Untuned h/c/i car?

[90_Red_LX]

Hey guys, I was wondering if after I installed my h/c/i, how much of a necessity it would be to have it tuned. I'm a firm believer in tuning a vehicle, but funds don't permit right now. I figure if I play with the timing, get 24lb injectors along with the proper maf, and play with the afpr it will get me near the ballpark so I can drive it for a while without a tune. Right now it's not a daily driver, even though it needs to be able to be, so it should be more of a weekend playtoy, and the dragstrip this spring. Would it be safe to do it like so, or am I asking for burnt pistons?

 

[bubba-dough]

Around here you can get dyno time for $100 / hr. Its not exactly a "dyno tune" but its plenty enough time to advance timing and fuel pressure to get the right air fuel ratio. Plus you will know what your rear wheel #'s are. So I would look into that.

Edit: So to answer your question, yes you can do that but I would try to get dyno time like I mentioned above.

 

[OrLackThereof]

As long as you don't have a sick or nasty combo, you really shouldn't need a chip. I ran my H/C/I car (Edelbrock heads, Track Heat intake, Lunati cam) for a LONG time without a chip, and I recently helped assemble and tune another 5.0 with a nitrous cam, explorer intake, GT40 heads (by tune, I mean timing, TPS voltage, idle, fuel pressure, etc.) and got it very driveable....

Most guys running fast efi 5.0's in this town, with an EEC-4, will tell you don't bother with a chip unless you have a specific problem.

And FYI, you'll probably be more rich than lean as long as you have the AFPR set properly. Yes the computer will fight you somewhat on adjustments, but fuel trim is limited at around +/- 10-12%. And these cars were programmed on the safer rich side from the factory, so from what Ive seen of EEC-4, the computer rarely interferes with you very much in terms of fuel mixture unless you have it setup real lean or real rich.

 

[90_Red_LX]

The combo is afr 165's, edelbrock rpm intake, and soon to be a Ed Curtis custom cam. I haven't ordered the cam yet, but I'm getting some parts in the next few weeks so I can get the heads in the shop to have new valvesprings installed. I'll probably set the heads up in a mill at school and run a indicator across them myself to check for warpage. I figure that would save me a little bit there doing it myself.

 

[OrLackThereof]

Sounds like it will probably run very well, AFR heads and an Edebrock intake would be my combo of choice if I had the cash.

Like I said before, I'd only chip it if you can't get it to run correctly tuning it old-school, or have a problem (in my case, I shift at 6800 and was hitting the factory fuel-cut at 6300, so I chipped it and had the limiter programmed out)

 

[GTOreturns]

What a dyno tune? I wouldnt worry about it. Just get your timing rite/fuel pressure and make sure your MAF is programed for your injectors. A dyno tune will tell you alot and help you tune it for max performance but there shouldnt be a need for a chip.
Its not like your adding boost or something.