Getting closer........

[Jim Nilsen]

Probably made the neighbors wonder what was going on. Just got done doing about 30 minutes of tuning and made a bit of progress but probably missed saving the best part. I am learning that when it seems to be running just that little bit better that I better save it to a file then instead of trying a bit more and losing where it was.

I am surprised at how close I was with just guessing to start with. The auto cal only changes the values I put in by just a very small amount or none at all. All of this is without a load and could be off I would think. The engine really likes to run around 12.5 to 12.8 and when I go into the teens it sounds lean.

I ordered a wideband setup today so I can do better at the tuning and have it run where it will like it. I just don't see this engine liking to run close to 14.5 below 2000rpm anytime soon but I have a lot to learn.

I do know that it will be 10 times better than it was no matter what.

It will be a week before I probably get the wideband so I am going to do other things that have to get done and save the gas until it shows up.

I still want to get a video to post up so I will work on that probably tomorrow night.

The fun is just starting!!

[Jim Nilsen]

I ordered my 77062 wideband thru amazon.com and got a great deal at $367 and free shipping, they said 4-7 days for that and I just got in 3 days. They have 2 more left it said. Everyone else was $500 to $700 for the same unit.

I was expecting to do other stuff this weekend on the car but now I know what I am going to do

I worked on playing with the program last night and am getting a better feel for it and what each section is doing for me. I really like the 3d map to plan the ve table. It shows you the peaks and the holes without having to look at he numbers and go crazy.

I posted up a new thread to keep everyone posted on the tuning and to make it a place for those of us with an Accel gen 7 to share tuning tips and program files.

I am excited about being able to do more with the wideband and if all goes well I will have a decent tune before I pull out to the street and get going under a load, plus I will know more about how to manipulate the program.

[Jim Nilsen]

After thinking about the install of the wideband I am doing the usual and tearing into the wiring harness to make it all nice and tidy instead of a big hole and a big grommet. I sure do wish they made non terminated kits, but at least I have been down the road before with their harnesses so it will be ok.

If I have to go thru one more battle with my wiring other than my steering column I am going to just stop with any new products and just run the car for the year the way it will be.

I did a bit more tuning today and found a bit better idle and a lot leaner startup. I keep getting closer and better at making the changes.

I couldn't believe how fast it warmed the garage up 10 degrees from 48 to 58 in about 10 minutes of running, it beats my furnace but it probably cost more for fuel,lol. but it sounds better .

I sure hope March brings a few days to get out and test drive.

[NOT A TA]

Thats one of my favorite tricks for warming the garage! Let the car warm up to full temp then shut it off and close the door. I've even done it a few times this week all the way down in So FL!

I think you've got a good plan with no more new stuff till ya get out there and drive it for the season.

[Jim Nilsen]

AHHHHHH

I spent some money to get my old laptop fixed up that has a 9 pin serial port and XP Pro. I now don't have to go thru the usb entry protocol to get in. I just hit the key and go to the online button and tap I'm there.

It seems to be working well and it only cost $120 to get there.
Now if it will hold up to the wideband data hook up at the usb port I will be good to go. Or I will have to try the usb port for the ecm to see how that goes.

All in all I can return the laptop I am borrowing and move on.

I'm going to try and find something that will let me double up the serial ports. If any of you have one let me know.

Good news is I just found I can get in thru the usb port too. YeHAAAA

Now back to actually working on the car.

[Steve1968LS2]

Glad to see progress on the car.. really hope to see it at Gingerman.

[Jim Nilsen]

Glad to see progress on the car.. really hope to see it at Gingerman.

It will be there for sure!!!

Will you be at either of the Road America events?

[Jim Nilsen]

I have looked at the harness long enough and the routing of the wires and everything else that has to be done and I have a plan finally. I don't do anything it seems without a plan that I can envision the outcome. I hate doing things twice especially when it involves making holes in the car. So far no holes that haven't been utilized somehow.

I got my fix again today for firing it up so I will have to wait till the wideband is now for the next time.

I feel like Steve Rupp tearing my car apart again. I probably might as well get used to it going back and forth. It always makes me nervous going backwards with progress.

[Jim Nilsen]

step one of the harness is done, the wires came out of the main plug very easily and it was a simple 1/2" hole in the firewall and a grommet to put all the wires for the O2 sensor wires through. I have all the wires back in the main plug and wrapped back up.Now for the fun part of hooking them to where they go inside the car.

Fortunately the wires are marked for the connections.

The one thing that seems to bug me the most is how I am going to watch the 2 screens at once? I think I can hook up the other laptop to the wideband for tuning it to start . will it be ok? we will see.

I probably should hook up the gauge wire output to the Racepak. I will have to look to see if it can go to the usm with no problem with the voltage output. It would be nice to have the a/f ratio on it.I will have to call and talk to Donny and I know he will have the answer.

If all goes well I will be done with this by the middle of the week.

I am headed to a swap met tomorrow morning in grayslake,il.

I don't really need anything but some other friends are going in and i never know what I might find?

Now for step 2 to take out the gauge panel in the center of the dash and start wiring everything up.

[Jim Nilsen]

The wideband is in the car and is working.


The program I got from Rob is closer than the one I had.

Still a few bugs to work out but it is ready to button up and finish.

There is a lot to finish for detail work up front and in the interior but it won't stop me from making it to the track.

Now if it hadn't run out of gas I would start it back up,lol.

It is getting warmer out and the snow is melting fast,rain coming instead of snow and the car runs.

Now if the weather for the events is all good it will be a good spring.

[Jim Nilsen]

The weather was good enough to get the car out today.

Things are a lot better than last year.

After 650 miles I already have a header gasket leak,lol. I have the stage 8 bolts and I didn't retighten them up soon enough it sounds like. As with most headers there are just those couple of bolts that are a royal pain to get to and there were so many other problems I really didn't get to it in time.

I was taking it easy but it seems to be wanting more timing. With the header leak I was afraid to really get on it because I couldn't tell if I was starting to knock over it. Sure didn't sound like it was knocking at all but without someone else to drive I couldn't really adjust the timing to tell so I played it safe.

It is going to rain some more but I am ready for the next sunny day to get out and do some more tuning.

Spring is here as far as the car is concerned. It stays so nice and warm in the car from radiant heat I don't even miss the heater above 40 degrees.

I am having a hard time finishing some of the other things until I get the engine running good. I really hate pulling the car apart and putting it back together after driving it. I now know that driving is a lot more fun than working on it.

I will try to get a video soon, I have been slacking off about doing it too long.

[Bow Tie 67]

I now know that driving is a lot more fun than working on it.

Told you, I wish I listened to my own advice.

[Jim Nilsen]

The weather was nice again today and I got the car out.

I am having a hard time deciding what the engine is needing at times because the computers autocal for the ve table varies a lot with the lifters pumping up and down in the mid range.

I keep thinking alphaN might be the way to tune it has a constant thru the rpm at a given throttle postition.

I do keep getting a bit more power at times . The engine really gets loud when you get past 1/4 throttle. The noise coming through the throttlebody comes right through the cowl fresh air vent loud and clear.

Did a few 1st gear lauches that were enough to tell what it will be like when it makes some more power off low rpm. I should be able to get the tires to spin in 1st just by hitting the gas from a slow roll but it just isn't there yet.

The thought of a different cam haunts me. Tuning this one is a challenge. The cost for a new one just isn't what I want to do.

Finding a roller cam and lifters that someone thought was too big for them for the street would probably be just right for my needs and would have a better profile than the stock car cam I have.

I was moving up in the gears today and it was picking up speed quickly and it could be really awesome if it was running like a normal engine.I really like the gearing.

Tommorow will be nicer and just maybe I can get another opinion about how it sounds. I should make a video and post it up so you guys can hear it and let me know?

It sure is fun to drive it!!!!!

[Jim Nilsen]

I am making progress on tuning and had the chance to go out again today. I have been dealing with the acceleration tables and finally starting to get it closer to handling some throttle. The original settings are way off and the changes are going slowly as I learn to do it.

I keep thinking about a new EFI specific cam. $250 get me in the game and it might save that in just fuel cost before the end of summer. I have to see if I can get the power out of the old stock car cam. I may like it?

Another good day on tap for tommorow.

[Payton King]

are giving you problems. I would change those first and see what happens.

[Jim Nilsen]

are giving you problems. I would change those first and see what happens.

I had some strange looking solids on the cam to start with and it was far worse to try and get anywhere it seemed and it had no vacuum at all and the compression was around 125 which is not much at all but is typical with a race cam like this I have heard.It is a full race cam for a late model stock car and I think they had the range of 3000-7000rpm in mind. If I pull the lifters out the cam is coming out too. it's not much more work to get that far with my setup and wish I had changed it when I changed the lifters the last time. I keep trying to get by doing less and end up doing more.

I really keep thinking about how much gas this thing is drinking and the different cam would probably pay for itself in a month if it gave me some mileage and a lower idle.

I do know the car won't be down for any time too long because I really like driving it.

When I finally hit the gas in 1st gear from a slow roll and the wheels spin I know I will be where I want to be be and with the gears I have it should do that with a stock 350. You know how it feels and it is sooo much fun.

I still remember how much power Deadcat has and 1/2 that would make me smile the same. This car is going to be so much faster than my last 67 and it is all because of the gears mostly.

I can't wait to see you again so I can take you for a ride!

I am going to work on the acceleration table again today. I have a lot more thoughts as to how it is working after thinking about it overnight.

The event in April is looking to be a lot nicer weather than I was thinking when the snow was deep. Spring is seemingly coming early this year. We will see?

Did you get my email address?

Talk to you soon, Jim

[Payton King]

you ordered up a new cam.

send me an email to [email protected] and I will send you that picture of you driving.

[Jim Nilsen]

you ordered up a new cam.

send me an email to [email protected] and I will send you that picture of you driving.

Yep that's the thought I had. Any more tuning will just waste gas and won't be much good for what I will need.

But it is such an amazing day outside and the car still runs and I need more practice tuning, SOOOOOOO I drove it again before I pull it apart.

It is going to snow this weekend and I won't be able to get back out for at least a week after that mess.

I am still not 100% confident the dual sync is working like it should? It is working better but things may not be the way they need to be.

I will be at the events if I have to limp there. It's too much fun to miss even if you don't have a car to run.

You will have an email

Thanks, Jim

[Jim Nilsen]

Things are moving along with the cam swap. Pulled a spring and found they are too stiff for the new cam by 50lb seat pressure. Ordered springs that will work today.

I have been disassembling the front end for the swap and am detailing some items that have had to get done so it will take a bit longer for the swap to happen.

I keep telling myself I am doing the right thing in the long run. If I have to replace the dual sync distributor with seperate pickups is the big question, more of a quest in reality. The timing holds to what it says it is so i am keeping my fingers crossed that it was just the cam being too radical for what I really want.

I am glad I actually got to drive it already which is something all in it's own.

I will be getting excited about it when it runs again. Until then I will just keep moving along.

[John Wright]

Jim (you probably already know this)check your rocker/pushrod/valve stem geometry too while you have that spring off and can measure the valve stem length. Who knows what that stockcar motor had in it with the tricks they try to pull to stretch the rules. Would suck to unknowingly use a set of pushrods that wasn't the right length due to those "special" lifters, especially if you are going to a roller cam.