HPTuners for 1996 Impala SS

[AutoWiz]

We all know the sad truth to the title of this thread. Unfortunately if you have optispark you need JET DST. It is an old tuning solution that was never updated and then changed hands and now it's sold but nobody supports or updates it. It has to be run in compatibility mode with windows xp service pack 2 and then it needs a serial to usb converter. For us half way through writing the ecu a window popped up that said jet dst has encountered a problem and needs to close. And that was the end of the ecu. I never found out why the program closed. So we couldn't get another ecu and try again in fear of burning another pcm. And from searching I found complaints from people about burning multiple pcm's So after the RMCR stage 2 vortech kit went in we had to get a mail order pcm. It was not great and I did use jet dst to read the mail order pcm and I will post up how this canned tuner did us in a little bit. But it was the only option because I still didn't even understand why dst closed in the first place. The car is nice..




Those were from the before pulls. Then we added the RMCR stage 2 kit. This really was a high quality kit and the instructions were well layed out and it went together like a breeze. Oh and the guys over at Rocky Mountain Competitive Research were very helpful when I did have a question. Here is that kit installed..



It really soils what should be a good experience when what you built doesn't run right. And while ya the power went up and the numbers on the dyno were there for the most part, there were part throttle driveability concerns a few dead spots at different points of throttle input vs load and it fouls out plugs pretty quick. So the solution was ordered, and the parts came in. Here is the box from efi connection..



And the universal LS1 / 4l60E / DBC harness from psi conversions..



There is also a 411 pcm and of course 8 coils and stuff. While maybe this conversion is not common, it surely is not unheard of. And as such I was wondering if any here have done an LT to LS controller swap? And if so if you could post up your .hpt file?

[Oleblu]

Mines not lt to ls, but it was a black box to ls controller swap. I swapped/repinned the 0411 pcm in my 97 5.7 vortec silverado, pulled from a wrecked 02 tahoe. I guess the only thing that really makes an lt is the optispark and reverse cooling. with the l31 that comes in the 96-02 vehicles they went back to conventional cooling, other than that the head design is identical from what I understand. i'm curious what OS this 0411 will run for the lt in the 96 ss impala. for all the guys running 0411's in their trucks we use an 01-02 express van tune there are more than a few in the repository. unfortunately my tunes will be of no use to you im still running a distributor/camshaft sensor with mine. also im currently in the middle of tuning after my cam swap and running an nv3500 manual trans. their are a precious few of us on the forums involved in the older stuff. again unfortunately you have managed to anger more than most of us the last few days. so im not sure you will get much attention for a while, but hey im the nice guy trying to be friendly to everyone. this is me being nice and trying to contribute to your thread without criticism. if your really interested in my tunes there are a couple in the mpfi intake swap thread directly under yours. im definitely interested in your results with this and will be checking for updates.

[AutoWiz]

So far we are thinking about flashing the ecu as a 2002 Camaro z28. it is dbc has 4l60e and hopefully it'll be good enough to call a start. The 1969 GTO we built we flashed as a 2000 corvette just because we have unlimited 2000 corvette vehicle licensing and it fit the bill. But that is dbw. We are primarily a restoration shop and usually build the older stuff. I may be vilified at this point, but I haven't lied about anything. Please look at these other ls based old school builds:
https://www.superchargerforums.com/t...ring-gto.3135/
https://www.superchargerforums.com/t...n-a-7-0l.3130/
The GTO is done The 67 roadster is still a work in progress. And Thank You Oleblu for being the nice guy.

[Oleblu]

If I'm not mistaken I believe a member or two here are running the 24x relucter and coil over plug. They are also using express van tunes I believe. One with 4l60 one with 4l80. Unfortunately Im fairly sure they are both 4wd tunes.

[Fast4.7]

If I'm not mistaken I believe a member or two here are running the 24x relucter and coil over plug. They are also using express van tunes I believe. One with 4l60 one with 4l80. Unfortunately Im fairly sure they are both 4wd tunes.

I run the 24x, but my tune is from a 2002 8.1 Van. Running a DBW and 4L80E running a 350 with 24x conversion. A 5.3/4L60E DBC tune would be a better starting point. A 2002 5.7 Camaro starting tune might also work well after disabling the traction control bits.

[AutoWiz]

Finally wrapped up a few other jobs and I am getting back on this beast. To get the best possible results we decided to pull the engine..



Once out and on a stand we can see that someone disabled but didn't remove all of the egr components..



So we made a proper block off plate for the egr valve and removed the blockoff for exhaust inlet and just tapped the hole for a pipe plug..



The new reluctor for the crank gets sandwiched between the timing sprocket and the harmonic balancer. The reluctor for the cam is also in place and the new timing cover is ready to go on..



This looks beautiful to me. a cam and a crank position sensor and no optical sensors near places that are prone to leaking..



And here the motor is all back together and ready to go back in the car..

[AutoWiz]

Before we toss the engine back in the car we really want to get the new harness installed before the engine..



Unfortunately this vehicle does not have a dedicated engine harness. The Antilock brakes, transmission and some emissions and other stuff all pass through this main harness that is also the engine harness. So we must deconstruct the harness to separate the engine stuff from everything else..



Once we have the harness separated we can identify the attaching wires left and chop this engine harness out..



Now we can lay the 2 harnesses side by side and get a better idea of the needed modifications to the new harness to make it correct for this application..

[matts]

I can't get past how shiny the wheels are lol. Great looking car!!

That looks like a wiring nightmare.

[AutoWiz]

I spent the entire day today modifying the standalone harness to be right for this application..



The standalone harness just comes with the minimum mandatory to get the engine running. For all the features that this car had we need to add a bunch of circuits to the pcm connectors, and spend time with a shop database(shopkey pro) sifting through diagrams for both a 1996 impala ss and also a 2000 Camaro z28. There is a factory anti theft system that we would like to keep in tact. There is cruise control that we would like to keep. We really want the ecu to control the a/c compressor because this way we can have it cut out the a/c compressor at wide open throttle and also so we can drive the fans off of a/c state and pressures. This requires a fistful of circuits on its own as there are 2 wires for ac request and control but also 3 wires for a/c pressure transducer. For the fuel tank emissions to be correct we are adding a fuel tank vent solenoid and pressure sensor so the 0411 pcm can drive the purge solenoid correctly and watch them fuel tank pressures. And we are trying desperately to find a way to make the uart communicating abs module work with the class 2 communicating pcm. This might well end in a ebcm conversion to keep anti lock brakes with this conversion.

[AutoWiz]

I can't get past how shiny the wheels are lol. Great looking car!!

That looks like a wiring nightmare.

You know you gotta be on point if you wanna build the really cool stuff like this..


https://www.superchargerforums.com/t...ring-gto.3135/


https://www.superchargerforums.com/t...roadster.3131/


https://www.superchargerforums.com/t...n-a-7-0l.3130/

...just another walk in the park.

[AutoWiz]

Something else that needs to happen here is we really want to try to create a stiffer connection between the engine and the car. As the power and rear gear have gone up the engine really wants to twist in the engine bay. Here is where the motor sits..



On the bench we drill out the rivets and break down the motor mount..



And then we replace the inserts and bolt the mounts back together..



Now these inserts were not made for the '96 impala SS. In fact they were made for a F body. So there was some modifications that had to happen to make these work in this car. While they fit in the clamshells, they were too wide and I had to grind metal off one end on both inserts. Also the spacing between the bolt hole and alignment pin on the inserts was different. To resolve this I notched the motor mount brackets on the engine..

[AutoWiz]

So the engine is back in it's place and urethane motor and trans mounts are all in and done and water under the bridge..



The next step is to figure out a way and place to mount 8 ignition coils to this motor. I have already created a mockup for this effort and figured out where I want to put them so from here we just need to build something strong that matches and looks ok sitting atop those huge aluminum valve covers. So we start with a a length of Stainless steel all thread chopped down into quarters..



Next we need some hardware..



And now we have 2 coil packs..



I want them centered on the valve covers maybe using just the 2 center bolts of the valve covers to secure them..



So I got a length of aluminum angle again chopped it into quarters and now I have my new coil brackets..



They make a nice fit..



Up next is some light electrical work..

[Fast4.7]

I spent the entire day today modifying the standalone harness to be right for this application..



The standalone harness just comes with the minimum mandatory to get the engine running. For all the features that this car had we need to add a bunch of circuits to the pcm connectors, and spend time with a shop database(shopkey pro) sifting through diagrams for both a 1996 impala ss and also a 2000 Camaro z28. There is a factory anti theft system that we would like to keep in tact. There is cruise control that we would like to keep. We really want the ecu to control the a/c compressor because this way we can have it cut out the a/c compressor at wide open throttle and also so we can drive the fans off of a/c state and pressures. This requires a fistful of circuits on its own as there are 2 wires for ac request and control but also 3 wires for a/c pressure transducer. For the fuel tank emissions to be correct we are adding a fuel tank vent solenoid and pressure sensor so the 0411 pcm can drive the purge solenoid correctly and watch them fuel tank pressures. And we are trying desperately to find a way to make the uart communicating abs module work with the class 2 communicating pcm. This might well end in a ebcm conversion to keep anti lock brakes with this conversion.

The factory LT1 PCM should have already had all the a/c stuff from the factory. Including the a/c cutout relay, a/c request input and the AC pressure transducer. The factory LT1 harmess should even have the correct termination pins.

As for retaining ABS. All it needs is an speed sensor signal from the new PCM. The rest is already all self contained.

Also if I remember correctly you have a frequency VATS option with the 0411. I know my 5.7 Express van calibration had 3 options. One was Off and one was Serial. Camnot rember the 3rd at the moment and do not have HP Tuners or TunerCats in front of me at the moment.

[Fast4.7]

Also since the LT1 already uses dual knock sensor I would recomeend using dual knock sensors with the 0411. I used dual sensors on my 1997 Express 350 when I went to the 24x setup. I used the OEM knock values on Bank 2 cylinders and copied them over to the respective cylinders on Bank 1. The Bank 1 sensitivity settings are set much higher than Bank 2 on the factory 5.7 Express van calibration. Doing the dual sensors eliminated 100% of the false knock retard I was seeing from the valvetrain.

[AutoWiz]

We will definitely be keeping knock sensors and their proper calibrations. However, the dual knock sensor of the LT1 is different in it's wiring than for the 0411 pcm. For the LT1 controller both sensors share 1 wire back to the pcm. For the 0411 ecu each sensor has it's own wire back to the ecu. And the sad tragedy about the speed signal the abs controller needs is that it receives it from a uart 800 line that is not present on the 0411 ecu. Or not for this function, anyways(there is uart for etc I believe). But you know, if you have a solution to get the 1996 impala SS abs controller communicating with the 0411 pcm for the love of God, please share.

[AutoWiz]

Now that the engine and coils are in place I can remove the engine harness for one last round of modifications before permanent install..



Along with the electrical as we build this back up there are some further changes that we want to make to help in the generation of boost. Or rather keep from loosing pressure. And the way we do that is by removing the pcv system from the intake manifold. Later on we will take the pcv valve and tee it into the fresh air hose that goes into the valve cover and then run a hose to the air filter. No need for a catch can with them huge canton valve covers, we shouldn't be picking up any oil. So we removed the fitting under the throttle body in the intake manifold where the pcv valve gets plumbed to and replaced it with a pipe plug. We then remove the plate on top of the throttle body and do this..



There is a rubber vacuum cap pushed down the hole so nothing can pass through into the engine and the pile of right stuff on top is to keep the vacuum cap from pushing out when the intake gets into positive pressure. There is a really nice new cover plate for the throttle body that came from efi connection. It is a nice piece and looks good on the motor..

[Oleblu]

Your making some really nice progress here. I'm enjoying following this thread. Can't wait for a finished pic and a dyno video.

[AutoWiz]

Your making some really nice progress here. I'm enjoying following this thread. Can't wait for a finished pic and a dyno video.

It's coming. And thank you. I have to keep up the progress because I have to get back on this: https://www.superchargerforums.com/t...n-a-7-0l.3130/

...I think I might even have a before dyno video of this impala if I can find it.

[Earwax]

Great coil brackets.
Another use for all thread.

[Jon S.]

Hello AutoWiz,

I always enjoy your posts - pictures are awesome - sometimes I get so focused on getting things done that I rarely take the time to photo document things along the way.

To your ABS setup .... I haven't done a B-body ABS conversion, so I don't know for certain how to make it work ... just some discussion.

On some 1990's vehicles, the ABS system (EBCM) requires a 128K PPM input from the PCM - typically when the TOS sensor is used for the rear axle ABS. If memory serves, the B-body's had 3 ABS sensors - one for each front wheel, and a single sensor for the rear axle. These should feed the EBCM with the required wheel speed data (so likely no need for a 128K PPM input).

The UART line may or may not be required for the ABS system to function - I don't know. It may be used by the EBCM to output data (i.e. turn on the ABS lamp in the IPC), or it may actually receive data.

GM often used the phrase UART (universal asynchronous receiver transmitter) to describe communications between modules. The UART lines for the early DBW throttle body vehicles were also referred to as dedicated redundant Serial Data lines.

So, if you do indeed require UART communications for the ABS system to function - will Serial Data communications work (i.e. are these actually the same).

The P01 PCMs (your 0411) have two Serial Data outputs. C1 (Blue) pin 58 is typically wired to the DLC Port for Serial Data communications. C1 (Blue) pin 59 is also a Serial Data output - connected to the BCM (or other module) on various platforms.

Just some food for thought ... you won't know for certain until you can conduct some testing.