I don’t typically have to defend myself, my systems or my work and doing so on a forum is usually an exercise in finger-pointing………but I will keep this as short as possible.
It took me two tries, but eventually I provided a system/tune that met worked very well and….seemed to meet Scott’s requirements.
The 1st tune was running a bit too rich and seemed to rev limit at 5000 RPM in 1st…….too rich during cruise, etc. I suspect that I may have inadvertently loaded an earlier tune....as i had addressed those issues........
Scott provided me with a list of about 10 items that needed to be addressed..Most of the items were tune related and one item was related to a paint chip adjacent to the engine lid.
I spent a lot of time making sure that I addressed the points on Scott’s list.
I followed up with a leak-down test that showed the engine was healthy and took it out for a final run and video…..ran great. I often take these videos to have a record of the condition of the car/tune, prior to shipping
Here’s a link to the video……. Video is kind of long and boring…but the 911 ran great and the logs showed that the AFRs were decent too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIXcacSzjDM&t=7s
So, that was a wrap and Scott emailed me on 05/20:
Hi Al,
"Car made it back safely and took it for a drive. It is so much better than the first time I picked it up. Hand throttle worked as expected and was no problem. Idle was great an pulled hard up to redline without any breakup. I could not get on it too much as it was rush hour traffic in semi-back roads. I think I may have lost a little throttle response / torque in 2.5k RPM - 3.5 RPM takeoffs, but I am not totally sure. Might be interesting to do a dyno tuning session. Hopefully that can be done in a few hours with our carb rebuilders in Kirkland (Carb Connection). Speaking of which, did you make a backup copy of my current file?
Thanks again, it was fun, interesting and exciting to drive..."
Scott
My response:
Thu 5/20/2021 6:42 PM
Scott, Glad that you are happy with it....it definitely took some time. Torque doesn't come on until 3500 +....but you'll definitely need the dyno to refine that area. I did remember to make a copy for you..
Since that happy day Scott has contacted me regarding the rock chip……basically implying that I dropped and dragged something heavy over his fender causing scratches and it needed to be repainted/blended…..……… I guaranty that this never happened. However the chip may have.
I told Scott to get an estimate and I’d consider helping with that…….but in the back of my mind, an alarm bell went off as a simple chip escalated into much more.
In the pic below, the arrow is pointing to the chip…….
Next , a week or two later, Scott emailed me that his brake lights and backup lights weren’t working. My reply to this was that the EFI system just replaced the engine/control harness and did not get into the chassis or front/rear lighting harness(s) at all. Also, in general the wiring in this car is a mess, with clipped off wires, butt splices and even household electrical wire-nuts used on some connections. Pretty much par for the course for an early car that has been forward dated and has been implanted with a 3.2 back in the day. I don’t believe that this issue was related to the EFI install ….and don’t accept responsibility for the general lighting/wiring problems. …..More alarm bells were going off in my head……..and I told Scott that I would not work on it.
If there is a failed temp sensor on the system, I will provide a new one…….anyone that has dealt with me knows that……….
My take on this is……Scott is basically just not satisfied with the Dyno run …. ……….. The dyno tuner did a good job…..(he is supposed to find ways to improve the tune and he did) … ….…..and based on the dyno run data presented, it is performing better than the previous chipped configuration, pretty much throughout the range …..just not to the extent others have experienced. So it may be missing the bragging rights element.
I’ve never been to a dyno…I tune on the road, but often recommend that you go to a dyno to refine the tune and get the last percent. I never guaranty HP and TQ improvements, because there are other things involved besides the EFI kit……but I do refer to my customers dyno runs for reference as that is unbiased, 3rd party results. However, your results may vary……….
Anyway, the internet is a particularly poor way to communicate, but a particularly good way to injure someone’s reputation.
Regards,
al