Spent the afternoon with Ken, the Z51Beast, and the Dyno!

[Ken]

Looking good. Where are you at now?

Home. :z :cry ;help

 

[BBB454]

Home. :z :cry ;help

Glad to hear you made it home safe & sound (well, I'm assuming sound ).

Sounds like you had a blast on your trip - hope to see you again sometime soon!

Barb (& Steve)

 

[Tom Bryant]

You probably feel like sleeping for a couple days. When did you get there? Any new interesting stories to tell?

 

[Ken]

It got worse!!

I took it to a dyno shop today and the numbers are worse than what they were in Florida! ad

;help

_ken

 

[Ken]

10/18/2002

G R E E T I N G S Pisces

Ideas are marvelous creatures and lately you seem to be contributing more than your share of good ones. Now it's time for the next step.

The very best of your proposals still have to be fleshed out into
working models. This might not be your strength. You hate to put your brainchild in other hands, but a different set of specialists can take it from here. Continued interference from you might diminish their effectiveness. Leave it alone for now and move on to your next important work. The spirit of past collaborations will inform each new project that you launch.

But how do I find the "different set of specialists", or does that mean the Mike Morgan is going to be able to help me out?

_ken

 

[69MyWay]

Ken,

Notice the air flow meter. It made the most power the closer it got to the "magic" 14:1. It appears you are way too rich right now.

You can affect that part of the run by lowering the fuel pressure, and advancing the timing a tad.

What kind of adjustments did you make during the dyno pulls?

One final question. How warmed up was the engine before the test? If you were in cold start mode/open loop, it will never lean out, and you would be putting 100 hp on the shelf.

 

[-=Jeff=-]

Ken,

Notice the air flow meter. It made the most power the closer it got to the "magic" 14:1. It appears you are way too rich right now.

You can affect that part of the run by lowering the fuel pressure, and advancing the timing a tad.

What kind of adjustments did you make during the dyno pulls?

One final question. How warmed up was the engine before the test? If you were in cold start mode/open loop, it will never lean out, and you would be putting 100 hp on the shelf.

Also Custom aftermarket PROM tend to run on the rich side. Since most times it is mail/phone order and they cannot tune the PROm to the car

 

[Ken]

Notice the air flow meter. It made the most power the closer it got to the "magic" 14:1. It appears you are way too rich right now. You can affect that part of the run by lowering the fuel pressure, and advancing the timing a tad.

Curious, but I got different feedback from the guys at Morgan Motorsports. Harry Khodanian, the dyno man, said the numbers weren't bad for WOT runs, but Mike Morgan (the owner) seems to agree with you guys, he stated he thought it was a little rich.

What kind of adjustments did you make during the dyno pulls?

None. This run was just to establish a baseline; we'll schedule more tuning when I get the exhaust done.

One final question. How warmed up was the engine before the test? If you were in cold start mode/open loop, it will never lean out, and you would be putting 100 hp on the shelf.

The engine was up to temperature (185-190) when we started the pulls, but as it got warmer the power dropped-off even more; I didn't get those charts.

As an aside, y'all ought see Harry's GTO ('69 I believe) drag racer. Sweet!

_ken

 

[maxrevs85]

Ken ,and Chris. I realize that the airfuel mixture is important . But I cant think that it was causing the problem. I believe there is a serious lack of timing advance. That engine has got 150HP hidden in there somewhere. It also looks like it is running out of air early on. With the miniram it should pull strong to 6g's easily. Are you still using the Maf system?

 

[Ken]

With the miniram it should pull strong to 6g's easily.

We did do a couple of pulls at close to seven grand, but you're right in that it (the Mini-Ram) doesn't appear to be breathing as it should.

Are you still using the Maf system?

No, we switched to speed density. Funny, but Mike Morgan is keen on using the DFI setup, but my "deep pockets" are getting quite shallow at this point and I don't think I could afford another couple of grand to throw at it. :crazy

_ken

 

[-=Jeff=-]

It takes more time.. but you can get that Speed density system to work well with tuning..

 

[Ken]

Feeling a little frustrated to say the least!

Today's horoscope for me:

Feeling a little frustrated? No wonder -- even though you've got full command of the bow and arrows, each arrow you shoot manages to land just a little bit shy of the bull's eye. What's going on? Maybe now is the time to evaluate the tools you're working with.

Oh, and I've been bragging about how Chris' magical spark plug boot and how it alleviated the arcing problem to the header tube on #7 plug. Well, I guess I spoke too soon, because today I noticed that exact thing happening when I got home, after it started running ****ty while I was out and about. Now it makes me wonder if it wasn't mis-firing when I had it on the dyno last week. I guess I'll have to pull the plug to see, but I was going to do that anyway.

Harry, at Morgan Motorsports, said that Champion RC9YC would probably be a better choice of plug for my intended duty.

I wish I had the room like Chris does then I'd host "Garage Get-togethers" and seminars too. Way to go Chris!!

_ken

 

[69MyWay]

Hey Ken,

You will be happy I talked you into taking that handy dandy custom spark plug socket home with you.

Accel does make a shorty spark plug series that might really help your situation.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Re: Feeling a little frustrated to say the least!

I wish I had the room like Chris does then I'd host "Garage Get-togethers" and seminars too. Way to go Chris!!

_ken

You can use my shop. That would be a lot of fun. The commute would be rough though.

 

[-=Jeff=-]

Accel does make a shorty spark plug series that might really help your situation.

Accel Shorty plugs are junk... Just ask vettn94

 

[69MyWay]

Accel Shorty plugs are junk... Just ask vettn94

I agree with you, but what are you going to do? The fit of his plugs and header are so close, no long style plug is going to live very long.

 

[vettn94]

try another brand, don't bother with the Accell's, they're worthless.
They are not made to the correct heat range, or atleast they weren't the last time I used them, and yes I checked the part number against Accell's cross reference chart and with 2 other different sources so I did have the correct plugs. They weren't in the car for more than 15 miles before they fouled so bad the car would barely run. The heat range had to be waaaay off.
Unfortunately this happened while my car was at a trans shop. I went in there with stock plugs and swapped them out and the car ran like a champ.
You're better off dimpling the header tube or burning through a set of wires every month.-lol

 

[Ken]

Gee, look at what I found...

...at Jacobs Electronics

• Ceramic 2000 Spark Plug Cables
  
  This powerful combination of Energy Core Spark Plug Cables with pure ceramic spark plug boots are unique to Jacobs Electronics, guaranteed to never burn, disintegrate, or need replacing. This is absolutely the last set you'll ever need! These ceramic boots easily handle temperatures up to 2000&#176F, and were designed for high-heat application where burned boots are common. Ceramic 2000 wires prevent arcing from the plug boot to the header, delivering all the spark from your distributor or coils (DIS) to the sparkplugs. Patented radio-suppression metal core with pure silicone teflon-coated jacket for increased performance and mileage. Now available with both straight and right angle ceramic boots!
  
• Ceramic Wire Protection Kit
  
  For optimum security and protection, this unbelievably useful package is guaranteed to prevent the constant replacement of burned spark plug cables due to the extremes of engine heat caused by towing. Extended protection for cables where excessive engine temperatures cause cables to burn above the top of the ceramic boot as the wire exits the boot. Protects hard-to-get areas most likely to scorch. Comes with 2 Ceramic boots, (2)-7 mm, and (2)-8mm boots, 1 tube Perma-Bond, (4)-Uni-Clips, and (2)-3 in. pieces of fire sleeve. Straight boots P/N 400800 Right angle boots P/N 400801

Maybe we have a solution.

_ken

 

[89ZZ4]

Looks like a good option. I believe some other sites have made good comments on these.

Ken: Where does your car stand in the tuning department except for the plugs? Are you doing any scanning yet. I just bought EASE and did a 15 minute recording last week and hope to get a couple of more recording sessions done this week-end then that will be it for the winter in Chicago. If there is an interest I could consider a loan of the equipment (OBDI) for a period of time so you could get yours dialed in though if I was you I'd want my own. It's nice to know whats going on and with the SD system it's going to take a few tries to dial in but that motor of yours is losing gobs due to the tune. My MAF system seems to be 95% good at WOT but still rich at light throttle openings.

Phil (aka 89ZZ4)

 

[maxrevs85]

It seems to be the norm with the perfomance upgraded engines. they run ok with throttle but idle way to rich and cause problems with oil saturation. It makes it tough when you want to cruise in town.

Should have bought the AFR heads Ken . No spark plug problems