Tooky
Serious about performance
Wow, it's been forever since I logged into SyTy. (The thing tells me 11-20-2005 but I know that was only for about a week, and probably 6 months of inactivity prior to that.) I get emails and PMs from people trying to get ahold of me, and I'm terrible at responding (my apologies guys) so I'm gonna try and update in general.
Boy have things changed for me since I was active on SyTy.net. I grew up as a man and changed a lot of things about my attitude and lifestyle and my knowledge of many topics. I'm 25 now. I don't have hardly 25% of the time I used to have, to dedicate to keeping up with an active BBS with hundreds of new posts every day. I wish I did though.
I'm still into SyTys as much as ever, and in fact, I'm more obsessed with engines and hot-rodding and serious about high performance than most people could imagine. I can say at this point I feel that engine performance will be a focus for the rest of my life and possibly a career at some point (fingers crossed). Nowadays all I think about are powerbands, and camshafts, and huge boost, huge displacement, nitrous, turbos, monster horsepower, etc. etc.
Back in reality here's what I've done/learned relevant to SyTys:
Spent the majority of the last 2 years working getting a proper , 100% fully functioning transmission to replace my stock unit. This has been all the disaster that all the SyTy stuff warned me about from the day I first looked into buying a Syclone 6 years ago, and then some more agony in ways I couldn't have imagined. I got screwed twice, and after I got a tranny, had to pull it 3 times, send it back, fix problems myself, and the final time I pulled it, wound up having to disassemble the damn thing myself and fix a broken part and then reassemble and reinstall. I'm sad to say I had to learn more about 700R4 and performance automatics than I ever wanted to learn, but happy to report that I did get the tranny to work and although it is not 100% perfect, it is more perfectly configured for my stock motor than any other fully built SyTy transmission I have ever encountered or heard of. At 15 PSI boost my shifts are at 4475 RPM at WOT and it will bark the tires on the 1-2 at part throttle going around a corner, despite my 2700 RPM Yank converter. The boost comes on fast from a launch and the shifts are firm. The 3-4 works at WOT, something I know a large majority of those with rebuilt transmissions cannot say. That was probably my hardest fix to solve (that one was all me - the tranny builder couldn't come up with a solution that performed.) I want to write a detailed web page with all I've learned particularly about high stall converters and how they relate to the performance of automatic transmissions and drag race performance. I learned many critical things that I have never seen mentioned anywhere and I'm eager to share, so that future owners can avoid most of the serious (and unnecessary) compromises in performance that so many experience.
I also have been trying to learn fuel injection reprogramming, via tuning the stock ECM on my Syclone and my 90 Turbo Grand Prix. The TGP has a 32KB EPROM image but the ECM is similar, I beleive it's a P4 series. (Model '727/730). Wow, I can definitely say that was a challenging subject!!!! My hat is off to all who have figured it out. It took me about 2 years of heavy research and light effort & trials before I *REALLY* made a dent in understanding the actual tuning and getting my head around it. About 4 weeks ago I suddenly got all my last obstacles solved and everything started to click REALLY FAST and a few days later I had dialed my horribly tuned Turbo Grand Prix entire main VE table in one night of driving around!!! I was able to tune the WOT to a relatively flat 11.8-12.0 with 4 trips around the block. Here's a nod to the TunerPro guys, the realtime tuning and ALDL Link Tracing feature is easily hereby awarded "Most Significant SyTy Software Since DataMaster".
I moved onto my Syclone and that was more of the same, I found out why my truck never ran properly on pump gas, with 15 PSI base boost and pure pump gas on the Ultimate, it was 13.2 lean at WOT!!! (AND I am running 50 PSI base FP) I richened it to 11.8-12.0 in a hurry and now it has run better on pump gas than it ever did!! I can only wish it ran this good when I bought it!!!!! The only difference is I know I would have turned out differently if I never had all these various little bullshit SyTy problems to solve and learn the hard way. Anyhow the truck runs so smooth and well at WOT that I have been driving the hell out of it and flooring it everywhere I go, I let my girlfriend drive last night and made sure she hammered it at least 10 times. She also enjoyed launching it twice. The rear end kicked out a little and the tires didnt hook till 20MPH and she really enjoyed that. DataMaster says with the PT51, and stock motor and 15-16 PSI Boost and pure pump gas (SMC alky turned off so far), its around 400HP and 12.6 @ 105. Now I thought those were some great times for such a base setup that I can beat the snot out of.
For anyone getting into tuning, I can safely say that the $175 Moates Ostrich USB Emulator is now tied in 1st place for the best money I ever spent on my truck. A very wise investment. I also have the burner setup (BURN1) and that is important to have as well, but this Emulator basically turns your stock ECM into a F.A.S.T. fully reprogrammable unit -- ON STEROIDS!!! The FAST guys WISH they had 1/3 as much power as a stock GM late 1980's ECM. I know my local FAST buddy could agree.
That stock ECM / fuel injection recalibration learning curve is HUGE, just wow. I learn stuff at a really fast pace, but like I said - this one took me 2 years to understand. Maybe it would go faster if I had a friend to teach me in person but I tend to learn things alone. What's funny now is to look back at my "Stock Turbo Record" post and the way I used crude things like fuel pressure and the Ultimate pushbutton to adjust fuel and timing. That was all on the as-delivered stock Ultimate V6 chip and I wish I could go back with all that I know now and give things a second shot.
I also did the CBR 12" Brake Kit recently. I was trying to get my truck back to Road America about 3 weeks ago. I didn't make it in time, and I can say that the CBR Brake Kit took me a solid 25-30 hours of work. I've never disassembled front suspension before so this was all slow and careful learn-as-you-go. I didn't know this "snap to install" kit would require a full ball joint job (the originals are riveted in, too) that a SyTy Search found posts referring to as taking "a full 2 days to do the ball joint job itself." After figuring all that out, all the cutting and grinding required for the kit took me many hours, half of which was driving all over town trying to find someone with the tools that could handle this. A large commercial truck shop wasn't much help; they had some huge band saw cutters but nothing could hold the odd-shaped spindle in place. My advice to anyone installing the CBR Brake Kit is, if you're just an average Syclone owner, and not a machinist or mechanic by trade/nature, you'll want to set aside a full week for this enormous task. It's not only a lot of work, but very critical to do the job well since you're working on your front suspension and steering. The SyTy.net guy who said "Installing this brake kit will take more work than the 3rd time R&R'ing your tranny" was right. By the time I was done with the brake kit, I know I could have had my 3rd tranny install done.
So far while the pads are bedding I haven't noticed any significant difference whatsoever. The brake pedal is still a bit soft so I'm going to bleed them again and see what that does. The brakes aren't any more "grabby" but I'm going to give them more time to bed before I make a judgement call. The real reason I bought the brakes is so I can put on $200 race pads rated for 1600*F and torture the shit out of them at Road America instead of setting the stock brakes on fire like I did in 2004. As far as I'm concerned though - road racing is about the only real reason you'll need an upgrade like this. The stock brakes stopped plenty hard for me, and this kit was not cheap (by the time you've got the kit, calipers, rotors, and pads you're past $500) and not easy, and requires permanent removal of the dust shields and a few hack-quality loose ends like the ABS wire dangling near the rotor and the braided steel lines "zip tied" to the A Arm. Not to mention significantly reduced turning radius (I can't do U Turns in 1 shot anymore) But if you're setting your stock brakes on fire and literally melting the pads, this kit is gonna kick serious ass and the best feature hands down - is the easy LS1 part source interchangeability and availability.
Wish I had more to say at this time :blah: but give me a few months and we'll see if I can't crack off some new times that I haven't been able to improve SINCE NOVEMBER 2003.... :banghead: :doh:
Boy have things changed for me since I was active on SyTy.net. I grew up as a man and changed a lot of things about my attitude and lifestyle and my knowledge of many topics. I'm 25 now. I don't have hardly 25% of the time I used to have, to dedicate to keeping up with an active BBS with hundreds of new posts every day. I wish I did though.
I'm still into SyTys as much as ever, and in fact, I'm more obsessed with engines and hot-rodding and serious about high performance than most people could imagine. I can say at this point I feel that engine performance will be a focus for the rest of my life and possibly a career at some point (fingers crossed). Nowadays all I think about are powerbands, and camshafts, and huge boost, huge displacement, nitrous, turbos, monster horsepower, etc. etc.
Back in reality here's what I've done/learned relevant to SyTys:
Spent the majority of the last 2 years working getting a proper , 100% fully functioning transmission to replace my stock unit. This has been all the disaster that all the SyTy stuff warned me about from the day I first looked into buying a Syclone 6 years ago, and then some more agony in ways I couldn't have imagined. I got screwed twice, and after I got a tranny, had to pull it 3 times, send it back, fix problems myself, and the final time I pulled it, wound up having to disassemble the damn thing myself and fix a broken part and then reassemble and reinstall. I'm sad to say I had to learn more about 700R4 and performance automatics than I ever wanted to learn, but happy to report that I did get the tranny to work and although it is not 100% perfect, it is more perfectly configured for my stock motor than any other fully built SyTy transmission I have ever encountered or heard of. At 15 PSI boost my shifts are at 4475 RPM at WOT and it will bark the tires on the 1-2 at part throttle going around a corner, despite my 2700 RPM Yank converter. The boost comes on fast from a launch and the shifts are firm. The 3-4 works at WOT, something I know a large majority of those with rebuilt transmissions cannot say. That was probably my hardest fix to solve (that one was all me - the tranny builder couldn't come up with a solution that performed.) I want to write a detailed web page with all I've learned particularly about high stall converters and how they relate to the performance of automatic transmissions and drag race performance. I learned many critical things that I have never seen mentioned anywhere and I'm eager to share, so that future owners can avoid most of the serious (and unnecessary) compromises in performance that so many experience.
I also have been trying to learn fuel injection reprogramming, via tuning the stock ECM on my Syclone and my 90 Turbo Grand Prix. The TGP has a 32KB EPROM image but the ECM is similar, I beleive it's a P4 series. (Model '727/730). Wow, I can definitely say that was a challenging subject!!!! My hat is off to all who have figured it out. It took me about 2 years of heavy research and light effort & trials before I *REALLY* made a dent in understanding the actual tuning and getting my head around it. About 4 weeks ago I suddenly got all my last obstacles solved and everything started to click REALLY FAST and a few days later I had dialed my horribly tuned Turbo Grand Prix entire main VE table in one night of driving around!!! I was able to tune the WOT to a relatively flat 11.8-12.0 with 4 trips around the block. Here's a nod to the TunerPro guys, the realtime tuning and ALDL Link Tracing feature is easily hereby awarded "Most Significant SyTy Software Since DataMaster".
I moved onto my Syclone and that was more of the same, I found out why my truck never ran properly on pump gas, with 15 PSI base boost and pure pump gas on the Ultimate, it was 13.2 lean at WOT!!! (AND I am running 50 PSI base FP) I richened it to 11.8-12.0 in a hurry and now it has run better on pump gas than it ever did!! I can only wish it ran this good when I bought it!!!!! The only difference is I know I would have turned out differently if I never had all these various little bullshit SyTy problems to solve and learn the hard way. Anyhow the truck runs so smooth and well at WOT that I have been driving the hell out of it and flooring it everywhere I go, I let my girlfriend drive last night and made sure she hammered it at least 10 times. She also enjoyed launching it twice. The rear end kicked out a little and the tires didnt hook till 20MPH and she really enjoyed that. DataMaster says with the PT51, and stock motor and 15-16 PSI Boost and pure pump gas (SMC alky turned off so far), its around 400HP and 12.6 @ 105. Now I thought those were some great times for such a base setup that I can beat the snot out of.
For anyone getting into tuning, I can safely say that the $175 Moates Ostrich USB Emulator is now tied in 1st place for the best money I ever spent on my truck. A very wise investment. I also have the burner setup (BURN1) and that is important to have as well, but this Emulator basically turns your stock ECM into a F.A.S.T. fully reprogrammable unit -- ON STEROIDS!!! The FAST guys WISH they had 1/3 as much power as a stock GM late 1980's ECM. I know my local FAST buddy could agree.
That stock ECM / fuel injection recalibration learning curve is HUGE, just wow. I learn stuff at a really fast pace, but like I said - this one took me 2 years to understand. Maybe it would go faster if I had a friend to teach me in person but I tend to learn things alone. What's funny now is to look back at my "Stock Turbo Record" post and the way I used crude things like fuel pressure and the Ultimate pushbutton to adjust fuel and timing. That was all on the as-delivered stock Ultimate V6 chip and I wish I could go back with all that I know now and give things a second shot.
I also did the CBR 12" Brake Kit recently. I was trying to get my truck back to Road America about 3 weeks ago. I didn't make it in time, and I can say that the CBR Brake Kit took me a solid 25-30 hours of work. I've never disassembled front suspension before so this was all slow and careful learn-as-you-go. I didn't know this "snap to install" kit would require a full ball joint job (the originals are riveted in, too) that a SyTy Search found posts referring to as taking "a full 2 days to do the ball joint job itself." After figuring all that out, all the cutting and grinding required for the kit took me many hours, half of which was driving all over town trying to find someone with the tools that could handle this. A large commercial truck shop wasn't much help; they had some huge band saw cutters but nothing could hold the odd-shaped spindle in place. My advice to anyone installing the CBR Brake Kit is, if you're just an average Syclone owner, and not a machinist or mechanic by trade/nature, you'll want to set aside a full week for this enormous task. It's not only a lot of work, but very critical to do the job well since you're working on your front suspension and steering. The SyTy.net guy who said "Installing this brake kit will take more work than the 3rd time R&R'ing your tranny" was right. By the time I was done with the brake kit, I know I could have had my 3rd tranny install done.
So far while the pads are bedding I haven't noticed any significant difference whatsoever. The brake pedal is still a bit soft so I'm going to bleed them again and see what that does. The brakes aren't any more "grabby" but I'm going to give them more time to bed before I make a judgement call. The real reason I bought the brakes is so I can put on $200 race pads rated for 1600*F and torture the shit out of them at Road America instead of setting the stock brakes on fire like I did in 2004. As far as I'm concerned though - road racing is about the only real reason you'll need an upgrade like this. The stock brakes stopped plenty hard for me, and this kit was not cheap (by the time you've got the kit, calipers, rotors, and pads you're past $500) and not easy, and requires permanent removal of the dust shields and a few hack-quality loose ends like the ABS wire dangling near the rotor and the braided steel lines "zip tied" to the A Arm. Not to mention significantly reduced turning radius (I can't do U Turns in 1 shot anymore) But if you're setting your stock brakes on fire and literally melting the pads, this kit is gonna kick serious ass and the best feature hands down - is the easy LS1 part source interchangeability and availability.
Wish I had more to say at this time :blah: but give me a few months and we'll see if I can't crack off some new times that I haven't been able to improve SINCE NOVEMBER 2003.... :banghead: :doh:
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