Since the early conception of the Teacher’s Pet Project we have been lucky enough to have many great partners willing to go above and beyond to educate the next generation of automotive enthusiasts. One of which is FAST EFI, and on July 7th we got the amazing opportunity to have David Page from FAST hold an Introduction to EFI course for the students, parents, and staff at West Bend Dyno Tuning. We were also thankful that West Bend Dyno Tuning opened up one of their chassis dynos so that we could strap down Teacher’s Pet and use it as an educational platform.

We started the day with the basics of what EFI is and why it has taken the main stage away from carburation. David Page had a wonderful interactive presentation that incorporated great hand outs and literature on how EFI systems work. As an educator, I was very impressed with how well he communicated a sophisticated part of an automobile like EFI to my students. By the time we hit the mid-morning break we were ready to fire the engine for the first time. One of the cool things about the FAST EFI is that you can choose to setup/tune through the supplied touch screen tablet, or you can attach a laptop.  Setup was remarkably easy. We entered some basic parameter like engine cubic in., target air fuel, target idle, and a few others. Once we were ready to start the engine the key was just bumped and boom the engine fired up and idled. This was truly memorable for the students and myself. Seeing the faces of the students and how proud/excited they were to see something they had built come to life was truly a moment I think they will never forget!

As soon as the engine fired David jumped directly into showing us what the self-learning software was doing and how quickly it was adjusting to meet our previously set parameters. When we were ready we made some pulls on the dyno at various speeds, loads, and rpm that would replicate driving conditions on the road as this would help speed up the ECU’s learning. We were ready to check in on the self-learning software to see how far off it was and if David Page was going to need to remap the entire table. Much to our surprise the engine was only a few % away from perfect targets. Which for most people this would be the time they would stop and go have fun with the car, but not David. He fine-tuned some areas to make the car run top notch so that we wouldn’t have any issues when we hit the track at the Car Craft Nationals in Milwaukee.

Now for the numbers! We knew the 630hp Wegner Built 416 LS3 engine could withstand well over 7,000 rpm thanks to the lightweight Delwest Titanium Valves, COMP Valve springs and mild Cam, Wegner CNC LS3 ported Heads, Scat Internals, and JE Pistons. After the first pull to 6k we were well north of 500hp at the wheels. By the third and fourth pull the self-learning software knew what was needed and we pushed the engine to over 6700rpm and belted out an astonishing 542hp at the wheels on 93 octane pump gas.

That’s only a 14% drivetrain loss through our ATD (Automatic Transmission Design) Rebuilt Super T-10 4 speed, QuickTime bellhousing and Hayes Dragon Claw 1150hp clutch. The Custom Don’s Auto Parts Chromoly Driveshaft and John’s Industries Nine Inch Differential held the power like a pro. Throughout the dyno process we had ZERO mechanical or electrical issues. This is a true testament to the quality of the products we used in the build, work ethic of the students, and most importantly, the outstanding technicians at West Bend Dyno Tuning for double checking everything on the car before it was put to the test on the chassis dyno.

Yet again another wonderful experience for our students at West Bend High School Automotive and it would not have happened without the help from our wonderful sponsors like FAST EFI and West Bend Dyno Tuning. Stay tuned for the Car Craft Nationals update and much more summer fun with Teacher’s Pet!

https://youtu.be/VEZig08yFm0

You can keep up with the progress on the build and see past updates at www.powerperformancenews.com/category/features/project-teachers-pet.

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