TBI spacer install
 

Here is a quick overview for those of you that were interested in the TBI upgrades from my previous post.

Product: Turbo City 3/8" Phenolic throttle body spacer
What it cost:
Turbo City 3/8" Â*Phenolic throttlebody spacer $19.99 www.turbocity.com
Turbo City Spacer install kit $12.99 www.turbocity.com
-Kit includes 2 gaskets and 3 longer bolts

What you need:
13MM socket wrench
8 MM wrench to disconnect the battery
2 clean rags
Roughly 5 new vulgarities as you try and line everything up.

What to do:
1. Remove the air cleaner
2. Disconnect battery (you are working with a fuel component so it is a good idea!)
3. Remove the nut that holds your fuel lines down above the driver side valve cover. This will give you a little more lift on the throttle body when you remove and should let you slide the spacer and gaskets in under it.
4. Remove the 3 13MM bolts that hold the throttlebody to the intake manifold
5. Make sure you get ALL of the old gasket off the throttle body. I suggest putting CLEAN rags in the intake manifold to keep the gasket from flaking off in it. If you can't getthe gasket off the throttlebody will need to be removed completely (detailed below)
6. Slide the 3/8 spacer with a gasket from the install kit on BOTH sides of it under the throttle body so the bolt holes line up. This is going to be a P.I.T.A. because the gaskets are going to slide around. I suggest getting it close then lining up the gaskets as you push the bolts through. when you get one hole lined up tighten it a few threads and then work another in.
7. If you can't get enough clearance or can't get the old gasket off you will need to disconnect the fuel lines (watch for spills it will leak a little) and remove the throttle linkage and take the throttle body off. ***NOTE- if you disconnect the fuel lines make sure you loosen the gas cap to relieve the line pressure, especially if the car had been running recently***After that it goes back on the same way. I didn't have to do it but it is a tight fit.
8. Install and Tighten the 3 longer 13MM Â*bolts from the kit on the throttlebody (I just tightened them cause I didn't have a torque spec but don't go crazy cranking them down)
9. Replace the nut that holds the fuel line bracket on and tighten.
10. Put air cleaner back on. Re-connect the battery.

Now start the car up and check for vacuum leaks. If it idles high (as mine did) try tightening the Bolts on the T/B a little more. Mine leaked so I cranked it down a bit more and it solved the problem. I also went with a Phenolic Spacer (high temp plastic). Any spacer should yield similar gains but I went this route for 2 reasons. First the phenolic doesn't transfer heat Â*like aluminum and also it was on sale for $20. A good aluminum one is anywhere between $50 and $100. Any questions/comments/criticisms feel free to post up or E-mail me or if you want pics let me know. Dyno info is available in another post and track time will be pending soon. Next up is the fuel injector spacer.

P.S.
Something else to mention is you can fit a 1/2" spacer easily without modifying the route of the throttle linkage, any more and it could bind up on you. A 1/2" spacer may have yielded a minimal gain but I am also going to install an edelbrock manifold which has a plane height that is a 1/4" higher then stock. this will equal a little more then 1/2" increase but it should be doable. something to keep in mind. Also the $12.99 for the kit to install it is kinda high, you could probably get the gaskets and bolts for around $8.00 from an auto parts store and hardware store but I leave that up to you.

Cool, Ima definately do this. Im new to the TBI ;-)

Would that spacer on an edelbrock manifold cause any clearance problems with the stock air cleaner and hood?

I would....but at the end of the day its still a TBI

No offence or anything, im just diehard carb

It shouldn't cause hood clearance issues but it will be tight on the air cleaner, I know .5" lift works and I know .75" doesn't, this would be about .6". I am confident it will fit, but not certain. I won't be doing my manifold for awhile yet. If you want to wait for it I'll let you know. Worst case you will need to clearance the air cleaner a little bit. Were talking a tenth of an inch here.

This project isn't to see if TBI is better or worse then any other induction system. This is testing to see how much better or worse these bolt on parts actually make the car run for people who just want to tweek it a bit or can't afford to do a carb or multiport swap. In fact on the street I would put my money on TBI over TPI, TBI makes lots of low end torque. Â*Eventually the TPI will win out, but light to light I think it would be pretty damn close. If you can get it to breath better on the top end I think it would be pretty close to TPI. We'll have to see. Worst case I am wrong.

Actually, my TBI 305 has a lot more pep than my 4bbl 305 with exhaust work.

stall, gears, tires, cam, tuning=13's na in a tbi 305

Yeah let me know how it works when you do it. I'm not getting the manifold till june. I'd imagine that taking that peice of crap pad off the underside of the hood would help clearence a bit. Plus it looks better.