Cam Swap #2... asking for help this time...
Doug Rippie is your problem x3, if you want someone that knows what they are doing send me a pm.
Feel free to join mngmp.org it is the gm performance group here in the Twin Cities. Ask them what they think the problem is as well.... Everyone will tell you it is the shop hands down!
Feel free to join mngmp.org it is the gm performance group here in the Twin Cities. Ask them what they think the problem is as well.... Everyone will tell you it is the shop hands down!
i actually think he did an ok job on my tune for my Vette 
I think the surging i'm still getting on the street could be better tuned out but overall he didn't do bad. Car runs strong and put down decent power for a smaller cam. Mine is a TSP 228R on a 112 LSA. Polished stock 243 heads and stuff. Mods/power in sig. I think he coulda looked into street tuning(driving around making adjustments) more to eliminate the surging but overall it works good. mngmp.org may have some more local tuners to look into. I'm looking at CJTunes from there to do mine one of these days 
P.S. i don't think you need to do another cam swap. I think maybe shopping for somebody that is more comfortable with a cam like that would be your best bet. I'm not saying anything against doug as he did just fine on mine and his shop seems to be well run, at least when i was there
I think the surging i'm still getting on the street could be better tuned out but overall he didn't do bad. Car runs strong and put down decent power for a smaller cam. Mine is a TSP 228R on a 112 LSA. Polished stock 243 heads and stuff. Mods/power in sig. I think he coulda looked into street tuning(driving around making adjustments) more to eliminate the surging but overall it works good. mngmp.org may have some more local tuners to look into. I'm looking at CJTunes from there to do mine one of these days P.S. i don't think you need to do another cam swap. I think maybe shopping for somebody that is more comfortable with a cam like that would be your best bet. I'm not saying anything against doug as he did just fine on mine and his shop seems to be well run, at least when i was there
Launching!
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: The Midwest
DRM has built and tuned my car and it runs fantastic. i can't find a single thing wrong with it and it has run excellent since the day it was built. his tuning took about 45 min if i recall and i have not needed to touch it since.
i know everyone has their up and down shops. i have too, but thus far, DRM has treated me very well!
P.S that orange Z ran frreaking awesome down at the TX Mile in yrs past as well as the TX2K10 event last week! i was there with him. Also, let me note that my measly 506rwhp manage to smack down a 10.51@133! Built by DRM and solid since day one!
Aj
i know everyone has their up and down shops. i have too, but thus far, DRM has treated me very well!
P.S that orange Z ran frreaking awesome down at the TX Mile in yrs past as well as the TX2K10 event last week! i was there with him. Also, let me note that my measly 506rwhp manage to smack down a 10.51@133! Built by DRM and solid since day one!
Aj
i've always felt that if you didn't get the work/parts from DRM he kinda looks down on you. That's kinda how i felt from Doug himself. I liked the shop crew but he just seemed a little smug. Maybe it was a bad day too who knows. I think i did a damn good job on my build and even doug mentioned that it ran great and that i did a good job on it so i guess i can't be to upset about it all.
LMAO, your problem is doug rippie. I have him to thank for teaching me how to tune. No, he didn't teach me directly. His tuning abilities are so **** poor that I forced myself to learn how to tune. It's too bad that he borrows his buddies laptop to do tunes on his customers vehicles. (at least for my truck anyways). At any rate, I would steer clear of his shop and get your car back ASAP before he wrecks it. Also, do not go to hitech motorsports either. Brian used to work for Doug Rippie years ago and had a falling out. He opened his own shop and does the same quality work.
Doug may be decent at working on the OLDER smallblock chevy's but I don't think he's up to snuff on the lsx platforms. He has over $300 of my money for this so call "tuning" as well. Also, the "ls6 cam and springs" I bought from him actually turned out to be a ls1 cam. He had no interest in exchanging it out. Oh well, it made for a good table lamp.
Doug may be decent at working on the OLDER smallblock chevy's but I don't think he's up to snuff on the lsx platforms. He has over $300 of my money for this so call "tuning" as well. Also, the "ls6 cam and springs" I bought from him actually turned out to be a ls1 cam. He had no interest in exchanging it out. Oh well, it made for a good table lamp.
this make me sickDoug Rippie is your problem x3, if you want someone that knows what they are doing send me a pm.
Feel free to join mngmp.org it is the gm performance group here in the Twin Cities. Ask them what they think the problem is as well.... Everyone will tell you it is the shop hands down!
Feel free to join mngmp.org it is the gm performance group here in the Twin Cities. Ask them what they think the problem is as well.... Everyone will tell you it is the shop hands down!
i actually think he did an ok job on my tune for my Vette I think the surging i'm still getting on the street could be better tuned out but overall he didn't do bad. Car runs strong and put down decent power for a smaller cam. Mine is a TSP 228R on a 112 LSA. Polished stock 243 heads and stuff. Mods/power in sig. I think he coulda looked into street tuning(driving around making adjustments) more to eliminate the surging but overall it works good. mngmp.org may have some more local tuners to look into. I'm looking at CJTunes from there to do mine one of these days
P.S. i don't think you need to do another cam swap. I think maybe shopping for somebody that is more comfortable with a cam like that would be your best bet. I'm not saying anything against doug as he did just fine on mine and his shop seems to be well run, at least when i was there
I think the surging i'm still getting on the street could be better tuned out but overall he didn't do bad. Car runs strong and put down decent power for a smaller cam. Mine is a TSP 228R on a 112 LSA. Polished stock 243 heads and stuff. Mods/power in sig. I think he coulda looked into street tuning(driving around making adjustments) more to eliminate the surging but overall it works good. mngmp.org may have some more local tuners to look into. I'm looking at CJTunes from there to do mine one of these days P.S. i don't think you need to do another cam swap. I think maybe shopping for somebody that is more comfortable with a cam like that would be your best bet. I'm not saying anything against doug as he did just fine on mine and his shop seems to be well run, at least when i was there
DRM has built and tuned my car and it runs fantastic. i can't find a single thing wrong with it and it has run excellent since the day it was built. his tuning took about 45 min if i recall and i have not needed to touch it since.
i know everyone has their up and down shops. i have too, but thus far, DRM has treated me very well!
P.S that orange Z ran frreaking awesome down at the TX Mile in yrs past as well as the TX2K10 event last week! i was there with him. Also, let me note that my measly 506rwhp manage to smack down a 10.51@133! Built by DRM and solid since day one!
Aj
i know everyone has their up and down shops. i have too, but thus far, DRM has treated me very well!
P.S that orange Z ran frreaking awesome down at the TX Mile in yrs past as well as the TX2K10 event last week! i was there with him. Also, let me note that my measly 506rwhp manage to smack down a 10.51@133! Built by DRM and solid since day one!
Aj
Your cam should be good but if your looking to down grade your HP go to like a 224 cam, that would make that kind of power with those heads. I've heard really good things about DRM but if everyone says he is so terrible try Boos Performance, he did my car and it runs awesome!
Otherwise, listen to 1badburb. His car runs incredibly and flawlessly and if DRM can build a car like that, you can't hate the place haha!
Otherwise, listen to 1badburb. His car runs incredibly and flawlessly and if DRM can build a car like that, you can't hate the place haha!
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Teching In
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Does your dad want my old drivers side seat cover back that he put cigarette burns in while smoking in my truck? Do the corvette's get the same special treatment as well?
Now 5 years later it's the wrong cam, and seat cover which you couldn't have told us about or even made a drive out here to tell us about it. Nope tell fairy tales 5 years later. Sorry for getting into a pissing match about it now. But it gets old after 5 years. It's funny the guys you help out the most seem to always come back to haunt us later.
Randy
Teching In
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
I have a 04 A4 GTO with TEA Stage 2 heads, Pacestter LT's, Custom 3" exhaust, 3k Stall, and (dont ask me why) a cam 236/242 .580 .590 and about 110 LSA (supposed to be 114, but tuner STRONGLY disagrees)... I have it at DRM and he has my enging making 425 crank hp.... He said my cam is WAY too big and killing me... I am probably gonna do another cam swap (have it professionally done) and was wondering what i should get... i wanted to hit 415rwhp... any suggestions and or comments? My car is a daily driver in the summer. what would you guys recomend...? thanks again for all the help!
As you know your car project has been quite the stressfull thing for you lately. Sorry we couldn't make it 100 percent for you out of the gates. You know where we will be if you need anything else. If you would please explain to the forum people the whole situation and the whole project. And understand that we can't schedule a dyno tune, and have it turn into a 2 week project without some warning. As you know this your project didn't go as planned from day one.
Randy
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
this is stupid-totally off topic...i was asking for advice on what may be holding me up-DRM is not it! I recieved top notch service... no better feeling than pushing in a POS and driving out a head turner.... I have and never will question ANYTHING they say. The poor selection of parts in my car are due to MY uninformed purchasing. DRM... once i get a few bucks flowin-ill be givin ya a call to see what you can do...thanks again!
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
and per randy's request....i made the poor decision to let a few kids do a cam/head/header install on my car on their word alone-BAD IDEA. Once it was put back togethor...i dropped it off at DRM. They fixed numerous screw ups made by people who had their hands on my car before them. Timing was great, obviously not the three days I had planned-but that was all due to the shape of my car and decisions I MADE. They kept me in the loop, and I feel like they gave me a great deal. After being taken by a $1400 exhaust.... when a professional tells you NOT to do a performance upgrade and just see what you think first-it tells me one thing: there not out to get you. Once again-thanks DRM... dropping my car off at your shop is the first good decision I have made with my car.
You asked for peoples input why are you getting so offensive? They are several guys on here that have been to DRM and were not happy, and the tune was not what they wanted. They have had experience with them, if you want to continue to throw your money away and have a car that only performs on the dyno, and is not streetable then you are making the right choice!
Good luck with the car, hopefully you don't have to change out the cam too many more times, its going to get expensive having DRM do a cam swap every time they realize they can't tune a vehicle properly!
Good luck with the car, hopefully you don't have to change out the cam too many more times, its going to get expensive having DRM do a cam swap every time they realize they can't tune a vehicle properly!
You asked for peoples input why are you getting so offensive? They are several guys on here that have been to DRM and were not happy, and the tune was not what they wanted. They have had experience with them, if you want to continue to throw your money away and have a car that only performs on the dyno, and is not streetable then you are making the right choice!
Good luck with the car, hopefully you don't have to change out the cam too many more times, its going to get expensive having DRM do a cam swap every time they realize they can't tune a vehicle properly!
Good luck with the car, hopefully you don't have to change out the cam too many more times, its going to get expensive having DRM do a cam swap every time they realize they can't tune a vehicle properly!
I still think Doug did a good job on my tune it's just a few things that needed to be redone. It's not really even his fault. He had me scheduled at a time and i was late that day. Then i got there and he only really had time to do a dyno tune on it, no street tuning at all which likely would have caught the surging. As for DRM i think they do good work and am not trying to bad mouth them. Mostly what i'm saying is that if the O/P is unhappy with something or thinks he's getting bad info to get other opinions and see what they say. If he wants a different tuner then he has options. Overall i was happy with my experience at Dougs garage. As for the surging issues and stuff i will be taking it back and having them alter some stuff and see if it can take care of it. I pushed it off since the original tune because i've been busy with work the last couple summers and barely put any miles on my car. O/P i wish you the best of luck.~Cole~
P.S. He is the Corvette guru. I've seen Vette's all over the country with DRM stickers, especially on Corvetteforum.com There's guy's that ship their cars to him to have his shop work on them. Can't be doing too bad if all these guys still send work his way
P.S. He is the Corvette guru. I've seen Vette's all over the country with DRM stickers, especially on Corvetteforum.com There's guy's that ship their cars to him to have his shop work on them. Can't be doing too bad if all these guys still send work his way
Last edited by Cole Train; Mar 26, 2010 at 04:08 AM.
Didnt read the entire thread. But I did read your original post. Your tuner is right. Your cam is way too big for your setup. It's too much for your stall, it's too much for your gearing, it's too much for your car's weight. You want a cam that will bring it's peak rpm down and an earlier IVC. I would recommend a 230/240 110+3. It's REALLY going to improve torque (trap more cylinder pressure/ more use of the power stroke which is fine b/c we're bringing the rpm peak down), sounds ratty as **** with 15 degrees overlap but drive well on the street, peak a lot earlier, and carry well past peak. Stock CC heads SHOULD clear but you would need to measure. Good luck!
First of all, DMR tunes it conservatively when on the dyno so you probably got a little power to spare. Keeps him from blowing **** up like he's done in the past. Second, he's not a good A4 tuner and has had problems tuning them in the past. Trust me, I know many guys that have gone out there just to be disappointed and have heard from people who have worked for him about his LS tuning problems. HiTech tunes are good for peak hp but are horseshit for street manners. CJTunes and Adam's Speed Shop (A.S.S.), a friend of mine, have done a good job on my car for half the cost. They'll take the time to tune it right. A 45 min tune will be horseshit for street manners. Ask me about my HiTech tune. Anyways, come over to MNGMP.Org and see what the guys over there say. Not much different than here. If you want I can get you in touch with Adam and get him to tune the car. He got mine pushing 410 through a Dana 60 with 4.10's and 3500 stall and smaller cam than yours. With the size of your cam, you'll want a bigger stall. I'll be selling my TCI 3500 in a couple weeks when I get my new transmission with a 4k stall. Let me know if you're interested or have questions.
The only experience I have with DRM was a club dyno day. My old ORY would hit the floorboard on hard accel. I paid for 2 pulls, first on nitrous and Doug heard rattling...told me to stay off the bottle and he took my car off the dyno. So much for a 2nd pull. The hp and tq curve was smooth, no signs of kr. But I consider this experience minimal compared to other stories Ive heard about local shops.
Make sure you dont have a mechanical problem. Do a quick compression check. If you had any issues with PTV contact it would show up on a compression test. A friend of mine had a built up v6 with a huge cam that kissed the valves on the first start up. The rough idle was blamed on the cam, car was driven for 2 years! And yes the engine was built by a speed shop.
Im learning to tune myself and its VERY informative. I recommend to buy a tuning book even if you dont want to task yourself with tuning the car. Just the added education will better serve your tuning money spent well.
+1 on joining mngmp!
Make sure you dont have a mechanical problem. Do a quick compression check. If you had any issues with PTV contact it would show up on a compression test. A friend of mine had a built up v6 with a huge cam that kissed the valves on the first start up. The rough idle was blamed on the cam, car was driven for 2 years! And yes the engine was built by a speed shop.
Im learning to tune myself and its VERY informative. I recommend to buy a tuning book even if you dont want to task yourself with tuning the car. Just the added education will better serve your tuning money spent well.
+1 on joining mngmp!
Last edited by CLRD4TO; Mar 26, 2010 at 07:21 AM.