Originally posted by inspyral
If you don't have some sort of programable ECM(standalone) or piggyback fuel controller, there really isn't much to tune. You could maybe play with your ignition timing, static fuel pressure, and cam timing(if you have adjustable sprockets), but that's about all I can think of.
I'm no expert, but I don't agree with that first statement at all. The fact that a vehicle has no electronically controlled aspects has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can tune it. Ask anyone who uses carburetors, or even anyone who has been in the racing business for a few years. They'll laugh in your face if you try and tell them there's not that much to tune because there's no computers.
Tuning is getting the absolute peak of power and performance...and efficiency, in the case of those of us who race our daily drivers...out of your car. Not just your engine, not just your suspension.
It's getting the engine to produce the most available horsepower with changes in fuel inlet timing, spark timing, cam lobe size and timing, exhaust size/shape, intake size/shape, drivability, and several other aspects that I'm sure anyone could name. Every aspect of an engine can be tested, getting more power if optimized.
It's tuning the suspension to handle every different track, be it straight, twisty, flat, hilly, dirt, asphalt, whatever...making the car's wheels handle the car around any type of terrain that might be on the track.
Granted, with the use of computer controls, you can be far more precise and differing with your tuning, and you can change things a lot faster. You can have say...3 different settings on a single engine configuration...a race setting, a daily driving setting, and a pass-a-smog-test setting...hehehe...but tuning isn't limited to computers or engines.