hapygil

Here is the Scoop, Within the next year I am going to be dropping in a built up LQ4 in my 71 Camaro (Build Specifics have not been determined yet, but think mild 408 stroker/L92 heads/Ls3 intake). I have a LQ4 core that dropped in my lap for less than core Price. But it has no Harness or PCM. Second part of the story, it is over 3 hours to the closest Chassis Dyno, and I don't know of any engine Dynos close either. I haven't got a budget set yet, but I am not a check Book Builder either. I am kind of a best bang for the buck type of guy.

So Give me your opinions please, all are welcomed, I am new here, new to LS Technology, I did lots of Searching on here, but no results pertaining to my particular situation.

1.Should I hit the scrap yards and try to find a Harness/PCM, have it altered, and Flashed, Then buy a hand held tuner, if so what are your recommendations?

2. Buy aftermarket Harness/PCM, Hand held?, If so Recommendations?

3. Buy a Stand alone system that has tuning capabilities? Recommendations?

Thanks for reading

LSX Power Tuning

iTrader: (4)

I would buy a new standalone harness and pcm with a mail order tune. We dont sell harness any longer but do sell pcms with custom tunes. There isn't a handheld out there that I know of that would work in your application.

mrvedit

Agreed. A typical handheld tuner is $400 and has 1% of the capabilities of HP Tuners or EFI Live which are in the $650-$750 range.

If you are building a stroker, you need to first select whether you want a drive-by-wire or drive-by-cable setup as this will determine which PCM you need. If you demand drive-by-cable you will need a 24x reluctor and an older PCM. If you want drive-by-wire you might as well go 58x reluctor and get a newer ECM and TCM. I mention this because most stroker kits have a choice of 24x or 58x.

A new standalone harness is expensive at $500, but the PCM/ECM/TCM are cheap. Buying from from e.g. LSX Power Tuning with a custom tune will get you going quickly and give you a good starting tune.

hapygil

That sounds like that may be the way to go, but, what to do after initial start up and final tuning, Like I said, no Dyno's even relatively close to me. Pull it off and mail it in for another round of custom tuning? I am completely ignorant on this subject, that is why I ask.

LSX Power Tuning

iTrader: (4)

In your situation you would have to buy tuning software like efi live or hp tuners or one of my autocal's (handheld controlled through efi live)in order to get it tuned remotely through email. Even though we offer free re-tunes on our mail order tunes it wouldn't help mailing the pcm back and forth without having any data logs to know what to change.

hapygil

Thanks for the reply's. The build is going to take a while, but this sounds like it could be the way to go.

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Do you plan to do the tuning yourself? Will it have an electronically controlled transmission? Will this be your only swap?

For your situation, if you don't feel like tackling the tuning learning curve, it might be worthwile to look into a self tuning setup.

LSX Power Tuning

iTrader: (4)

Have you used any self tuning setups? They are pretty limited and really are not "self tuning" mostly just adjusting your fuel using a single wideband. The closer to stock they better they work, the more mods the greater your chances of it not working on your application.

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

No I haven't. I prefer to tune my own stuff.

hapygil

Sorry, should have mentioned it will probly be an M6 car as well.

All good stuff I am learning here from your comments. I was wondering about the self learning type systems, but this will be far from stock, so that type of system doesn't sound like the direction to go.

mrvedit

It also depends upon your goal - is it turn-key max HP, or is the experience of learning to tune more important. Personally I enjoy tuning more than driving. When I go to the track it is to tune as I never compete.
If your goal is turn-key max HP, you will need to send the car to a reputable dyno tuning shop.
If you want to learn tuning, let LSX Power Tuning give you a good working tune to start with and you can then learn tuning at your own pace; you will need to buy either HP Tuners or EFI Live.