That is pretty sorry. Bad service is always disappointing to hear about. I bought a used Summit brand that was doing the same thing. I took some 120 grit and cut a small piece and laid it inside the barrel to the butterfly would lay into it when I opened and shut it. Not enough to take the butterfly down but enough to knock off any burrs. It didn't make it perfect but it helped a bunch.

 

Today was chilly & rainy all day, I was in the garage with nothing to do and getting more bored by the minute. I decided to dig out an old 48mm throttle body I had and swap it for the BBK on my engine just to see if there was any difference in idle quality, response, etc. The stock tb is in pretty fair shape and believe it or not my idle smoothed out considerably and I see no real difference in response. I just left the 48 on the engine for now. I am going to get it rebuilt & bored out after the summer season is over. When I put the BBK on I had done a lot of other mods at the same time so I never had a chance to compare it to anything else. The weather is going to be nice tomorrow, I will take it out & see what the car runs like, I may just leave the 48 on there.

 

I had a similar issue, I shot liberally (inside the TB) wd40 until it seeped through the outer side, and massaged the butterfly's, never had an issue since.

 

Took the car out today, here is a list of improvements made by getting rid of the BBK throttle body.
1. Better, smoother idle
2. Cruise control is now smooth & even, with the BBK it was always speed up & slow down. It was so bad I quit using the cruise.
3.Tailpipes no longer have black sooty residue on their edges.
4. Totally different, (better) throttle response in all rpm ranges.
There are no unfavorable things to tell. I just can't believe this whole thing, I actually thought my BBK was giving me my money's worth. I should stress that nothing was changed on the car except the tb so there were no other factors in the improvements.
To be fair,
Good points about the BBK tb,,, it makes a nice paperweight.

 

Well.. I tried BBK's suggestion of drilling the 1/8th hole.. and yup... same thing..

I'm done with this P.O.S.

Any suggestions on where I should get a rebuild from?

Anybody know anything about this ebay seller?? http://www.ebay.com/itm/TPI-52mm-bor...3e816f&vxp=mtr

Tony

 

Based on my own experience, are you sure you need a bigger tb? I was at first, going to send in my stock tb and get it bored out but since I have been driving my car with the 48 on there I'm not convinced I need anything bigger. My engine is a 383 with a mild cam, 11:1 compression, headers & true dual exhaust and will literally fry the tires now, it wouldn't do this with the BBK. I really don't believe I will be having it rebuilt and bored to a 52mm. Just food for thought.

 

Well.. long story short, I was planning on rebuilding my 48mm stock, (I know how to machine, bore, ream) etc. When I removed the old throttle shaft, I noticed it was worn on the one side and was bent about .010". I looked high and low for a new shaft, but couldn't find it, and its been so busy at work anyways, that I decided on 'treating' myself to a nice new throttle body and a magnaflow exhaust system.

The magnaflow catback has been great..

I would be more than happy with a 48mm TB.. but I don't see to many that are NOS, or even rebuilt..

After searching high and low.. I figured that 52mm is the only way to go. I even tried posting here for help on rebuilding.. but it seems to be something that not many people do.

 

Rebuilding a tb without a jig to mount it in is probably the best way I know to ruin a good core. Believe it or not the one I just put on my car was a cheapie I picked up off ebay a few years back. My buddy is building a street rod and is considering TPI for it, he bought a complete tpi with two tb's and two plenums. One tb is junk but the other one is perfect condition. He got the whole thing for $25. at a swap meet! It may take some searching but the deals are out there at the swaps where people don't want to take their stuff back home. Right now tpi's are just not selling so they are cheap and usually plentiful. Anyway, I hope you get things sorted out soon.

 

I have two friends that have used this ebay rebuilder with no problems at all. Both of them would be repeat customers.

Good Luck

 

Since both of you guys have the new version of the BBK I have to ask, did they ever get the inlet size correct? All the old ones were too big for the air coupler to fit easily. You could manage to stretch the coupler just enough to get it on but it was a bear of a job. Even after getting it on the first time I had to fight it to go back on every time I had it off.

 

Nope.. I used boiling water for over an hour the first time, second time I did it with the TB on the bench, took 10 mins with hot boiling water again, probably helped that it was stretched out though.

Royal pain in the butt.

 

BBK Customer Service sucks. I am in a bind now because I went with a small local guy to buy the part, and I have to wait to see if BBK approves of giving my money back.

I called BBK and they want me to return my unit, and they will only fix it if they find it defective.. So.. yay.. No car for another however long it takes those bozo's to discover the problem, and probably make excuses.

You would think a large company would just send you another one.. I think i'm going to order the reman from ebay.

Screw BBK. And the junk they sell, to be honest, after us all sharing our experiences on their product, I don't even want that crap on the end of my plenum.

 

I think you are making the right move.
Now that the three of us have told the world about our BBK tb's we won't even be able to sell them. Hmmm, doorstop, maybe?

 

Nope the inlet on the BBK is much bigger than a stock inlet hose. I used a heat gun and a vice to stretch it. It only took about 15 mins though. That was the only easy thing about a BBK!! Another good thing about the rebuilt TB, the inlet hose fits properly.

 

anyone have any experience on the 85-88 corvette with the Holley 112-502? (http://www.jegs.com/i/Holley/510/112...FeUBQAodtCCK6A)

Everywhere i've checked, it states its for an F-Body Chevy TPI setup.. Anyone using this??

Tony

 

No experience with the Holley here. The reason it says for "F" body is because the Camaro/Firebird have completely different throttle cable setups. That particular number will not work on a Vette, is that the only part # they show?

 

mine sticks only when im driuving , like the cruise control is on yet is isnt, and when I hit the break it does only come down a fraction. i had lubed the throttle body linkage cant figure it out

 

yah.. thats the problem most of us are having. Its a manufacturing defect on BBK's part. After drilling the 1/8" hole like they told me too, it would actually be kind of free until the motor heat up.

I work with metal for a living, and i'm thinking its probably the aluminum, or the casting process they use. I did notice some perosity (small holes in the metal) on the bored surfaces.

I personally think that BBK contracted this out to the cheapest manufacturer in China, and are getting what they paid for. I am in the process of returning mine because I don't believe BBK can send me a product i would ever be happy with.

Believe it or not, the metal composition of something like this is a huge factor. I doubt that anyone who has purchased this new design from BBK has it working 100%.

The original GM casting is probably the best you're going to get these days, and if you have a small one man operation (guy in his garage or small shop) reboring and rebuilding these units, that is truly the best you are going to get. If you compare the BBK to the stock unit, its much beefier, and totally different design. More metal = more heat buildup.

If I was an american citizen, i'd be looking into a class action lawsuit against BBK.

Honestly, if you're thinking about a new throttle body, be sure to not buy a BBK. You will be wasting a whole lot of time, money and aggravation.

 

Well guys.. here's and update.. Scrapped the BBK and went with a 52mm reman off ebay (buyer save$sales) and its working great.

I wouldn't say that they did a great job on re-tapping the 2.5mm screws, some were pretty light on threads, but at this point i'm happy that I have a corvette without the throttle sticking on me.

So as I said in the previous posts.. STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM BBK.

Customer service wanted me to return the unit, wait for them to assess/fix and then return to me.. no thanks, for $400.. I want it working outta the box, the design is terrible as well, I personally think they cheaped out on materials, and in the process of re-inventing the wheel they failed. The way they mount the bearings to the throttle shaft is an absolute fail as well. Aluminum bore had perosity.. etc, It was way to bulky as well.. (Mine was the one piece design)

Good luck to anyone who buys that unit!

 

I've been looking for a 52mm TB for my car. Just from reading various posts on the forum through the years, BBK would be the last TB I would look at. I'll likely go with a Holley or one of the bored out stock units on Ebay.