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Throttle Body Spacer

My mods are in my sig pic, but I know they are a bit difficult to read, so I'll retype them. 3.4, 3"DP, INTENSE PCM, 180* t-stat, FWI, NGK TR6IX plugs soon to be AL104's this summer. I may be getting a P-log soon depending on how my modifications to a soon-to-arrive front manifold go.
 




Me and a few local guys bought the ZZP spacers when they first sold them, I think around 5 years back IIRC. On two cars I installed them at the track in the staging lanes and both cars gained absolutely nothing in the quarter time or mph wise. Then 2K miles later one leaked coolant on the outside as the gasket blew out and the other car had sealant blow out and coolant go into the inlet through the blower and into the engine. We both gave the spacers away for free as other than there was zero gain at the track they both caused coolant leaks, mine blew out on the outside and went straight onto the crossover pipe going down the road which put antifreeze all over the windshield and steam blowing all over the place. An aluminum spacer is more durable but you wont gain the thermal properties of the plastic one, though it made no gains in the quarter on two cars so that spoke for itself despite reading tests online.
 
Glad I could entertain you Farns :th_scratchhead: I forgot the funny part though haha Timeslips dont lie and I like real world proof!
 
Trannyman95 said:
Glad I could entertain you Farns :th_scratchhead: I forgot the funny part though haha Timeslips dont lie and I like real world proof!
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I was laughing at that. Real world proof, not claims made by many of our vendors.

Add this sticker and run 9's and gain 10 HP, just to show how I relate my humor to some of these parts being sold on the market today. I will never, ever, EVER sell something that doesn't work just to make money. LOL But that might just be me. :th_scratchhead:

~F~
 
I wonder if ZZP changed the compound of the spacer. I put alot of daily driver miles on mine and it never leaked or warped. It was used for the same reason people use the TB heatshields. More for sensor preservation and protection from the heat. For the mentioned reasons, the spacer works better than the heatshield.
 


IndeedSS said:
I wonder if ZZP changed the compound of the spacer. I put alot of daily driver miles on mine and it never leaked or warped. It was used for the same reason people use the TB heatshields. More for sensor preservation and protection from the heat. For the mentioned reasons, the spacer works better than the heatshield.
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That was exactly my thinking when I got mine. I knew well enough that it would not do anything for performance, but isolating that TB from the blower seemed like a smart thing to do. Unfortunately mine leaked as well, but it was not a result of the gasket or spacer.

One of my TB studs was stripped on the blower side and would not tighten up properly. It took a couple oil analysis to finaly be convinced it was definitely an intake leak that was causing some of the results I was seeing and I finally went out and dismantled the intake system instead of just checking it over.

Thats when I found the stud stripped out. I had to drill and tap everything for 1/4-20 and it tightened down as it was supposed to. They should never use M6 x 1.0mm threads in aluminum like that.

It has made me wonder on more than one occasion if that has been the issue with the leaks to start with as Im sure most who install this thing are going to crank down on it a little more than they probably should and those studs just arent going to take that.

If I can find some 1/4-20 studs of sufficient length (I would prefer to have a set stock length and long enough for the spacer) I would probably put my spacer back on. I had to make studs out of 1/4-20 all thread which worked fine but I would much rather have the studs there just for the sake of OEM likeness.
 
I'm thinking about getting another spacer myself because of the "special" TOG crossover I have. fwiw I used a very very thin layer of RTV on both sides of the garlock gaskets that came with the spacer to prevent any potential coolant leaks and let the car sit for 24 hours to completely cure. I have a ZZP machined LIM now, so no coolant runs up to the TB anyway.
 
I have a Spacer, its the Gen2 of the ZZP and i've had it for 4 years with no issues. Then again, before I was ICed I had the coolant ports on my LIM tapped and plugged so I never had a coolant issue. I got no vacuum leaks anyway!

Only reason I got it, a guy I knew was upgrading to an LS1 TB so he practically gave it to me with something else I got from him. I installed it and before I was ICed I noticed the TB stayed ALOT cooler, at the most getting lukewarm. After installing an IC the TB stays ice cold, as does the S/C, but the TB is a little cooler due to the spacer... and this is on a 95-100 degree day. You can imagine how cold everything is this time of the year.

I'll probably keep the spacer on there. It certainly doesn't hurt anything to have it installed on there now. If anything it prolongs the life of the sensors. I haven't had many problems with the sensors on the TB, this maybe why. Besides my CAI, TB spacer, and IC combo works damn well together and it cools like its suppose to. As they always say the coolest, more dense air is better than regular ol' hot air. I thought about running alky at one time, which I doubt I ever will. But if I ever decide on a Dry Shot, I have a perfect spot to tap in.

So is a TB Spacer worth it? Probably not the asking price, not unless your going alky or nitrous anyway. Although the cooler TB on a non-IC car wouldn't be a bad thing. I'd doubt you'd gain .5 HP though. Does it help my setup? That debatable. I'm sure everything would work just as good w/o the spacer. But the slight cooler TB doesn't hurt either. Oh well, it works so i'll leave it be. Probably a .5 HP on my end too! LOL

Would I buy one today if I didn't already have one? No, I doubt it because I would probably say its useless on an IC setup. Now if I was planning on spraying... yeah i'd buy one for my nozzles and thats it. I doubt i'd buy one new for a non-IC setup honestly...
 


TooMch said:
can you say: "nawsssss"?
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:confused: << this was the edited version of what I deleted. I'm trying my best to refain from typing what I did before, in response to the worthless comment.:cool::th_lipssealed2: I must have terrets...sure glad you can't hear what my co-workers are right now.:th_nervous:
 
i would have to say not to do it because even if installed proper it still has a chance of leaking, some companies will even tell you that, i would just leave it alone
 
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