kimnach.org
Why a carputer in a 1988 IROC-Z?
First
of all, I bought the IROC in July 1988. It has a 220HP V-8 (LB9,
305c.c./5.0L) with a 5-speed manual transmission (boy was it hard to find
a manual!), T-tops, and god's little 1/2-acre of rubber (stole that line
from a ZR1 review in "Car & Driver," I believe). I bought this
car because my 1979 Berlinetta, which was an excellent car, was totaled
when I was rear-ended by a cement-truck at a red light on tax-day 1988.
(The driver was high, but I luckily saw him coming and accelerated
just before the impact.) Initially I bought a 1978 Z-28
(350, 4-speed) which became known as "the Beast" and was my winter
car for the next three or four years. (The IROC has never seen one
of the salt-ridden winters! It's stored after the first snowfall or
road salting, and it comes out of hibernation only after enough rain has
fallen during spring to wash the roads of that car-eating scourge.)
Why
did I buy the '88 a couple of months after buying the The Beast?
The Beast unfortunately developed a rather sudden "bend in the
middle option" and it kept overheating. (Made for some interesting
outings--especially dates.) But I digress. Let's list why a
carputer.
There
are two primary/functional and one geeky reason:
- To have the ability to easily access the OBD-1 (ALDL) data. This
desire arose in the 2000-2001 driving seasons, when my car began to
loose power, hesitate, and lurch. I replaced the EGR valve (boy
was that fun!), looked for vacuum leaks, replaced relays and sensors,
replaced the fuel filter. All to no avail. I then checked
the fuel rail pressure. It was fine, but I suspected that perhaps
it was my fuel pump. Now, I wasn't going to drop the rear axle to
get to the gas tank/fuel pump, unless I could be sure. A co-worker
told me that he had software and that if I had a laptop, we could
install it and drive around to diagnose the problem. While the s/w
diagnosis was inconclusive (OBD-1 just doesn't cover the range of
parameter that II does), it sparked and interest in installing a
computer. Having it ready and at hand. But I didn't want to
carry a laptop or put a micro-atx mobo in my car. I knew that I
would have to wait for technology to make it practical. This
ALDL/OBD-I desire kept me from going with a linux solution for which
there doesn't seem to be support, which I would have preferred (the
cheap engineer in me). But the XP route did lead to Road Runner
(later became RideRunner).
- The second reason was that I wanted to remove the Pioneer 12-disc
changer and not rely on CDs (whether in the changer, or as mp3s on CD-R
and played in the DEH-P7600MP).
- Hey, my mom didn't react this
way, but I am a technology geek and an e.e.. Who else would
have owned Betamax and Amiga?
Questions, broken links, comments, concerns?
e-mail me, Greg Kimnach
(non-hyphenated American)
My
car is a reflection of my hobbies--it just has a lot more horsepower!