Thread: open air filter in engine bay

if i dont remove the whole air box and just the lid will the comp. inside just fall out or is it strapped in ? i know this is a STUPID question but i would rather ask instead of tear it apart then put it back together and go buy a filter then go home and tear it apart again . so is the comp strap inside the air box or is it sorta just loose in there ? i figure i will run just a open air filter where the lid use to be until i can afford either the k&n intake or maybe some other brand . help please thanks .

Originally Posted by bayareagtp

if i dont remove the whole air box and just the lid will the comp. inside just fall out or is it strapped in ? i know this is a STUPID question but i would rather ask instead of tear it apart then put it back together and go buy a filter then go home and tear it apart again . so is the comp strap inside the air box or is it sorta just loose in there ? i figure i will run just a open air filter where the lid use to be until i can afford either the k&n intake or maybe some other brand . help please thanks .

As I recall the computer sits in the back part and one of the mounting nipples is on the bottom of that piece. I would either gut the box or leave it be. IMO openign it up to the underhood temps is not a good thing. If you like I can try to shoot some pictures of my gutted airbox this weekend. Its only about a two hours job to gut, just messy.

Indeed, if you dont mind, send me some of those pictures. I have an air box I started work on but never completed and Id kinda like to get an idea of how to go.

yea please post some pics or maybe even a how to . thanks ! yea i wasent sure if the comp exposed to the open engine temps was gonna be so good .

if you go to 3800performance.com and look at their air intakes they have a tray for $70.00 . if you look at the install instructions you can get a pretty good idea of how make 1 your self .

Originally Posted by bayareagtp

if you go to 3800performance.com and look at their air intakes they have a tray for $70.00 . if you look at the install instructions you can get a pretty good idea of how make 1 your self .

Yep but I thought you were talking about leaving part of your stock airbox in there. If that is the case then that tray or the $16 GM Blazer PCM tray won't work. As I recall, people with FWI buy those.


And for those curious, I'll try to get those picures of the gutted airbox tonight.

oh no sorry i was posting back to toastys comment .

sorry i need to learn to quote the comment i am commenting about . yea i was tring to keep half of the air box in the car so i didnt need to buy a tray .

Sorry I didn't get these for you last night as I sadi, but the camera is the wifes which I couldn't find. Anyway I remembered I emailed these to someone a long time ago, but had to figure out which computer I put them on. Here is the thread link.
http://www.grandprixforums.net/f18/g...html#post13689
If you pull your airbox out and look at it, you'll see how much of a difference this can make. It is also NOT visible to the epa, if that is a concern.

my k&n intake has a pcm tray built in..

Originally Posted by kyle99gtp

my k&n intake has a pcm tray built in..

how do you like your k&n ? everyone tells me bad thing about it .

Originally Posted by bayareagtp

how do you like your k&n ? everyone tells me bad thing about it .

the k&n's arent 'bad' but if they are overoiled, they can cause poor MAF readings and major tuning problems.

i have tested a few intake systems, and the best bang for your buck, is to pull the stock air box, and just run an open cone in the engine bay. just need to secure the pcm down (or wrap it in some towels), and there ya go.

this has been beat to death, but i have seen WAY more airflow with the warm air intake than the cai. maybe for a basically stock car, the CAI would be best, but i wouldnt bet on it. heres mine, and it works very well.

Why did you buy an IC?

...

You can find this info in any number of books. On a daily driver thought that hot air makes a big difference. Last summer, after reading what Mat T wrote I thought ok, maybe the real engine builders may be wrong so lets test this open cone thing. My main thought was, if this really works I can get rid of a lot of clutter under the hood. On a hot summer day I pulled my Wizaired out and installed an open cone. The car was noticably slower driving aound at 45 MPH. I was watching my IAT's which never got below 120* iirc. I went back home and within about 45 minutes I had the wizaired back on and repeated the same path. Like normal the car was very responsive and IAT's while moving were never more than a couple degrees above ambient.

The other thing people, especially those w/o IC's, notice is that their cars seem much quicker during late fall and winter. I believe even back in the day once my carb'd cars were up to temp (manual chokes back then) they felt quicker during the winter.
Again we are talking daily drivers here. No biggy though. Those that want to read up can do so, and try this out for themselves.

I will have to go with Lee on this one. When I first got my GTX, I removed the SLP's Ram Air box infavor of my old Thrasher CAI. When Reptile came up from KC one Saturday in July we went out for a tune of my car and he was reading my Air temps and the Trasher did not help reduce the air temps from the CIA to the TB. I dont know if this is a poor design on Thrasher's part or what? But I know Alex, who use to have a Thrasher as well experienced the same issue.

I know for myself I switched back to the SLP Ram Air Box and just heat wrapped the bottom portion of the box to help with heat resistance, but I have yet to get any good scans done to see what the differences are, but given the current season I'll have to wait till warms up a bit

I had a goofy idea of gutting the side of the SLP box, which already had slits in it to draw from the fender well, all be it a distance from the actual wall of the fender and air box, but I was thinking of running a bit of a longer PVC piping to extend the filter outside of the Air Box to reach into the fender well to try and draw in more "fresher" or "colder" air than what is inside of the engine bay. But Jason77 said the benefits would be minimal at best. So I scrapped that idea.

So I just decided to move AIT sensor to one of the corners of the air to get a better air reading of air coming in from the Ram Air port and the actual filter instead of what is coming in at the TB connection. (see pic below)