Fueling Passion and Performance: The Journey of a Muscle Car Tuner
In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show
Fueling Passion and Performance: The Journey of a Muscle Car Tuner
In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show · Apr 24, 2024
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Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am, central.
See you there, yep.
Thanks for joining us on today's In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
Ahead, alex Peets from Peets Performance Tunes in Tomball, texas.
Later, jeff has this week's Motor Minute.
I'll have the stories making automotive news headlines.
Howdy, along with Mike out of this world, mars.
We always need more.
Jeff Zekin.
It genius David Ainslie will be joining us next weekend.
I'm Don Armstrong, glad that you could join us on today's live broadcast.
If you're listening or watching on this Saturday morning, it is a live show.
We always good to see David 8 to 11.
Yeah, it is, and we haven't seen him in a while.
He's a fun guy.
Well, he's been busy.
He's been out to Las Vegas to the National Association of Broadcasters Convention.
That's always a busy time.
I've been to that a couple of times and, wow, you've never seen so much electronic gear in all your life.
He, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
I wouldn't know what to do.
You should take Mike with him, and Mike would get lost.
Well, that's why he sent me a text.
He said I need to go out there and bring two credit cards.
Exactly you really should Of all the money that you're making off of this show.
That's why I'm driving the corvette that I want exactly I saw that corvette, that white one.
Yes, they had it locked up and they had a picture of you with a circle slash on it not to touch it.
Yeah, yeah so.
so we've got them.
There's that?
Yep, alex is your last name.
Pete's Pites Pites.
Of course it's Pites.
Leave it to me to jack it up.
Sorry, but I just figured that you know what the heck.
I'll give it a shot.
Then I didn't know.
So it's Alex Pites Pites.
Performance Tunes.
Alex, how long have you been in business out there?
Just about 10 years for this company.
Great.
How in the world did you get into performance tuning?
Well, that's quite the story there.
I think I was about 15, maybe just turning 16.
I had a 98 Mustang GT.
That was my first V8 car that I owned.
Prior to that, I had a couple uh dsms.
I had a 3000 gt vr4.
Uh, I had a.
My first you know uh car was actually plymouth laser.
Um, if you're familiar with those, a 19 plymouth laser, yeah, um yeah, so I got a laser and yeah, it's like a little 1.8
liter.
It wasn't super fun but, you know, got me into it.
And then I uh got into the 3000 gt that I actually bought with paper out money, um, because I started my paper out back when I was like probably 12 or 13 how old I was and then uh bought the 3000 gt in kansas city with paper out money I think it was like 5500 bucks.
I paid for it.
That was vr4, twin turbo, all-wheel drive.
That was the greatest thing in the world, uh.
But then I realized that that thing was uh just a money pit, um.
So I ended up selling it.
And then I, you know, found v8s and I've never went back since uh.
So I got the mustang.
It actually came with a little Diablo handheld tuner.
I'm sure you guys are probably familiar with those?
Yes, exactly.
And the Diablo actually allowed me to add subtract timing, add subtract fuel, and so that's pretty cool and I can also do like basic data logging.
I really didn't have much of an idea of what I was doing but just through basic research and like literally I would go out in the middle of the night, um, I was in iowa, basically nothing but cornfields all around me and we go on two lane road and I would time myself okay, how fast did I go from this?
You?
know point a to point b, and then I'd make adjustments and time myself again and look at my mile per hour, and that was kind of my dino uh at the time.
And then, uh, I just kind of took it from there.
But I ended up joining the military.
So I was in the Army from the age of 17 to 20.
And you were hot-rodding Jeeps in the Army, yeah.
Well, we were more strikers and Humvees, gotcha, okay, yep, so, yeah, so I was in the Army for about six years.
While I was in I did a lot of research.
I had different cars throughout the time.
I had a, uh, oh, six gto, I had a, uh.
I did have one more four-cylinder car.
That was a srt4 uh, neon, that was pretty cool car.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun, um, and I had just various other cars.
I've helped buddies out and then when I was deployed I would just do nothing but research, tuning, all.
Just whenever I was not on missions or writing reports, I was just researching, tuning, collecting whatever information I could, because I knew I wanted to do something with cars and computers and keep going on that path after I got out um.
So after I got out Um.
So after I got out, finished college and uh actually started my first shop back in Iowa and I had that shop for a decent amount, maybe just a little over a year or so, um.
And then I ended up going to a tech school down down here in Houston.
Um went to that tech school, linked up with another shop here in in uh, just outside of Houston, and they needed a dyno.
They needed a tuner.
So I actually moved.
After school finished up, I moved my dyno down here to a shop here.
But I was actually already interviewing for a position out in California, uh, with LSX TV.
So they wanted an editor, but they also wanted a tuner, like an in-house tuner, that was also going to be the editor.
So I was, you know, uh, working on getting that editor.
But they also wanted a tuner like an in-house tuner, that was also going to be the editor.
So I was, you know, working on getting that job, but I was going to do remote tuning for the shop where I moved my dyno to for the time being.
Well, right at the last minute they told me they couldn't give me the job because of administrative reasons or whatever it may have been.
But at that point I already had my house sold, just got divorced actually, and my whole life was like in my this U-Haul big, you know whatever they are and I had my firehawk in the back side, the big U-Haul and I had a car show in the back with the firehawk and I was heading out to California one way or another, come hell or high water.
I actually came through and picked up my buddy, who I met at tech school here.
He was in Colorado Picked him up in Colorado and got out to California and then, right after that, I started looking for jobs and I went on Indeed actually and Celine was hiring for a calibration engineer.
I applied and a week and a half later I was working with Selene.
So yeah, I was with Selene for just like a little bit under a year.
It was pretty cool.
How was it working for Steve Selene?
He's very intricate, he's very particular, but you know, that's good, those are good qualities to have, yeah, and somebody of his position, you know, and he really was proud of his road racing yeah, we've had him on the show getting my introduction to road racing.
Uh, and you know the s7, you know the all success that thing had.
That was an amazing platform and you know every room at celine we had different names for different tracks that he'd won at in Le Mans, I believe.
Well, not only Le Mans, but all the different.
Road racing circuits yeah.
Yeah, so that was pretty cool.
But then, like he would come in and he would like point or count the number of chairs in each room and he'd say, hey, there's not the right amount of chairs in here.
Somebody took a chair out here, put the chair.
You know stuff like that.
So, uh, you know it was pretty interesting needless to say so how did you wind up here?
well, so while I was at selene I ended up, uh, I was still doing some tuning for that other shop.
I started doing some other remote tuning in the meantime, like in the evening, and, uh, the shop that I had moved my dyno to.
They said hey, you know, we kind of we need a full-time tuner and want to use you and I was like, yeah, that you know, the production tuning thing was kind of you know it was good but I wanted to do more custom tuning, I want to do more racing and I want to do some other aspects of you know the job, bigger things.
So I left selene and went to work full-time for the company that was here in Houston, and so you know that was that.
And you just loved us so much.
You said I'm going to pick up and move there.
Yeah, well, this would be the second time I'd moved to Houston.
I moved there for, you know, school and now I moved here for this job.
But then it keeps going.
After that I mean I'm going to take you too far, deep down my rabbit hole of my story.
But then it keeps going.
After that I mean I'm going to take you too far, deep, you know, deep down my rabbit hole, my story.
But uh, you know, I'll kind of try to, you know, sum it up, I ended up leaving that place and then started doing a lot of freelance tuning in Houston.
Uh, but in all that process of being at Celine and where I'd been, I met different people through HB tuners, because I was helping HB tuners with getting coyote, getting into the Coyote platform, because we had a lot of Coyote cars at Selene, right.
And so in the process of doing that, they said, hey, the tuning school is hiring, they want somebody who can help them develop this book on tuning forwards using HB Tuners.
And so I said, yeah, I can do that.
And so I actually moved down to Florida and started working at the school and was their lead instructor.
Bottom line is is that you followed your passion and wound up here with your own place.
Yeah, exactly, well, congratulations, you know.
I don't know whether Morris told you or not, but somebody that you know turned us on to you, and that would be Mr Borcharding over at paint house yeah, that's, he did tell me about that yes and um, I, because I asked him.
I said I need somebody that can help me with the tune on my 2001 ls1 corvette and he gave us your name.
And and then Mars says, yeah, he doesn't do LS1s, but everything after that he does.
So I'm thinking, pardon me, I do LS1s.
Good, that's good to hear.
And so I wanted to present you with this scenario.
Now, this is a stock LS1 with a K&N filter on it and it's got a Corsa cat-back exhaust system on it, six-speed manual transmission, but everything else is stock on it.
And I've been doing some reading on some of these guys.
You know, putting on blowers, putting on turbochargers and, from what I gather, when you start putting boost into them, you can crack cylinder walls and mainly, valve springs are not really set up for boost.
And I'm thinking, well, I don't want to go that far, but I know that there's more potential in that engine without, you know, really hurting the engine or potentially hurting the engine, and thinking, well, maybe I need to get a hold of somebody and I couldn't find anybody.
And Randy Borchening says call Alex.
And I said, okay, well, so that's how we got you on the show.
Can you help me Sell it?
Sell it?
No, we're not selling the car.
It's only got 33,000 miles on it.
Wow, yeah, it sounds like a cream puff, yeah it is.
That's kind of like my Firehawk.
You know, that thing was, yeah, super low miles, very nice, it was LS Firehawk, not LT Firehawk.
But yeah, no, it certainly can help you out with that.
It.
Just, you know, for a lot of my customers what I try to boil it down to basically is how much horsepower do you want to make and how much money do you want to throw at the project?
Right, that's what it boils down to.
I don't want to throw any money to the project.
That's the bottom line there.
But no, I mean, I can certainly understand spending some money doing it, but I don't want to-.
You want to go exotic, yeah, and I don't want to put any aftermarket boost on it or anything like that.
At least, I haven't talked to you.
I'm talking to you now and I don't want to go crazy with it and I have a limited budget to begin with.
So what, what do you think?
Which?
How would you advise me which way to go?
Um, I would just start with, you know, optimizing what you got right.
So, um, retuning the car with the uh intake system you have and the exhaust, and I mean just tuning them stock, uh, they were fairly, I wouldn't say detuned from the factory, but they weren't optimized that wide open throttle.
The ls is actually one of those vehicles you can actually get some power out of being a naturally aspirated V8 and just tuning the vehicle so typically.
I want to say we see about 20 horsepower gains from tuning it, especially with, you know, having some kind of an intake system on it and exhaust, which is helpful in those cars, and also, you know, tuning the car.
So that's where I would start, you know, and just also, you could just even start with the baseline on the dyno, see where you're at and then say, okay, what's my air fuel ratio right now?
What's you know, what's timing?
Do I have any knock?
Is the car running correctly?
You know?
Is it?
Okay?
Great, then you've got a good baseline.
Because I tell everybody you can't tune a car unless it's mechanically sound.
If the car's not mechanically sound, then you have to get that right and then you can tune the vehicle.
So that's where I would start with that.
Do your basic tune-up plugs, wires, so on and so forth.
Fuel filter if you haven't changed that in a while because it sounds like the car sits for a majority of its life?
Yes, that's correct.
Just want to make sure everything's good to go there and then, yeah, get it on the dyno and then read the current file out.
I don't even know where the fuel filter is on the car.
Yeah, I can't remember exactly on that particular application, but typically it's not too far from the fuel tank, so it's going to be probably a third of the way up the car.
Under it there's going to be an inline fuel filter there.
Pressurized yeah yeah, so like the C5, actually the fuel filter and the fuel pressure regulator are integrated into one, so it's a very popular fuel filter or regulator to use in LS swaps, like in the Blazers and stuff like that.
Guys are putting LSs in them.
They'll just use a fuel pressure regulator slash filter from a C5, and that's how they get their 58 PSI base pressure.
Interesting See, he knows all this stuff.
Yes, mars.
So I'm wondering, because sooner or later I'm gonna have one.
But so as a tuner, so don comes over there.
He says, okay, I've got here, here's my c1, I mean my c5.
Do you do as part of your process the change the plugs, the plug wires and all that stuff is part of getting the car to that baseline, or should he do that before he comes to you?
Yeah, certainly it's a good idea to do it beforehand, and a lot of people will advise them.
They'll ask me okay, what plugs do you want in it?
Okay, what gap do you want?
And so on and so forth.
So we advise them of that.
And then plug wires obviously are a good thing, especially people who have like headers and things like that.
Plug wires get brittle, they get hot, you know, and they start to break.
So that's like the number one thing that we want to look for, of course, the ignition system that's working well.
Another thing on an older vehicle, especially a vehicle that's sat around quite a bit and, depending on what ambient conditions you're in, it's very humid it's going to have a bigger impact.
But I would also get the injectors flow tested and clean, because we see a lot of problems with injectors as well, especially a port injection setup as opposed to a direct injection setup.
So it's a good idea just to get that baseline stuff out of the way prior to putting on the dyno.
So okay.
So if I engage you to help me on this, you'll guide me along the way Now.
Would you do the fuel filter?
Would you do the spark plug wires?
Do you have the capability of doing that out there at your shop?
Yeah, we certainly can.
And we certainly do.
Yeah.
And so I could say okay, alex, I'm coming out there and I'd set up a date and time with you and we would get to work.
You would, I would stand back and watch and hand you tools.
Yeah.
Anakanapana, anakanapana.
So there would be one of those kind of things and you're good with that.
Yeah.
Well, you know, there's some hesitancy in your answer there and I'm thinking no, he doesn't want me there, he wants me to drop off the car and let him do his thing, probably.
Well, that's usually the preferred method, but yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, I mean, I want to kind of see it on the dyno and see what it'll do, and I want to see how you do that, you know.
Yeah, so typically what I do in those situations is, for all the introductory things or the baseline mechanical components that we address, we'll have the vehicle there, get that stuff kind of looked at, give it a once over, do a health check, make sure everything's good.
And then you know, once I'm on the dyno and you know I get a baseline, I'll send an information to the customer and then you know I'll say, hey, come on over, come check it out on the dyno, because everybody wants to see the car on the dyno.
They want to hear their car run.
I get that.
It's a lot of fun, and so yeah, at that point then.
I'll say hey, come on over, let's check it out together, Take video it and then you know.
Then I got to go take the vehicle off dyno and then the most important part is test driving it on the street.
Make sure your drivability is correct and good, Make sure you know it drives as it should.
And then that's really where the meat and potatoes comes in.
So it's like it's difficult because I have a very like a comprehensive process and so it sometimes takes a while and also, given the fact that I'm running the business and doing all the tuning, it's very difficult for me to sit down in one spot for five hours at a time and get one thing done, because I'm spread thin in so many directions.
So I typically advise my customers hey, you know, I'm good at what I do, I'm in high demand, so it just requires a little bit of Patience.
So a good thing for me to do would be to drop the car off, say here you go, alex, go for it yeah, but then when I'm ready, of course, I want you to be a part of that process, you know towards the end and make sure you know what's going on and, of course, keep you informed along the way.
Oh my god, it's like christmas I can't wait to open that present at the end.
Okay, so he'll.
He'll be there at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning.
So how long does that typically would you?
You know, don comes in there.
Five hours.
Well, that's if he sits down and does it.
But the whole process.
How long would you want the car for Typically, just typically.
Typically we advise our customers.
That's about two days.
Oh, that's nothing.
Yeah well, you would have it for a week because you're in tombowl and I'm in sugar land and I gotta get out there and I gotta get back.
So do you understand?
is that?
Is that workable for somebody?
Oh yeah, we do.
we do stuff like that all the time.
That's our typical uh in-house tune customer, because you got you know.
Different uh companies do it differently, of course, but I really try to slow it down a little bit.
Let's focus on you know X, y, z, right, let's get through all the whole process, or A to Z, if you will, so that way we make sure that we have a comprehensive look and we understand what's exactly going on with the vehicle, because nine times out of 10, I get a car in.
It needs more than just a tune.
If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me, oh, it just needs a tune, I'd be way more wealthy.
I'd be a wealthy man.
Actually, I'm just a poor hot rodder, yeah.
So it's interesting how many things you run into that you have no idea is even a problem.
What are you working on now?
What do you got?
in the shop now, actually what I have on the dyno is a c8.
Um, you know, pretty big into the c8 market right now.
We've got a lot of challenger uh, hellcats and stuff like that we work on as well.
But c8 has been our big thing for the last, you know, four years.
Um, it's a 416 cubic inch C8.
It's got twin turbos, dual, you know twin 64, 66 turbos, e85 fuel system.
You know everything.
You basically throw out those cars.
It's got Right, and so it should make about 1100 wheel horsepower on my dyno.
Okay, that's what Don wants.
Don wants, yeah, yeah.
Maybe we could trade out that C8 motor for my C5.
Yeah, no One hand and Listen, we C5s are too, by the way.
They're a lot of fun.
So we're running out of time, but I want to have you back on another time and we'll get more into it, because I find it fascinating what you do and I've been looking for you for a long time.
We have Randy Borcharding to thank for our meeting and we appreciate all of your information and I know that you're busy and chomping at the bit to get back out to the shop.
I get that, but it's been a pleasure talking to you.
We're going to talk and I'm going to call you on the telephone and we'll set up something.
All right, yeah, no, it sounds great.
I appreciate you guys having me on and you know.
By all means, if you need anything else, let me know.
There was a cartoon back in the fifties and in the cartoon I think it said something along you'll be sorry because now we're going to be knocking on your door at three o'clock in the morning and say, alex, hey man, what are we going to do here?
Or you get that call for bail money.
That's the other thing too.
Alex, great talking to you, my friend.
Thank you so much and we'll be in touch All right, you guys take care.
You do the same.
Alex Pites.
Pites Performance Tunes out in Tom Tom.
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Jeff has the Motor Minute for us.
I do have a Motor Minute, and this is all about slang and uh car terms from back in the day, so I've got a couple for you.
What, uh, what, what did the words banger mean when you were growing up.
Well, banger was uh what, how many cylinders like a four cylinder, four bangers four bangers?
Yeah, fadeaways, what were fadeaways, fadeaways.
Uh, what were fadeaways, fadeaways?
What were fadeaways?
Fadeaways were the fenders Rather than the fenders sticking out the pronounced bump.
They faded into the car.
Oh yeah, Sort of like a 41 Packard.
Okay, so I've got it kind of screwed up here.
What is a Louie?
Do you know what a Louie is?
Louie, Louie.
No, it's.
Get up to that corner and give me a Louie.
That would be a left turn.
Okay, how about that?
What about a Ralph?
A Ralph Ralph would be a right turn.
Okay.
And I've got one.
I know we're short on time.
Suicide knob Su Okay, and I've got one, I know we're short on time.
Suicide knob, suicide knob, we put it on.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Of course, on the steering wheel.
They say they're illegal, but they're not illegal.
It was the Brody knob, because a guy by the name of James Brody almost died using it.
They invented them so that you could turn the wheel with your left hand and keep your right arm around your date.
Huh, all right, that's the reason.
That's the reason, okay, and this right here.
I don't know if you know who this person is or not on the screen there.
Dagmar.
That is Dagmar.
That is Virginia Ruth Jeannie Lewis.
She was born in 1929, november 29th of 1921, passed away in 2001, october, but she is the original.
Dagmar.
Remember you had Dagmars on your Cadillac.
Yep, she was in Broadway, she was on TV, she was on the Milton Berle Show Bob Hope, frank Sinatra and Mitch Miller.
So that didn't go well.
Sing along with Mitch, that didn't go well.
God, dagmar as well.
You know, I saw that picture flash by.
I thought there's Dagmar.
There it is there's Dagmar, all right, well, thank you for that.
Okay, let's see, we don't have time for anything else right now.
We've got to stay on time.
So we're going to move on to the third hour of our show live show here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk show.
So we invite you to stay tuned for that.
While we regather our thoughts, I got all caught up with Alex and ran behind, so you just have to forgive me for that that's all right, we're good, or don't forgive me All right.
the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues after this.
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About this episode
Alex Pites from Peets Performance Tunes shares his journey into the world of muscle car tuning, starting from his teenage years with a Mustang GT to his experiences in the military and working with renowned brands like Celine. He discusses the intricacies of performance tuning, including optimizing naturally aspirated engines and the importance of a solid mechanical foundation before tuning. The episode also touches on his current projects, including tuning a C8 Corvette, and offers insights into the tuning process and customer interactions.
Original notes
Ever wondered how a passion for muscle cars and a deft hand with computers can rev up a career in performance tuning? This week, we buckle up for a thrilling ride with Alex Pitez of Peitz Performance Tunes, who shares his transition from a '98 Mustang GT enthusiast to a maestro of engine optimization. Alex's narrative isn't just a tale of automotive love; it's a deep dive into the critical role discipline and technology play in shaping a successful tuning business. As we navigate his journey, Alex also gives us a rare peek behind the curtain of his early days in the Army, merging his interests in cars and computers, and the adrenaline-fueled test drives on Iowa's open roads that honed his skills.
Hold tight as we switch gears in the second segment, where the conversation accelerates into the technical twists of engine tuning. We take a pit-stop at Alex's career milestones, including his time at Saleen and his stint as a lead instructor at a Florida tuning school, before he drives home the dream of opening his own shop. Listen closely as we tackle the intricacies of handling the powerful Coyote and LS1 engines, discussing the fine balance between boosting performance and maintaining engine integrity. Whether you're a petrolhead or just curious about the mechanics of speed, this episode promises a high-octane blend of personal stories and expert insight to fuel your fascination.
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In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show
In Wheel Time Podcast | Automotive talk with Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, and Jeff Dziekan
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