TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Hi,
I have a 1993 TBI 454 truck and I was considering getting one of the TBI CHIPS listed on his website. I also have read about the chips alot of you are burning yourselves. After thought I have decided to keep the truck relatively stock, bolt-ons and a tune and drive it til it dies.
Thanks in advance for any input.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

One of the best! Brian is excellent at what he does and he's one of the most honest business men I know.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I had one of his chips awhile back. All I wanted was the egr deleted and the fuel and spark tables bumped up a touch for the little mods that I had. It was a good chip, not perfect but it ran ok. But......From the tuning I've done myself it runs alot better than it ever did with that chip. Just food for thought.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Around how much do his chips go for and can he make them custom for a cammed car too

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Why dont you ask him?

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

He can "attempt" one but it will only get you partially there, marginally at best. It is like mail order surgery. The Dr. needs to have the patient in his hands with his tools to fix the problem. It takes repeated chip burns to dial in a tune, sometimes hundreds with constant review of data logs. Mail order tunes cannot support that. You really waste a lot of money. If you want to modify your TBI tune, you have to learn how to do it yourself. Basic bolt ons can live with the stock tune, anything internal necessitates chip tuning.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Would i have to tune it if i just install headers and and a cam

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Yes and let me tell that I have one of his chips right now.He is very good at responding to emails.Also knows his ****.He will get close to it on the first try but you still will have to data log and send the logs to him so he can make some adjustments.Depending on your mods is how many chips its going to take to get it decent.Yours would be considered custom tune and for that he charges 250.00 cause its more than likely going to take more than one chip.Im on my 3rd chip and still need adjustments.Mine runs ok but running rich and surging at idle.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Ok so its $250 and thats for until you get one that runs right or he charges more for each chip he sends you

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Yes just 250 is one time fee.He don t charge extra for each chip he sends.There is also no down time between chips cause he sends you one and when you get it you send the other one back.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Ok thank you i will talk to him when i am gonna do my 350 tbi swap

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I have had one for a few years now. It doesn't beat tuning ur own. I just don't have the knowledge to do it. My car gained some extra horse and the speed limiter was deleted. The chip cost $99 usd and was worth the buy.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

There are just a handfull of people on this board that could tune a car in less that ten burns or corrections and be satisfied with the result. And that is with their hands on the vehicle. If you were to email the datalogs to an expert like Brian it would work but it would take literallly dozens of corrections to "get it right". As the mods increase it compounds the issues. Same can be said tuning a carb. It just takes time and time is money.

Maybe one of you will appreciate this side note. I frequent a snowmobile speed shop. The owner was able to meet the engineeers for Mikuni back in the early 1970's before Mikuni became the choice for sleds. With their vast experience tuning it still too them a while, hands on, adapting their carbs to the guinea pig sled there were converting to Mikuni. I believe it took hours to dial it in.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Maybe he's gotten better about it over the years, but when I tried to get a chip from him, I paid him, and I waited, and emailed, and waited, and emailed, and waited and emailed .... after 3 months I finally gave up, had to demand a refund, and go elsewhere.

Something to look into before paying him - I don't remember the names to search, but there is new TBI stuff available now that is supposed to be way easier to program, way less of a learning curve, and it's all done on a flash prom that's changeable on the spot without reprogramming chips and reinstalling. Simply get the flash prom, connect a laptop, install a predefined base program, and start changing variables to better the tune, without having to know so much of the technical jargon and actual programming skills/syntax. Someone will read this and respond with more info than I can remember.

Good Luck! This is why I went carb!

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

any ideas as to where this is located?

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

yeah deffinately interested in that...

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

:iagree: Yeah - that's what I was talking about - dynamic EFI!

I have NO EXPERIENCE with it at all - I gave up long before they/it existed (or I knew they/it existed) - but I understand it opens up alot more potential with TBI tuning that the old ways.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I have the EBL Flash and I love it! It makes tuning alot easier to get into. Like I said in my previous post. Even with my novice tuning skills my car runs a 100 times better than it did with the TBICHIPS chip.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

How much does that cost the EBl flash

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

$350, you install, more if they install suply ecm ect ect ect.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

And thats with everything you need to tune your own car if it i will just save up until i could buy it

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

don't forget to atleast get a good wideband 02 while you're at it. I have the Zeitronix ZT-2 and it works very well.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I agree! I've worked with Brian and found him to be very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. I recommend TBI. And as the name implies, he started out tuning Throttle Body Injection programs.

Now as others have pointed out- No one can tune a car sight-unseen as good as they can with the car in their shop. I too have started to tune and burn my own programs but Brian's chip is still my baseline. When I first started modifying my engine I had him burn my first chip. Then, after I got the equipment to do my own tuning I finished the job. Brian got me the first 85% or so.

All that being said, it also depends on what modifications have been done. On my IROC 350TPI I had already bumped up my baseline timing and bumped up my fuel pressure. I only picked up 2 peak HP on the dyno. But the power did come in a little sooner and was flatter. So if your mods are minor, you may not need to re-tune yet.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

So who has used that dynamic stuff. I mean im a retard when it comes to a computer. Thier is a lot of information on that site and I dont understand much of it at all. Do you think its something I could figure out still?

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I have literally burned HUNDREDS of chips trying to narrow down my tune to be just perfect. And that's out cruising around experiencing each new chip first hand and experimenting with how it acts with the new changes.

How somebody else can claim to do it in just 1 or 2 tries, without even having the car in their hands to play with, I have no idea, but I have no experience with the man or the work he does so I cannot say for certain. You must make your own choice. I find it hard to believe he'd sell you a chip that won't run your car reasonably well at the very least.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Would you burn me a chip i see you are located in California if you would pm me

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Reasonably well is a good way to put it. Its probably not optimal performance but it is better than stock.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I just got my custom chip from TBI Chips and the car is running, but I have a vacuum leak (which has nothing to do with the chip) to eliminate first before I can give y'all a decent review.
All I can attest to is that he got the chip to me fast and it did what he said it would do.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Yes, yes and yes. Datalogging is a must! It's the only way I know to get it right. Sometimes you have to make an adjustment and see if you (or your motor) "likes" it. Also, one adjustment may have an effect in a different, or undesired way. There are a variety of ways to make the same basic adjustment and each has it's own "side-effects". It's not really trial and error so much as it requires running it in the real world to decide if there's further adjustment needed. Two to three "tunes" (with a skilled tuner) should get you most of the way there- depending on what modifications you are tuning for.

Another thing to consider is what system you have. For example, if you are running a MAF (pre-90) computer you may not have to tune it if you have installed a mild cam. MAF is more "self-adjusting" than the Speed Density setup since it measures the "mass" of the incoming air and adjusts the fuel flow accordingly. A speed density system has to be "told" how much air is flowing when the MAP signal = X, making it less forgiving.

(BTW tuners, I am aware the MAF sensor doesn't actually measure the air's mass, but it does give the computer a value to work off of. I am just using that as an example. Furthermore, I am not offering an opinion as to which system is "better", simply stating that the two types of systems have their own characteristics and must be approached differently. Not wanting to dredge up the old "MAF vs Speed Density" debate. LOL!)

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I have had several chips made by brian. One for my TBI 305, two for my TBI 327, one for my TPI 327, one for my TBI 4.3L, and 2 for my TPI 383. He is very good and will work with you to get it figured out.

I would recommend however If you really wanna get serious about EFI you should just buy a DFI harness and controller like an ACCEL or a FAST system. Its expensive but worth it if you do a LOT of engine mods.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Do you guys think i would need a custom chip for a 350tbi just with headers and exhaust

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

No not at all. Basically, you're allowing her to breath. GM should have done this from the factory. I've known a few that have done some mild tuning with headers and exhaust, but there really shouldn't be a need at this point.

Adding heads, cam, intake, etc would require chip tuning.

Good luck!

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Would i get better hp though if i get the chip. Also since i am thinking of putting a edelbrock intake and just put the tbi adapter plate and a spacer to give my car a few more hp.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

All you'd need is a laptop, and some time. Bob is quite helpful with it. Anything you don't understand, just shoot him an e-mail. He gives away a LOT more knowledge than he should, in my opinion.

There's an entire thread, about Tuning with the EBL, currently 19 pages, 909 posts. There's a tremendous amount of insight just in that thread.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/diy-...uning-ebl.html

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

the spacer won't help enuf to justify the pricetag

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Do you have a spacer in your car

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

nope ,i was going to get one til i did some research.... i think i mention it here too and someone tells me its not worth it, scroll up a ways.

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Biran is a great guy and responds quickly to your questions. I would trust his word. And If you've modded anything on your powertrain, I would deff recommend getting a chip from him. Check out his site. Its full of info. Tbichips.com

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Biran is a great guy and responds quickly to your questions. I would trust his word. And If you've modded anything on your powertrain, I would deff recommend getting a chip from him. Check out his site. Its full of info. Tbichips.com

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

Brian did the chip work for my 92 silverado (mild 350 vortec headed build) and I have no complaints. I also used his spring and pump kit as well. I am lucky enough to live about 60 miles from him, so I just took the truck to his place for datalogging and fine tuning.
The first chip he sent got me in the ballpark but it ran a LOT better after 3 or 4 adjustments.
Brian is a good businessman- he does what he says he will do, knows his s**t when it comes to TBI, and is a heck of a nice guy to boot.
I actually rebuilt his 385" LT-1 engine after he ran into some problems with it, and its a screamer!

Re: TBICHIPS.COM? Any experience?
 

I burned lots and lots of chips starting about 8 years ago. I went back to stock on my 1st thirdgen because it was so time consuming to burn, erase, quess and test... etc... then left the thirdgen world for a a bit and when I came back 3 years ago I was AMAZED at some of the advances in the software and the hardware thanks to Moates and Rbob and I'm sure others but those are the prominent names that come to mind right away. What took me months back in the day to get a smooth tune that matched my mods, took all of an hour or so with dynamicEFI EBL... w/ wideband. It will be worth the extra money. That is if you own a laptop... It basically tunes itself and then you tweek the final elements.

let us know what you go for...