So deciding to stick with the power house that the mighty 80's is, I researched the turbo options. Now there are many people who have lobbed a turbo on their petrol trucks and had great results but reliability was my #1 concern regardless of power gains and to do it properly once again made it cost prohibitive due to my year off work ive taken.
So back to the drawing board for other options that would give me more power with the expectation of fuel economy savings when driven accordingly so the truck was booked in for a unichip at Superior Auto Sports (good blokes and very clean workshop
). Knowing these piggyback systems reap the best rewards when the vehicle is in an excellent state of tune I needed to carry out a few minor repairs as the old girl had been running like crap for a while since returning from extended outback adventures.A leaking exhaust manifold that had been annoying me for yonks was enough motivation to complete my existing 2.5in system with a set of Pacemaker extractors resulting in allowing the engine to rev more freely and took out a fair bit of lag but I could still feel it was missing something. So I pulled the plugs and they were 50tho over spec
and not much left on 'em so in went new ones but not before completely destroying the topgun (crapgun) leads Id put on a while ago as they had melted themselves to the plugs and would either tear out leaving part of the rubber boot down the hole or the clip from inside the lead stuck to the end of the plug which required painstaking patience to fish out with bent wire 
. So 6 hrs, $370 and alot of swearing later I had new plugs, factory leads, dizzy cap and rotor button installed . Man that made a massive difference - much smoother idling and noticably more ooomph in each gear.
Picking it up in the arvo after having the unichip fitted I wasnt sure what to expect but having a look at the before and after dyno runs was only half the story so after unloading $1295 I was off taking it for a thrash round the block and
me I am impressed. Its drivability is chalk and cheese before and after - quicker off the mark, heaps more responsive in all gears and happily accelerates up hills in 4th that use to be done in 3rd. Take off in second gear up a few local hills is easy now when it use to just labour up reluctantly and each gear is so much more responsive to the slight throttle adjustment. Acceleration to traffic speed is much smoother and the lag between gear changes is all but gone.I dont know how to up load the dyno sheets but i can fax them to someone who can if you like. In the meantime here are the before and after figures. The results were obtained with 35in claws, 4.56 diffs, 5sp manual, rear wheel drive only (part time kit fitted) and reg ULP.
BEFORE UNICHIP: 120.6hp / 89.9kw @ 130kph
273ftlb / 368.55nm @ 94kph
AFTER UNICHIP: 138.8hp / 103.5kw @ 144kph
314ftlb / 423.9nm @ 92pkh
TOTAL GAIN @ REAR WHEELS: 18.2hp / 13.6kw (13.1%)
Would I do it again given my time over bang for buck.....
No economy figures as yet though will have some after the long weekend.
