Balancing multiple throttle bodies

How do all you home mechanics keep your multiple throttle-bodies balanced? A friend suggested the VacuumMate but its cost probably makes it difficult to justify for home use. Apparently with a bit of practice though, you can use it to balance eight throttle-bodies very accurately within a few minutes. It will also diagnose the condition of your valves and give you a true RPM reading for idle.
 
Rick,
This or any similar device designed for motorcycle carb synchronization should work provided there are taps on your throttle bodies or carbs. The TWM's I use have barbed fittings that I use for this purpose. Otherwise, they are plugged.
This type of system monitors vacuum below the throttle plates or slides (on some motorcycle carbs). At idle, the vacuum there pulses greatly because of the independent runners. I use two matched gauges with matched dampers (snubbers) that reduce the wild pulsing into a more average reading. Even so, they usually still pulse within a few inches of vacuum.
One barrel is the "master" and the rest are matched to it via linkage or air bypass adjustments. Since most meters of this type don't have enough meters for 8 cylinders, you have to move the tubing around (and plug the unused ports).

I've also used "Unisyn" type devices that you put on top of the throttle body. They measure air "flow" via the differential pressure across an orifice as the air goes into the throttle body. If you restrict the air flow into the engine too much, even on a single cylinder, the idle speed will drop or change making uniform setting difficult.
 
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