Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

On my quest to shed some weight I have been removing excess wiring from my cars interior & engine harness as well as removing some creature comforts.

Now I have switched to an extremely light clutch & flywheel setup and may have to retune my PCM because of it. I have had it reflashed a couple of times and I'm personally getting tired of doing it and would like to start learning how to tune myself. Now I know that the stock PCM has its downfalls and the tuning software is pretty expensive. And on top of that I'm planning on a 5.3 LS swap in the near future and will be running it with a MircoSquirt.

Now this all leads me to my decision. Do I swap the stock PCM for a MicroSquirt and loose the Optispark, get a LOT of different/better options for my LT1 and rewire my car with a Painless harness and buy aftermarket gauges. Quite a bit lighter setup too since I would be removing all of the factory wiring from the car. Or I could use the Micro to power my motor and the stock PCM to run my gauges, but then I would be adding back the weight that I have already removed.

Or do I just buy the software for my stock PCM for now and learn from that? I don't really like this idea because I would be spending a bit of money here that I could spend on the above setup and get things like a 2 step without having to buy an MSD box (another added cost that wouldn't be reused).


I guess I'm just thinking out loud but if you are using an aftermarket computer setup on your car please tell me how you have it setup. Are you using the factory PCM to control certain parts or have you removed the stock PCM completely?

Thanks in advance

lt1needingboost

iTrader: (8)

if i were u i wld get myself a tunercats setup for like 100-150 and be done w it problems solved anything else is alot of money and even more work.

lt1needingboost

iTrader: (8)

p.s. if ur looking 4 2step or tunercats p.m. me. I also have 24x w hp tuners great package ez tuning but spendy all depends what ur looking for. generally if ur not FI i wld stay w ur stock setup but take ur time weigh ur option youre goona get a bunch of opinions on here 24x is popular setup and most of the forum hates optis so......... i say be objective weigh ur options.Youre talking abt 250 dollars and a hrs work to anywhere from $1400 to 2400 and days worth of work.

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

I agree with what you are saying, but I plan on swapping to an LS platform soon. My LT1 has been fun but its time to move on to bigger and better things.

I can use the MS and use LS coil packs to accomplish the same thing as the 24x kit for a fraction of the price. I would just have to add a crank or can sensor to fire the coils. Then when I do the swap move some wires around and be set to go. The LS motor will be boosted.

I guess I will hunt around for the tunercats and make up my mind

MontecarloDrag

iTrader: (3)

The stock LS computer has plenty of power.
OBD-I tuning software/cable is cheap, you can buy one and sell it later.

With a stock PCM you can make everything work, and keep stock appearance and emissions.

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

Stock appearance is long gone as well as the emissions I'm not worried about any of that. Just trying to save money in the long run and not buying stuff and replacing it in a year or 2 like I keep doing over and over on this car

I refuse to spend the money they want for a 24x setup if I have a better/cheaper option if I am willing to do a little bit of extra work. Plus I could rewire my car and loose all of the factory wiring and install a harness that only has what I need and nothing else. Then I could get the extra 40#s of wire out and only put about 12# back in <---win/win IMO


I haven't ruled the tuner cats out just yet, but it's not one of my favorite ideas. I have to do a little more looking before I pull the trigger on anything just yet.