The Cormaro......

[Jim Nilsen]

The wideband is in and the car is back up and running.

It all went rather well and the amount of data recording and other controls in the Accel wideband will compliment the Racepak.

I have the program from Rob in and have run it long enough to run out of gas

The engine really seems to want a lot of timing and 13.5 a/f seems to be as lean as it can go at throttle of any kind.

It's like starting over almost with the wideband. I can at least get some control over how rich it will be running at all times.

The snow is melting fast and it is going to rain soon they say instead of snow. Some front inner fenders and I will drive it anywhere.

The amount of things on the list to be done before it is ready for a track is getting smaller.

I got my helmet the other day and my fire extinguisher too. I have to get roll bar padding and think of what else is needed for safety.

It won't be long and the call to the insurance will be happening

[MtotheIKEo]

Originally Posted by Jim Nilsen

The wideband is in and the car is back up and running.

It all went rather well and the amount of data recording and other controls in the Accel wideband will compliment the Racepak.

I have the program from Rob in and have run it long enough to run out of gas

The engine really seems to want a lot of timing and 13.5 a/f seems to be as lean as it can go at throttle of any kind.

It's like starting over almost with the wideband. I can at least get some control over how rich it will be running at all times.

The snow is melting fast and it is going to rain soon they say instead of snow. Some front inner fenders and I will drive it anywhere.

The amount of things on the list to be done before it is ready for a track is getting smaller.

I got my helmet the other day and my fire extinguisher too. I have to get roll bar padding and think of what else is needed for safety.

It won't be long and the call to the insurance will be happening

Why would you want it that lean?

[GregWeld]

I think he's talking about IDLE...

And that's not a lean idle... But the trick is to find what the motor wants...

[Jim Nilsen]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I think he's talking about IDLE...

And that's not a lean idle... But the trick is to find what the motor wants...

Yes it is at idle and it seems the VE table likes it a bit on the rich side to keep it going.

Finding what this motor wants is going to take a bit with the variable duration lifters.

It would be good to have it idle at around 14.2 a/f if it will like it from a standstill. I am getting better at finding what is working best.

I have to fill up the tank and try a few more programs and get some notes to give to Rob and then getting something that is even closer will come sooner.

I will be itching to drive it by the end of the week, I can feel it it.

[Jim Nilsen]

The car started to run like crap while trying to tune it friday and I realized that the plugs were doing the same thing they did another time it started to run that way. 10:1 a/f ratio was hit several times and they were fouled black.

I also took the time to finally replace the rocker studs with longer ones that were needed to be on the safe side. I set the lash up to .040 from .035 to see if I can pickup a bit more vacuum and a better idle. The Rhoads X lifters can go as much as .050 with the cam I have so we will see if it helps.

I am calling it a day and will try to start it tommorow sometime.

With the weather being as nice as it has been it will be tough not to be tempted to get it out and drive. I still need inner fenders to keep all the road crap from getting everywhere so I keep telling myself to not get carried away.

Tuning it without putting it under a load is not doing me any good results with the timing and the VE table definately is greatly effected by it. I have to get my other stuff done and save the gas for the street.

The snow slid off the hood of the truck today and that is a good sign, it was there from the first snow and I am glad to see it go. winter has been way too long for me this year with the car so close to being a good runner.

[GregWeld]

Jim -- Watch out for those big fat A/F's -- You can destroy the oil rings in a heartbeat - and one you've managed to wash down the cylinders and those oil rings go dry - they're never coming back.... and you'll end up with an "oil eater".

[Jim Nilsen]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Jim -- Watch out for those big fat A/F's -- You can destroy the oil rings in a heartbeat - and one you've managed to wash down the cylinders and those oil rings go dry - they're never coming back.... and you'll end up with an "oil eater".

When I saw it go there it wasn't for long, it was during a correction from the computer to make up for a VE table change. I am learning to make much smaller changes in the tables now that I have a better idea of what it wants. To start out with, the table I was working from was not very close. the new program from Rob at FFI is much closer and has the top and bottom better suited I think. Not having the engine under a load and tuning is not helping any at all. I need to get it out and drive it to do it right.

I am going to stay away from richer settings to compensate for the wrong timing. With the Rhoads lifters and it being variable ,the timing and VE table is going to be different going thru changes. The engine would actually wake right up and go when the lifters pumped up and it was rich.

Thanks for the input. I can use all the help I can get learning how to program but once I get used to what changes do what I will be able to manipulate it with confidence and hopefully the correct results.

[Jim Nilsen]

Back up and running again and the extra .010 on the lash made an even bigger gain in vaccum. The KPA is now down around 60 kpa at idle without being highly timed and lean at least from what I can tell so far. I may go even more on the lash until I reach the .050 limit. I think I might call Rhoads and hear what they think and have experienced. It sure likes it the more I add and you can't hear them tick yet, they have never ticked at all so far. my other engine with the normal Rhoads lifters ticked a bit. This new design seems to work well.

The weather is as warm now as it was when I last drove it so as soon as the rain gets the salt off the roads I am going to take it out and drive it.

I am on a mission to find the material to make my inner front fender wells so I keep it all clean. Something temporary may turn into permanent, who knows? I have a few ideas, we'll see what the tape measure says about them?

I can hardly wait to feel the tires moving faster than the road with some hard acceleration. It was fun in damn near limp mode last fall it will have to be a blast with some power and rpm.

Road America here we come !!!!

[Jim Nilsen]

I have been trying to get the tune to get some acceleration without popping and have run the acceleration tables all the way up to try and get it to work, the ve table keeps wanting to like things one way on the way up from idle and another way on the way down. The Rhoads lifters are playing havoc with the timing to adjust the idle speed thru the ecu and the list goes on. I get one thing to work better and and others get worse.

I am learning more and more everyday about tuning and find I am practicing on the worst case scenario of an engine. The cam is just too radical and has no low end to work with even with the rhoads lifters to help.The good side of all this is I am learning a lot about tuning.

I have ordered up a cam from Comp Cams, I went with one the XFI flat tappet cams that has good midrange and excellent top end. These are made for fuel injection and should eliminate the problem caused by the stock car cam.

Any other problem I might still have should show up when taking it all apart. A couple of the guys at the Hotrod Shop think I may have a cam lobe or 2 going flat. When doing the lash tuesday again to check I couldn't see any signs of it and the oil when I changed it didn't have particals in it but that doesn't mean it isn't starting to happen.

I am getting thoughts of putting on my 2.02 heads that are polished ,ported and cc'd but they could use a little freshening up and time and $$ is still the evil demon here like always. So much to do and I just want to get it running good before I finish up other things.

What's a guy to do sometimes?

[GregWeld]

When you have the intake manifold off - make sure you do a forensic tear down -- look at the gasket area for any signs of a leak... pulling oil or oil vapors into the intake can reek havoc on the O2 sensor...

Also - make sure you're valve spring rates match your cam... overlook this at your own peril (or the cams peril...)

I assume you're using a dual sync distributor? Ingition timing controlled by the ECM...

If you're using Accel Gen 7 ECM - have you tried using the VE table estimator function? Also - if your motor is "similar" to many motors built these days - there are tables / tunes - already loaded with the software - have you looked at any of them - and tried any? They're a good way to get a "base" tune - as far as AF ratio and timing etc and then just tweak the VE's where they may be needed.