Greetings Dlipp_,
A single 'build thread' serves as a historical repair/upgrade journal, allowing troubleshooters to research all
the changes made/discussions created from an initial starting point to the present state.
When there are multiple threads started on the same vehicle, as a remote troubleshooter relying heavily upon
context you inevitably miss important observations made by others in the forum, so you end up repeating the
same/similar guidance, wasting time and causing more confusion. And everyone in here just wants to help others.
And the fact that you are working to keep another GMT400 on the road *and* you are trying to use a cam
that I find interesting motivates me to want to chime in here.
Here's a good example of how an engine upgrade from a 4.3 to a 5.7 ended up generating nearly 1100
replies across at least 8 concurrent threads over time:
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The OP of all this wasn't being malicious, but instead just figured that discussions focused upon specific
issues would garner better response than just a single build thread would. (!) Unfortunately for all concerned,
this ended up blocking the true strength of this forum to be brought to bear on why the engine swap was
encountering one unanticipated stumbling block after another.
My interest in this engine swap was due to an anomaly seen in the compression test data, which was unusual and
(at the time) inexplicable. What might have taken an hour or two in a single thread took several hours scattered over
a few days, as I shoehorned this research inbetween the other demands in my daily schedule. Eventually it all came together
and we were able to figure out how we ended up with 'more compression in a single cylinder than the others', but it was a
non-trivial effort. Hopefully this explains why 'people get mad at new threads.'
****
In order for you to get the most out of the GMT400 engine bay that you have invested in, based upon what I've observed in here I'd
recommend that you do the following things:
* Using a mail-order tuner to marry a nonstock cam to a TBI engine is a compromise even in a perfect-world best-case scenario. If *anything*
deviates from ideal behavior, here in the real world the chances of getting it all sorted out is very slim. (And this may help to explain why
folks in the audience haven't jumped in to assist, for when you tell the tuner that some folks on the internet don't agree
with his secret sauce then more heat than light gets generated.) And after a few iterations of this, you can't blame the volunteers in the forum
when they decide against walking into the eye of the storm. :0)
But all is not lost. Instead, take full advantage of all the info in here shared by some first-person, hands-on SMEs. (Subject Matter Experts)
* TBI tuning. Search out anything written by @
PlayingWithTBI and study what he shares. If you don't comprehend everything he is
sharing, continue studying until you can follow his lead. He has shared a lot, so you won't be able to digest it all in an evening. But
it will be well worth the effort.
* Overachieving high-output 1st-gen small blocks. Search out anything written by @
L31MaxExpress, and study what he shares.
If you don't comprehend everything he is sharing, continue studying until you can follow his lead. He has shared a lot, so you won't be
able to digest it all in an evening. But it will be well worth the effort.
* If you are doing something that is giving @
Schurkey heartburn and he asks you to either gather specific data
and/or try a different solution, pay extra close attention. He brings tremendous experience to the table...kinda like
having an elder pop into your shop, and with a few words, can make your immediate future 10x easier *if* you pay
attention to the guidance.
The bottom line is that if you are willing to stop and take the time to learn enough to harmonize your engine bay,
I think that you will have several folks willing to take some of their finite free time to help you get to where you are
going. And in turn everyone walks away better for having participated in this long-distance remote troubleshooting
game.
NOTE: In this forum there happen to be many other SMEs that also chime in and share their hard-won experience, and as you read/study
the contents of this forum they will all become familiar to you. Myself, I lurked for about a year in sponge mode, and then
decided that in order to improve my game I should join and attempt to improve my skillset by contributing where possible, and learn
from the experience. (In other words, I consider myself a student of all this, with a lot of gaps in my knowledge that I am currently
focusing on fixing.)
****
This ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated, but your comment about "we're all mostly here for the same reason" rang
true, and I wanted to explain why the dynamics in this forum are the way they are. This forum can be a real resource for a
fellow GMT400 enthusiast. And the best approach is to try to help us help you.
Cheers --