We removed the intake manifold and after much thought, we decided to shorten the manifold to allow for more room for the intercooler end tank and prevent restricting the Mustang’s large 80mm throttle body down to the stock 64mm inner diameter. This will also remove a lot of vacuum lines and greatly simplify the manifold.
Cutting the intake manifold isn’t new. A few people have done this in attempt to remove the intake restriction of the stock manifold. This leaves a much larger, oval shaped opening where 58mm x 2 oval throttle bodies have been fitted to increase the opening by a massive 64% over stock (5,281mm^2 vs 3,215mm^2 for the stock 64mm throttle body).
Unfortunately, this setup has not been properly tested with concrete results. Because of this, and due to the gains of the larger throttle body on the stock manifold, we were eager to do our own testing to see what an unrestricted 80mm Mustang throttle body (5,024mm^2 of surface area, for a 56% increase over stock) does to the powerband of the C30A engine.
We took the intake manifold to the band saw which gave us 6” more room to mount the throttle body.
With the front of the manifold cut off, we had a massive oval opening.
We initially water jet cut an adapter plate in the shape of the new Mustang throttle body and tacked it in place.
8 comments
Very clean installation.
I like it when modifications are thoroughly thought out.
Any plans to replace the fuel rail crossover hose? Those get nice and crispy after 30 years of use.
Yes, the entire fuel system is going to be replaced and upgraded in a future article. Stay tuned!
This project is heating up! Excellent work and execution. I can’t wait for the next update.
So sick, bro.
I’d love to see an article about DBW and throttle mapping!
We could do that; there is a lot of information on HPAcademy.com though.
Not that it is necessary with forced induction here, but wouldn’t independent throttle bodies eliminate the space issue entirely? Gorgeous work either way.
While ITBs would eliminate space issues, it will cost (depending on which brand ITBs) $10K – $15K – $20K or more to have a DBW ITB setup with a custom plenum for forced induction. Our solution of cutting the stock intake manifold, making a billet adapter plate and used Mustang throttle body was around $500.