97 Throttle Body Restoration - ATTN OCD People - Pandora's box?

[NorCalFJ100]

OKay, so I am in the middle of getting my engine back together. I have been very meticulous about everything that I am putting back together. Cleaning every single bolt. Replacing every not easily accessible hose. I took my intake manifold apart, had it hot tanked, bead blasted and then tumbled. Which looks brand new now. See the pictures below.

Now of course, I am looking at the throttle body. Would I be crazy to take this all apart and have it hot tanked, bead blasted and tumbled as well? I looked through the FSM and didn't see anything that addressed a tear down of the TB. Or do I just clean this the best I can with a brass brush and call it good?

The OCD struggle is real...and expensive. Lol.

 

[Cass007]

I understand the struggle and have the same issue with things being matched. In this case, disassembly seems difficult at best. Maybe if you had a spare unit you wanted to try it with first and then see if you could reassemble and swap it onto an already running truck?

Possible alternative ... find a real close paint match to the intake (Rust-Oleum?) and OCD the tape job instead? Or paint it an accent color (black or grey or similar to truck exterior) and make it stand out apart from the intake? Possible paint match to the valve cover and/or the plastic insert over the spark plugs?

 

[Cass007]

Any pics of the intake after just the hot tank process? I was prepared for that, but not the beads and tumbled. Was there an ultra sonic process as well as the hot tank process?

 

[NorCalFJ100]

@Cass007 Thanks for the advice on painting. That might be the way to go. The whole TB assembly and sensors are just too expensive to mess with...Perhaps some others will chime in.

I unfortunately do not have the before pics. Mine came off a 300k mile truck. Was just dirty and grimy. The shop that did my motor hot tanked it and did some bead blasting to it. The problem after that is the bead blasting takes the finish away and the metal is very porous. Any bit of oil stains it at that point. So I took it to another shop that offers deburring services. They put it in some sort of tumbler which then refinishes the outside. Leaving it as close to brand new OEM as possible. I don't know what I paid for the hot tank/bead blasting specifically. He just wrapped that into the other labor for the motor. The tumbling was $100 for both intake pieces and all aluminum coolant fixtures.

 

[Red Merle]

I know it sounds ghetto, but I just smeared mine with anti-seize and wiped off the excess after thoroughly cleaning it. Looks about as good as the rest of yours and you can just wipe a little more on if you need to touch it up.

 

[midfat]

Intake looks great! I “vapor honed” mine when I did the blitzkrieg on my P0401. Very similar to bead blasting, but the media is suspended in a water slurry. It makes aluminum look beautiful!

 

[NorCalFJ100]

That is super clean!!! I'll have to remember that process for next time!!

 

[NorCalFJ100]

@midfat I am obsessed with this Vapor Honing! Been watching youtube videos. Would love to have one these at the home shop! Did you go somewhere here in LA to have your manifolds done?

 

[Tools R Us]

...
Now of course, I am looking at the throttle body. ...

Just buy a new one? Or, have cleaned much worse with a brush and a can of carb cleaner.

 

[LINUS]

I’m surprised you guys who beadblasted your intakes didn’t grind off the casting flash beforehand

Or cut the runners apart where the wire harness routes down through in the lower intake

And no - I wouldn’t go any further than brass brush & carb cleaner on the t-body.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

I’m surprised you guys who beadblasted your intakes didn’t grind off the casting flash beforehand

Or cut the runners apart where the wire harness routes down through in the lower intake

And no - I wouldn’t go any further than brass brush & carb cleaner on the t-body.

Doh! Didn't think about that, but then again -- I am just trying to get this started. I have been hemorrhaging cash on this motor rebuild so far. Lol. Splitting the runners would've been a great idea!

I'll post some pictures, but I did end up using a brass brush and my dremel to get in there and clean it up quite nicely.

 

[midfat]

@midfat I am obsessed with this Vapor Honing! Been watching youtube videos. Would love to have one these at the home shop! Did you go somewhere here in LA to have your manifolds done?

Had access to a machine at work. It’s actually an old school technique. It does gives beautiful results.

 

[Golgo13]

Ugh, all that work and you didn't bother to grind off the casting flash? Amateurs...

Just kidding! That still looks great!
(But I really would like to see one ground and polished. Maybe if I get to mine I'll do that.)

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Ugh, all that work and you didn't bother to grind off the casting flash? Amateurs...

Just kidding! That still looks great!
(But I really would like to see one ground and polished. Maybe if I get to mine I'll do that.)

Great, now I have to take it all apart and re-do it all!! Hahahaha. Next time!

 

[Rifleman]

I can tell you you'll regret pulling that throttle plate from the throttle shaft. The screws that hold it in place, are staked in place, so you'll run the very real chance of damaging the threads inside the shaft if you remove them. Next if you do get it apart, when you go to put it back together, getting the throttle plate to move freely within the bore without sticking can be a problem. Last item, when you reinstall those screws that hold the throttle plate in place, you'll need to re stake them in place so they can't fall out. When you re stake them you run the chance of bending the throttle shaft. I've done lots of overhaul work on carburetors, and it was always a pain removing and reinstall those throttle plates. Most of the time i just had the customer spend the money on a new throttle plate, instead of trying to repair their old one.YMMV

 

[NorCalFJ100]

@Rifleman thank you very much for the tips on this. Per your words of caution and my own paranoia I have decided to leave it all in tact and just clean the best I can with a brash brush, carb cleaner and my dremel. Need to post pictures when I get back to my garage.

 

[greentruck]

I know it sounds ghetto, but I just smeared mine with anti-seize and wiped off the excess after thoroughly cleaning it. Looks about as good as the rest of yours and you can just wipe a little more on if you need to touch it up.

In a similar vein, there is something called Neolube that model railroaders use to put a realistic look on the siderods of steam locos. The bottle says it's a "Lubricant, Colloidal, Graphite in Isopropanol" and "Dry Film Conductive Lubricant." Yes, it is electrically conductive, so don't get it where you don't want conductance. Hwever, should make cleaning up oil splash or whatever easy, pretty much just wipe it off.

 

[Golgo13]

Worst case, clean it, degrease it and spray it black.

 

[Pin_Head]

Leave it. The dirt just comes back and it doesn’t mean anything, unless you live under the hood.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Leave it. The dirt just comes back and it doesn’t mean anything, unless you live under the hood.

So true!