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daknblk
GenIII
 
7/01/2004
12:08:35
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 Subject: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
Okay, I know that the throttle body horse has been beaten to death, but...
I'm going to upgrade the throttle body on my '03CC (3.9L V6 w/ 4800 miles). It will be the first of (hopefully) quite a few mods. I'm looking mainly for slightly better mpg's... a little better performance would just be gravy.
Here's my plans so far...
-Upgrade throttle body (currently has stock 42mm)
-Upgrade to brass cap, rotor, better wires.
-Upgrade plugs & index them.
-Open up air intake, either mod stock airbox & replace the flex hose, K&N drop-in (probably no FIPK though).
-Remove that little rubber flap!
-Maybe pull off that spinning boat anchor of a clutch fan & put on electric fan.
-Upgrade muffler, not so much for better sound as for flow.
-Switch over to synthetic fluids (which I'm reluctant to even mention here...lol)
Anyway, my main question is about the TB (just added the other stuff so you could see the big picture here).
I've reserched this a bit & I know the basic rule of thumb (V8tb-good, fastman-better, F&B-best) and have narrowed my options to the following...
1. Port & polish a 44mm (which I'm getting for free). My pop's a machinist with a full shop so we should be able to do a nice job of grinding down the top and removing torque step. Advantage here is that its all FREE, apart from a little wear & tear on my pop and his equipment.
2. Mod the 42mm and keep the 44mm to put back on if I sell the Dak. We could try to bore out the 42mm to 46mm and buy a set of 46mm blades. And IF we do screw it up, I'll still have the 44mm as back-up. Is it hard to remove the screws for the blades and pull the shaft out? The screws are "lock-tight"ed in, right (is that even a word)? Advantage here, still cheap.
3. Save myself and my pop a lot of effort and just send my 42mm to the fastman, and keep 44mm as backup? Downside of this is the $$$ involved!
Any thoughts? Like I said, I'm not going to be racing my Dak, just wan't to wake it up a bit & get it to run a little better. Thanks for reading throught this long post, and for any input/insight!
John
03cc w/ 3.9 V6
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daddio
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
7/01/2004
12:17:17
| RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
john, you can take the shaft out of the tb without much effort. i did it when i ported my 44mm tb. IMO, just swapping the out would not be as much fun as machining a stock tb. since you have access to a full machine shop, just pull about your "free" tb and go ahead and bore it to 48mm and put it back together w/ 48mm plates.
i don't consider doing anything to my dak "work".
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daknblk
GenIII
7/01/2004
13:01:22
| RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
Thanks for the input daddio!
Dad doesn't know he's helping me yet, but it shouldn't be much of a problem for him. He's been a machinist for a good 40 years or so and does some nice work. This will be his first throttle body though. Part of my concern is that I don't have much experience with throttle bodies, though I do have a pretty good idea of what's involved.
-Are the shafts to same for 42mm thru 48mm (same bolt spacing for plates)?
-Any downside to going up to 48mm (would it require additional mods than what I have planned to get the full effect of it?
-Going up to 48mm would be similar to an F&B, right? I've only seen photos of the F&B, but it looks like a straight thru bore (no step) with a radius at the top, which is what I'd end up doing.
-Also, I know where I can get 46mm plates, but i haven't found a supplier for the 48's- maybe from F&B? I'll have to drop them a line.
Thanks again!
John
03cc w/ 3.9 V6
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daddio
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
7/01/2004
13:46:27
| RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
as long as he keeps the bores on the same centerline as they are now you should have no probs. the shafts are the same for all. they are slotted all the way through. try the fastman for the 48mm plates. i hear Dan, the owner, is a real nice guy to deal with. if you bore yours to 48mm you'll have the same as f & b. do that and you'll be ready for some 1.7 RR's.
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daknblk
GenIII
7/01/2004
14:09:24
| RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
Thanks agian daddio! I'll have to drop Dan another e-mail. I had already e-mailed him about the 46mm plates and he got back to me pretty quickly with a price. I too have heard nothing but good words for him.
Now, I guess I'll just have fabricate an "S" bolt.
John
03cc w/ 3.9 V6
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Relf
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
7/02/2004
00:41:39
|  RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
"as long as he keeps the bores on the same centerline as they are now you should have no probs." Your father will know that it is not the "centerline" along the X-axis that matters, but he should indicate each hole to find center of the hole before he enlarges it. You will find that the casting of the TB has almost no porosity in it and it machines like butter. Can you buy the "blades" seperately from the dealer? Let me know, because I just machined my 42mm and it doesn't seem to be enough. Thanks. Good luck. Relf.
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J and J Auto
GenII
7/02/2004
01:54:03
| RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
You can not bore the stock V6 bodies to 48mm you
will hit the shaft bearings and have nothing left
in the center 46mm MAX
send it to fastman dan and get it done, the
fastman bodies work very well
Larry
J&J Auto
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daknblk
GenIII
7/02/2004
08:28:32
| RE: Throttle body upgrade
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Message:
Relf, thanks for the tip. I figured that daddio did mean to keep the bores on the same centers (concentric). Shouldn't be a problem for us to do that. BTW, I haven't tried the dealer for the blades. I'll have to ask them today when I go to pick my truck up (bad ball joint).
I did contact Dan (thefastman.com) regarding buying the blades separately, he said I could- although he recommended that I send him the TB and let him do the work. I'm still considering that, being that although cash is tight, so is time! Of course, spending a day in the shop with my father would be a pretty good day for the both of us- even if we did screw up a perfectly good throttle body...lol
Larry, thanks for the heads up!!! I was wondering if 48mm would be physically too big for the stock TB. You know, I was thinking that although the F&B is 48mm- it is an original TB not a modified one. The fastman (46mm) on the other hand, is a stock TB that is modified. So 46mm it is!
Can't wait to do this either way, because my Dak's a sleepy ol' dog with this 42mm tb!
Thanks again to all!
John
03cc w/ 3.9 V6
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