I have previously stated that I had opted to have a competent speed shop in Northern California perform my LS6 stage II ported heads/"HS" cam installation. I have searched high and low for the combination of meticulous attention to detail and proven historical performance with regard to like customers. I think I have found that shop in Ralph Gobel's Hot Rod Heaven located in Sacramento , California. I think so highly of Ralph's shop that I drove my ZO6 130 miles to get there and take an Amtrak train back to the Bay Area and wait till the work is finished. I am enclosing with this post some early pix of the progress of the install... [IMG] [/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

 

Great pictures!!! I wish I received pictures like that of my install.

 

Nice pics! Keep us posted on the progress and results.

 

Nice pics, what kind of power are you anticipating upon completion.

 

Nice pics!!

Michael

 

This is not a slam!
Just wanted to add my experience with Ralph’s Hot Rod Shop.
Ralph’s shop is known in the F body community. His shop is a small one bay
unit located in South Sacramento. He has worked on many F body cars.
I spent some time with Ralph! I took my C5 there to talk to him about a lean fuel condition. Ralph connected his Tech II scan tool and we went for a test ride. Ralph told me my O2 sensors were our of range that they shouldn't sweep! I told him that my car is still under warranty and I'd take it to the dealer to get them replaced. I said thank you and paid him for his time.
I went to my Dealer and had there best tech (That I know and trust) do the same thing. The tech told me that the O2 sensors were perfect. And showed me the spec and we went for a test ride.
So to sum it all up. Ralph may know F bodies but he doesn't know C5!
I had big plans for Ralph shop, was going to bring to our corvette club and recommend him as the clubs corvette mechanic. But I just couldn't do that.
I'm sure he will be able to bolt on your parts. But when it comes to knowing the C5, Ralph has a long way to go. It’s been my experience so far that there are no C5 Tuners located in Northern California!
I do hope things work out for you!

 

Ralph does some great work. I have sent a few ARE customers to Ralph for installations and tuning and they have all came back happy with great results.

No offence, but I don't think a bad diagnosis of 02 sensors should be the basis for an opinion on this guy's mechanical abilities. There are no differences really between fbodies and C5s when it comes to engines and tuning. ARE has had Ralph as one of their dealers for quite a few years now with great success. ARE doesn't have incompetent shops as authorized dealers of their products.

 

Hello Matt,
I wanted to clarify my post.
I never said Ralph was incompetent, nor did I suggest it!
I just stated my experience with him! As you know the 02 sensor and the MAF are vital components in the C5. Without either one the car will not run properly.
When I went to see him he just didn't have enough experience on the C5's, in my opinion. That was a little over a year ago. He may now have more experience. I truly hope so. Northern California is hurting when it comes to C5 Tuners, or even qualified people to work on a C5.


[Modified by C54TIM, 8:52 AM 3/7/2002]


[Modified by C54TIM, 8:54 AM 3/7/2002]

 

C54Tim: IN the scheme of things my man, an incorrect diagnosis of problems with a MAF and or O2 sensors are really not earth shaking issues. I disagree with you strongly on your assertion that one needs specific competency on Y bodies to be considered "good" . Last I checked we are all running flavors of the LS1. MOST tuners do the preponderance of their work on F bodies, not necessarily out of preference, but , let's face reality, there's simply more of them, therefore a larger market. Ralph's business has grown substantially and has moved into a much larger shop . Additionally, Ralph's shop is Agostino Racing's only recognized California dealer and installer. You have heard of A.R.E. , right? :


[Modified by 2ndVette, 9:12 AM 3/7/2002]


[Modified by 2ndVette, 10:35 PM 3/7/2002]

 

Yeap sure have heard of ARE.
But I also know the difference between taking a wrench to a car and tuning!

 

The heads are Stage II LS6 heads from Cartek and the cam is a 114 LSA 224/224 567" lift comp cam. Cartek refers to this cam as their "HS" package. I opted for the 114 LSA to comply with the Ca emissions. The choice of the 114 LSA should not produce as "peakey" performance as an 112 LSA , but will be close. C5_Pig on this forum has basically the same setup. I am expecting 420 RWHP once dialed in.

 

Cool!
What program will you be running?
I have BPP Stage II heads and 222/228/529 Crane Cam LS6 manifold, B&B Headers, Superchip program and am only 372RWHP, and 375 RWTQ.
And a couple of other little things.
BPP says 488 at the crank, I'm at about 440, still looking for that other 48 hp!
If your expecting 420 RWHP you might want to Key to the crank. Anything above or near 500hp at the Fly can cause problems.
Best of luck to ya!



[Modified by C54TIM, 6:35 AM 3/8/2002]

 

:eek: Wow - sounds great! :D

 

I believe I can add some more experience with Ralph. I had a complete motor (ARE built) replaced at HRH. In my experience, he is a great guy and a capable mechanic, but I've noticed he jumps to conclusions alot. He certainly takes his time doing the job though, no rushing. But my only complaint is that when he encounters something, he doesn't have all the facts before he starts telling you. Maybe if you aren't paranoid by nature, this won't bother you at all. Like the time he told me I had nitrous damage but it was really lifter failure. I racked my brain for a long time trying to figure out how it could be nitrous damage.

Another thing I might warn you about is that I suspect his dyno is on the low side. How low, I don't know. Or maybe it isn't low, but everyone elses is high. Let us know when you dyno it and what you get. I'll give you my unofficial HRH correction factor. I'm sure you're as anxious as all of us. If he says it's going to be done by Friday though, I'd say Saturday or Monday at the soonest. But it's nice to find someone that doesn't rush through everything, as complex as these cars are nowadays. Then again, he didn't have to pull your rack and drop the entire suspension for your H/C.

Oh yes, I forgot to ask, do you plan on doing any custom programming? LS1 Edit? Or just stock PCM with maybe MAFT?

99 C5 M6



[Modified by akw408, 7:17 PM 3/7/2002]

 

Now that's good info! Some one who has had work done (Besides me).
I don't feel that you slammed the guy, this was just your experience with him.
In my post all I said was what my experiences were. The next thing I know I get jumped on. I for one want to hear peoples experience with a shop good or bad. I'll make up my own mind. I really want to know if he can tune a C5.
Not just wrenching parts. I know I have some hidden Horse Power in my car, I just don't know where to go to find it?. As for his Dyno being Hi or Low? I don't know I haven't had my car dyno'd there. I do know were I had my Dyno done before, we were getting pretty much average numbers for stock and modified. I personally have dyno'd over 60 cars and have never come close to the numbers that some of the tuners on the east coast are claiming.
Just my $0.02 worth.

 

I guess I'm not paranoid as I am not worried at all. I have previously installed heads/cam in a previous C5 myself, so I am aware of the issues involved. This time around, I just didn't want to jack around with removing the steering rack while sliding around on my back in my garage. I am completely confident that Ralph will perform the work with the same attention to detail that I would have taken.

On the issue of programming, I am taking the course prescribed by Cartek and that is to cool my heels on dialing it in right away as their preferred method is with LS1 edit. Unfortunately, LS1 edit is not available to the buying public for '01-'02 cars yet. Some tuners (including Cartek) have beta versions of LS1 edit that they are trying out. Cartek told me that they were not comfortable with their experience yet with it to be able to flash a program that could be used remotely . In my mind there are 3 options. (a) wait for LS1 edit (b) use a piggyback setup (the PROgram) and dyno tune at Sears Point, and (c) depend on Cole or Ed to guess at settings that would work. My preference would be LS1 edit. In the meantime, I have asked Ralph to simply drill me a small hole in the throttle body so that I can hold an idle to get back to the Bay area.

As far as the dyno, yes we will get a number, and it will be interesting to see what it will be. To me, that will be a rough baseline as the car will not be tuned to its optimum settings. The true gauge will be the dyno after I have the tuning.

As far as hp numbers advertised by Cartek, I have no reason to doubt them. There are certainly existing forum members that attest to the accomplishment and I have no reason to doubt them either. I have not seen a Cartek heads/cam car up close and personal either, and I am not aware of many in theWestern Region, so I may be a test case for others to either follow or not.

 

Hey Tim, met you at the hooters cruise and checked out your gauge setup. I want to do the same thing, still haven't had time to look into it yet. Your cam specs sound alittle strange, you must mean 222/211 and .529 lift? So the intake duration actually longer than the exhaust? Did you take an autotap to your car and take a look at your a/f and ignition timing? 372 does sound pretty low, do you have the dyno graph available?

99 C5 M6

 

Yes, I'm sure he will. With the cam specs that you described earlier, I don't think you will need to drill a hole in the TB. I have the same cam, no hole, and I've never had the engine die. Oh, and if it makes any difference, which I doubt, I have ARE S2 heads, not Cartek. I'd be real interested in hearing if you make any big difference between untuned and tuned. Right now, my car has stock PCM programming with just MAFT adjustments. Everything looks fine (autotap wise), so I'm not sure if programming will benefit me. Especially with the 91 octane we need to run. But if you or someone else saw a difference, I'd definately follow. Keep us posted.

99 C5 M6



[Modified by akw408, 12:21 AM 3/8/2002]

 

Hey akw408,
My cam is 222/228/529, (Typo) and my car will hardly idle on the stock program. I've had it on Auto tap and at WOT it runs 7% lean condition. I haven't done anything to the progamming. I do have the Dyno sheets, graph only. I really was looking for a tunner who could help out.

 

I thought you had superchips, what do you mean when you say you haven't done anything to the programming. What do you mean by 7% lean condition at WOT? Is that the LTFT number? What were the O2 sensor readings at that time? Also take a look at the ignition timing.

99 C5 M6