E36LUVA

Wow yet another mind blower!

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

love the way that front end bolted in there. I wish there were something like that for c-10's

killer truck. keep up the fine work.

hackster

A little afraid to say that my motivation for this truck has hit an all time low. Having my rental property trashed by some terrible renters and having to remodel the inside of that house over the past couple months and coming up with the cash for that did not help.

Work has been crazy busy this year (yes a good thing) as well.

I have spent more time dragging my feet and dicking around with this tuning crap than I did building the entire truck.

I tend to get frustrated when I cannot do something myself and although Ron has taught me a ton about tuning and HP Tuners, not to mention been very giving with his time, computer and knowledge there is no way I can get through tuning this turd on my own.

So I have a few options, put my nose to the ground, ask Ron to come back back over to my place and keep going with our tuning.

Take the truck to a tuner that know's what they are doing and pick it up a week later hopefully running and driving. (that did not go well the last time)

Sell said truck and add those funds to my bank account =)

Lets hear your thoughts on what I should do here? With work keeping me tied up most weekdays it really only leaves weekends to work on the tuning. What would you guys do in my shoes?

I am much more comfortable with Ron doing his thing on the truck, he knows the truck pretty well now, is very smart and I can work on it with him.

Sean

thunderwagen

iTrader: (3)

I say you finish it out and enjoy it after all the time and money you have put into it. I know tuning can be frustrating. My last truck always had something weird going on in the tune and I could never get it sorted out.

I know when I get frustrated with my stuff I just close the shop door and dont mess with it until I feel like doing something with it. My build is definitely taking longer to finish than yours but I find if I give myself some time away from it when I start getting burned out it helps.

TipsyMcStagger

iTrader: (1)

You're asking for opinions so I'll add my $.02. I concur with the above. You did a heck of a job on this build. Do what you have to do to get it running. If that means farming out the tuning to an expert, so be it.

It'd be a shame for it to continue to sit or worse yet, end up in someone else's garage.

Tipsy

55superbeetle

iTrader: (5)

I would have to think paying for a real tune would pay for itself in resale value. Whether you keep the truck or not you at least deserve some wheel time with it making some real power and running properly.

Kingsize

iTrader: (13)

Ditch the stock EFI, and get a proper aftermarket EFI, or do a blow threw carb setup. Both of the later would be significantly less trouble than what you are going threw now.

68II

You've come a long way with this truck and are damn close to enjoying it. Ron is very knowledgeable from the conversations I've had, and is very helpful. With saying that , sometimes a fresh set of eyes can't hurt with uncovering something that's been missed or overlooked previously. Maybe, maybe not but it wouldn't hurt to try in my opinion. Good luck with it and hope you guys get it figured out soon.

Chicago TDP

iTrader: (3)

I have to oppose this only to say that some of the leading vendors on this site love stock ECM powered vehicles. There is no reason that the stock system should be inadequate. It is just a mater of getting as few bugs worked out and the truck is going to run like a swiss watch.


In an effort to save frustration and time, call around to find a reputable tuner to check out the truck. I would highly suggested that in order to help you move forward as well as learn from someone who does this day in and day out. I had issues with my set-up early on and it took a pro only a few minutes to listen to my problems and fix the tune.

If a pro cannot fix the tune and identifies a possible hardware issue, then at least you can start a more comprehensive diagnosis knowing your are looking for THAT type of problem.

Your are going to figure it out sooner then you think and then that truck is going to be a blast to drive.

DW SD

I have been seriously considering buying HPtuners or EFIlive to learn to tune. But, it seems the learning curve is tremendous.... and frustrating.. If I didn't have a very busy work life with my own company, two young kids and other hobbies, it might make sense.
I think a better solution might be to use something like this which is intended to be much more user friendly:
https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p.../parts/554-114
Or the Big Stuff 3 controller.
I know a lot of $, but in for a penny, in for a pound. And you'd get manufacturer support. You've already put a lot of $ and time in to the project.

I have been driving my L92 / 6L80 swap ('51 Ford pickup) for ten months and 3k miles now (at least off and on between other upgrade projects) and find it immensely satisfying. Were I in your shoes, I'd probably spend the money for the most user-friendly aftermarket computer setup and just get 'er done. You would be able to sell off your current computer, harness etc. and recoup some $.

I'm thinking positive thoughts here! You've got to get this thing to the finish line.

BTW - I'm not sure what the issues are, but I did read a bit of the Big Stuff 3 manual as well as tips in Hot Rod or Car Craft and they all say run dedicated ground and power to the battery for the ECU or you might get some weird issues. In my case, I wired the ECU ground direct to the battery, but not 12V+ as I hadn't seen those notes, prior.
Any chance this could contribute to the issues you've been having?

Doug

prostreet1967

iTrader: (1)

Have u looked on sloppy mechanics page. There are some tunes on there that may get u in ball park . U can just copy files over to ur tune .

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

Ah man I feel your pain on a bad rental. It's crazy how gross some people can live!
currently gutting a place that was like animal hoarder x crazy cigarette smoker collabo.
I feel bad for the owner, he just re-upped the unit like 2 years ago. Head up though, the way pdx is booming, you can get some good people in there pretty easy, just gotta vet 'em properly. We've come to the conclusion that background/credit checks don't mean ****. You gotta sit down and have a couple beers with 'em. Let them know you're a real person who expects their property to be respected, not just an address the money gets sent to.

I sometimes just let the truck sit. Sometimes you gotta take a break. Throwing money and time at something in frustration is wasteful and not very satisfying.

Then I come back when things are chill. I write out a trouble-shooting plan. Cross off only the verified stuff. I go through it methodically. Push comes to shove and I pay a pro to fix it, I can learn from what he fixes.

Good luck.

Rocknrace03

Just read through the entire thread, awesome build! only thing i was like "ahh" with was when you painted the body, but the patina look isn't for everyone. Sloppy Mechanics could definitely help you out, quite a few very smart/friendly guys on there with fast junk, have helped with my swap greatly.

MiniSuperDuke

Sweet truck man! I found it the other night and read through all of it on fordification. I was looking for a lightning or marauder, started looking at f100's, click here click there, and I ran into your build thread. I signed up to that forum just to say, Bravo super impressive and inspirational. While I simply don't have the skills, it got me looking at f100s. Can't do what you did but I can do smaller projects and drive it until I have more room in the garage. Then blast it apart! And when I have parts all over the place and don't know what to do or where they go, I will call you to come pick them up and haul them away some you can build some more chitty chitty bang bang magic

I understand the difficult decision. If it comes down to raising some capital and the needs becomes substantial, we do what we must. But if money is not a consideration, take a break and do something you like until you are recharged and hit it up again. Maybe think about hauling it to a knowledgeable tuner and leaving it there for a while. I would think there would be a vendor somewhere that could work on it, as time permits, at a reasonable rate, and get the benefit of displaying a bad-*** ride in their showroom Good luck, many are rooting for you and following along. Come on folks, I was just a sema...custom rides all over the place nowhere as nice as this, pulling in potential customers with ooohs and ahhhhs. Someone out there help this good man out! Use his truck to advertise, and fix it at the same time.

hackster

Thanks for all the kind words fellas, believe it or not its a huge boost to the motivations factor.

See is all it takes is a little motivation. I am going to give Ron a shout and see if he can come over and play again.

I gotta get this this running. With the house sale under way I think I am ready to mess around with this a little more.

I guess the next step for me is to really commit to HPTuners and buy and learn the software... Like Ron told me, I am going to want it anyways, it is an invaluable tool.

Look for some updates soon!!

Sean

KitsBeach

Keep at it Sean. I'd say back off to a simpler solution or copy someone's exactly. You've done too much beautiful work to sell it at a discount.

Ken

hackster

No real exciting update but I did snap some halfway ok pictures....everyone likes pictures too =)

Did a bit of cleaning on the old truck this past week in some spare time. Still trying to figure out the tune thing but have been burried with house stuff the past several months.

Never really had any good photos of the truck out of the garage so I snapped a few of them. Truck looks good in my opinion. Dropped the front a little more.

Sean

Hart_Rod

iTrader: (3)

Looks great! Let me know when you're ready to sell it.....;-).

1Blown04

The truck looks fantastic. You've done a great job with it.

BudRacing

iTrader: (3)

So. Effin. Clean!