ECU basics 101

[Paul Raley]

I'm just getting started in the electronics portion of modifying my
car.  Already done turbo/intercooler and various other mods to make my
86 300z fastttt.
Would some of you seasoned efi'ers point me in the right direction.  I'm
learning the assembly language, but don't know how to get the data from
my ECU to the pc.  One of the first steps would be to remove the two 40
pin processors (both the HD6802 & HD4651, is that right?) and replace
with sockets, but will the processors be damaged when I do this?  Will I
be able to change information that is in the original processor chip or
do I need to make a copy of it first?  How do I interface this to my pc
to read in maps (any 3d software for this?) and tables?

I know, lots of questions but we had to start somewhere.

Paul R.    86 300zx v-trim turbo/intercooler
               87 conquest project race car :-)