Not for Nuthin' But Close!

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by JakeB23

Just FYI, due to this post, I have been convinced to build myself a dime rocket.. So it wasn’t for “Nuthin”.. Just letting you know!

Oh, no!! Another Billy-ite!! Or is that a Nees-or-ite?!? . . . and right here at Christmas!

[Billy Nees]

Dwight, poke fun if you want but I haven't had this much fun since I was a teen and discovered girls!
I also haven't learned so much, so easy, since about the same time.
Doug and I went racing yesterday. I'll report back later.

[Billy Nees]

We went to Cecil again yesterday. It was pretty foggy until about Noon and then the sun came out and it warmed up to a bit over 60* but it was still a bit on the damp side. I've been given my "walking papers" and am no longer the driver. The kid has taken over in that capacity too.
He made 6 runs. The first couple of runs were addressing some "issues" that we were having with the trans slipping into the gears when all of the torque management nannys were turned off. To begin with, he turned the torque management back on but has it removing only half of the timing that it was and he raised the line pressure a bit. And if I'm explaining any of this wrong, I'm sure that he'll be posting on here eventually.
First pass, with the engine pretty warm and just seeing how the shifts respond to the changes was a 15.28/88.16
Second pass, with the engine cooled down BUT with a "coming-and-going" gusty tail wind, 15.226/89.49.
Third pass, I removed a 22" long pipe that I put on the exhaust pipe when I cut the cat. converter off and it seemed to like that, 15.177/89.77.
Fourth pass, Doug took out a bit more fuel, 15.158/89.57.
Fifth pass, took out a bit more fuel, 15.130/89.43.
Last pass, we charged the battery and got the car really cooled down. Doug also took out some more fuel and for the last pass of the year, 15.085/ 89.88!
Over a half a second under with a totally stock, junk car! Of course it was with the help of HP Tuners and a 17 year old punk but hey.

Thanks for all of the support of the racers looking in here on ClassRacer!
I'm pretty sure that Doug will be looking in just in case there are any questions asked that I can't answer.

So my X-mas wish for this year is to see a few of these cars getting built. Of course you'll have to post the builds on here. I'd ALSO like to see somebody like Chris Hill drag home a JYD Neon and wring it out. Oh and will somebody get NHRA to put a 2000s FFFord Fiesta in the guide? Then there could be a 3-way "Junkyard Shootout"!


Thanks all!

[Doug Hoven]

You pretty much summed it up perfectly. Can't wait to see what this thing does once that aftermarket header comes in......

[JakeB23]

My HP tuners should be here today. I am hoping to learn about it myself. I even brought my laptop to work so I could go ahead and download the software and be ready when I get home!

[Doug Hoven]

Originally Posted by JakeB23

My HP tuners should be here today. I am hoping to learn about it myself. I even brought my laptop to work so I could go ahead and download the software and be ready when I get home!

In my opinion, the hardest part of the entire program is finding where each parameter is in the tuning software. I knew nothing about hp tuners a month and a half ago, and just by playing with it I’ve gotten to be fairly competent of how to work the program. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[Dwight Southerland]

Billy, there are those of us who are totally envious because you have stepped out to do something we have all wondered about, and so generously carried us all along for the ride. And you were successful beyond our expectations! The story related in this thread is rich! Thank you for including us in your fun!

Incidentally, my first race car (57 Chev 150 business coupe 283 2-barrel 4-speed in O/S) ran 15.08 on its maiden sorting-out day. Back in 1968!)

[Robin Lawrence]

Originally Posted by Doug Hoven

In my opinion, the hardest part of the entire program is finding where each parameter is in the tuning software. I knew nothing about hp tuners a month and a half ago, and just by playing with it I’ve gotten to be fairly competent of how to work the program. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I have found this to be true on many of the platforms that HP Tuners is used. The GM cars use different ECU's over the years and it can be challenging to find some settings.
I looked at the Caviler file early on and it is very basic with minimal tables and modifiers. As the technology has progressed they have become complicated.

One of the issues with the OEM hardware and HP Tuners software is that there are still items in the background that we cannot see or edit. In an earlier year car like this it's minimal. It will be interesting to hear how your data logs stack up on each other.

Good stuff you are doing!

Good luck!

Robin

[JakeB23]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

Fourth pass, Doug took out a bit more fuel, 15.158/89.57.
Fifth pass, took out a bit more fuel, 15.130/89.43.
Last pass, we charged the battery and got the car really cooled down. Doug also took out some more fuel and for the last pass of the year, 15.085/ 89.88!

So are you still running the car in Open Loop? Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems to be the simplest way to change the fuel tune, leaving out many other parameters in closed loop?

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by JakeB23

So are you still running the car in Open Loop? Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems to be the simplest way to change the fuel tune, leaving out many other parameters in closed loop?

Yes open loop.