Huck's daily - 2005 Z71 crewcab

[TotalyHucked]

So finally...FINALLY. After waiting 2 solid weeks and some BS drama with my tuner (who's now my ex-tuner apparently ) I FINALLY got my truck tuned yesterday and took it for a ride at lunch today! Drove it 20mi and it sounds good and the rods are still in the block!

Tuner #2 came yesterday (who's also a buddy of mine). Hooked up the computer, fired it up and the lifters sounded AWFUL but that's normal till they pump up. He played with a few things, let it idle up to temp and then whacked it a few good times. I asked him about his recommendation for breaking in the rings, he looked at me with a grin and said "they're already seated". Says every LS he builds, he runs them on a stand with open breathers on the valve covers. Says you get it up to temp, whack it 2-3 good times and you can watch them instantly stop smoking. So we hot lapped the building yesterday a few times just to get a base tune in it, made a couple adjustments and he said just drive like normal. Just avoid full throttle and long time steady state cruise for the first 1000mi.

Was too busy the rest of the day to drive it anymore so today at lunch I topped up the water and trans fluid and drove it 20mi on backroads. Can definitely feel the power over a stock 5.3 but I gotta say, the 2800-3000 stall is odd in a big truck. It was odd to me in the blue truck too cuz I'd never had a loose converter before so I hope it's just something I'll get used to. But if not, I'll swap it out for a TB stall converter later on. Those usually end up around 2400 or so.

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[Old77]

What kinda drama did tuner 1 bring into your life?? Glad you had another tuner you could fall back on!

 

[bucket]

What kinda drama did tuner 1 bring into your life?? Glad you had another tuner you could fall back on!

That's when you know you are high up in the automotive industry. Have a falling out with your regular tuner? No big deal, just call up your other buddy the tuner. They are just as easy to find as a barber.

 

[idahovette]

@bucket Show me a pic of your latest haircut????...........

 

[Old77]

That's when you know you are high up in the automotive industry. Have a falling out with your regular tuner? No big deal, just call up your other buddy the tuner. They are just as easy to find as a barber.

@TotalyHucked has that tuner privilege going.

 

[TotalyHucked]

What kinda drama did tuner 1 bring into your life?? Glad you had another tuner you could fall back on!

Tuner 1 is who I reached out to when I was first building the C10 because he was the first one I met and several local guys used him/recommended him. Nice guy, super helpful. We became friends and about a year after that, a few of us helped him LS swap his '93 OBS in 13 days. He's been the only guy to tune my stuff since then, the only one I've recommended for LS tuning and I've sent him a good bit of business too. So for the last 3 years or so, we've had a pretty tight knit group of 4 couples that would hang out and even went on vacation to TN for Valentine's Day together. Well, 1 of the couples has been around alot less lately and chose not to go on the TN trip this year. So we go to TN with the other 2 couples and it feels very odd, like we're not welcome the whole time. Idk why, something was off. We talked to that other couple after getting back from TN and they said they'd been wanting to distance themselves from said tuner/his wife for various reasons.

But we shrugged that off and saw tuner #1/his wife a couple more times over the last couple months and he's stopped by the shop several times. I figured we were good. So me and him have been talking back and forth while I've been building this truck and planning the tune. Well, his MVPI interface from HP Tuners bricked on him 2 days before I finished the truck and was ready for him to tune. No big deal, he said it'd be a few days and he'd have it back. 1 week goes by...2 weeks goes by. He texts me Tuesday night and says "man, I don't think it's gonna be this week either. I haven't seen any tracking yet". So I'm sitting here thinking to myself "I really need that truck up and going, I can't wait for another week. That puts it at over 3 solid weeks I'd be waiting". I have pressure on me from the boss cuz it's taking up space at AMD, I have pressure on me to get started on the front suspension install for the C10 and the C10's engine has been making some sounds like a lifter is going down. I NEED the red truck up and going. Keep in mind, I've never once gotten irritated with him because it's not his fault, it's HPT jerking him around.

My plan at that point was to talk to tuner #2 Wednesday morning, thinking he's likely booked for at least another week as well but on the off chance he wasn't, I'd relay that back to tuner #1 and tell him "dude, I'm sorry but I can't wait any longer" and make sure he's cool with it. Well, tuner #2 says "man, I can be there in 30min after I finish this other tune" so I decide I'm not gonna chance it and tell him to come on. Of course, tuner #1 texts me after tuner #2 has gotten to the shop and says "my interface came, wanna tune it tomorrow".

So I break the news to him and apologize. He goes "nope, I'm done" and it's been radio silence since. He's left all the group texts/social media group chats that we were in too. He's always been one you had to tip toe around about certain things, so I guess it was only a matter of time. Not to mention his wife is a huge drama queen, always has been but we just all dealt with/accepted it. I definitely expected him to be disappointed and a little mad at me, but I figured he'd understand. And I know him well enough to know he'd do the same exact thing in my shoes. I didn't expect him to go nuclear. But ya know what, that's on him. I had to do what's best for me, I did my due diligence waiting as long as I did.

 

[TotalyHucked]

That's when you know you are high up in the automotive industry. Have a falling out with your regular tuner? No big deal, just call up your other buddy the tuner. They are just as easy to find as a barber.

Acksholly, around here that's semi true lol. There's 2 here in town near AMD, there's 1 where I live (an hour away) and then there's another an hour away from AMD in the other direction. All very reputable. So I'm very lucky

 

[legopnuematic]

I’m no relationship specialist, but kind of get the vibe that there might be bigger things going on with tuner #1/SO or something along those lines. Enough of something to begin creeping over into other aspects of their lives?

I dunno

I look at it like you need ‘X’ part, both Napa and Auto Zone carry said part, you prefer Napa, but they have to order it in while Auto Zone has it on the shelf and part X is needed asap to get back on the road.

Doesn’t mean you don’t like or prefer Napa any more, rather that specific scenario it’s what was available and what needed to be done to move things along.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Could be, they've always got crap/drama going on in their lives outside of our friend group. And he should know good and damn well that I didn't want to call the other guy, it was just me being in a pinch.

Tuner #2 knows him too (they work out of the same complex) so I mentioned #1 might be mad while we were standing there tuning the truck. He goes "I don't care if you bring it back to me or you and him play with it to final tune it, doesn't matter to me". But he's like me, he's just very chill and doesn't do drama. He knew he was helping me in a pinch and #1 is my usual tuner. But I'll be going back to tuner #2 and recommending him from now on. I'm don't do the drama. Plus this guy used to work for Detroit Speed, flies all over the country tuning all kinds of stuff and has a full machine shop. He's way more capable. Plus he has a K5 he needs parts for so I can do some bartering with him lol

 

[Chevrolado]

Glad to hear and see the truck is out and cruising again! Nicely done.
Bummer about all the drama - but that kinda stuff happens. Sad.