I own a 1986 Corvette, it is pretty much all stock. I want to do some upgrades to it like headers, a cam, and a chip. What it a good chip to buy for this and should I go stage 1 or stage 2? Any help would be great,
Thanks
Jim

 

Your stock chip will run your car just fine with headers and a mild cam. If you go with a wild cam, get a custom chip made for your combo. Headers and straight dual exhaust will really wake her up. Add a couple of degrees of base timing and see how it runs. Is it a 4+3 or an automatic?

 

In my experience, off-the-shelf chips are not going to help you. If you make major changes to your engine, you need someone to actually tune your car accordingly. Every car is different, so there's really no one-size-fits-all tune.

 

http://www.wongsperformance.com/

He can send you one to get real close...last thing you want as said is a generic chip. Going rich, lean, pinging is the last thing you want.
He did a mail order for a buddys Iroc we did head/cam yrs ago and runs great even passes Ca smog

 

Automatic

 

Thank you for the info. I will go with the headers for my next upgrade now. Any easy fit headers , good headers?

 

best to remove the air compressor and replace with a pully and you won't have to get headers with all those bungs......

 

Do not bother with off the shelf chips, waste of money. Wait until you're done with mods, or have changed to a much larger cam, then get the tune custom done on a dyno. Budget about $500 for that.

Start with headers, and the main difference between brands is fit & finish. I went with ceramic coated TPiS. You can also try Hooker 2149 or 2151 depending on whether you want emissions hookups, with the 16720 Y-pipe.

I strongly suggest upgrading the 86's behemoth starter at the same time. The 84-87 starter is huge. You can use one from an 88-91 car without a problem, its much smaller and will make maneuvering headers in easier.

 

My advice is to get a modern efi like FAST or holley with harness

 

For an 86, consider the scanning side of the scan and tune process first, since scanning at 8192 baud can be troublesome with 86 specific bin files. I wouldn't expect an off the shelf aftermarket memcal or adapter to fix this issue.

For scanning. you can simply use DataCat which will work directly with an 86 bin. Another option which may be appealing for auto trans cars would be to drop in a newer 87-88 $32B, or 89 $6E mask bin which will make for easier scanning with other tools such as TunerPro and open up some additional tuning options since the newer masks are generally better supported by the tuning community.

Armed with scan data, you can then determine if you have any tuning needs that should be addressed. Most older cars can benefit from some tuning due to fuel supply changes and/or injector changes over the years. Not many completely stock C4s around anymore.

 

This is all very true. However, I am going to tell you to take a step back. Before you start modding a TPI you need to do a few things first. You need to ensure it's overall health and proper operation. You need to get set up with a way to scan data, even at the slow BAUD rate. You need to see where you BLMs are, if you 02 is working properly, how you IAC is working, and knock counts. You need to verify fuel pressure, all filters are in good shape, all fluids are in good shape, base timing is set correctly, all sensors are producing signals in apprpriate ranges, and that your injectors are healthy. You will need a laptop/cable/Software of your choice for scanning and data logging, a Fuel Pressure Gage, timing light, and multi meter to get started.

Once health is confirmed, do your mods. Then go back to the logging. Based off data logs someone can work with you to mail order a much more custom tune for your car. The stock chip has the ability to learn the fueling to some degree based off closed loop operation. Should't be too bad with cam and headers. However, some adjustments would help to optimize the system and not cause a period of "learning" time each time you disconnect your battery. A log will show what the BLMs are in different areas and allow a tuner to make adjustments to the fueling.