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Golden Edge Alternative Fuel Programmers
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In this Episode Golden Fuel Systems teams up with the diesel performance legend Jerry McClain to develop new computer programmers that let you optimize your vehicles on board computer to more efficiently use Straight Vegetable Oil or Biodisel.
Through years of rigorous R&D and close work with diesel performance legend Jerry McClain, Golden Fuel Systems is proud to present our latest technological advancement in the World of Alternative Fuels: The Golden Edge Alternative Fuel Programmers! The Golden Edge Programmers are proprietary programs that were specifically written by GFS and geared towards SVO and/or Biodiesel. Thanks to Jerry McClain's close ties to the diesel performance industry, these GFS programs are delivered and produced in some of the most popular and well known performance chip interfaces in the industry.
In addition to GFS's vast experience of s uccessfully converting diesel engines to run on vegetable oil, they have taken it a step further by harnessing the ability to re-program the stock computer of your vehicle, while taking advantage of the unique combustion characteristics of SVO and/or Biodiesel.
Once your computer has been re-programmed you will not only experience increased HP but a significant increase in Fuel economy, up to 20%.
Through many years in the Alternative fuels industry, GFS has experienced that a computer controlled diesel engine can run Petroleum and Vegetable oil with stock computer configurations, with few issues.
Through on-going research, GFS realized that with the appropriate re-mapping of the fuel control circuit, we could take advantage of the computers ability to optimize the injection sequence to Vegetable oil based fuels. This discovery led GFS on a quest to develop the Golden Edge Alternative Fuel Programmers.
This programmer is compatible with Petroleum diesel, but really shines with Biodiesel and 100% Vegetable oil.
This is not required to convert your diesel to run on vegetable oil, but with more HP and up to 20% increase in fuel economy and range, why not?!!!
Any diesel will smoke a little with hard acceleration, or after idling for awhile there will always be a puff of smoke upon initial acceleration. This is true of any diesel with any fuel. Because of the stock parameters of the idle circuit on the Jeep liberty/ Duramax, GFS has noticed an annoying tendency for these vehicles to smoke excessively at idle. Although not life threatening to the engine, it is an annoyance.
With the new Golden Edge Alternative Fuel Programmer, this issue is taken care of. No more excessive smoke at idle and dramatically decreased smoke at full load.
This photo is from the Biodiesel convention in SanDiego CA. The photo was taken at petersons ford dealership, Jerry McClain, Daryl Hannah, Collett Brooks. The Bio diesel convention was a success , Willie Nelson , Daryl Hannah, Jerry McClain were signing autographs for the people after the presentation. McClain Performance will be doing Vegi oil conversions for Golden Oil Inc, out of Springfield MO.
We will also be working on the new smart car project, mileage estimates well over 100 mpg. We will keep all informed.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
January 24, 2000
THE
"DIESEL GENIUS OF THE MIDWEST"
Author: Paul Hampe
* In the world
of high-performance vehicles, Jerry McClain's name and his truckside manner
evoke respect. His Eureka shop has 3,000 regular customers, who come from as
far away as Alaska. Magazines for gearheads have saluted him, and the Army once
flew in equipment from Australia for him to modify.
The industry rep
prowled the auto show stage, lauding the power and finesse of a new pickup
truck.
He deftly
fielded questions from the floor while a curvaceous model stroked the truck's
fender as if it were the flank of a prize bull.
A fellow in a
baseball cap asked about fuel system upgrade options. For the first time, the
representative hesitated. He rubbed his chin. Then he shot a confident finger
at the man and smiled.
"You
know," he said. "It's not often I get stumped about my own engine.
But fortunately, there's a man here in the crowd tonight that some of you know
as the 'Diesel Genius of the Midwest.' And maybe Jerry McClain would like to
take a crack at it."
McClain took the
microphone. He answered that question and a few more until everyone's curiosity
about the engine's most insignificant functions was satisfied.
McClain laughed
when he was reminded of his hit performance at that St. Louis International
Auto Show a few years back.
"I love
talking almost as much as I love diesels," said McClain, who plans to
attend this year's auto show, Wednesday through Sunday at America's Center
downtown.
Unless you own a
customized truck, you may not have heard of McClain. But in the world of
high-performance diesels, his name evokes respect across the continent.
McClain is a
diesel specialist, a surgeon of the engine in all its legendary incarnations:
The Cummins. The Detroit. The Caterpillar.
Magazines such
as 4-Wheel & Off-Road, a journal for gearheads, have saluted his handiwork.
The military
seeks him out for special projects, like the equipment the Army once flew in
on a C-130 transport from Australia for McClain to modify. ("It was
classified work, and all I can say is that it was a very interesting
machine," said McClain, who counts several FBI and Secret Service agents
among his accounts.)
His reputation
extends into Canada, where Brian Roth owns and operates BD Diesel Performance
in Vancouver.
"I wanted
to collect the highest caliber technicians that I could find in various regions
of North America to represent our products," said Roth, a leader in the
industry. "That included Jerry McClain."
McClain, 51, was
reared with seven siblings in Webster Groves. His father, James, mastered
calculus without attending a day of school in his life. His mother, Fannie, was
so insistent about proper pronunciation that those who speak with McClain on the
phone without meeting him can only tell one thing for sure about his heritage:
He's the product of articulate parents.
"I look
back at my past and think, 'How in the world did I come this far,' "
McClain said. "And I know I owe it all to my parents. They recognized my
needs and encouraged me. I was dyslexic as a kid and a lot of people probably
thought I'd never amount to much. But my mother saw how I loved hot rod
magazines and knew I had a gift for fixing things, so she talked my dad into
getting me an old heap to practice on."
When McClain was
15, his father dragged home an abandoned 1950 Dodge. McClain brought its old
flathead engine back to life and drove the car for three years.
In business for himself since 1982, he now operates McClain Performance Diesel in Eureka [now Desert Hills, AZ]. He's the father of three girls, all grown.
McClain has
3,000 regular customers who come from as far away as Alaska. And they don't
come to McClain for mere brake jobs. His customers spend up to $7,000 to
squeeze extra power out of diesels that already come roaring off the assembly
line with 400 foot-pounds of torque.
With a supercharger, computer, fuel and exhaust system upgrades, McClain can jump that
torque up to 700 pounds.
"That's
enough to comfortably tow a 36-foot tractor-trailer that weighs 18,000
pounds," McClain said.
But there's more
to McClain's success than tuning engines. Max Lagod, of Hypermax Engineering in
Chicago, said McClain's relationships with customers sets him apart.
"He's as
good with people as he is with parts," said Lagod, whose company markets
high-performance diesel systems. "He'll go to bat for you to the dealer to
resolve warranty disputes."
Customer relations
can be tricky for a black mechanic whose clientele is almost entirely white and
includes a few people not well-versed in the ways of racial diversity.
Like the man
from "way back in the woods," as McClain put it. The man had heard
about McClain and called to get an appointment to have his new, $40,000 diesel
pickup customized. As is inevitable almost anytime someone speaks with
McClain, the man found himself engaged in a warm conversation that strayed far
afield of machines. The man figured he had found a new friend, one he could
trust enough to share his latest joke about African-Americans. McClain didn't
laugh, but he took theappointment.
The man drove
four hours to McClain's shop. He walked in and asked, "Where's the
boss?"
"I'm the
boss," McClain said.
The embarrassed
customer handed over the keys and sulked, worried looking, in the waiting room.
"He
probably thought I was going to take revenge on his truck," McClain
recalled.
Instead, McClain
made the diesel run like a rocket sled. The man was still smiling when he drove
his truck off the lot.
A few days
passed. McClain got another customer from the same rural community. Then
another. Then he got a call from the small-town truck dealer who told McClain
that he had never before heard so many fellow residents speak so highly of ablack man.
"The dealer
told me I could run for mayor in his town and win," McClain said.
A visit to
McClain's tidy Eureka shop reveals a man who operates his business with the
kind of relaxed elan found in fine arts dealers whose clients are often
confidantes.
All customers
are introduced as friends. Almost every conversation eventually turns from
business to personal matters.
"How's the
relationship coming," he'll ask one woman, who came in for a transmission
job.
"How's your
son's new job?" he asks another.
"I've kept
you in my prayers, as I promised," he tells one man.
"When are
we having dinner again?" Etc., etc.
He stays upbeat
and proclaims himself blessed about as often as he washes his hands, which is
at least 30 times a day by his estimate. "Used oil contains dioxin. A
mechanic can live a lot longer if he washes that stuff off his hands. Plus, I
donate blood and platelets every month, so I don't want my blood to get
contaminated," he explained.
Dan Carberry,
51, drops by regularly just to chat. McClain fixed Carberry's truck 16 years
ago, and the two have been close friends since.
Paul Peters, 76,
has known McClain almost 50 years. Peters sometimes spends entire days at the
shop, chatting and passing tools to McClain, who otherwise works alone.
"You know
who Jerry's really like?" said Carberry. "He's like George Bailey come to
life."
And like Frank
Capra's movie hero in "It's A Wonderful Life," McClain flirted with
death.
At 18, he
slammed his hot-rod Chevy into a pole. He broke both arms, both legs, his
collarbone. He spent a year recuperating.
In 1974, McClain
was helping his brother install a radio tower. A rod snapped and the tower fell
into a power line. A bolt of electricity pierced McClain's ribs and split like
a divining rod, blowing gruesome exit wounds out of his thigh and ankle.
McClain spent
another year in the hospital. He now counts the accident as a blessing in his
life! .
"Everything
that's ever happened to me has only made me more blessed," he said.
"Right now, I'm so happy I could be twins."
===
Of The
Post-Dispatch
Edition:
FIVE STAR LIFT
Section:
EVERYDAY MAGAZINE
Page:
E1
Index Terms:
ENGINES
DIESELS
MODIFICATIONS
MECHANIC
PERSONALITY HOT
ROD TECHNICIANPROFILE
JERRY MCCLAIN
Estimated
printed pages: 5
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Record Number: 0001240282
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