silverbullet_65

Finally got the plate in this weekend. Much improved over the stocker, although I'd like to wring the neck of the guy who thought up that breakout screw on the AFC housing. Here's the question: I bought the plate off of Ebay from a guy who was making them. They're templated off of the TST plates. However, when I removed my stock plate, I noticed it was just about halfway on the slots, so I could have slid it forward about 1/4". I marked where it was to help put the new one in since I didn't buy the kit and consequently had no guide. When I put the new plate in, it was very close to being slid full forward. I slid it as far as it would go and it probably only went 1/16" of an inch farther than the stocker had been. There's no more slot to slide it in. Is this a consequence of an non major vendor plate? The fit and finish of the piece was pretty good, it fit in there beatifully, although there were two small (approx 1/32") "hills" on the flat parts (might be shift points?) I'm just wondering if this is normally how it goes. Would there be an advantage to removing the solder from the stock mounting plate, removing the rack guide and putting the rack guide of the #8 on it so it could be slid forward? It makes really good power now so I don't think I'm going to hop it further, I'd just like to know.

Does anyone have a #10 plate template out there that could be scanned and then printed/cut out and laid on the stock plate to grind it down? If this 8 plates gets rough on the fuel economy I'm considering either sliding it back or running a milder plate. Also, I'd just like the option of another plate to compare with.

Finally, I took it out and started playing with the star wheel to get my smoke right. I would move it toward the engine 6 or 7 of the little teeth each time, just to see how much it would smoke. The third time (around 16 or 17 clicks toward the engine) all the additional power went away and it wouldn't smoke anymore. I turned it back away from the engine and things went back to good power/some smoke on mashing it. Am I not moving this thing far enough? Do you have to rotate it several full turns to see any change? Rotating it a small amount took the power away and I'm not sure why.

Thanks to all who've helped so far.

Lil Dog

It sounds like you may have slid your AFC housing back inadvertently during reassembly. Make sure your AFC housing is mounted in the same or more forward position to fully utilize the plate.

Sorry I can't help out much on the other specifics..

J-eh

berner

silverbullet_65, I noticed you don't have guages in your profile. I'd be careful sliding that plate without a pyro. I could easily hit 1400 degrees with my 8 plate slid forward about 0.060. The 3K Gov kit may be to blame somewhat, but I'd be careful. You really need some guages before you do any thing else.

As far as getting a profile of a #10, a lot of guys believe that the people who developed the plates should be compensated for their work. There was a thread about this not too long ago.

kandgo

Call TST and explain to them your delima about your ebay plate maybe they might help you!! In all seriousness to buy something someone else put money and hours in to develope from some yahoo that is trying to profit from there hardwork and then ask for help is brazen, the guy who is copying them is in my opinion well we will not go there, Listen to the advice above and goodluck with your in my opinion again stolen plate. Goodluck,, RIck

silverbullet_65

Interesting. . . .
I did go back and look at that thread about the profiles. I can see both sides of that. My only thought is this: I went to Banks, TST, and several other places that sold plates. Nowhere on their sites did I see a "do not copy these" disclaimer. I then searched ebay for an item hoping to find either a used one or a cheaper one. 1/3 the price is hard to turn down. The plate works fine. I will certainly agree that IF this guy bought TST plates and copied them (i went back and reviewed his add and it said "similar to" so it's hard to say) then he acted unethically by my standards, and also by kandgo's, from the looks of his post. However, ethical constraints vary from person to person and I can't make this guy apply mine to his business. Since what he did was technically legal, I don't think he can be disciplined. And while ignorance of the law is no excuse, as I previously stated I didn't see a do not copy this plate disclaimer on TST's website. I simply looked for a cheaper alternative to a product and found one. I paid for an article that was not illegally manufactured. As such I do not consider it stolen, nor asking for plain ol' tuning help brazen, cold hearted, or mercenary.
Anyway. That's really neither here nor there but just thought I'd explain the thought process. That was only one part of the post and I see it was very controversial. I had never heard of this debate before, and I'm not trying to annoy anyone. If anyone can answer the star wheel question in my original post I'd appreciate it. The gauges are being searched for, and meanwhile the truck is just driving me around not pulling anything. I'll keep my foot out of it till I find a pyro I like. Thanks to all. I certainly learned a lot from this post

kandgo

Hey no ill feelings, live and learn and go on. I would get the gauges first and then experiment and adjust it a few times to suit your driving and pulling. I would also suggest the 3ooo gov.spring kit as it will help also, and the kdp needs to be secured,if you need the info on the secure method of tabbing email me your email address and I will send them to you via the email. Goodluck with your plate the guy on the ebay is at fault so go with it. Rick

HammerMTB

Folks who think it's terrible manners to use the intellectual property of another, which by the way is not patented, have no trouble at all violating federal emissions laws. There'll be a lot of wrangling words, "What I did was OK, but what you did sucks" kinda stuff. But the fact is, it's an entirely hypocritical stance to enforce standards on others while ignoring standards yourself. If you want others to play by the rules, play by the rules yourself- ALL OF 'EM

kandgo

????

berner

It wasn't my intention to condemn anybody for not buying a name-brand plate. SilverBullet is new here and I was just giving him a heads-up about what people might say if he was asking for a #10 plate profile. I'm all for saving a buck too, as long as it doesn't affect the quality of what I'm buying.

infidel

One of the advantages of paying the higher price for a TST plate is that they also provide hassle free expert advice and will trade straight across for another numbered plate years down the road if you want to change.
I personally wouldn't feel comfortable asking for advice on a product I didn't buy from them. That goes with all types of products.

gunracer1

i bought a #10 tst plate, i will never buy another. i now grind all my own plates myself. i have a plate that is a half breed #10/#0. this is my plate, anyone that uses it needs to pay me 1 million dollars. i think this is all crazy, this is 20 year old tech. i have put a lot of time in learning what works and what doesn't. i will be making my own sick pump also, there will be a learing curve but i have most of the basics down. i think the main i dea of most of these boards is to share the info, and get every ones truck rollin hard. mike

Jim Fulmer

This is all 20 year old tech......yes even my truck! Stock short block and cam, Ported head, O-ring to hold boost as well as studs, allot of fuel and allot of boost an shoot water to cool that down, I remember this from my teens watching Tractor pulling.

Jim