15 replies to this topic

[mr5000]

just trying to find out what the best way to tune a injected 8 with a rebuilt motor and new cam will be i see some people on ebay sell custom tuned memcals and seen alot of fords you can get a flash tune
whats the best way to go about it id love to get a set up so i can retune to my likings or tune mates cars ect?

[76lxhatch]

If you want to spend a little money and do it yourself, check out Moates.net for the hardware, Tunerpro.net for the software, and Delcohacking.net for the know-how. I've spent a little under NZ$1K on everything including chip burner, emulator, datalogger and wideband O2 sensor. For VN-VR V6 and V8 I couldn't see any benefits to the more expensive offerings, and many of these guys do it a lot cheaper - check out the combination of realtime ECU conversion, chip code and the plugin for Tunerpro, it does everything with a homemade ALDL cable!

A lot of the eBay memcals are either standard HSV tunes or copies of something they've found elsewhere which doesn't necessarily suit the engine and vehicle. There seems to be a couple of guys who know what they are doing and will generally ask more questions rather than just sell a cookie cutter item but buyer beware of most.

[mr5000]

yeah theres one guy in tasie that sells burnout special memcals haha

could you link up the stuff you have if you got it all for under 1k id be very keen on that set up

[76lxhatch]

could you link up the stuff you have if you got it all for under 1k id be very keen on that set up

Look up Moates.net (http://www.moates.ne...ex.php?cPath=31), all the hardware is there. I shelled out for the Autoprom which does chip reading/writing, emulating (for real time tuning) and datalogging all in one box, along with the GP1 and HDR1 adapters and a couple of home made cables for the different diagnostic plugs. This stuff is fully supported by Tunerpro RT which seems to be pretty good so far, using TP5 Beta at present. I remove the factory chips from the memcals and replace with sockets, install a flash chip and use the HDR1 memcal header from there so the chip never has to be disturbed again. The idea is to use the emulator for real time tuning then once I'm happy with it, write the chip and its done. It can always be modified later if needed. That's the theory anyway, I haven't done a great deal yet but I've had a good fiddle with a few tunes and I know it all works - I'd go nuts if I had to write a chip for every little change.

If you just want to stick with the Delco 808 and similar, it appears you can do all of this a lot cheaper now by simply getting one of the NVRAM conversions from the guy at Delcohacking.net, along with an ALDL cable and the recently released Tunerpro plugin which allows writing via ALDL. The high speed comms mod would be nice too, I've got hold of a couple of VR manual ECUs which are basically the same as VN/VP but with high speed comms.

The coolest thing about the Delcos compared to many other ECUs is the datalogging and feedback they give you, its almost enough to tune the car properly just from this info (some people do). To add that last bit of useful data though I also have the LC-1 wideband controller with sensor and the O-meter (this primarily for vehicles without EFI so I don't need the laptop just for A/F readings). I've made a tailpipe sniffer clamp for the wideband too, yet to try that out but no reason why it won't work fine. The only thing I'm missing is the dyno, which is a bit out of my price range!

As far as knowing what you're doing, of course that's very important. If you're technically minded though its not rocket science - its exactly the same theory that applies to carbies with a lot more useful feedback and plenty of supporting information. If you don't trust everything you read on the Internet (and you shouldn't!) then buy a reputable book to supplement the info, I quite liked this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Tuning-High-Performance-Injection-Systems/dp/1932494901/ref=pd_sim_b_8

As well as Delcohacking, some of the American sites such as thirdgen.org are quite useful because of course they have the same basic ECUs.

[76lxhatch]

Or just buy a Kalmaker for $1200 and all the work is already done for you - just plug the ECU in , plug your laptop in and away you go.

If you are really interested in low cost realtime tuning with extra features over factory here is some exciting stuff:
http://www.delcohacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=71
http://www.delcohacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=356
http://www.delcohacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=590
http://www.delcohacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30

[mr5000]

are there any course where you can go and learn all this stuff i was up with it at the start now im lost

[MRLXSS]

Tipping you'll need to get a laptop too Ryan...

Not sure if there is any course.... But someone you could chat to is Brett (With the blown SV8). He tuned my LS1, he'd be able to at least give you a bit of advice with it all.

[76lxhatch]

I just work my way through various written material piece by piece, having a project of relevance helps because you tend to look for specific things rather than getting overwhelmed with everything at once

edit: this has a bit more step-by-step stuff and yet more links of interest
http://forum.streetc...d.php?t=8468165

Edited by 76lxhatch, 02 July 2010 - 11:51 AM.

[76lxhatch]

I Dont understand buying all the hardware/software for a grand to run off ONE memcal

I wasn't suggesting that, you're right would be a bit silly. As soon as you have to do a few different tunes (whether on the same vehicle or not) and you're miles away from anyone with the knowledge or equipment it becomes worthwhile. Its also another interesting facet of the hobby, personally I don't build cars because its cheaper to do it myself (sometimes it is though), I do it because I enjoy it.

[xu1kid]

what are those haltech piggy backs like ??

[mr5000]

Tipping you'll need to get a laptop too Ryan...

Not sure if there is any course.... But someone you could chat to is Brett (With the blown SV8). He tuned my LS1, he'd be able to at least give you a bit of advice with it all.

yeah bought a cheapie net book thing then found out a certain market has dodgy stolen laptops for the same price as my net book
i was thinking id talk to brett at next east side meet