So I made my first wheeling trip and my first trip out in the cruiser this weekend.
All in all the trip was around 300 miles. That's a lot of miles for it's second time on the road but I had no choice. Fridays drive up was hot with temps in the 90's. Never got above 190. Going through the mountains proved to be no problem even with 300lbs of gear in the back and a passenger. I could easily pass anyone whenever I wanted on any incline. It has power. Lot's of power. There were only a few times I had to downshift into 3rd and that was due to slower traffic and the cruiser being in between gears. I can ride 3rd up to around 45 before the engine really comes to life. I topped 4th out one time and I had the speedo just about pegged. I'm driving on 35" tires so even at 85 I'm going fast. Things can get scary at 100mph in a cruiser. Other than that short run I kept the cruiser to around 55 the whole time. SOA in the mountains is a handful anyway.
It took about 2 hrs on the road before the computer learned what was going on. Still it needs a little tweaking as it runs a little rich. I averaged around 14-15mpg through the mountains. Not bad and with a little more I can see 17mpg easily attainable.
The check engine light came on about 5 times the first day. Code was that it was running too rich. This probably all stemmed from when I had a fuel return issue from the TBI. You have to have a 5/16 or bigger return with no restrictions. My issue ended up being the poly tank I had had a 5/16 barbed return but the inside diameter was more like 1/8. This caused the return line to build back pressure and after about a second of running backup into the fuel feed line causing the fuel pressure to be around 35 psi which is a lot. A whole lot. I think I could have possibly damaged the injectors doing this. So I plan on buying some new calibrated ones before I start messing with the program.
As far as needing to have VSS and a knock sensor. Nonsense. The cruiser ran perfectly. Never an issue coming off off ramps, down hills, no stalling, no knocking, nothing. I don't see how a GM knock sensor from a 4.3 Chevy Astro Van would know what the hell to listen for on a 2F turning 5k rpms or any rpms. Warm up was unnoticed.
The best, I repeat the best part about this setup is the fact you can go out to your cruiser in the morning when it's cold and it will start and run. Run just like it would warm. No choke, no waiting, just crank and go. I love that fact.
Second best part is the sound it makes. At around 3k the sound out the throttle body is awesome. I can only compare it to a NASCAR motor.
Low end is also very good. I can crawl over most obstacles without even touching the throttle. It is really hard to stall this motor and 400rpm is easy. Torque comes on strong at around 800-1500 rpms and stays that way to about 4000 rpms. I'll know later this week when I get it dynoed.
It's fast, very fast for a 2f. And extremely smooth. Balancing made a big difference.
One issue I did have was my alternator died. So I'll be getting that fixed soon. Thank god a I had two batteries. First battery lasted the 4hr trip down and all the wheeling and the second all the way back with an hr of having to use the lights.
Will report more and possibly some video tonight.
It was good to be in the woods again.
