How to: Port a V6 Throttle Body

[rwalshphoto]

Porting the 3.5L V6 Throttle Body

I started this project last week and got quite a bit of questions and lots of inquiring minds so here is my best shot at explaining the porting of the V6 throttle body.

The Intake Diameter at the entrance of the Upper Intake Plenum is 71mm. For the sake of this write up and assuming that the results are favorable to the theories presented the porting of the throttle body will be done in such a manner as to create a funnel or venturi effect into the manifold. I'm sure by now you are all aware of the physics behind this, after all the AirHammer is designed around these ideas as well as all other well-performing intakes.

Stock Throttle Body (Info):

* Cast Aluminum
* 67mm at the barrel entrance
* 65mm at its smallest point at the perimeter of the blade
* Exit diameter of 68mm tapered to 72mm
The Ported Throttle Body (the end result):

* approximately 71mm at the barrel entrance
* Tapered to 72mm, smoothed into perimeter of blade
Note: Diameter of TB at blade area will NOT be altered (see further instruction)
* Smooth tapering of the ridge on exit of throttle body
* Sand / Polish (optional)

Tools Needed:

* Pneumatic or Electric die grinder
* Carbide Cutting Bits (cylinder with round tip works best)
* Flap wheels or Sanding cones (80 grit, 120 grit)
* Caliper (for measuring diameters to check for accuracy and consistency)
* 500 grit, 1200 grit, polish compound, 2" cotton rag buffing wheel (for polishing....optional)

Illustrated Procedure:

70mm Intake Diameter of Upper Intake Plenum:

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01190.jpg


Stock Throttle Body (Unported):

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/web-01104.jpg

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/web-01103.jpg

Porting, In Process - Carbide Bit, Rough Surface

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01196.jpg

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01199.jpg

Taper Back of throttle body, smooth ledge, do not remove to much near blade:

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/web-01130.jpg

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/web-01141.jpg
Check for consistency:

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01203.jpg


Sanding, Flapwheels or Cones (80 grit, 120 grit)
** Smooth the ledge into the blade area but do not go to deep, remove as little material as possible near the blade.

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01207.jpg

Check for consistency last time before polishing:

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01204.jpg


POLISHING
* Sand with 500 grit until all major visible scratches are gone
* Sand again with 1200 grit until your fingers are numb
* Cover areas in polishing compound
* Use cotton rag buffing wheel on a drill or die grinder to polish to mirror finish

End Result:

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01214.jpg

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01220.jpg

[CHARGERTREV]

It feel any better?

[rwalshphoto]

It feel any better?

Dunno yet, car has only had 3 miles to learn it. Throttle response is definitely better, cant say yet for the rest of it.

[DaILLestWun]

You da man!!! Beans to you!!!

[fnkychkn]

great write up, Ryan. should have posted it in KB submission forum.

i can sorta see how this could improve airflow but i fail to see how this can improve throttle response. was battery disconnected or fuse 11 pulled to reset PCM?

[rwalshphoto]

great write up, Ryan. should have posted it in KB submission forum.

i can sorta see how this could improve airflow but i fail to see how this can improve throttle response. was battery disconnected or fuse 11 pulled to reset PCM?

Pulled fuse 11, yes but not the battery. In my previous thread when I initially started on this I didnt take anywhere near this much out, maybe brought it to about 72mm. But since Billet Tech is giving it a GO and I wanted to try this at max capacity. So its time to data log and send it to Mike Lafrad again and see what he can do.

As far as perceived gains, it just seems more responsive and "jumpy" if you will off the line. And testing the throttle ranges at different speeds 0-60 and transitions between coasting and WOT. Also hold the car against the stall converter seems to take more braking power now to hold the car back.

[fnkychkn]

just pulling the fuse is enough to reset the PCM and improve throttle response.
pretty sure i have a spare T-body somewhere. might have to try this. :)

[rwalshphoto]

just pulling the fuse is enough to reset the PCM and improve throttle response.
pretty sure i have a spare T-body somewhere. might have to try this. :)

Very true, however I've probably pulled Fuse 11 4-5 times in the past week or so between playing with this in different configurations (I started at 72mm and worked up to this 74mm where it is now) and it has got progressively better and the longer the car has to learn it the better it gets. I just sent some logs to Mike so we'll see what he thinks... poor guy is gonna kill me.

[rwalshphoto]

So here is what the schedule is looking like everyone:

I will be headed to Speedworld tomorrow night to do some track runs now that I am tuned for the cams and also the ported manifold and ported throttle body. If anyone local (cough cough) would like to tag along lets swap out a stock TB and see what the difference is.

I will be dyno testing this throttle body on BritishNate's car as soon as his tuning is squared away for the camshafts and he gets his post-cam dyno done and his JBA headers installed. We do a baseline run for the car with that current configuration which is:

Inertia Camshafts V1.1
Custom Tuning by Mike Lafrad
K&N Intake
Blastin Bobs 10db kit replaced suitcase with Magnaflow
JBA Shorty Headers

We will install the ported lower manifold and do a few runs with that and then a few more runs with the ported throttle body. We will probably try and put a few street miles in between testing for the manifold and TB as it takes time for the car to learn the mods without being specifically tuned for it.

[ChuckWagon]

Excellent work Ryan! Great pics! Beans to you!

BTW...them there are some new calipers huh? j/k :Na_Na_Na_Na:


oh yeah.....subscribed

[shagmag07]

subscribed

[ToddStone]

So, just to go back to the grinding, you really don't want to touch the flap area at all, is that correct? How much space did you keep away from it?

You reshaped it so that from the 68mm to meet the 72mm (just making sure I read that right). Thanks for the write up. I'm very intrigued.

[rwalshphoto]

So, just to go back to the grinding, you really don't want to touch the flap area at all, is that correct? How much space did you keep away from it?

You reshaped it so that from the 68mm to meet the 72mm (just making sure I read that right). Thanks for the write up. I'm very intrigued.

I used the 120 grit flap wheel at a low speed and took off just enough material to smooth that ledge down into the blade area. The goal is just to get rid of that lip and nothing more.

[BilletTechnology]

Brother this a great DIY. If I could have beaned ya 100 times I would have. Excellent and informative. write up

[rwalshphoto]

I have a 2.7L Magnum in my driveway now! It looks promising! He's out for a drive right now and sounds to be doing swell. :rock:

[rwalshphoto]

New video of my Magnum with the Inertia V1.1 Camshafts, Ported & polished manifold, ported & polished 74mm throttle body and custom tuned:

dABKbexiEp0

[fnkychkn]

nice video. :thumbs_u:
did you notice much difference with the ported t-body? with the cams? how about the ported manifold? did you port your own manifold? if so, is there a how-to somewhere?
sorry for peppering you with questions.

btw, you're low on fuel. :)

[rwalshphoto]

nice video. :thumbs_u:
did you notice much difference with the ported t-body? with the cams? how about the ported manifold? did you port your own manifold? if so, is there a how-to somewhere?
sorry for peppering you with questions.

btw, you're low on fuel. :)

Haha all is good. The ported throttle body has mainly improved throttle response maybe a little hp/tq gain over all according to observations by saccotelli,Paris, and I. Yes I ported my own manifold and I am also offering them for sale at the moment but havent made it to the dyno yet. They are also on 3 different cars including my own. Here is the thread for that but not really a "how to"...in short they are gasket matched.

http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=146220

[rwalshphoto]

2.7L Throttle-body Info:

Over the weekend I installed a ported throttle body on oOoDarkKnightoOo 2.7L Magnum he has started a thread to record the results:

http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=152527

Side by side before/after:
http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01233.jpg

Intake Opening at Manifold
http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01236.jpg

Differences between 3.5L bolts and 2.7L bolts that attached the TB to the manifold:
http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01238.jpg

Intake Manifold measurement:
http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01246.jpg
http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/WEB-01247.jpg

[SUPREME220]

great write up im next !!!!!

[SUPREME220]

i have a question u opened up the tb one the 3.5 to 74mm didu do the same with the 2.7 as well?

[rwalshphoto]

i have a question u opened up the tb one the 3.5 to 74mm didu do the same with the 2.7 as well?

I actually took the one right off my car and put it on Paris's (DarkKnight) 2.7L so yes it is 74mm at the entrance and tapers back to about 70mm right before the blade. I originally planned to be a little more conservative and only bore it to 72mm for the 2.7L but it seems to have worked well. So for consistency sake for the machine shop that will be cutting the final product... they will all be identical. Still finalizing the measurements for maximum airflow. Waiting on a prototype from the machine shop that is CNC ported and I will be putting a stock one, the CNC one, and my hand ported/polished one on a flow bench to test the differences.

[rwalshphoto]

Gained 5hp 5tq on Nate's car today after some more porting on the back side:

http://rwalshphoto.com/cams/rwalshTBnates031109-web.jpg

[rwalshphoto]

For anyone who is interested:

http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=156945

[Rican 300]

I would love to do this but I cant afford to send you my TB since my car is my daily driver. Will BT or yourself be bringing any to the LXForums in NJ? We can swap it out right there in the parking lot.:modding: LOL.

[rwalshphoto]

I would love to do this but I cant afford to send you my TB since my car is my daily driver. Will BT or yourself be bringing any to the LXForums in NJ? We can swap it out right there in the parking lot.:modding: LOL.

As much as I'd like to I cant make the event. You might ask BT. I dont think they were planning to do any core exchange program or persue the V6 stuff any further since the group buy basically died. So I've been doing all of them by hand. The productions units I have shipped and been offering are quite different then the how-to and photos I posted originally as I have found methods to gain more power and throttle response. I havent updated it to protect my investment into all of this.

[Rican 300]

As much as I'd like to I cant make the event. You might ask BT. I dont think they were planning to do any core exchange program or persue the V6 stuff any further since the group buy basically died. So I've been doing all of them by hand. The productions units I have shipped and been offering are quite different then the how-to and photos I posted originally as I have found methods to gain more power and throttle response. I havent updated it to protect my investment into all of this.
That really stinks. I would love to do this mod as you know 2.7 are slow as heck. Anything to gain some HP. I have a friend that wants to do it as well, but he has a 2008 3.5L. I would rent a car but renting one for a week or longer is out of the question LOL.

[bluedevil_07]

Would it be possible for me to send you my TB with some cash for a ported one?

[rwalshphoto]

Would it be possible for me to send you my TB with some cash for a ported one?

Yep thats what the core exchange is. $285 + shipping and $100 refund when I receive your stock core.

All the "performance package" details are here:
http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=159041

Dyno results here:
http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=163535

[Chrysless25]

I seen some people online that ported their TB knife edge blade on top and bottom ends, I guess to create a smoother flow when open. Have you heard of this or do this to your TB?

[rwalshphoto]

I seen some people online that ported their TB knife edge blade on top and bottom ends, I guess to create a smoother flow when open. Have you heard of this or do this to your TB?

Yeah - for whatever minimal gains it would provide its not worth the risk of junking a TB.

Man, I forgot about this thread I need to update photos and stuff. A lot has changed since I went to production with these. I wrote this back when I was prototyping.

[uscbigdawg]

Ryan,

So on the inlet side you're just tapering it to 74mm-ish and changing the angle at the blade?

On the outlet side, is there any material removal or is just a polish?

Thanks, keep up the great work and thanks for this how-to!

Rich

[rwalshphoto]

Ryan,

So on the inlet side you're just tapering it to 74mm-ish and changing the angle at the blade?

On the outlet side, is there any material removal or is just a polish?

Thanks, keep up the great work and thanks for this how-to!

Rich

Hey Rich,
There are a lot of differences in the "production" versions I sell now vs. when I did this write up. I wrote all of this when I first started working on my own, far before the dyno testing or more accurate measuring tools etc. Its physically impossible to port these to 74mm, hence why I've removed the measurements some time ago from the posts. If you look at the photos on the AE site you'll see there is a much steeper difference between the butterfly area and the entrance and exit. The purpose is to make the gap between the edge of the butterfly and wall of the TB as large as possible to increase throttle response by effectively making the TB behave as if the blade is open more then it is. Yes the exit is modified, the exit is cut straight inward to remove that short taper that the stock on has.