I don’t know where the term “master engine tuner” originated, but I suspect it parallels that of “master piano tuner” because both disciplines transform apparent discord into apparent harmony. In this day of electronically managed engines, we forget that mechanically controlled spark advance curves and carburetor mixtures don’t compensate for changes in barometric pressure and ambient temperature. Fine-tuning carburetors and distributor ignitions to compensate for often discordant barometric and ambient temperature changes is the art and profession of the master engine tuner.

Modern Performance Tuning

∗With apologies to the band REO Speedwagon. Of course, if you were around in the late 1970s and early '80s, you probably remember REO Speedwagon's seventh studio album released in 1978 - You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish. The album, with hits including "Roll with the Changes" and "Time for Me to Fly" was REO's first to make the Top 40, peaking at #29. REO Speedwagon took its name from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck, often outfitted as a firetruck, manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company. ("R.E.O." are the initials of the company's founder, Ransom Eli Olds, who also founded Oldsmobile, once a division of General Motors.) In 1971, GM gave the band rights to the name and logo.

Because of the numerous variables in engine applications and latitude i...