just wondering what would be the best chip (eg unichip, i think) to use in NL fairlane 5.0L??

also can u install them yourself, if so are they easy??

and or the final one, for now anyway, what do they actually do?

It really depends on what you are trying to do. Generally chips just add timing and alter fuel curves to provide more performance, but in reality the 5L EEC is a pretty decent unit and I have seen many cases of off-the-shelf chips actually causing decreases in power and economy. Custom chips like unichip or custon tuned chiptorque chips are the way to go if you require EEC modifications. Personally I don't like unichips but they do get half decent results, a custom dyno tuned chiptorque is a better option IMO however availability is limited.

IMO unless you have a lot of mods (and even then its boarderline), stick with the stock EEC and put the money towards other mods.

fair enough.... so ya reckon the fairlane eec is good enough, even though it is a grandpa cruise car??

Yeah engine tune wise they are all pretty much the same.

definatly a custom tuned chip. if u want power tell the person who is writteng ur chip, or the opposite way around go for fuel ecconomy, (same deal)
but they r expensive and not realy worth having unless u want power.

got one of them chiptorque custom tunes in my car, this mixed with extractors, dual 2.5 exhaust and tickford snorkel got me a 153.6 rwkw figure, but the previous owner still hasn't told me what hes done to the car i.e ported heads or larger TB etc... so sorry to hijack the thread, but does this figure sound right if say the engine was dead stock but running the chip, exhaust, extractors?

You would be much better off spending the money on a better intake manifold (Explorer is probably the cheapest option) than a chip. Gains with a manifold would be much better.
I have driven cars before and after a chip has been done and could not notice the difference. Where as when my cars was stock except for extractor and exhaust, I fitted a Performer 5.0 manifold, made it feel like a completely different car, even with the stock MAF and TB still on it.
What are chips worth now days anyway ? $500 ???
An explorer could be picked up for about the same price !

Can I run an explorer intake manifold or cobra R manifold keeping the E7 heads? or will it suffocate the car more... and its hard to find mechanics who will want to do it, a few performance places say that I wouldn't be happy with it and should go for aluminium heads and top shelf stuff...they simply don't realize i don't want a race car.....just something to belt those V12 mercs with....

You can run them with the E7 heads now worries however the heads will continue to be a restriction until you change them. You don't need to throw alloys at it to make a huge difference. You can pick up a set of GT40Ps for a good price if you are patient and look around. If you keep the E7s the Explorer manifold will still make a big difference over the HO manifold - the HO is a shocker.

Ben, as far as chips go I tend to agree with much of the above. A chip really only comes into its own when you have a lot of mods. Fitting a chip to a near stocker won't do enough to warrant the cost ($500 to $1600 depending on what you get and how tuned) in my opinion. You'd be better off putting that kind of cash towards the engine.

However if I had to choose a chip it would be Chiptorque without a doubt. It can do everything Unichip can do and so much more at much less cost.