

So I see on their website. A bit pricey, but the year of updates makes it worth it I suppose. I really want to learn to tune myself, but I need a baseline considering I'm going with a far from stock cam...

Watching to see the results!

I did a 3" y pipe with a 3" in / 4" out Flowmaster merge to a 4" Dynomax race bullet dumped before the axle. It was temporary inexpensive solution so I could get my car on the road and to the dyno before winter, but I actually really like it. I was afraid it would sound like a glasspack, but it doesn't at all, and it actually has a good tone in the upper RPM's. No farm truck sounds here, but there is definitely no sneaking through town.

Here is the muffler and it's cheap:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-24217

It's really not that bad as long you research and willing to learn

I have some good links

Yea u definitely would like to learn how to tune. That would save me alot of time/ money if I ever do a swap lime this again for sure. Can't wait to get my ecm back. Itching to get this thing on the road!

Here it is the first day of spring and we get a dusting of snow!! Makes me sick lmao

I'm using their welded muffler, took it for a spin yesterday and I love it!

Last week I planned on taking it out to calibrate the speedo and it snow all day. Finally got a chance to do it yesterday, love it! I'm painting a few small things today, we're getting +6 celsius (43) and then it's going to snow...

I definitely am. I tuned my Triumph using free software that Triumph offers (fuel map/ignition table etc.) and that wasn't necessarily easy, but it was enlightening! I'm a fully certified GM tech, so while I have no experience tuning a car per se, I've seen all of the tables the PCM has and with enough diligence and patience (I have both), I'm sure I'll get it.

What does everyone usually use to tune with? I have no idea on where to begin with that. Just so many to choose from

I'm going to go with HPtuners unless somebody pipes up with negative experiences with it. I've done some research and the general consensus is positive, but input is always welcome.

It's not cheap, though.. only downside I see for it.

Wish I would've seen your post a few days ago. I am in NE OH and could've helped you out.

Haha what part are ya in? Columbiana county is where I'm at.
HPtuners is what I was looking at but $500? Is a big price tag lol

I'm in parma...Cleveland.
Did you get it tuned already? I use HP tuners, yes it's pricey, but not too many options out there.

Dang I go up there all the time! Yea Texas speed has it atm

Go on ls1tech and can grab one for cheaper

But the ability to tune when ever you want when you want you can't beat the price

Well I got my ecm back from Texas speed. It will crank but no start. Called them and they said everything is good to go and vats is off.
injector pulse is good
I show rpms still bad crank sensor?
have good fuel pressure
power to coil harness and at coils
you can smell gas when I crank so I'm pretty positive I'm not getting spark. Could use some help on this guys. Thanks again

So it ran before the tune and now it doesnt?

Confirm spark by pulling a plug and hold it against something metal while someone spins the engine over a few times

Any codes?

Yes it ran. Like crap but it ran. No codes at all And maf is plugged in to boot. Surprising enough I had some1 hold the plugs while I cranked. Spark on all 8. Pull number 2 plug and it's soak in fuel. Not sure what to do now. Before they had it it was super rich but at least it started!

Double and triple check grounds.

I did that before when it wouldn't start. Checked them again and no luck at all.

Might try a fresh set of plugs.

I was kinda thinking the same thing. Although I have less than 20 min of run time on these plugs. It does try to start the first couple of times but no actual start. If you let it sit and come back. Same thing

If its got fuel and spark, it should fire. Hold throttle wide open during cranking to clear that excess gas out and see if it sputters and tries to fire. If it does fire, be sure to let off the throttle

I'll try this tomorrow as I'm not home now. Plus it's cold up here in Ohio.

I did try that before but still wasn't getting anything.

On a side note I had a backup ecm w.o vats removed and it wouldn't fire it up.

What did you guys do for plug gap? Just to double check. I'll pull the plugs in the next few days and check the gap and clean them up.

Google it, its pretty wide. .045-.055 IIRC

I just wanted to double check. I have mine set at .047. I'm not sure why it wouldn't start if I have everything air, spark, fuel.

So I think I'm going to go out and get new plugs since mine are pretty burnt from how rich the last tune was see if that fixes things

A fresh set would be a good idea and I went with tr55 plugs set @ .045 gap. Sounds like the plugs are fouled. Also make sure the plug wires are plugged in all the way onto the sparkplug/coil...Ive had some bad wires create misfires. Keep in mind when you do get it running again on the new tune..build up to operating temp before you shut it off and then restart and the car should smooth out now that it has learned the parameters needed.

That's the plan. Hopefully it'll warm up around here. High of 30 today. So let's hope next time I'm on here this thing runs. After seeing the first plug I'm really leaning to just needing a new set and it will fire up.

Just for reference, that's maybe 20 min of run time. Just to get it to operating temp for the first time from the last tuners suggestion that once I did that it would run better

That seems like a serious amount of oil deposits on the plug. You might have a bad oil leak in to the cylinder.

Was this engine rebuilt or "freshened" up in any way?

No it wasnt, didn't burn oil before either. The last tune ran so rich I could smoke out the garage In no time. Also the oil looks good and hasn't lost any.

yep looks like super rich and fouled.