Another blown expy coming soon!

[tallsville]

You can try the air vent pod gauges

 

[toms89]

You can try the air vent pod gauges

Any links?

Check this out! This was created by MM Customworks and posted on the lightning forums. I love this set up. I only wish he would make mold and mass produce them. Buy and paint to match. Kind of blend in. Within easy sight. Looks like a work of art.

 

[tallsville]

those look nice tom. here is a link for rousch ones

http://ventpod.com/

Mustang Gauge Pod (2005-2009), also fits F150 (2004-2008)

 

[toms89]

I just ordered my newest toy for my expy!!!

It is a J&S Vampire knock control unit and gauge.

J&S Vampire

Since I have a non factory combination the timing table is really a best guess. It is based off the lightning timing table but the TFS heads are slow burn vs the fast burn PI factory heads so the tfs heads require more timing. How much is the question of course. Not to mention the different cams likely change the timing curve as well. The factory spends thousands of man hours dialing the timing tables using sophisticated equipment. How can I as an individual tuner hope to dial in my timing table as well as the factory? Guess the real answer is I can't, but I hope the J&S unit will be a powerful tool in helping me dial it in much more precise.

The added performance and efficiency once its dialed in not to mention safety net should make it well worth the $$. I also have heard nothing but good things about it.

Well.....I was hoping I could use the J&S to help me dial in the timing but it has turned out to be a bust.

The idea was to edge up on the detonation threshhold using the J&S to let me know when I reached it then back off a few degrees for safety.

The problem is apparently my combination can take a LOT of timing before it begins to detonate. The issue is peak cylinder pressure needs to happen in a small window for optimum performance. My combination and likely the tfs heads can go beyond that by a fair margin before detonation actually begins and as you advance the timing beyond the window power suffers.

I was advancing the timing and it "felt" like it was actually slowing down before the J&S registered anything. A little more and the J&S became active...

So I gave up on the idea to use it to tune. If it does go off I know I need to back off the timing significantly at that particular load and rpm.

In anycase it is a great safety tool in supercharged application.

 

[toms89]

Saw this for sale on the lightningrodder forum.







Much cheaper than a whipple and could be lots of fun!!

 

[BakerEdition]

I was looking at this and noticed they had a decal that SG should have on his outer mirrors...always thinkin about you bro! lmao

guywirewarning_zpsed71f1e8.jpg Photo by toms8950 | Photobucket

 

[toms89]

I was looking at this and noticed they had a decal that SG should have on his outer mirrors...always thinkin about you bro! lmao

guywirewarning_zpsed71f1e8.jpg Photo by toms8950 | Photobucket

That was custom made for SG..

How did you get it? SG forward it to you??

 

[toms89]

Been modifying my tune this past few weeks for better "drivability".

I discovered an error in the sct "stock" setting for base n/v of vehicle. Trying to keep it short this pid changes the rpm values indicated for a given mph located in the shift schedules. Tranny shifts are made based on mph input, but the tuner selects the mph based on desired rpms. After correctly setting the base n/v the mph shift points were as originally input but the rpms (correctly) indicated now were much lower. This in itself did not make any difference in the tune but now allowed me to properly set the correct mph shift point for the rpm I desire. The shift points were actually set way too low which had a big impact on low speed drivability.

I have now been tweaking the shift schedule to what I feel is ideal with much success. This has made a huge improvement in throttle response and feel. It is now very linear. Fuel milage has increased dramatically as well ! Have not checked it yet but got I got over 160 miles on half a tank which is an improvement for me. Looking forward to getting some new fuel milage figures.

What bugs me a bit is I originally complained several times about the motor bogging at low throttle and I thought that it was not downshifting when it should to my tuner. It would hold higher gears under load (say going up a hill) at 1200 rpm's when my cams have a powerband of 1400 - 5400 rpm. I would have to give it moderate throttle to get it to downshift. It would also upshift very early. He did adjust the shift schedules but since the base n/v was always off the overall mph shift points ended up lower than stock!!!!

I just learned to live with it and adjusted my driving style accordingly until recently.

Completely different animal now.. Very responsive and needs very minimal throttle to motivate it at any rpm/speed.

 

[ArtGamer60]

Nice detective work Tom , and nice job on the build ! , driveability means alot .

 

[toms89]

Nice detective work Tom , and nice job on the build ! , driveability means alot .

Thank you.

W.O.T. is relatively easy to tune. Driveability is far more difficult. Stock it is done for you. Give the factory a lot of credit! The problem comes when you modify a vehicle radically from stock as far as heads, intake, cams, injectors, etc..... the factory settings no longer apply and driveability becomes more difficult to get dialed in.