Painting the new Intake Manifold

Okay, picturefied update time!

First off, here’s the SRT-4 throttle body I got the other day:

The PT Cruiser TPS mounts in a different orientation so even though the bolts line up and it will actually install, the little tab there won’t actually engage the sensor. I suppose I could have tried to open it up and make it work, but that seemed like a lot of work. Instead of that, I went to the junkyard and pulled a TPS from a 2000 Caravan 3.3L which appears to properly interchange. About $15 after taxes and entry fee, so yay!

The PT Cruiser IAC is set in place there and it appears to fit. There’s only one bolt hole in the sensor, but I think it’ll get the job done. The IAC is an SRT-4 only part, so finding one in the junkyard is going to be pretty tough, so rather than spend the $70 on a new one we’ll try this first.

Starting out, the manifold was pretty nasty.

After a bath with the Purple Power and a wire brush, I was left with a cleaned up version:

There was a bunch of goo on the mating surface, and it’s a little roughed up, but hopefully it won’t be too much damage to get a good seal.

I got it all masked up

And then it was time to put these guys to work:

Primer on:

And painted:

The spacer piece and the throttle body itself will remain unfinished, I think. I’m not sure if I’m going to put the original MAP sensor back in or if I’m just going to make a block-off plate for it. The only MAP sensor I need is the one that’s already in MegaSquirt, so there’s no need for it, but it would make a very easy and cheap block-off plate, so I’ll probably just put it back in.

On a side note, I was out driving the car around today a bit to go pick up the paint and a couple other things I needed for around the house. It kind of hit me that I think I have yet to actually push the throttle pedal all the way to the floor, other than when I’m already in 5th gear passing someone on the highway. With the leak fixed and the rattling and knocking gone from the suspension — and with a fresh car wash! — it is really nice to drive. There are still some weird points in the tune that I need to address, but the overall response is just great, the sound is awesome, and I love how the blue vinyl looks. What’s better than that, though, is that I’m finally to a point with this car where when I add a new modification like this, my concern for how it performs is actually equal to my concern for how it looks!

I’m going to have to be careful here, because I’ve actually caught myself wondering if I should go get a beater to use for RallyX!