old school sb with megasquirt
11-20-2005, 08:56 AM
#1
old school sb with megasquirt ok,,i know this is not an ls1, but you guys are the only ones that ever seem to really help me when it comes to ..well anything as far as engines goes,, all the other forums ive browsed around on.. 
Anyways, i posted some questions in the sbc section in regards to wanting to know if a stock gm tpi system with custom chip or stock tbi system with a custom chip would work on my old 88 chevy 4x4. Its your standard mild built 355, flat tops, will have vortec cyl heads, headers, intake and the cam which i have posted a link to
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/D...262H-10_001.asp. What i want to do in a nutshell is swap from the crappy swirl port heads to vortech and go from my carb to an efi setup..old tbi i had on it was wore out, harness was failing from breaking down,etc..i thought of just swapping a tpi setup onto it, or another aftrmarket tbi..problem is ..too much money..i know the cam may be a mother to try to tune with the 110 lobe sep. I am really intrigued by the megasquirt system. This is mainly bc i am an electronics major and i love to build things, My question is do you guys think its feasable to tune this cam to run decent with the system? Since its going to be a tow truck, daily driver, i was thinking of having my stock tbi bored and rebuuilt and using it with the meagasquirt. Also a MAJOR question is the spark side of the setup. I know they offer a few options for electronic control of spark advance etc..how much would i be leaving on the table as far as performance, mpg etc..if i stuck with my vaccum style hei? i am not against switching it over to elect but i think there are still some issues with it? im not sure..havent done a whole lot of research bc i wanted to get some opinions before i jumped in head first..
Anyways, i posted some questions in the sbc section in regards to wanting to know if a stock gm tpi system with custom chip or stock tbi system with a custom chip would work on my old 88 chevy 4x4. Its your standard mild built 355, flat tops, will have vortec cyl heads, headers, intake and the cam which i have posted a link to http://www.compcams.com/Technical/D...262H-10_001.asp. What i want to do in a nutshell is swap from the crappy swirl port heads to vortech and go from my carb to an efi setup..old tbi i had on it was wore out, harness was failing from breaking down,etc..i thought of just swapping a tpi setup onto it, or another aftrmarket tbi..problem is ..too much money..i know the cam may be a mother to try to tune with the 110 lobe sep. I am really intrigued by the megasquirt system. This is mainly bc i am an electronics major and i love to build things, My question is do you guys think its feasable to tune this cam to run decent with the system? Since its going to be a tow truck, daily driver, i was thinking of having my stock tbi bored and rebuuilt and using it with the meagasquirt. Also a MAJOR question is the spark side of the setup. I know they offer a few options for electronic control of spark advance etc..how much would i be leaving on the table as far as performance, mpg etc..if i stuck with my vaccum style hei? i am not against switching it over to elect but i think there are still some issues with it? im not sure..havent done a whole lot of research bc i wanted to get some opinions before i jumped in head first..
11-20-2005, 11:36 AM
#2
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Wow, so far it sounds like you have a hodge-podge of parts, especially when you factor in application. Tow truck and 110 LSA? Hmmm.. Big cam and vacuum advance?
The MS will work fine, basically wire right in. In fact, many people are swiping the HEI coil drivers to fire the coils in other cars. You'd want to lock the vacuum advance (plug it off) and lock the mechanical advance as well (weights and springs? Nah). That way the MS has complete control over ignition timing.
The MS will work fine, basically wire right in. In fact, many people are swiping the HEI coil drivers to fire the coils in other cars. You'd want to lock the vacuum advance (plug it off) and lock the mechanical advance as well (weights and springs? Nah). That way the MS has complete control over ignition timing.
11-20-2005, 01:01 PM
#3
yes..that setup is far from being setup for the application..at one time,(you know how it goes) i was going to use the truck for mud drags. Not anything special, just some good old fashioned mud bogging,,we have a few places down here that does it on the weekends. I was going to put in a steeep set of gears and mud drag the crap out of it..i already had the engine semi torn down from swapping intakes for the carb so i went ahead and changed to that cam. I had an old vaccum hei so i stuck it in. Needless to say, those dreams went up in smoke and i now have a truck that i do nothing but drive around normally with a huge a$$ no vacuum making cam,crappy stock gearing,and crappy tbi heads..hell of a combo ehh? ive done some reading here and there on it and i think my best bet would be just to go ahead and put another engine together..i mean heads are coming off, and the cam needs to be changed so i just think ill put together another engine. Nothing fancy, just stump pulling truck motor. so i guess the question now is, do you still think i should stick with the megasquirt setup or just go with a tpi or such and tune the factory stuff..I will build it so where it can be easily tuned,,or may not even need to be tuned at all..but with the megasquirt being so cheap, i dont want to risk loosing any perfromance or mpg that could be had by a better setup. i am by no means an expert, but have been told the tpi setup is great for torque and in truck applications..i dont know..i actuallly liked my old tbi setup, it was reliable for the most part, it was just old,...
