95 G20 conversion van

[vilefly]

What size engine is in the van? The 8th digit on the vin would helpful as well. If it is a 5.7L, then Fast355 has you covered. You will need some form of scan tool to begin with.

You have room to cheat a little without a chip. Advancing base timing by turning the distributor until your IAC valve reading on the scan tool is about 3-4 counts on a warmed up engine. Advancing timing this way has a price, the idle will destabilize a bit, but not too badly. That is the "EL-CHEAPO" amateur mod. heh. Worked on my truck's v6. Runs like a v8, that was enough for me at the time.

[Fast355]

What size engine is in the van? The 8th digit on the vin would helpful as well. If it is a 5.7L, then Fast355 has you covered. You will need some form of scan tool to begin with.

You have room to cheat a little without a chip. Advancing base timing by turning the distributor until your IAC valve reading on the scan tool is about 3-4 counts on a warmed up engine. Advancing timing this way has a price, the idle will destabilize a bit, but not too badly. That is the "EL-CHEAPO" amateur mod. heh. Worked on my truck's v6. Runs like a v8, that was enough for me at the time.

I assumed it was the one in his signature that shows 5.7.

Another el cheapo mod is an adjstable fuel pressure regulator and a good quality 0-15 psi fuel pressure gauge. I raised the pressure 0.25 psi until I got the best measured track time. My mostly stock 350 ran best at 14.5 psi. Dropped nearly 1/2 second in the 1/8 mile from 11 psi to 14.5. Ran stronger everywhere. I had a TBI Firebird that was running at 9 psi. Absolute slug. Did the same and found it ran best at 13.5 psi. At 9 psi it would not even spin a tire. At 13.5 it would spin through 1st gear. 9 psi is sadly within spec. In my experience a TBI needs 13-14 psi to come even close to running right.

Another cheap mod is a power bowl and open center TBI spacer. Take the cheapest TBI spacer you can find and cut the center out of it. Then take the powerbowl, cut the bottom of the air cleaner off and eliminate the stock spacer ring that chokes the TBI off from breathing.

[Fast355]

These are not my pictures but my setup was similar as the 454 air cleaner has a powerbowl made into it from the factory. This was built out of a stainless mixing bowl.

[vilefly]

Ah. So it is a 5.7L.....and I've gone blind. Been tripping over everything today. I think that no one should listen to me today. Probably bumped my head on too many cars this week, and things are shorting out.

[erob914]

Wow! I didnt expect to get that many responses so quickly. I havent had a lot of time to check back on this post.

Yes. I have a 5.7l (L05) engine, 3.42 rear end, 4l60e trans.

I was a little dissappointed in the power and fuel mileage after the first trip, but I figure there is a lot of room for improvement over the factory specs. With the travel trailer I get about 7.xmpg, and without I am getting a little over 10mpg. I have only ran one tank of fuel through it without towing anything so it may not be accurate but i assume it is in the ball park. Travel trailer weighs in at about 3600 lbs and the van is at 5500 lbs according to the scale at the local recycling center.

So far I have only done work to make it more reliable. I replaced all coolant hoses, belt and water pump. That includes all hoses involved with aux HVAC. The complete front suspension. 4 Ball joints, upper arms, lower arm shaft, sway bar bushings, front springs, brake lines, rebuilt calipers, and brake pads. I also removed the rear leaf springs had them rearched and had 2 extra springs added on each side.

Right now I have to lay low on spending any more on this van, but these cheap and easy ideas are right what I need right now. In the future if we really get into the RV/camper thing I may chose to swing a motor and trans at a later date. I wouldnt mind trying to swing a 4l80e into the mix, but that is a subject for another day.

Yes I do need to get a scan tool to watch the numbers while it is running to see what it is doing. I was looking at an ALDL Droid scantool that puts datastream info onto a droid device. Its been so long since I have used a obd I scan tool I dont remember what info is available to be seen. What tools are available for watching OBD I data?

DonF there is a lot of stuff to read through in the links you posted. It will take some time to soak it all up.

Other than the less than desirable preburned chips, are there any chips out there that can be had that are dependable for my use.

I will definitely try the adjustable fuel pressure regulator and see what that gets me. I havent measured what the current pressure is yet so I dont know where I am to start with.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

[donf]

If you need a Bluetooth adapter to interface with the phone or laptop. http://www.1320electronics.com/products.html The owner goes above and beyond customer service wise.

[erob914]

That is the one I have been looking at. Is there a difference between what that does and what a regular scan tool will do as far as looking at datastream info.