Best Street Setup

[fly89gta]

Razor, the motor is coming out in a few weeks to be rebuilt(cam sensor pin snapped and clogged stuff up) so the heads are coming off regardless.

I'm still trying to figure out the route I want to go...basically I don't want to spend money where I don't have to.

If you have any advice and you want to PM me instead of clogging up this thread that's cool or just respond here, thanks!

 

[89TTA1415]

The injectors, chip, turbo and a new coil pack where purchased at the same time in 2000 so I would assume that they should be setup correctly. I will check for vaccum leaks and I guess I will buy a MAF and O2 sensor since they are not that expensive. Anyone have a good MAF for sell? What about getting a LT1 MAF and a translator? Is it a better combination than the stock unit?

 

[mark b]

Personally, I'd get a translator and look for a used MAF on the
f-body forums before I wasted any of my time chasing a good replacement MAF or paying an extortionist price for a NOS one.

I've read so many posts about people buying replacement MAF's and having problems that I converted 3 years ago even though I had a good MAF on the car and several NOS spares.

As an aside, I haven't heard much about the MAFless setup and chips lately. Certainly not good for passing emissions, but it sounded good for certain applications.

Of course in retrospect, before I bought the translator, MAF, turbolink, scanmaster, etc. I should have bought a FAST.
I say that just to wake up Mike S, who will rightfully say " if you can't tune a car with a chip, what makes you think you can tune one with a FAST"?


To which I say, "you can tune a piano, but you can't tunafish"

 

[Razor]

Mark, I hear ya. Listen I have a spare GM MAF.. why becuase I hunt these things down on the board like if they were gold. Cuase i've seen my share of translator/LT1/LS1 MAF headaches already. When you need that good GM MAF to drop in cuase your car is running like CRAP.. you'll see the wisdom in my reasoning. When you need one..forget it..you wont find one. I never have. When you dont need it.. they pop up..and be ready to scoop it up. A stock GM MAF when you dont need it is not worth much..when you need it.. priceless.. basic diagnostic on a TR101.

Look just becuase something was replaced one month ago doesnt make it good. The notion stuff is suppossed to last is the worst thing you can do. Some feel becuase its been replaced it should be ok.. NO.. that is the worst thing you can do diagnosing a problem. Becuase then you ASSUMME that its ok. Go find your chip issue or swap your MAF for a known good one. The remanufactured ones are hit-n-miss as to reliability/quality. At least they will idle and let the car run.

If my points are too much for you, find a decent mechanic in your area knowledgeable in diagnosing a turbo regal engine. It appears your reading and not comprehending.. no offense.

Reread what i've written in this thread. I'll bet a doughnut im rite. Heard this before

Re-read what I have posted. Your answer lies in my posts.

 

[trading t/a]

Razor boy don't know the half of it with this car. If I had x-ray vision i woulda looked into the engine and ran full speed the other way

I was in the process of tuning drop 1.5 seconds off the pig and never seen a lot of knock, then the engine went

Turns out the block seems to be a replacement block, the two center mains have arp studs installed, rod bolts are all arp, oh and the rocket scientist who did the motor decided to use hypers in it. Burnt a whole through the ringland down the through the rings.

So the buildup has begun to maximize longevity(just adding forged slugs and finish studding the bottom end) and open up the heads as much as I can afford that teamed with a cam maybe we'll see just what the 51 can do. Blew it up once don't wanna go 2 for 2

So now I'm going with the airflow idea instead of the way too much psi idea. Remove a lot of the restriction in the intake tract and you'll run less boost to achieve the same power. Just wish I coulda started with a fresh GM motor to begin with.

 

[mark b]

OK, you could do what I did. Fresh GM shortblock and 148 miles later the cam bearings went because of an oiling problem (apparently a factory defect). Collapsed lifters, bent valves, pushrods, etc. and the block could not be bored over and fitted with an oversize bearing, so it became scrap iron.

There is no easy answer outside of what Razor said: a good solid running factory block with unopened heads, tune it to the max and enjoy it!