Hello to all.
I'm in need of help. My 85 Corvette has a 383 stroker engine. I've been looking for a shop the can dyno tune and burn a new chip for my car. It seems that not many tuners are tunning 85 with the stock ECU. My car still uses the stock ECU with a custom mail order chip from Alvin at PCM FOR LESS. That tune has the car running very rich according to the dyno sheet. I had the car dyno'd sometime after the mail order tune so I can get a better tune, but I never took the time to get it tuned until now. I'm looking for a shop in the Tenn. / Kentucky area that can tune my car. I live in the Clarksville area of Tenn. (I'm Stationed at Ft Campbell). Here are the details of my engine. The stock main cat will be replaced in a couple of weeks with a hi flow cat. I don't plan on making any major modification to the car after it's finally tuned. It been a long term project that nearly finished. The Last thing I need is a good tune. Does anyone have any good leads that can point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance!

RSSSHEN VETTE
SFC R. HENRY
US. ARMY

383ci, 4340 Forged Scat Crank, 6" Hbeam rods, .030 Forged Flat Top Pistons with compression around 10:5, Dart Pro 1 180cc Alum Heads 202int 160exh, 270 Comp hyd. roller Cam 222/224, ( I think the the timing is set at 8 degrees btdc) Roller Lifters, 1.6int/1.5exh Roller Rockers, Hi Flo Base Intake, 24lb Accel Injectors, AFR (42psi), Ported Plenum, Ported SLP Runners, 58mm TB, MSD6AL, TPIS Headers, 3" front Y pipe, a high flow cat from TPIS, Flow Masters mufflers, 700R4 trans with stock torque converter, 3.73 Gears.

 

lol, you mean the stock catalytic converter will be replaced with a hi flow cat?

 

If you are willing to be a little patient, I would be glad to work with you to get a good tune for your 85. All it will cost you is the purchase of a 2732 eprom and some postage.

I was able to tune my 85 to run pretty well with many of the same mods that you have, and it runs great. The one key difference between our cars is that you have a 383.

If you mail me a 2732 eprom, and the bin files from your stock chip and the modified chip you currently have, I'm pretty sure I can set you up with an eprom that will work fine, the only problem is that we may have to go back and forth a few time to get it just right, and you will need to get record some data with a laptop to check that the mods work well.

If you are interested, let me know what e-mail address I can reach you at. As a fellow 85 owner I understand how frustrating it is having an ECM which very few people are willing to work with.

 

Yep ...that's exactly what I meant....

 

I sent a PM.

 

Hey Sarge, keep posting progress here on your tune. I am going with a 383 in the next few months for my '85 and will be facing the same reprogramming. I probly wont quite go as far on the mechanicals as you have and your budget seems to have been more than what I have available.

I you and your brothers and sisters in arms! Thanks for all you have done for this country and the freedom it represents.

 

Hey HlhnEast! I'll be glad to keep you posted on my tune. What are your plans for your build? Are you doing the build yourself? I see you live in Bulter. Isn't that near I65? If I remember correctly I driven through there each time I traveled to Louisiana. I've spent a bit more than I'd plan on this build, but the comments I get on it is well worth it. As for the tuning, I'm in the process of buying all the items needed to tune it myself. This will be my first time doing the tune with the help of 77-85 (another member on forum). One I gather all the info 77-85 will burn the chip for me. So far I've down loaded all the needed programs and brought the cable need to link my laptop to my ECU. So far I've Spent $70.00 bucks on the cable and $10.00 buck on 5 computer chips. I've been reading up on all the threads on tuning here on the forum. So far so good there's a lot of great info in the scan and tune. Check out the Scan and Tune FAQ. It's not as difficult as I thought. By the time I get home (I'm in IRAQ now) I'll be ready to get started. I'll be home in late January. so I'll keep you posted.

 

Butler is down close to the MS line off 20-59 not 65. I was just over on the Tech/Perf side and saw another 85 guy looking for help tuning his ride. I am gonna direct him to 77-85. My stroker will be built by someone who has done a bunch of them. He will do the rolling assembly and the heads while I put it all together. There are so many different parts out there to use that I am concerned I may get a bunch of stuff that is incompatible. I do want the short block to be balanced internally so it will take more knowlege and equipment than I have.

If I was to buy parts, what I have gathered from other Forum members points me to buy parts that are specifically manufactured for the stroker as opposed to modifying used parts. Lots of good stuff out there, like forged cranks that are made for strokers, forged flat top pistons to keep it in a compression range for pump gas. Forged are better than cast but moneywise cast are cheaper. They will probly be ok for me as I wont be taking it to the drag strip. Eagle makes a kit for strokers that isnt bad mouthed much but there are better piece by piece choices for a little more money. More research is necessary before I start.

I have another project to finish before I start dumping too much money into the Red Sled, lol. You ought to be packing your stuff for home by now or in transit. Hope everything is going well for ya. Take care

 

Just so im not missing something, whats the big difference in the 85 ECM and later models?

Also, I need a custom chip for my 89. ZZ4 shortblock, Edelbrock heads, HotCam, Miniram, etc. I am able to get some datalogging done via a buddys Datamaster program. 77-85, would you interested?

rssshen vette, glad to see someone is on here thats close to Bowling Green too. Good luck with your set up, Im looking to upgrade to a 383 soon.

 

The differences are baud speed of the ECM and communication, Parameters, size of the eprom. Think of it as a home computer. A 1985 compared to a 1990 version. The 85 ECM was the slowest. Does its job for the car but very hard to record data and not many parameters compared to todays standards. Best thing todo on the 85(870 ECM) is to upgrade it to the 88-89 Version(165 ECM) or the speed density (7730ecm).

Great recording data and lots of adjustments to fine tune your engine.

 

I am also right in the middle of a 1985 Corvette 383 stroker engine swap. I have bought the stroker engine and pulled my old engine out of the Vette. Now I just need to get off of my but and paint the engine bay and install the stroker engine. Then I will be in need of a tune!! So please keep us all informed of your progress. I was told by a Forum member to check with "go with Alvin at pcmforless.com who is also a forum member (Alvin)" This Forum member said he had great results from him. Below are the specs of my 383, its kind of mild and I'm thinking of changing the cam before I install it. The 85 Corvette is my wifes Vette so it doesn't need to be real wild. If anyone has any suggestions please PM me with it. I don't want to jump on rssshen vette's post. Glad to see so many Forum members are in the same postion as me with the 85 stroker engine swap.
Thanks, Bob

CHEVROLET 383/360 HP 4 BOLT HIGH PERFORMANCE BALANCED CRATE ENGINE
FOR 1985 The heads are GM cast iron machined for improved air flow. The intake valve is 1.94 and exhaust valve 1.50. The HP is 360 at 5000 rpm and the peak torque is 400 at 3800 rpmSealed Power hypereutectic pistons and rings
Scat Performance stroker crank
Competition Cams performance camshaft
Fel-Pro gaskets
Clevite 77 rod, main and cam bearings
Melling high-volume oil pump, pickup screen and driveshaft
Valve guides
Pioneer harmonic balancer, flexplate, performance valve springs, brass freeze plugs and bolts
Melling push rods
Double-roller timing set
GM valve locks/retainers
FIVE STAR professional machine work on engine includes:
Engine block, cylinder heads and crankshaft thermally cleaned, shot-blasted, and Magnafluxed
All crankshafts and new, oil holes chamfered, and micro-polished
Thorough cleaning including all oil galleys, engines are absolutely clean inside and out
All blocks are bored and honed using torque plates
New cam custom fitted
Connecting rods fitted with new bolts and resized
Rotating assembly Sunnen computer balanced (balance sheet included)
Cylinders heads completely remanufactured, including new guides, new seals, and performance 3-angle valve job.
Every engine custom-built (no assembly line) by professionals Engine painted with high-gloss engine enamel

Here is the cam specs.
The cam is a new Competition Cams computer camshaft with .425 / .440 lift and 252 / 260 duration. The compression ratio is 9.5:1

 

I checked with Alvin. They no longer tune 85's. I found a guy via Ebay that sells 85 Corvette chips. He can do a custom tune. He's on the web at www.tpichips.com. Seems very reasonable. I spoke with him on the phone and plan to buy one from him soon.

 

you might want to give corey henderson a call 210 867 6286. he is one of the best tuners i know of .best of all he is a great guy that tunes all peramiters of the prom. i drove 1600 miles just to have him tune my car. a callaway 475 super natural . he not only got 25 hp more out of her but also tuned the part throttle for better responce and fuel milage /. i got 23.5 mpg on the way out and 27.1 on the way back . the car felt like it never had before . its now very hard to keep my foot out of it .

 

I pulled my original engine and brough another block to build my 383. I had a co worker to help me select the cam, heads and pistons to keep my compression under 11:0 cr. I agree ...Your best bet would be to buy a complete 383 rotate assembly. I went with all forged rotating assembly... so the cost wasn't cheap and if I wanted to spray it... I have a set up to handle it. My only regret is I went with a fairly small cam (222/ 224 duration 470 Lift). I wish I would have when a little bigger, but It has a nice lope and does fine for now. You will certinly feel the difference once you install your 383. With the TPI intake the low end torque is monsterours. If you haven't thought of it yet.... I would suggest that you change your gear ratio to a 3:55 or 3:73 to get the full benefit of the added horse power.

 

Hey Thanks jmoore79! Yeah .... it is a good to see someone from a near by neighboring town. You car look great! Maybe I'll see you at Beach Bend this year. When you make the 383 upgrade you'll be glad you did. It's tons of fun to drive