[jasonrmorrow]

I'll jump in on a few for Corie here, he ran an auxillary little 6 circuit fuse panel from the local parts store. Since he needed 4 switched/keyed 12 volt sources he grabbed a 12 volt switched/keyed wire and ran it to the main power in on the panel. When the truck was off, there was 11.7 volts at that main power in(low batt voltage from cranking and not starting), but once we got the truck running (feather the pedal a TON) the voltage dropped to 10.5 volts, so to eliminate a few variables we ran a wire straight from the alternator with a manual switch to that panel. Didn't touch the pedal, turned the key and it fired right up and idled. So now Corie has to run a heavy wire either from the ignition switch main wire or another 12gauge or better source.

So basically, if you are using the Painless wiring kit, (you should, truely is worth every penny), it has one labeled pink wire ( i'm pretty sure its pink) that says "Ignition 12volts" on it. Wherever you ran that wire to a power source check at that connection with the engine running, if it doesnt run check it while cranking.

And don't just use a test light to see if there is keyed voltage at the point you want to take the voltage from, there are resistor wires in these trucks that drop the 12volts to 5volts and the truck won't even start. So use the multimeter.

Computer controlled vehicles need to see a good strong voltage signal and really good grounds to run properly. Run heavy ground straps from the battery to the body and the engine to the frame. Clean all areas before attatching the terminals.

As far as comparison to a carb, i ran an Edelbrock Performer Intake and 1406 (600CFM Electric Choke) Carb before the TPI and throttle response, ease of starting, warm up time, SMELL, MPG (went from 12.7@3.8l/gallon to 16.3@3.8l/gallon), and coolness factor have all increased tenfold.

There was quite a gap in the time i drove with the carb and the TPI but the reason i went to TPI wasn't to make power, the TPI is a great torque producing EFI system, it doens't make much power beyond 4500 RPM, the reason i went with it was for throttle response, convenience and fuel economy.

If you want high performance you aren't going to get it (easily) from the stock gm computer without some deep knowledge of prom burning bin editing and the like.(It is possible though).

The carb never ran well for me in Calgary, elevation changes, temperature changes yadda yadda, not to mention sitting in the truck at -25*C holding the throttle down so the truck would stay running, versus jump in turn the key and run back to the house or be on your merry way, ORRRRRR push the command start button from the house and amaze your friends that your rusty grey primer 60's truck will start itself.(Like mine will when i put it in for a grand total of $20).