ive been waiting for the specials to come up for HPA, but on apprenticeship wages, things are tighter than ever and the same old chest nut, no tuner to touch the MS which means il have to learn the wiring so I can wire in one that someone can actually tune, the engine has power to make and no one to unleash it...

not sure, I know they do some specials, there was $99 for the fundamentals of EFI and they threw in a couple more things, and forum access for a year....  just waiting for that to come back.. I signed up to 6 free lesson, all on different things, but still vague...
 
I have thought about what u said many times, but I dare say, the load in 4th gear at 7000rpm might be different than say 1st or second gear.. but its also been able to hold load points in certain rev ranges and realy needing the dyno to see the torque curve..
 
saying that, if u remember ken matsuda tuned his 4agte with out a dyno... 

Knightrous
I recently helped the new owner tune it on a dyno and it has made it a bit more top end power (now makes 191RWKW) and is smoother on power delivery. 

 
Aaron - How much time did you spend on the Dyno tweaking the tune, was it mainly WOT / high load tables that needed adjusting?
  
  
  
Dom - have you looked into the cost of hiring some Dyno time to tune yourself?  From what I've seen of the EPA free lessons and read about the place basic tuning of an NA car does not appear to be a complex process, just iterative and time consuming.  Personally my main concern would be not allowing enough safety margin while tuning / not being experienced enough to spot potentially fatal trends and responding fast enough (i.e. I keep reading about the importance of good knock detection, but never a definition of "good").
 
A quick Google reinforces Aaron's point above regarding the need for a Dyno Tune for ignition timing...

HaltechNotice I didn't mention ignition timing. The proper way to work out timing requires a dyno IMO. You can tune to the knock threshold on the road if you have a proper know detection system but it's still not as accurate as using the dyno. Regardless of dyno of road work start with timing figures known to be conservative, work out the fuel, then move to the timing. On the dyno you can advance timing until the power doesn't rise anymore or you find the knock threshold. If power quits rising before the knock threshold there is no need to add more timing and you are probably costing yourself power at that point with further advance. On the street you can't see the reaction between power and timing and can only (hopefully) know if you've reached the knock limit.
http://forums.haltech.com/viewtopic.php?t=1741