[madmatt2024]

I have been contemplating doing the 3.8/HO throttle body swap on my 97 wagon. The problem is there isn't really alot of room on the other side of the engine for the throttle cable relocation. I have a strut bar as well which limits the space even more. I also recently installed cruse control in my car and would like to keep it in working condition. I can't even find a good picture of a 3rd gen with a 3.8 throttle body installed to see what needs to be done. Does anybody have pictures of a 3.8/HO throttle body installed on a 3rd gen?

Also, has anybody ever tried to switch the side of the throttle cable on a 3.8 throttle body? I have a friend who welds aluminum for a living and can probably do any welding that I would need done.

 

[madmatt2024]

I just thought of something, why not just reposition the throttle body? I could make two flanges out of steel and weld a mandrel bent piece of exhaust pipe in between the flanges, kind of like a super throttle body spacer. Then, with the TB relocated I would have more than enough room to mount the cables. This would also give me the freedom to use any Ford TB I wanted. What effect would my huge, angled, spacer/adapter have on performance, provided I used the correct sized pipe all the way through?

I am also going to have to find a better place to get a TB. The U-Pull I love so much wants $26.99 for a TB + $5 core, which is outrageous. They are extremely cheap on most stuff but there are a few things they gouge you on. $125 for any motor but $32 for a throttle body?

 

[white-lightning]

That is a good idea. That would work as a tb spacer too, iirc it will help low end torque. JGS sells a 4.6L 70mm Ford Throttle Body Flange and 5.0L 85mm Throttle Body Flange made of aluminum fyi.

 

[madmatt2024]

I would rather use steel because my welder isn't setup to weld aluminum.(fluxcore) Besides, I can just mark some steel plate and have my other friend zip out the center holes with a plasma cutter at work. If its steel I could also weld brackets to it if I wanted.

The SPI TB is about 1 3/4" (44mm), the 3.8/HO TB is 50mm if I remember correctly so just under 2" making 2" od exhaust pipe perfect for this application. The problem will be finding mandrel bends locally. I have a nice 2 1/4" bend but that would be to big. Maybe I will just have to notch and weld a straight piece because I am not using a crush bent piece from from Auto Zone.

Now I just need the throttle body itself.

 

[madmatt2024]

Well, I finally got an HO throttle body from another member. For anybody that wonders it does indeed have a 50mm bore. The part in the front is 55mm but the part where the actual plate makes contact is 50mm

Today I got thinking about it again and thought up another way to mount it. If I made an adapter plate that flipped it upside down the cable would be on the correct side.

This brings another question, does it matter if the throttle body is upside down? I know normally the throttle plate on engines opens like garage door, top goes in, bottom goes out. If I flipped it the opposite would be true which would cause the air to take a different path at partial throttle.

This is just another idea I had. I just want some opinions.

 

[madmatt2024]

Well, I did it! Nobody has ever tried it before but I did it!
I converted my HO throttle body so the cable is on the other side!!!

Some finishing work needs to be done and I have to add an appropriate attachment for the cable but the major work is done.

 

[Escort92Man]

YESSSSSSS!!!! fabricating at it's FINEST! great job man that looks good! lots of time and work went into that, what like 3 hours or so? for me I take my time so it'd be all day ha ha, lookin good!

I have a 3.8 TB I messed with, I just made a bracket that bolted to the firewall and lengthened the TPS wires, but if you can mod out the TB instead, nice!

 

[madmatt2024]

Thanks! It feels good to do something nobody has done before.

2nd gens have less stuff in the way compared to the 3rd gens. Everywhere I looked to mount the cable was going to be tight, there wasn't even a place on the firewall. Plus, I went through the trouble to install the factory cruse control and with the lack of room it looked like it was going to be almost impossible to make it fit. It did take 3-4 hours to make but it would have taken just as long to relocate the cable and have it work reliably. I cleaned up the adapter plates and painted them sliver. I still need something for cable. I'm thinking maybe a small, metal, pulley welded to the linkage with a notch to hold the cable, kind of like the factory setup.

Best of all, I can still put back the way it was before... almost. I had to cut and grind some parts of TB itself but they can be put back to stock with spacers, a screw, and some JB-Weld.

The bigger TB should yield some improvement on the SPI. Supposedly, the SPI in the Focus had a 50MM TB while the same engine in the Escort only got a 44MM.

 

[Escort92Man]

you indeed have done something no one has done of that I have ever heard!

I think my header I made for my GT last night is the first of it's kind w00t drove it around more today and oh man, driving her normal is fun! sounds so good nice and deep pops and just everything is better with a header! oh yes!

next, WINDOW TINT, 35% all the way around cept the windshield duh anything darker than 35% is just too dark for my liking anywayz!

yeah and after installing factory cruise why get rid of it, that'd be stupid! man that wagon is pretty sweet.

and go figure stupid focus has the right engine parts! I'll bet that HO TB will really be good on an SPI, on a regular 1.9, forget about it you have more low end power but high end power is terrible!

I opened the GT up getting on the freeway and in 3rd gear going from 60 to 70 before it'd choke up at 65 and you'd have to shift to 4th or just half throttle 3rd, I kept it opened up and she hit 70 and wanted to go faster but I figured I don't need a ticket but I coulda hit 90 pretty easy I'll bet! better flow is GOOD! you'll be real happy with that HO TB I'm sure! you got a good header on her too?

 

[madmatt2024]

I have an HO header I was modifying to fit it, then I looked deep into the laws on catalytic converters and discovered I would be in violation of federal law if I were to install the header and relocate the cat (dumb if you ask me.) It was also more of a project than I felt comfortable doing at that time. All I originally wanted one of those Focus Central Shorty headers but they are impossible to find. I also lost my job last year and have yet to find another so any major projects are on hold.

At least I have my 2 1/4 exhaust done which helped a bit. I got from a Neon in the junkyard. The bends are almost the same and its 2 1/4" with mandrill bends. Not to mention its the factory exhaust materiel which lasts a long time and for $7 how can you go wrong.

BTW, if you got your header from a Protege its been done before. For some reason some BP proteges had a header from the factory and its just about a bolt on for the EGT, at least that is what I have heard.

 

[juggalo]

check out ebay for headers. they have some that will actually work with our cats.

 

[Escort92Man]

ok sweet on the HO header, and just relocate the cat anyway cut cut weld weld done! my exhaust is so not stock anymore ha ha.

I'ma whore this pic out again CHECK IT WOOPA!!!!

yeah that aint stock anymore ha ha. and nice on the neon exhaust and you can't go wrong for 7 bucks! mandrel bent even! BONUS!

that header was off a kia version BP it's called the KAsomething idk, but it wasn't a direct bolt on the flange was all different so I cut the flange off and made that 2.5 inch down pipe fit then made my oxy bung in there tapped the threads out good and just welded it all to the cat which bolts up to the pipe that goes to the muffler in the back, I love it dude the sound is ... OOOOF. so not a direct bolt on there, and idk if proteges have headers I've looked and they have the same goofy exhaust manifold that weighs a ton unless some squeeked in and I didn't look under the heat shield to see pipes. I'll have to pull a protege heat shield off next time I'm there! and it prolly is a direct bolt on for EGT's, but mine's speshal lol!

anyway Matt nice work on that TB!! hope it works good for you!

 

[juggalo]

he's runnin a spi so his cat would be in the same spot mine is

 

[madmatt2024]

Yes, my cat is in about the same place as yours but there is no header for my car or yours that uses the stock cat except for the ultra rare Focus Central shorty header and then that is only for the SPI. They are virtually impossible to find. I will tell you one thing, if this engine ever goes out due to a dropped valve seat and I have the cash I am going to Zetec swap it. It stinks to have almost no aftermarket support.

Here are some more pictures. I painted the plates and added a screw to hold the spring. I also swapped the old throttle stop screw over to the new location. It has a spring so it won't rattle out. All the screws are in and have lock-tight on them. I just need something for the throttle cable connection and I have to shave the ridges off the opening so my SPI intake will fit over it. I need to but get a new high speed cutting bit to shave the ridges and go shopping for something for the cable connection but its labor day so I can't do that.

Ridges I need to shave.

 

[Escort92Man]

you know what works really good to shave those ridges off? an old bench grinder in your buddy's garage ha ha, tis what I used when I did my 3.8 TB, took me about 2 minutes to get the stock hose to fit on there. course if you don't have a buddy with a nice 6 inch bench grinder you gonna have to figure out how to make that tiny dremel do all that work lol. how good do those high speed cutters work? I tried a small 1/8th shaft one and it didn't last very long lol. that's when I did my aluminum head port/polish, I went through 20 grinding stones and 3 days to do that job, twas insane.

lookin good though! craftsmanship at it's finest!!!

 

[madmatt2024]

The high speed cutters work great on aluminum and plastic, they shave that stuff down really fast. At work be had several we would attach to an air die grinder. They went through steel pretty fast and don't remember us ever having to replace one. I have a bench grinder but its small, I will try it anyway. I can't seem to find any new wheels for it though. Its a 4" grinder which I have never seen. It came out of my grandfather's basement.

 

[Escort92Man]

ok I'll have to find a 1/4 inch high speed cutter for my MISC things

4 inch bench grinder should work just take a little more time than a 6 inch. a guy gave me the dual 6 incher free cuz he had another one laying around I've used it a lot, and my 4.5 inch angle grinder/cut off wheel OOOF it's a beast! forget air cut off wheels 4.5 inch electric FTW! exhaust pipe goes like butter. harbor freight like 20 for a 4.5 inch angle grinder! well worth the investment!

 

[madmatt2024]

Oh, I know! I have that same angle grinder. Some of the best money I have ever spent.

 

[Escort92Man]

FTW! love my harbor freight junk, just bought a 3 dollar gasket scraper, never again will I cut my fingers with a razor blade! ha ha!

fuel line disconnects, ETC harbor freight FTW!!!

 

[madmatt2024]

I have it almost complete now. You do not know how hard it is to find a 2" pulley for a small cable. I went to 2 hardware stores and Lowes but found nothing I could easily modify for my application. A garage door cable pulley would have been perfect but smallest size I could find was 3", I needed 2".

I ended up making something out of a table leg bracket I bought and a piece of steel. It ain't pretty but it should work. I still need to weld the nub for the cruse control bracket onto the "pulley." Speaking of welding, I should have protected the throttle shaft from spatter. I got some on it but fortunately it isn't on the part where the bearings or seals contact.

I have a feeling the whole thing it isn't going to work though. It looks like it will but when ever I put this much work into modding something it never turns out. I took it apart alot of times so I hope the bearing seals are all right. Also, there was alot of corrosion on the bore after the throttle plate that I had to clean out which relieved some actual pitting in the aluminum! I wish the member that sold it to me had mentioned the corrosion when he put it up for sale, at least I didn't pay that much for it. I think I can actually have it finished tomorrow.