Charlie Robinson's '99 Riv

Charlie, does your PLX wb gauge connect up to the control box with just that 3.5mm serial cable or what? I'm trying to figure out exactly how many wires are needed for it. I have a mildly crazy idea that might be kinda cool and helpful.

basically...



I can't quite decide if this is ridiculous or actually really slick. A standard 2 1/16 gauge can fit right in where the steering wheel horn button goes. I totally need more gauges I know... I'm re-working my steering wheel buttons a little (adding a couple more for various things like the cutout control solenoid) and this gauge would be quite doable since it's really low profile and there's no live connections like fluid hoses and stuff so as long as it doesn't need more than 2 wires not including power which I don't see why it would.
I dunno what do you think honestly? It's just an idea right now.

Yes. it connects to the small control box. Just two wires go to the gauge and it looks to be low profile. I dont see why this wouldnt work.

Would you be able to keep/relocate horn functionality? I am looking for a new steering wheel myself. Do you have any recommendations for a wheel with buttons so I can keep the horn?

Thanks and good idea!

really....!

I think you should just go with a gauge pillar or stick it in the door vent. Keep that granny status as long as you can.

I was trying to research it. It looks like it really wants 4 leads total between the gauge and the box. The headphone jack which is PLX's serial connection has its own ground and a signal lead then that other harness is the 3.3v for the gauge power and a ground. I only have 3 discrete wires available in the clockspring. One of those grounds could probably be made common but I don't know for sure. I'm probably just gonna forgo this idea for now. I need to focus on stuff that matters more. May do it in the future though.

Charlie there are some wheels out there with buttons I've seen on ebay and stuff. I personally didn't like that 'cause they are a little too racecarish for my taste. The Grant 749 I have is very easy to add small buttons to which is partially why I picked it. The only complication is that you cannot keep the factory airbag/radio control button clockspring in place for wiring your switches unless you modify your grant steering wheel hub (and also the clockspring its self a little bit) for clearance. Before I was able to do that, I used a wireless remote set instead of hard wiring and that worked well for anything that didn't require continuous contact - because the wireless would cut out sometimes. That's acceptable for most things but not nitrous spraying. If you wanted to go with that sort of thing I could help you out with wiring and whatnot but it would be something of a project if youre not comfortable with that kinda stuff.

Dang, I had no idea what a clockspring even was. Had to look it up.

So are you saying.. you would have to cut the wires off of the PLX gauge and use the wires coming out of your clockspring?

You cannot feed the guage wires through the steering column?

Yes, seems to be 4 leads and 2 wires from the PLX gauge. I thought the headphone jack connection was quite curious.

Charlie, maybe I missed it somewhere, but I haven't really heard feedback from you regarding your X-P cam instillation. Are you impressed with the power gains? Was it worth the money you spent?

Charlie, if you want steering wheel buttons why not figure out a way to keep the stock ones and use them for something else? Shouldn't be too difficult.

69GSColorado wrote:

Charlie, maybe I missed it somewhere, but I haven't really heard feedback from you regarding your X-P cam instillation. Are you impressed with the power gains? Was it worth the money you spent?

Well, I cannot yet give a full review because I have been suffering from an exhaust leak ever since install. Once the headers go on, i should have a better idea of where my setup is.

Overall though, here is what I have noticed:

I now have 0 KR with a 3.4" @ 20 degrees timing advance @ WOT. I could only get about 10-12 degrees before with 0 KR.

Low end torque seemed to drop. I definitely think I can go 3.2" pulley to counter this. I am curious to see how much power/timing I can extract with the 3.2" before i see KR.

I cannot yet comment on MPGs because of this exhaust leak, but currently I am getting 18-19 MPGs with 50/50 highway and city driving. My fuel trims are complete shit tho. Sensor is reading uber lean because most of my exhaust is exiting into the engine bay so more fuel is being added than necessary to compensate.

I was surprised to not hear the cam lope I was expecting at stock idle RPMS. i bumped idle RPM up as recommended, tho.

Once I have the wideband and headers installed and tune dialed in and I see whats shes really capable of, I will report back.

In conclusion, I spun a rod bearing so I had to get a rebuild. If there was any time to cam my engine, it was then. I knew from the beginning of my modification journey that when it was time to approach the fork in the road that is called 'cam VS rockers' that I would be going cam. So yeah, definitely worth the extra coin to throw a cam into the rebuild.

matt270avian wrote:

Charlie, if you want steering wheel buttons why not figure out a way to keep the stock ones and use them for something else? Shouldn't be too difficult.

Maybe. My steering wheel is really beat up. I love the aftermarket look but it might be nice to keep an an airbag active for my face.

Interior and exterior remodel is going to happen this spring, so we will see what happens.

Hey, everybody. Here is a shot of my Tara edition ZZP SS headers.

So I am reading about this PLX wideband and it says to mount it at a 15 degree angle away from the flow of exhaust. Looks like ZZP put my bunghole in straight perpendicular to my DP. Can anyone confirm if this is ok... or if it must be corrected?

Its not something to get the shits over - just use the straight one

Those sure are purdy

turtleman wrote:

Its not something to get the shits over - just use the straight one

Good to know. Thank you.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

Those sure are purdy

Yes. The craftsmanship looks superb as expected.

Tara is a pretty name too. Bonus!

huh. I guess I got jipped my headers don't have the ZZP plate on em. Did you write Tara on the headers? Anyway looking great! Let me know how the trans dipstick goes for you. I couldn't really get mine in with my w-body tube but james swears you can get them in with it.

Kind of a shame they only weld inside the manifold. I would really like to see both the inside and outside welded for added strength and better looks.

Thinking about it now, I also am using a w body trans tube.

turtleman wrote:

huh. I guess I got jipped my headers don't have the ZZP plate on em. Did you write Tara on the headers? Anyway looking great! Let me know how the trans dipstick goes for you. I couldn't really get mine in with my w-body tube but james swears you can get them in with it.

The ZZP plate is worth at LEAST 10WHP. I did not write 'Tara' on the pipes. Came that way. I plan on using a flexi tube for the trans stick.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

Thinking about it now, I also am using a w body trans tube.

Yep

Good news:Headers are on

Bad news: I'm trying to pinpoint the reason why they are touching the rack and thus turning my seats into 1979 25 cent hotel vibration chairs.

Good news:  the exhaust leak from the crack in plog is gone and my exhaust is sounding better than ever before!

Bad news: My lean condition is still persisting after resolving the exhaust leak and resetting fuel trims.



I have a very mild suspicious that I might have a vacuum leak and it may be causing my lean condition.    ..? The thing is, I cant find any good info on what vacuum #s to expect with an XP cam.

I am currently seeing  7-8PSI or ~15-16in/hg vacuum at idle  and around 19-19.5PSI or ~38.7in/hg vacuum at cruise speed.

I am going to load stock MAF table and reset fuel trims tomorrow JUST to count whatever previous MAF tune out. WHat else could it be, tho? O2 sensor seems to be working fine. I do not have yet have wideband hooked up. Hopefully this weekend.

EDIT: current MAF table is only a very small amount richer in some spots than stock. Not even touching it

Hey Charlie, post a video of the start-up. I want to hear it!

When you have even a small vac leak you see ft pegged up at 16.4 or whatever at idle then it goes away to nearly 0 as you give it some throttle. Is that how it is?

Yeah, LTFT pegs at 16.4 and comes down to low as 0 under throttle. Friggin vacuum leaks...

Vacuum leak was easily discovered at EGR block off plate on the LIM. RTVed it and put it back on. LTFTs instantly dropped, vacuum increased, and uber lean condition dissipated.

After resetting fuel trims, I am still seeing some lean spots (around 40%+ TP) but it looks like the trims are still being learned and havent settled down yet. I am going to take a scan on the way home today and tune from there.

I have read a lot of forums posts around the web saying that people didnt notice a big difference going from plog and DP to headers while staying under 300WHP. YEAH RIGHT!

I am for sure under 300WHP and i noticed a huge difference from the exhaust swap. i can FEEL the air flow SO much better than better.

We got it on the lift Saturday, didnt take a picture cause i forgot, but, the rear header is just barely touching the heat shield above the rack. Good call, Cody.

The strategy is to put in a new rear trans mount and shim it if needed and then fabricate a new shield for the rack to give any extra clearance needed after the new mounts.

My rack is due for a rebuild so I am going to replace that as well.

I need a winter beater ASAP so I can garage this needy princess.

Charlie, I've been trying to sell my dads 92 Taurus SHO 5 speed with 74k original miles for him. It's got a bit of rust from KC winters, making it the perfect winter car. I posted about it in the other rides showroom thread a while back. It used to be mine and I put a TON of work into it. Let me know if you're interested.