Standalone ECU vote.

[AustrianVespaGuy]

23 hours ago, jimk said:

I use the system and MAF because i haven't found any other method to correctly deal with +/- 5000 ft of elevation change.

I'm sure Jim is right that MAF is the clear winner for accurate fuel delivery over a wide elevation range, since it's the only thing that directly measures exactly what you care about, e.g. the amount of intake air.  That said, if you would rather go speed-density than MAF, this is the sensor I would want if I were doing a lot of up-and-down mountain driving.  (The Appalachians  here don't really count as mountains and aren't tall enough to make a noticeable difference for me without any baro correction, so I can't vouch for this based on actual experience, but were I fortunate enough to live out West, yeah, it's what I'd be running).

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/mapdaddy-4-bar-map-sensor-with-barometric-correction/

[irdave]

I (still, fuck.) have the Elite 1500 sitting in the basement, based primarily on available resources (JimK) being an hour down the road.  If the parts are up to the task, it probably is fine either / any way- price is a consideration, and help getting the thing set up is the big one...

 

Alright, enough is enough.  I'm taking the dog for a walk and going down to cut the trigger wheel out to 70mm so I can stick it on the extra damper I bought.

[pato2002]

I have built and installed a few Megasquirts. I like the system, especially the price/ value, but, unless you have a fair bit of soldering experience, suggest getting the assembled one from DIYAutotune. It is easy to make a mistake or get a cold joint. I would rather spend my frustration budget on the car wiring and tuning than worrying about a DIY board. This is enough for nearly anything you need, especially starting out:

 

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/megasquirt-iii-ems-system-v3-57-assembled-unit-w-black-case/

 

Also, strong recommendation to buy the prebuilt wiring harness and a medium recommendation for the relay board (depends on your install).

Edited August 19, 2019 by pato2002

[Dudeland]

1 hour ago, irdave said:

I (still, fuck.) have the Elite 1500 sitting in the basement, based primarily on available resources (JimK) being an hour down the road.  If the parts are up to the task, it probably is fine either / any way- price is a consideration, and help getting the thing set up is the big one...

 

Alright, enough is enough.  I'm taking the dog for a walk and going down to cut the trigger wheel out to 70mm so I can stick it on the extra damper I bought.

Dude it is going to be ok.   I am just sorting through the parts that I got from my turbo purchase.  Flagworld has asked for some of the EFI parts that I don't use I, but likely I will be putting up for sale some EFI stuff including a crank trigger wheel and sensor holder from 02 again.

 

Would that help your situation. ?

 

I don't know about you, but I have at least 2 dizzy's to sell, likely a MSD, rad, gauges, sensors, 2 fuel pumps (high and low pressure) 2 pressure regulators, oil pump,  and about a billion other bits to sell. 

 

 

P.S  What made you go with the 1500?

 

 

[Dudeland]

45 minutes ago, pato2002 said:

I have built and installed a few Megasquirts. I like the system, especially the price/ value, but, unless you have a fair bit of soldering experience, suggest getting the assembled one from DIYAutotune. It is easy to make a mistake or get a cold joint. I would rather spend my frustration budget on the car wiring and tuning than worrying about a DIY board. This is enough for nearly anything you need, especially starting out:

 

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/megasquirt-iii-ems-system-v3-57-assembled-unit-w-black-case/

 

Also, strong recommendation to buy the prebuilt wiring harness and a medium recommendation for the relay board (depends on your install).

 

I actually have extensive knowledge when it comes to assembling PC boards (about 30 years worth) so the soldering would be a kind of zen thing for me, but I was thinking about the xTra Gold Box form EFI source.   I like the connectors and the robust nature of the board along with plenty of IO's just incase I want to do Anti lag (for a joke) or some sort of traction control (just to see if it can be done on this car).  Pre-pinned harness is a good idea as well 

 

https://www.efisource.com/wp/shop/xtra-gold-box-new/#ecu. 

 

As far as connectors go I am going to use these.  As far as I can tell these are the best I can get from a technology standpoint.

 

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07L8CCJZP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[irdave]

1 hour ago, Dudeland said:

P.S  What made you go with the 1500?

 

Sorry, the original post derailed a little bit- JimK being down the road a bit is why I went with the 1500.  He's already been helping me with it.  Seems awful powerful, easy to adjust for any sensor, super flexible, 3d table mapable for some stuff, self learning- all kinds of crap.  I have no knowledge of any other ECU, so I can't compare it to anything else.  It sure seems nice...

 

So my recommendations for stuff tend to lie along the lines of get whatever your local help is comfortable with-

[TobyB]

Quote

even poor/cracked solder joints I don't think I've ever seen unless it was on something 15+ years old that clearly went through a lot of heat  cycles.

 

Ha- spinoff:  even BMW's suppliers got it wrong.  When the wipers on your E36 crap out,

pull the wiper control box and resolder the pins where the board hits the main connector.  The 

holes are oversized, and then they didn't use enough solder when they dunked them. 

25 years later, both of mine have cracked around the pins to cause the wipers to crap out.

 

Moral of the story being, I guess, that everyone gets it wrong now and then.  So I'd be looking at 

'which is easier to fix if something goes wrong?' as a criteria.

 

I have an old Electromotive brick.  They don't support it anymore, and yet want me to

buy the software to run it- but the risk is all on me.  And the software costs more than

the modern equivalent brick costs....  so there's that element to consider, too.

 

t

cracked joints are us

[xr4tic]

This is a hard question to answer if you don't list your requirements.

 

Do you HAVE to have full sequential fuel and ignition?

Is price no object?

 

Personally, I'm looking at the MicroSquirt.

Cheap, already built, small, has a real connector, will handle all my requirements, and if you decide you need more, you can get the MS3 and use it as an expansion box.  It can also do baro correction

 

Sure, you're not going to get full sequential fuel/spark out of it, but do you really NEED that?  If you're not tuning on a per-cylinder basis, and don't have individual EGT sensors setup, then I will argue that you don't.

 

Someone mentioned AEM, they used to have a horrible reputation, maybe it's better now, but I would not buy one.

[Dudeland]

3 hours ago, irdave said:

 

So my recommendations for stuff tend to lie along the lines of get whatever your local help is comfortable with-

I agree completely.  There are folks here that can tune the Haltech for sure, Holley less so, and the MS3, I am not sure.