Just thought I'd publicly thank one of our colleagues (Robert Judd, Gen3 Motorsports) for his enormous help in optimizing my car.

As have others on this forum I have gone through a variety of H/C packages, several iterations of a large displacement engine, and have finally ended up where I am now. While getting things "wrenched" was fairly easy, getting them tuned was not. Early on Ed Wright in Tulsa was invaluable in getting my fairly radical (for the times) H/C package to run. More recently, a variety of folks helped me with my 436 project, to greater or lesser success.

Of them all, RJ has been absolutely the best. He's stuck with me through emails and emailed files, online conversations, glitches fixed and glitches that returned. Through it all every iteration of my tune has gotten the car closer and closer to what I had planned for but couldn't easily achieve: a very strong, but still reliable, NA "stealthy" street prowler optimized for the twisties. I would guess wer'e 99% there and seem to be down to drivability tweaks. I cannot thank him enough.

It seems to me that the "dirty" secret of our modification hobby is/are the problems with tuning. Machining stuff, and bolting things on, are pretty straight forward; tuning these packages in ways not anticipated by the OEM is not and seems to bring out the worst and best in our vendors. As far as I'm concerned one of the key questions all of us need to ask our vendors/builders is whether they are prepared to stand behind their tune and spend the time necessary to get it right (which is not always simple). In my experience, some are and some are not.

In any event, thanks RJ: after two years of disappointments (excess oil consumption not withstanding) your tuning has allowed me to finally begin to really enjoy this project!!!! You're the best; hang in there 'bro!

 

Where is RJ located again? I wish I was able to get my car to him.........especially since he has basically master your set-up which is close to mine if not identical.......

 

He's in Oregon (Portland area I believe). We've been working on this via LS1 edit (which I have: he has HP tuners and LS1 edit) and EFI Live files. My WOT tune was performed by LG on their dyno after the G7/Head Upgrade/90mm installs. While that dialed in fine drivability was a major unaddressed problem which RJ fixed.

You can find him under his name as well as under the Gen3 name.

I'm not sure where any of us go from here. There are a number of excellent tuners on this forum (and some others); they all seem to have the mechanical stuff sorted out. I am unconvinced that most have tuning down to a science; if they do, I'm not sure they're willing to spend the time getting things right on each setup they turn out.

I now believe it's not worth starting these things unless the "tuner" invovled is willing to spend the time doing the tuning. Doing this long distance is even more difficult; one might consider that before starting these sorts of projects.

Give RJ a buzz, email; I'm sure he can help you. It will take time, effort, and some reasonable bucks, but it will be worth it.

 

Dr Cohen;

Thanks for the kind words for sure, Eric. As I've iterated to you throughout our dealings, this is what it is about for me- the satisfaction in succeeding where others fail to (the tuning part) and relishing in the customer's gratification upon completion of a job well done (customer support/relationship part)!! To parallel this, I also thoroughly enjoy compounding my tuning knowledge base through the challenges set forth by all of your different engine build combinations. I have learned a great deal in just helping forum members here as well as my local clientele. One thing I can take away from all this is that every car can be a little different from the next one in tuning needs, even in identical setups. Glad I was able to help, Eric. We'll someday meet up and have that glass of wine or beer for sure. I believe that last tune I sent just might have you there 100%, or very, very close. Occasinally there might be a need for a seasonal tuning change, but beyond that the car should be solid.

Buckmaster;
feel free to drop me a line sometime. While I've been unusually preoccupied with some personal life changes (separation/divorce isnt easy) I still am trooping right along with Gen 3 Motorsports clientele needs. If you are not local and cannot bring me your car we can still achieve positive tuning results for sure, just will take time, effort and clear communication on both parts to succeed.

Thanks to all. Try to keep it on all 4 wheels...

Robert Judd
www.gen3motorsports.com