Plastic Fantastic tew

[Deaf Bob]

Rear gear change?
Or will the "problem" go away once most of he weight is tacked back on?

One Electra I drove was called "Airplane". First derby I was hitting and going off the ground, next derby after finishing my cage it stayed down better.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Driving impressions.
1st gear is useless
2nd gear is useless
3rd gear is okay on pavement
4th gear is okay on wet as long as you are gentle.

Don't need to hook up the power steering
Do need to hook up the booster for the hydroboost.

[SuperBuickGuy]

with all the electronics and plasma tables it still boils down to a drawing


what's remarkable about this picture is I drove it here


then started working on the hydroboost


then had to take it for a spin


this didn't survive the second car


the second car


to say this was "traction limited" would suggest I had traction.... which I didn't


my wife wanted me to be sure and capture the smoke (nope, she didn't see the other night)


and the luxurious driving conditions


I just wanted to get a picture of the skid


its first spin has been accomplished.... now what was that adze saying before about this car?
this thing is going to be fun - though traction is going to be an issue....

[SuperBuickGuy]

Subsidies are a fun topic for certain. Every farmer will state his hatred for the system, but they all get in line for the subsidies as not getting them is economic suicide. Hard to compete on principle when all your competition is getting handouts, and getting them all to boycott subsidies at once is a pipe dream.


So this centers around non-adjustability in the field for the Howell chip burn modified GM computer. Gotcha. It does sound like MS will be a better fit in that regard.

the non-adjustability is the biggest thing - that said, you can buy burners and do it yourself if you wish to learn old tech

[STINEY]

Subsidies are a fun topic for certain. Every farmer will state his hatred for the system, but they all get in line for the subsidies as not getting them is economic suicide. Hard to compete on principle when all your competition is getting handouts, and getting them all to boycott subsidies at once is a pipe dream.


So this centers around non-adjustability in the field for the Howell chip burn modified GM computer. Gotcha. It does sound like MS will be a better fit in that regard.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Ok. I told the idiot (me) and I readily admit to having no clue EFI-wise, but I don’t work for Penzoil (unless they just recently started sponsoring farmers)?


That kinda came out of left field for me. I don’t really want to know the details of the drama (don’t come here for that, (guess I am one of the rare birds who is simply in it for the mechanicals)

Wow. Sorry Aaron. Thought we were on more or less the same field. I didn’t mean to inflame.

no need to apologize but it is beyond time that old wive's tale dies.

You know the "if it's on the internet, it must be true?" the genesis of that VSS story started by someone else - someone who has no clue... not your farmer who is simply restating what he saw on the internet.

oh now there's a fun subject - farming subsidies and their usefulness (or lack thereof).... let's leave that one for the farmers

[STINEY]

Ok. I told the idiot (me) and I readily admit to having no clue EFI-wise, but I don’t work for Penzoil (unless they just recently started sponsoring farmers)?


That kinda came out of left field for me. I don’t really want to know the details of the drama (don’t come here for that, (guess I am one of the rare birds who is simply in it for the mechanicals)

Wow. Sorry Aaron. Thought we were on more or less the same field. I didn’t mean to inflame.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I suspect the issue was an over sensitive response to the knock sensor... the VSS "issue" is nothing more or less than a red herring put for by people who couldn't find their adze with two hands and a map but who seem to think they need to state an opinion even when they have no clue. There was no random stalling - ever. The computer doesn't use the VSS sensor in its calculation of map changes. Do I need to be clearer? oh and tell the idiot who is the source of this that Pennzoil is still crap (even though he forgets to mention he works for them when he trashes every thing else).

You order your combination from Howell - whether it's manual or automatic - they burn a chip for you, problem is they 'burn' a chip. It costs $175 the first time and like $100 each subsequent time you need it changed. During that time your vehicle is a brick. Further, if there is an issue with the 'burn', there is no easy way to find out. I found the timing issue by reading plugs. If I use this system again, I'm ditching the GM computer for a MS2.

[STINEY]

I gave up on the TBI - that said, I know what the issues were and the cost to reburn multiple chips along with dyno time to fix it made FiTech the low-cost solution.

without a complete recap, the issue with the TBI was timing related - fueling was fine, but it would pull out timing when it didn't need to, thus, if the system could have run on a mechanical distributor, it would have gone a long ways towards being a solid system....

Could you elaborate on it pulling timing please? I did a fair amount of research into Howell stuff, and it appeared to me that is a GM TBI "simplified" (hacked) into a marketable one-size-fits-all compromise.

My opinion is that the lack of a Vehicle Speed Sensor would cause random stalling - which seems to be acceptable to Howell and apparently most of their clientele.

I am curious on the timing pulling. Is it perhaps them using ECUs from automatic origination in a manual shift application? That is another area where I believe I found shortcuts taken......

[Deaf Bob]

I have 2 FiTech systems

Ah. 'splains that!

[SuperBuickGuy]

So the vette gets carb?

I have 2 FiTech systems

[Deaf Bob]

So the vette gets carb?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Whaa? The Cruiser got the Fitech?
Thought the vette was... Damn! I'm lost!

Yep, I gave up on the TBI - that said, I know what the issues were and the cost to reburn multiple chips along with dyno time to fix it made FiTech the low-cost solution. Basically I spent for FiTech twice if you add up the cost to make the Howell's system work. With that said, the entire point was to learn EFI and the TBI build taught me a lot AND, when I put the TBI system on '40, FiTech wasn't available (it was shortly after, but at the decision time, it wasn't an option).

without a complete recap, the issue with the TBI was timing related - fueling was fine, but it would pull out timing when it didn't need to, thus, if the system could have run on a mechanical distributor, it would have gone a long ways towards being a solid system....

[Deaf Bob]

so far so good - the Land Cruiser has settled in nicely, it took a bit of e-tuning tonight to make it idle. That said, it is a glorious noise - how you folks live in other countries without 7.0 liter V8s is beyond me. To me the darkness and bleakness would be overwhelming.

Whaa? The Cruiser got the Fitech?
Thought the vette was... Damn! I'm lost!

[SuperBuickGuy]

Sounds great at idle but I'll guess it will get loud quick with the use of the loud peddle.

What's the startup like with the FiTech?

so far so good - the Land Cruiser has settled in nicely, it took a bit of e-tuning tonight to make it idle. That said, it is a glorious noise - how you folks live in other countries without 7.0 liter V8s is beyond me. To me the darkness and bleakness would be overwhelming.