so I've always wondered about TB spacers. Everyone says that they're "junk" or "don't work". But for one thing it's silly to believe everything that you read, and also people could be sitting on a goldmine of a mod and don't want people to know the truth. So I embarked on a mission to find out on my own.

Upon searching for just the right spacer I ran into a snag. My car is equipped with a fast 92 intake and throttle body. This intake must be rather unknown or cheap because NOBODY makes a TB spacer for this setup. So I had to improvise.

The fast throttle body straight up stole gm's patented bolt pattern from the LS2 engine which is a 90 mm. The size difference was negligible enough that I was certain that I could make it work. So I ordered it from OBX. It was very cheap which was surprising.



When I received my new potentially prized mod I was very impressed with its build quality. This thing is solid alloy which proved to be a hassle later on and I'll explain as I go on.

This spacer is designed with a helical inner bore, which apparently is akin to supercharging your engine with the spiralized airflow. Since we all know that stock ls1 Pistons are not the fondest of boost, I decided that the helical bore had to go for safety reasons. So I got to work.




I had to grind away at the inner bore for a loooong time due to the solid alloy construction of the OBX spacer. I started by first removing the helical bore. After that, I decided to port match it to the throttle body.



Getting a lot closer to the right size here. Again, very time consuming but hopefully worth it.



In the end I gave it a very nice smooth finish to minimize any supercharging effect.



After I was done machining the spacer I realized that I removed so much alloy that the gasket now heavily protruded into the atmospherical intake orifice area. I painstakingly trimmed that up.



After bolting it all back together I checked inside the TB to ensure no protrusions. Everything lined up satisfactory.



Now at this point I haven't ran the engine yet, but it's very obvious that the spacer flat out works! The throttle body is clearly spaced farther, roughly around the same amount as the spacer is thick. So does this mod work? Yes! Very big difference!

 

Very impressive right up

I have the tornado on mine.

 

****.. I got a pre and post maf tornado setup, airs swirling so fast I gained at least 50rwhp.

 

So u haven't ran it yet hammer? Lol

 

what did you use the air hammer for?

 

Same thing he used the hacksaw for man, dem sweet sweet gains

 

Wow, it really did space out the throttle body!

I bought the LS1 Induction Pro Pack from Summit Racing which included a SLP lid, K&N filter, and VaraRam velocity stack insert for the throttle body. After all 3 items were installed I noticed my engine had a slightly deeper sounding idle and better throttle response. Did the velocity stack by itself do anything? I don't know, but it came with the kit so I put it on.

 

Don't lie... You only ground it down to save on weight...

I've actually done extensive research on the helix and you probably went the wrong direction here. OBX has done their homework on this one and you totally went and ruined it. Just my .02...

 

the problem with those helical spacers is they are with metric thread pitch which doesnt work on US cars. you probably noticed it right away when you were using that standard crescent on it.

 

Supposedly it'll throw the speedo off

 

I have a "spacer" on mine...it adds 150hp...it's called a "nitrous plate"

 

I'm still wondering how he got the tb spaced out the same amount as the spacer was with the hack saw. I woulda had it all fucked up.

 

gm's patented bolt pattern

Are you taking a ****?

 

I think this is where you may have went wrong...

When I received my OBX spacer, I immediately sent it off and had it CNC ported, I feel very lucky...guy only charged me $1500.00.

(Everyone knows you can't duplicate results with an air chisel until you get to a 42 axis CNC....)

 

Are you being serious? I can't tell.

That fact that someone might think you're being serious, should be concerning to you. If this is a joke, you should just stay in SRK section with your arguing homies.

 

The TB is clearly spaced. As apparent by the way you can just look at it.

 

Mission accomplished.

 

Got it. You're an idiot.

 

florida man

 

but what if you stacked your port matched one to a helix one?