As I sift through all of this information, my boob job would entail just sliding the plate
forward and seeing how I like it. When I was driving semi, the 10 button was the holy grail and it resided in the mechanics tool box. To the eye you couldn't tell the difference but the indent was different and it made a huge difference. I bought a full set of gauges today and a pillar pod today and will work into adjusting things slowly. I think the fuel plate slide is a good conservative thing to at first. Thanks for all of the advice

 

I installed my pillar pod yesterday. Pyro, boost and fuel pressure. I had a fuel pressure gauge so I just relocated it into the pod. I installed the Isspro pyro and boost gauges and they all look great. I took the truck for a lap around the block. It's flat here and I didn't have much of a load...just a fuel tank with 100 gallons of gas. Rolling along, I shifted into too high of a gear and mashed it. Pyro read 650, boost read 21 and fuel pressure was in the 25psi range. Is it safe to assume these numbers are in the ball park for a stock truck?
After reading the wealth of information on this site, I have decided to do the following modifications in order to gain some HP, maintain drivability and keep it dependable.

Boost elbow
3 GSK
Slide stock plate forward or new #10 plate (still undecided and need more info) and keep stock position for AFC housing. What plate would you all suggest?

Injectors are stock and have 200k miles on them so I'm guessing injectors are going to be on the list one of these days. P pump was replaced probably 50k miles ago. Should I go with stock injectors? Would there be any benefit to larger injectors being fed by stock delivery valves? I plan on making one modification at a time so I can solve one problem at a time should one arise. Which modification should I do first?

 

is your pyro pre or post turbo?

 

I tapped a hole on top of the exhaust manifold 1/4 of the way rearward from the centerline of the collector leading to the turbo.

 

Those readings are, IMO, very healthy for a stock 12V. Both the manual and automatic '98 12V have excellent p-pumps, with perfectly adequate DVs for way more power than you intend to make. Personally- with regards to your original post, if I were you (now that you have gauges) I would pull the plate out and slide the AFC housing full forward, and tool around in it for a few days so that you can get an idea what kind of power, smoke and throttle response (and economy, if you can be disciplined enough for an accurate observation) your excellent pump can give you when you run it more or less "wide open" without other mods. I think you will be impressed.
Then, with that experience in your knowledgebank, I would just add an AFC Live unit and play with it until you're happy. A GSK is a fantastic mod, a fuel plate is a fantastic mod, the Mack plug for rack travel is a fantastic mod, and- if you didn't have a '98- DVs would be a fantastic mod. Hell, anything that 94 12V tells you should be taken to heart, I respect his opinion in my top 3 for members of this site. But getting back to your original post, I think you should just go AFC Live and be done with it. It will accomplish all the same things (excepting the GSK) with absolutely painless convenience of adjustability. You may still want to add a GSK, bump timing, etc at some point, but for your purposes I think you would be well served with just the AFC Live. And unless you're going to change turbos, I don't necessarily think that injectors are a good investment unless someone qualified informs you that there's something wrong with yours. Even at 200K, there probably isn't. If you're making 21psi with a stock pump and it runs smooth, I wouldn't worry about them today; and "upgraded" ones are only going to give you more fuel that you won't necessarily need most of the time- which generates more EGT with little advantage in your schenareo. Granted, if you spend enough on them they can be far more efficient... on paper. But I doubt the seat of your pants will think the investment was justified with the stock turbo, head, etc.

 

at 200k injectors are going to be tired. They may still work fine, but a new set will have benefits.

 

A new set didn't give me any benefits at 100K beyond that.
A bigger set did, but that went with the ported head and bigger turbo.
If your truck isn't running well, there are ways to determine if the problem is injectors. In which case, new ones will change everything. If it is running well, the only reason to change injectors is because someone who sells injectors talked you into it and you want to tell your friends you did it.

 

My truck is running fine and I don't want to fix something that's not broken. When I drove semi we'd get over 100k a year...and we went through some injectors. I lived in mountain country and the trucks worked pretty hard. When we would report excessive or unusual smoking or rough running, the mechanic would, a lot of times, find it was the injectors. Not sure our engines would present the same way with failing injectors.
My truck is fine. What I'd like is quicker response on the throttle (if that's possible) which I think is at a stock setting now. From what I've been reading, I can accomplish this by loosening the star wheel a little bit. I'd like more power pulling hills with an enclosed car trailer going to Alaska once a year. From what I've read, I can accomplish that with either sliding my plate or buying a 10 plate. Lastly, and least importantly, I wanted some smoke to be available at the pedal when I wanted it. I can get some of that now by going into a higher gear and mashing. It clears up pretty quick. I'd like a tad bit more smoke when there's an A-hole behind me.
After hours of research here and reading all of the very helpful responses, I'm going to slide my plate forward, keep the afc housing where it is, get a boost elbow and turn the starwheel loose 5 clicks. I'll see how I like that and either leave it alone or bite off a little more. I'm sorry...I'm a bit conservative with my truck. I may not be in the right group but I guarantee that you all have educated me and I really appreciate that!!

 

Well, when it comes to throttle response, there's really no replacement for a GSK. But I'd still pull the plate and slide the AFC all the way forward and run it wide open first. You can always back it off, and at least you'll know what you have to work with.

 

JBear...GSK isn't off the table and it sounds like a great improvement. Dumb question here...from what I've been reading, it sounds like there's some sort of nut at the top of the spring retainer (I guess it clicks) that needs to be set to exactly what the original springs were set at. That's fine, I've got the tools to do that. In looking at the cutaway, it looks like that nut would take a specialized screwdriver...almost like a forked screwdriver. Is that the case? I was doing some shopping for GSK's last night...is there a brand that has been proven dependable and reliable?
Last weekend, after I got my gauges installed, I decided to do a full run-up on the engine and let the governor take control. I've never done that...not even in the semi's I've driven. It went up to 2900 and was fluxuating a bit. I can see where a GSK would help. I don't want to dig into the thing and find out I need some sort of special tool to do the job though. I want the tools I need ahead of time.