Something New, Before, then After

[TheSalad]

For those who do not remember my situation, here it is briefly. I bought my 1996 GT in 2003, did some work on the car, left the country for two years, and then sold the car a few months after getting back. Last summer I found the car again and bought it back.

After doing a PI headswap in 2003, I purchased a Super AFC tuner (I wish I hadn't) to make the car run well. This is what a Super AFC tuner is. This is a picture from todoroki-trading and I keep mine in the glove box, buried away so no one sees it.

View attachment 235450

The tuner enabled me (well, the installer, because I have no clue how to use it) to modify the A/F ratio at every 500 RPMs in order for the car to run smoothly. I had it dyno tuned and everything was great before I sold it.

The guy who owned the car after me said to me when I bought it back that he had replaced the ECU (car computer). After getting the car, I noticed that the tuner no longer read the correct RPMs when running, so it must be hooked up wrong.
To make a long story short, I have $100 for Christmas and a birthday coming up, and so I am getting a SCT X3 to give the car a proper tune as well as some new Bullitt pedals. Also, I got a new floor jack so I stop bending the frame underneath the car. I will be finally replacing the burned out fog lights, and properly detailing the inside of the car because there is still a little dog fur and accompanying odor from the previous owner.

I want to do all of this soon, but I am having to battle the elements of nature, as seen in the following picture.

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What do you all think of the little progress that has been made? Any tips on the tuner?

I will be posting the results of the tuner an my ordeal with getting the new pedals on as soon as I get them. Right now the car has a pretty bad "bark" or backfire when I let off the throttle while the engine is loaded, and it growls and bubbles pretty good when going down a hill in gear, so I hope to at least solve those problems.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

the sf3-xcal3 are pretty good, ive had an xcal3 and it was awesome, i sold it like a retard and now i have a diablo pos, cant really do anything with the thing..

 

[Icemanstang]

Yep I would use the SCT software since alot of tuners
use it.Just get what your local tuner uses though.
Where are you getting your SCT Xcal3 from? Just wondering?

 

[TheSalad]

I ordered it from American Muscle. My local tuner can tune uses SCT, so that encouraged my choice. The dynamometer tune seemed a little expensive from him though, $500 or so. The baseline run is $200 he said.

I don't plan on doing that unless we cannot get the tune right using the mail-order tunes.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

get a real tune, the mail tunes will be either too soft or too hard (knocking).. yes its more money but you will make more power, and it wont knock..

 

[d98gt]

What are the current mods on the car? Anyway to locate the previous owner and ask why the computer was changed in the first place?

 

[9646gt]

If your open to opinions I would say go with delta force tuning software. I love the crap out of mine. They have killer support and it runs off your laptop. You can even datalog with it and everything. And you can tune two vehicles. It's super easy to use and will give you great room for upgrades.

 

[TheSalad]

What are the current mods on the car? Anyway to locate the previous owner and ask why the computer was changed in the first place?

Supposedly the computer went bad. The car wouldn't stay running and then wouldn't start. He said that replacing the computer fixed it.

The current mods are:
Full PI Swap
L/T Headers
MAC H-Pipe and Catback
Timing Adjuster (which does nothing)
U/D Pullies
4.10s
Intake Plenum
70mm Throttle Body
FIPK II KN Filter System

I think that is it.

 

[TheSalad]

get a real tune, the mail tunes will be either too soft or too hard (knocking).. yes its more money but you will make more power, and it wont knock..

For the time being, I will have to stick with the mail order tunes and try to get them right. I do not have "authorization" to use more cash to get it tuned by the SCT dealer right now.

I wonder how good it can get using the datalogging...

 

[COramprat]

Reputable companies can get it pretty close. Might just research a little to get the best mail order tune.

 

[TheSalad]

All right, today I spent all day cleaning the interior due to the pig that used to own the car. Seriously, who eats and drinks in their car?

He had had a dog in the car, so it kind of stunk, and there was dog hair on my cloth seats, so this cleaning needed to be done. Also, I had not removed the passenger side seat since buying the car back, so I did that, and it was gross.

I replaced the stock pedals with some Bullitt looking ones. KY Jelly made the install incredibly easy

As for my tuning and Air/Fuel issues, I received my SCT X3 this week. In preparation for that, I needed to remove the APexi unit from the wiring just before the PCM. I double checked the wiring to see if there was a reason why it was reading off on the RPMs, but nothing jumped out at me, so I decided to take it out so I could use the SCT X3. I did that, put it all back together.

When I drove the car home (I did the work in my mom's heated garage) I noticed that the car was running a lot better. I can't wait to see what the X3 does because I ran out of time in order to install the custom tune.

Anyway, it was a good mustang day, and I did not break anything.

I will post the results and effects of putting the custom tune on as soon as I do it.

View attachment 233975
View attachment 233976

Grossness under the passenger seat.
View attachment 233977

Cleaned back seat. No more stink and dog hair.
View attachment 233978

 

[d98gt]

I'll paypal you $1 if you eat some of that leftover food

 

[TheSalad]

I'll paypal you $1 if you eat some of that leftover food

You are sick

 

[95.0Stang]

i wish it was warm enough to detail my Mustang...but at 10 degrees I dont see that happening.

 

[TheSalad]

i wish it was warm enough to detail my Mustang...but at 10 degrees I dont see that happening.

That is why I did it in my mom's garage. I drove thirty minutes to get there. It is not heated, but it is insulated, so I opened the door from the house, and shut the garage door, so it heated the garage. It was decent, until she came home and let all the warm air out!

 

[Cory281]

Thats cool you got your old car back. I always liked it. It's looking good, the bullitt pedals look great to. I know what you mean about the winter crap, I'm tired of it to. Let me know if you ever need help with anything on it.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

You should just throw a new carpet in there... Looking good nice work

 

[TheSalad]

You should just throw a new carpet in there... Looking good nice work

I would love to put a new carpet down, but there are two things that prevent me from doing so.

1) My wife makes the money, so I have to go through her for anything! And I better have a good reason for it!

2) I was able to clean it up enough to make it bearable until I graduate and can use my "own" money to do the things I want to the car.

Good point though Kilgore, that would be ideal. I did that to an old 86 SVO that I had (before I was married). I hated cutting the holes in the carpet for the shifter and seat tracks; I didn't get them lined up perfectly. I think I would measure next time instead of just guessing.