TBI "salad bowl" worth it?

[smoothandlow84]

In an effort to gain a bit more power from my 87 tbi...is it really worth it to buy and install the stainless steel "salad bowl" that installs under the air filter housing on top of the tbi? Jegs sells them for like $40. Does anyone else have one installed, and does it really make any noticeable difference in power gains or mpg?

 

[yevgenievich]

I have been looking in to it for a while, but ultimately decided to leave it alone. It by it self does not seem to be worth it. But it is documented on ck5 forums under ultimate tbi thread

 

[skysurfer]

I made mine from a bowl I got at the 99 cent store. No way you'll notice a difference by itself, I consider it a small piece of the "more power" puzzle but figured for a buck it was worth the effort.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[smoothandlow84]

Skysurfer...in addition to the bowl, did you shave down the metal horns at the top of the tbi as well?

 

[Craig 85]

In the early 90's there used to be a place called Turbo City that offered a lot of performance parts for the TBI set up. I attached a link to an article from 2001. The other idea mentioned in the article is raising up the injectors. I'm not sur if this will help a TBI truck, but on my '79 I swap out the factory air cleaner lid for one used on 80's big blocks. It has a 5" tall filter instead of the standard 3". I also installed the factory snorkel set up. My truck ran a lot better with the bigger air cleaner. I also removed the front end of the snorkel set up IFO the radiator support. I got a little more debris in the air filter, but worked great as a ram air set up.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/58498/

 

[4WDKC]

I made mine from a bowl I got at the 99 cent store. No way you'll notice a difference by itself, I consider it a small piece of the "more power" puzzle but figured for a buck it was worth the effort.

You must be registered for see images attach

got any more pics of making this with the cheap bowl?

 

[skysurfer]

Skysurfer...in addition to the bowl, did you shave down the metal horns at the top of the tbi as well?

The one in the pic is stock. I have another one sitting on the shelf that has been bored to 46mm and the horns are shaved.

got any more pics of making this with the cheap bowl?

I'll see what I have, I'm in the middle of moving files out of Photobucket so I can delete my account with them. I don't remember taking a lot of pics because I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

 

[skysurfer]

So this is what I came up with. The black port sticking through the side is for the pcv hose. I had to notch the top edge to match the bottom shape of the air filter housing.

You must be registered for see images attach

The bowl was pretty thin material and I didn't want it to crush when the wingnut was tightened down so I cut the bottom edge off the oem choke collar, making sure to retain the ears that keep it from spinning. Then I cut the bottom off the salad bowl, making sure my starting point was a little smaller than the diameter of the choke collar ring. Then it was a matter of grinding the bottom of the bowl with an 8" disc sander a little bit at a time until the opening was just big enough for a tight press fit of the choke collar ring.

You must be registered for see images attach

Final step was opening up the bottom of the air filter housing. In stock form it was hanging way over the edge of the bowl. I traced the outer lip of the bowl onto the bottom of the housing and then drew another circle 1/2" inside the first one. Cutting on the inside circle left me with enough material for the housing to sit on the top edge of the bowl without an overhang.

You must be registered for see images attach