The EFI Calibrator's Bar
BEYOND THE LAPTOP
John Allen McClinton Jr. “Jam J” — The Education, Experience and Philosophy Behind Jam J’s Approach to EFI Calibration
For John McClinton Jr., better known as Jam J, EFI calibration was never pursued simply as another way to make money in the automotive industry.
It began with something far more personal: the desire to understand his own vehicles well enough to communicate with them through data, recognize what they were telling him, and give each combination the individual attention he believed it deserved.
That interest developed into formal education through The Tuning School, the School of Automotive Machinists & Technology (SAM Tech), and Holley EFI, along with continuing education through Evans Performance Academy, EFI University and High Performance Academy.
Today, electronic fuel injection calibration is the primary technical focus of McClinton and KinG Certified Performance.
“I never got into tuning because I thought it was a way to make money. I got into it because I became fascinated with the ability to communicate with my own vehicle through the ECU and the data it gives me.”
“I wanted to understand what the vehicle was telling me instead of simply trusting that someone else would give it the same attention that I would.”
WHERE THE NEED TO LEARN BEGAN
McClinton’s first experience with calibration did not begin in a classroom.
In 2017, a shop in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was working on two of his vehicles—one equipped with an LS1 and 4L60E transmission, and the other with a 468-cubic-inch big-block engine. He became increasingly dissatisfied with the quality and lack of work being performed while continuing to spend money without receiving the attention or results he expected from what he later came to view as a dishonest shop.
Instead of simply moving from one tuner to another, he decided he needed to understand the process himself.
He obtained technical literature on transmission calibration and began studying.
“One of the reasons I pursued formal education was because I didn’t want my own vehicle to become somebody else’s learning experience without me even knowing it.”
“I never wanted to be just some guy with a computer calling himself a tuner. Having access to software doesn’t automatically give someone an understanding of what an engine is doing.”
That decision eventually took him to Florida.
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION WITH HP TUNERS
McClinton received formal performance-calibration instruction through The Tuning School, where he completed the GM HP Tuners Level 1 Beginner/Intermediate Course on May 3, 2018.
He trained under Bob Morreale and Brent, building a more structured understanding of HP Tuners, late-model GM engine management, datalogging, airflow, fuel, ignition and powertrain control.
McClinton subsequently continued into advanced HP Tuners education.
For him, the value of that education was not merely learning where tables were located. It was learning to understand what the controller was attempting to accomplish and why.
SAM TECH: SEVEN MONTHS FOCUSED ON EFI CALIBRATION
In 2019, McClinton enrolled in the EFI Calibration program at the School of Automotive Machinists & Technology in Houston, Texas.
He completed the approximately seven-month course on April 30, 2020, while maintaining what he describes as above-average test scores.
His SAM Tech certification documents completion of the required course of study, hands-on practice and written testing in EFI Calibration.
McClinton also completed comprehensive EFI instruction through the partnership between Holley EFI and SAM Tech, receiving Holley EFI Certified status.
LEARNING UNDER JASON HAYNES
For almost the entirety of McClinton’s original SAM Tech attendance, his primary EFI calibration instructor was Jason Haynes.
Haynes instructed him from the beginning of the program until approximately mid-March to early April 2020, leaving only weeks before McClinton completed the course.
The instruction included experience and technical information involving GM, Ford and Dodge/Chrysler platforms.
McClinton remains particularly grateful for Haynes’ influence.
“I’m grateful for the knowledge and experiences Jason provided. I had a tremendous amount of respect for his ability to explain complicated calibration subjects in a way that made them understandable.”
“During the time I studied under him, I don’t remember asking Jason—or seeing someone else ask him—a technical question that he couldn’t provide a meaningful answer for.”
Haynes also encouraged McClinton not to limit himself to a single manufacturer or platform. The lesson was that while control strategies vary from one OEM to another, the underlying engine still operates around the same fundamental requirements of airflow, fuel, spark, combustion and torque production.
That advice helped shape McClinton’s willingness to study different manufacturers and control strategies rather than allowing familiarity with one platform to become a limitation
One lesson in particular would influence McClinton far beyond the classroom:
Airflow through valve events.
VALVE EVENTS CHANGED THE WAY HE LOOKED AT AN ENGINE
At its simplest, a four-stroke engine is often described as:
Suck. Squeeze. Bang. Blow.
Intake. Compression. Combustion and expansion. Exhaust.
McClinton became increasingly interested in what was actually taking place between those simple descriptions.
Cylinder filling, pressure relationships, valve timing, exhaust blowdown, overlap, airflow direction and engine speed began to connect in a way that made calibration more interesting rather than less.
“Jason’s explanation of valve events gave me enough understanding to realize how much more there was to learn.”
“Suck, squeeze, bang and blow sounds simple until you start asking exactly when the valves are opening and closing, what the cylinder pressure is doing at that moment, where the airflow wants to move and why.”
“That’s when an engine stopped being a collection of parts to me and became a constantly changing airflow and pressure system.”
That understanding eventually became part of the foundation McClinton uses today when evaluating and developing purpose-specific LS and LT camshaft specifications.
WHEN MECHANICAL AIRFLOW MEETS ELECTRONIC CONTROL
The deeper McClinton studied airflow and valve events, the more meaning the datalog began to have.
An ECU may report airflow, manifold pressure, calculated load, fuel mass, lambda, ignition advance, torque, throttle position, engine speed, temperature and hundreds of other channels.
Those numbers ultimately describe a physical engine moving air, creating pressure and producing torque.
“The ECU is giving me the electronic representation of something mechanical that is happening inside the engine.”
“The more I understand cylinder filling, pressure, airflow and valve events, the more meaning that data has.”
That distinction remains central to his calibration philosophy.
THE VEHICLE’S SIDE OF THE CONVERSATION
One of McClinton’s strongest beliefs is that the datalog is the vehicle’s side of the conversation.
“Every vehicle communicates. Pressure, airflow, lambda, knock activity, temperatures, torque, fuel delivery, throttle behavior, transmission behavior—they’re all telling you something.”
“I see the datalog as the vehicle’s side of the conversation. My job as the calibrator is to listen.”
For McClinton, diagnosis is an extension of calibration.
Nearly any problem affecting engine operation can leave evidence somewhere in the available data. The calibrator may not immediately know the cause, but understanding the symptoms, knowing which information matters, and progressively narrowing the possibilities can turn data into a diagnosis.
“I may not know exactly what is wrong the instant I see a problem, but I know how to use the information the vehicle gives me to narrow the possibilities until I understand what I’m looking for.”
That may mean identifying a mechanical issue, a sensor problem, a fuel-system concern, an airflow problem, a calibration issue, or something outside the ECU entirely.
McClinton does not believe every problem can—or should—be tuned around.
When needed, he returns to technical literature, manufacturer documentation, educational material and the network of professional tuners and industry specialists he has met throughout his education and career.
“I’m willing to say I don’t know yet. What I’m not willing to do is pretend I know and gamble with somebody else’s investment.”
DRIVABILITY IS WHERE CALIBRATION BECOMES CALIBRATION
McClinton considers drivability one of the clearest measures of a complete calibration.
Wide-open-throttle tuning is important, but it represents only a small portion of how most vehicles actually operate.
Startup, idle quality, transient response, part-throttle operation, temperature variation, load transitions, converter behavior and normal driving conditions require a deeper understanding of the calibration.
“Anyone can learn WOT in a relatively short period of time. To me, drivability is where you start earning the right to call yourself a calibrator.”
And McClinton puts that in very practical terms:
“What’s more embarrassing than spending all that money with a tuner, then your car won’t start when you’re leaving a group of friends—or it dies while you’re taking your girlfriend or wife for a cruise?”
For McClinton, a vehicle should not merely make a dyno pull.
It should start, idle, drive, transition, cruise, shift and respond properly before, during and after that pull.
That is the difference between producing a number and developing a vehicle someone can actually enjoy.
SENSOR SCALING AND DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY
Another area McClinton came to appreciate is sensor scaling and characterization.
A pressure sensor or temperature sensor from one manufacturer may not use the same transfer curve as another.
If the ECU is given incorrect sensor information, even a physically healthy engine can be managed incorrectly.
Understanding how the ECU interprets its sensors is therefore part of understanding the engine itself.
REAL-WORLD CALIBRATION EXPERIENCE
GM remains the platform on which McClinton has accumulated the greatest amount of hands-on calibration experience.
His work spans Gen III, Gen IV and Gen V GM engine-management platforms and includes naturally aspirated, cammed, high-compression, flex-fuel, nitrous and forced-induction combinations.
He has also developed substantial experience with electronically controlled GM transmissions, including the 4L60E, 4L80E, 6L80/6L90 and 8L90.
McClinton has also successfully developed a calibration-based approach that eliminated the well-known GM transmission shudder issue in applications he has worked with. That experience strengthened his belief that many driveline problems can be better understood by looking closely at torque management, converter behavior, clutch application strategy, pressure control and the relationship between engine and transmission calibration.
While the exact strategy can vary between manufacturers and transmission architectures, McClinton believes the same overall philosophy—understanding what the controller is trying to accomplish, identifying where the behavior breaks down, and correcting the underlying control strategy rather than simply masking the symptom—can apply across different manufacturers as well.
That area is now becoming educational work of its own. McClinton is currently developing an 8L90E performance tuning guide, using continued research and his experience with the eight-speed transmission in his personal 2017 Camaro SS to organize the strategies, tables and relationships involved in properly calibrating the transmission for modified applications
McClinton’s Ford experience includes his personal 2017 S550 Mustang GT equipped with the Gen 2 Coyote engine & 6R80 transmission. A longitudinal automatic transmission based on the ZF 6HP26 design.
The increasingly popular ZF 8HP is the direct successor to the ZF 6HP, sharing the same design lineage but using a significantly revised and more advanced planetary gearset concept that makes it a major evolution rather than a simple update.
The Coyote’s dual-overhead-camshaft and variable-cam-timing architecture gave him an opportunity to apply airflow and valve-event principles in a very different environment from the traditional pushrod LS engine.
Using knowledge acquired through formal education and independent research, McClinton adjusted camshaft positioning to influence low-RPM torque, overlap behavior and higher-RPM performance.
That Mustang later became one of his projects during his second period at SAM Tech and reinforced an important lesson:
The principles remain even when the hardware and control strategy change.
HIS CALIBRATION PROCESS
McClinton’s calibration process is intentionally structured.
It begins with an accurate modification list and vehicle inspection, followed by baseline logging.
Maintenance items such as spark plugs, filters or other basic conditions are addressed when necessary.
The general calibration sequence then moves through:
Idle → speed-density calibration → MAF calibration when applicable → part-throttle/drivability → WOT → transmission calibration.
Safety verification continues throughout the process rather than being treated as a final step.
Transmission calibration comes later because McClinton wants the engine airflow and torque model accurately represented first.
“I want the torque model right before I start asking the transmission to give me the perfect shift.”
HOLLEY EFI AND THE DOMINATOR
McClinton’s relationship with Holley EFI began before he ever attended SAM Tech.
His personal LSX project was already equipped with a Holley Dominator ECU before he met Jason Haynes or entered SAM Tech.
At SAM Tech, he later observed Haynes use the Holley Dominator while working with the school’s COPO Camaro, giving him another level of exposure to the system.
Today, Dominator remains one of the engine-management systems that excites him most.
“For the type of work I do, I consider the Holley Dominator one of the most capable engine-management systems available.”
McClinton has used its advanced control capabilities for flex-fuel strategies, integrated fail-safes, data acquisition, engine protection, nitrous-related control, advanced tables and traction-management development.
He has personally developed traction-control parameters for high-horsepower applications intended to help manage how power reaches the tire.
His own performance combination incorporates EGT monitoring to provide additional information about exhaust-temperature behavior and cylinder-to-cylinder trends.
And in one particularly personal example, McClinton created what he jokingly calls a:
“Don’t you do it” table
—an advanced strategy intended to help keep a large-camshaft engine from simply giving up and dying as idle conditions become unstable.
His Holley EFI experience also includes Sniper, Terminator and Terminator X Max systems, along with FiTech EFI.
CONTINUING EDUCATION BEYOND FORMAL CERTIFICATION
McClinton’s education did not end with The Tuning School or SAM Tech.
He continued developing his calibration knowledge through Evans Performance Academy, completing additional coursework involving GM and Ford calibration strategies.
He has also pursued continuing education through EFI University, further expanding his exposure to performance engine-management education & valvetrain technology.
In addition, McClinton has studied EFI calibration principles, strategies and methodologies through the educational work of respected industry educators including Greg Banish, Ben Strader and Andre Simon.
McClinton does not view certification as the completion of his education.
Technical literature, manufacturer documentation, continuing coursework, professional relationships, real-world datalogs and the work of respected educators remain part of his ongoing development.
“That’s what keeps me interested. I don’t think I’m ever going to reach a point where I can say I’ve completely learned EFI calibration.”
“The more I learn, the more things I find that I don’t completely understand yet. That’s exciting to me.”
APPROXIMATELY TWO WEEKS AT LATE MODEL RACECRAFT
Through Jason Haynes, McClinton also received approximately two weeks of shop and classroom exposure at Late Model Racecraft.
While Haynes continued providing the technical influence and motivation that had already become important to McClinton’s development, the LMR experience provided another kind of example.
McClinton specifically remembers observing Steven Ferriday’s enthusiasm, positive energy and genuine love for performance work.
That enthusiasm stood out.
It demonstrated how much a person’s attitude, excitement and genuine passion for the craft could influence the energy of an entire performance environment.
For McClinton, it became additional motivation on top of what he was already receiving technically from Haynes.
The experience reinforced the idea that technical ability, positive energy and genuine love for performance can—and should—exist together.
That lesson became part of the culture McClinton wants surrounding KinG Certified Performance.
RETURNING TO SAM TECH—AND FINDING THE NEXT CLASSROOM
At the end of 2021 into the beginning of 2022, McClinton returned to SAM Tech.
He returned because he wanted more calibration knowledge.
Instead, the experience gave him a different realization.
By then, his original education, Evans Performance Academy coursework, independent research and practical calibration work had progressed enough that he sometimes found himself contributing information and possible solutions rather than functioning solely as a student receiving instruction.
“I returned because I wanted somebody to teach me more. I genuinely wanted more knowledge.”
“When I found myself able to contribute information and help work through problems instead of simply sitting there waiting for someone to give me the answer, it made me realize something important. I had reached the point where my education could no longer depend entirely on being in somebody else’s classroom.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ve learned enough. To me, it means exactly the opposite. It means the responsibility for continuing to learn is now mine.”
From that point forward, research increasingly became the next classroom.
FROM PROTECTING HIS OWN VEHICLE TO HELPING OTHER ENTHUSIASTS
McClinton originally began learning calibration because he did not want to continue depending on people who were willing to accept his money without giving his vehicle the attention or understanding he expected.
Over time, that motivation expanded.
Having personally experienced unfavorable situations as a customer—and continuing to hear similar experiences from enthusiasts regularly—McClinton became increasingly motivated to use what he had learned to help others avoid those same situations.
“I know what it feels like to be the customer who trusted someone with something important and later realized the effort or understanding wasn’t there.”
“Part of what motivates me now is helping another enthusiast avoid that experience.”
That may involve calibration.
It may involve diagnostics.
It may involve recommending a mechanical correction before additional tuning.
And sometimes it means explaining that the combination itself needs to change before the owner’s expectations can realistically be achieved.
THE ENTHUSIAST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAPTOP
KinG Certified Performance is not intended to become a high-volume calibration operation built around processing the largest possible number of vehicles.
McClinton prefers to direct his effort toward platforms and projects where he believes his knowledge and individual attention can provide meaningful value.
“I’m exclusive to the areas and projects where I direct my efforts. I would rather give the right combination my full attention than accept everything simply because somebody is willing to pay me.”
McClinton particularly appreciates working with enthusiasts who are invested in their own projects and interested in understanding what is happening throughout the process.
“I enjoy working with the enthusiast who wants to know what’s happening. Somebody who knows what they have—or genuinely wants to learn about what they have—makes the entire process better.”
“I don’t mind explaining why I’m looking at something, what the data is showing me, or why I think we need to make a change. I actually enjoy that part of the process.”
“The real enthusiast is my favorite person to work with because they’re invested in the outcome beyond simply asking how much horsepower it made.”
“If you’ve spent years putting together an engine, choosing the parts, saving your money, fixing problems and building something that means something to you, I respect that investment. I want my part of that project to receive the same type of attention.”
Customers expecting immediate results without understanding what has actually been installed on the vehicle can create a very different situation.
“The difficult situation for me is when somebody wants everything done immediately but doesn’t know what’s in the vehicle, doesn’t have the information needed to evaluate it, and doesn’t understand why determining those things matters.”
“Speed is not more important to me than understanding what I’m working with.”
Sometimes the calibrator must also become the consultant.
“Sometimes being the calibrator means being the consultant. If someone wants an engine that sounds like a drag car and shifts at 8,000 rpm but doesn’t want the converter, valvetrain, fuel system or other supporting pieces necessary to make that combination operate correctly, part of my responsibility is explaining why those expectations don’t comfortably work together.”
ACCOUNTABILITY HAS A PLACE
Accountability is not the center of McClinton’s calibration philosophy.
Understanding the engine is.
But accountability matters whenever someone accepts responsibility for another person’s investment.
“Just because someone knows how to do something doesn’t mean they’re going to give their best effort to me as a customer.”
“If I’m going to make decisions that can affect somebody’s engine, transmission or entire investment, I want those decisions to represent the best understanding I can bring to that situation.”
His standard is not pretending to know every answer.
“I’m willing to say I don’t know yet. What I’m not willing to do is pretend I know and gamble with somebody else’s investment.”
“My aim is always to give my best understanding to the situation so we can reach the most advantageous outcome possible.”
Ultimately, McClinton believes his name should mean more than any single dyno sheet.
“I stand behind my name and my work ethic.”
“If I agree to calibrate a vehicle, I want the owner to know that I’m going to give that project my individual effort. I can’t promise that every mechanical combination will produce a particular result, but I can promise that my effort will be genuine.”
“My reputation isn’t built around how many cars I can say I’ve tuned. I want it built around the attention I gave the ones I chose to work with.”
VALVE EVENTS AND CUSTOM CAMSHAFT DEVELOPMENT
McClinton’s continued study of airflow eventually influenced another part of KinG Certified Performance: custom LS and LT camshaft development.
Rather than assume that a popular shelf camshaft must be correct for every similar engine, McClinton became increasingly interested in defining what the valve events need to accomplish for a specific combination.
“A shelf camshaft can be an excellent camshaft. My issue isn’t with shelf cams. My question is whether that particular camshaft was designed around what this particular engine and vehicle are being asked to do.”
“Understanding valve events gave me the ability to start asking better questions. Instead of starting with duration and lift because they’re familiar numbers, I want to know what we’re trying to accomplish with the intake closing point, exhaust opening, overlap and the rest of the valve events.”
The Jam J Edition camshaft represents part of that continuing development.
Cam Motion is part of McClinton’s current collaboration network, with additional KinG Certified Performance LS and LT camshaft development planned for the future.
“That same research is one of the things that keeps EFI calibration exciting for me. Every time I understand the mechanical engine better, I become capable of asking better questions of the calibration.”
CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS AND FUTURE COLLABORATION
McClinton’s ambitions for KinG Certified Performance extend beyond tuning individual vehicles.
His objective is to continue developing relationships with people and organizations whose expertise intersects with calibration, engine development, airflow, fueling, forced induction, drivetrain technology, entrepreneurship and education.
Current and developing relationships include Cam Motion, Nitrous Outlet, and Blowing Smoke Performance, owned by Barron Shanklin of Greenville, Mississippi.
Nitrous Outlet has already contributed directly to McClinton’s personal high-output project by supplying port-injection-related work, making that relationship part of his real-world performance development rather than simply a future ambition
EFI University remains relevant not only as a continuing-education resource, but also as an organization whose deeper calibration and engine-management knowledge aligns with McClinton’s long-term development goals
Fuel Injector Clinic is particularly relevant because injector characterization, fuel delivery and accurate fuel-system information are fundamental to precise EFI calibration.
Frankenstein Engine Dynamics represents an area where cylinder-head airflow, engine development and valve-event understanding intersect directly with McClinton’s continuing research.
High Performance Academy represents another avenue for advanced technical and calibration education.
Motion Raceworks stands out for its combination of motorsports engineering, fabrication, product development and entrepreneurship.
PowerNation represents a potential platform for communicating meaningful automotive and technical information to a broader performance audience.
Edelbrock, ProCharger and TCI Automotive represent areas of induction, forced induction and drivetrain development that naturally intersect with McClinton’s work
R&R Racing Engines in Evans, Louisiana represents another relationship McClinton would like to develop as KinG Certified Performance continues expanding its engine and performance programs.
John Hope Bryant.
Bryant’s work involving entrepreneurship, financial literacy and economic empowerment represents another part of McClinton’s long-term vision.
As KinG Certified Performance develops, he intends for the knowledge and resources created through that growth to eventually provide opportunities to give back to his community, particularly through information, entrepreneurship and financial education.
These future ambitions are not presented as affiliations that already exist where they do not.
They represent the people, companies and institutions from whom McClinton believes there is still something valuable to learn.
WHERE KING CERTIFIED PERFORMANCE IS GOING
Camshaft development, fuel systems, airflow research, forced induction, transmission control, diagnostics and engine development all support McClinton’s central focus:
EFI CALIBRATION
McClinton’s long-term goal is for KinG Certified Performance to become known not simply for performance vehicles, but for EFI calibration, data-driven problem solving, purpose-built combinations and technical development backed by continuing education.
“EFI calibration is where mechanical airflow and electronic control meet.”
“I want to understand what happened before that number appeared in the datalog. What filled the cylinder? What pressure was present? What did the valve events do? What did combustion do? What torque did it produce? What did the ECU calculate, and why did it respond the way it did?”
The vehicle provides its side of the conversation through its sensors and data.
Education gives McClinton the language to understand it. Experience helps him recognize what matters. Research, literature and his professional network provide somewhere to go when the answer is not immediately obvious.
“The datalog is the vehicle’s side of the conversation.”
“My job is to listen well enough to understand what that particular vehicle is telling me.”
For John McClinton Jr. “Jam J,” not knowing everything is not a weakness.
It is what keeps the work interesting.
“I’m not interested only in knowing what number to put in a table. I want to understand why the engine is asking for that number.”
And that is ultimately why the education continues.
JOHN McCLINTON JR. “JAM J”
EFI Calibrator | KinG Certified Performance
SAM Tech — EFI Calibration Certified
Holley EFI Certified
The Tuning School — GM HP Tuners Training
Advanced HP Tuners Education
Evans Performance Academy — Continuing Education
EFI University — Continuing Education
GM Gen III • Gen IV • Gen V • HP Tuners • Holley EFI • Ford Coyote • Drivability • Diagnostics • Flex Fuel • Naturally Aspirated • Forced Induction • Nitrous • Transmission Calibration • Airflow & Valve-Event Analysis • Custom LS/LT Camshaft Development
KING CERTIFIED PERFORMANCE
Understanding the engine before asking the calibration to control it.