Re: Throttle Body & Intake Manifold Polishing

[OorQue@aol.com]

> Wedges in throttle bodies, eh?

I don't know if this is present only on the US-spec cars or all of them but 
there's a small aluminum wedge bolted to the brass throttle plate -- it 
occupies the upper half of the throttle plate and its thickness tapers from 
1/6" at the side that's nearest the cross shaft to approx. 7/16" thick at the 
outside edge -- and I'm told it's there to improve driveability at less than 
full throttle.  Also, the cross shaft itself is thicker than the one on the 
Ur-Q throttle body and the mounting screws for both the throttle plate and 
aluminum wedge have big, ugly heads that stick well out into the airflow.

When I discussed this with Graydon Stuckey during his recent visit, he said 
he removed the wedge on his car while he was rebuilding the top end and 
didn't notice any changes, positive or negative, as a result.  I also showed 
him the head I'd been practicing my port work on and it appears that we both 
did pretty much the same things to the ports so I'm not sure if there really 
is any advantage to going with the Ur-Q throttle body or not.  When I get my 
car back together, I will try to do some comparison testing and let everybody 
know the results.

(Oh, and since the Ur-Q throttle body doesn't have a port to provide air to 
the shrouded injectors, you'll need to weld up the matching hole in the 
intake manifold then run a hose from an outlet on the intercooler to a 
T-fitting in the hose from the manifold to the head.  Another benefit is that 
the WOT and idle switches on the Ur-Q throttle body are separate so they can 
be adjusted individually ... nice if you want your fuel enrichment to start a 
little before you reach WOT.)    

JG