Custom intake
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I every test I've seen done to prove the effectiveness of ram air and cold air systems, none were worth the time and money spent on them. Some looked good some didn't but all worked the same--- virtually no gain in power. The one that did do something was a cowl induction setup, worked better than the ram air.
I figured on the new cars it wouldn't help all that much since the air induction is already pretty good, but the old cars dont get that much air flow under the hood directed into the carb. I just figured that it would help. I need an air cleaner that is not too big because I have an oversized distrubitor that would get in the way if the cleaner is too big. Does anyone know how big the 84 mustang is???
The 83-85 Stang's aircleaner is already clearanced for the large distributor. The last test I saw done was on a Fox-body Stang and done with an 85 dual snorkel air cleaner, but still didn't do what every one thought it would. There was really no difference between it and an open element cleaner.
brianj5600
Active Member
Where did you see these test? How many hp does it take to be "worth it" to you? You can make one easy. I made one out of a filter housing of an old truck. The snorkels are held on by small screws. Get another snorkel from a junkyard. take your snorkel off, make a pattern of the hole, cut a hole in the other side, screw on the original, screw on the jy snorkel, run hoses. You won't gain anything from ram air, but every 11* cooler air makes 1% more power. It is hard to find any type of competition car that does not make an effort to get cool air to the intake.
The test I saw was in Car Craft a couple years ago. They did the test at a drag strip. Swapped each intake/air configuration after several passes each. The one that performed the best was with a cowl induction hood, and drawing in the air from the base of the windshield. The Stang dual snorkel's intake hoses were routed down to the fog light openings, and as I said before there was little if any difference over just a plain open element cleaner with a K&N filter.
brianj5600
Active Member
The difference would be more noticable as the car comes up to temp. With a cold motor the air coming off the radiator would not be much above ambient.
ratio411
Founding Member
In the last few pages of mags like Car Craft, there is a company that has been selling dual snorkel housings that go over your open element air cleaner. Ad has been going for years. The housings come in all shapes and sizes, they accept different tubing depending on what you order. I have seen pics of the set-up on several Fords, the one that sticks out is a T-Bolt clone... worked very well. Not as flashy as what folks were doing at the time by snorkeling oval air cleaners, but did the same thing.
Dave
Dave
69PaleHorse
Member
ratio411
Founding Member
HistoricMustang
Active Member
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Agreed, there is no ram-air effect, but the cooler, denser air will help, especially if you are running headers. Things to consider: route the hose from the radiator away from hot sources such as heads and headers as much as possible, cover openings that would allow air to go around the inlets, and avoid sharp bends. I used dryer tubing on a junker station wagon with a 400 that ran 11.50's in the 1/8 mile 
. After I installed the tubing the stupid thing picked up 2/10! It just depends on the underhood heat your engine has and the installation. That piece'o'crap would burn you anywhere you touched it under the hood after 10 minutes of running.
Another point to discuss is whether the dryer tubing swirled the air for an improvement or hurt it due to turbulence?? I wished I had tried some smooth exhaust tubing before I pawned it off. Would the smooth pipe help or would it be offset by the heat the metal absorbed? I just connected the tubing to the existing snorkel with a hose clamp.
That car never ceased to amaze me: I adavnced the timing to 14 degrees b.t.d.c. and tuned it up and it ran 11:15 spinning the right rear retread off the line! I think peeling the fake woodgrain shelfpaper off the side could have knocked off another .000000005 off the time.
. After I installed the tubing the stupid thing picked up 2/10! It just depends on the underhood heat your engine has and the installation. That piece'o'crap would burn you anywhere you touched it under the hood after 10 minutes of running. Another point to discuss is whether the dryer tubing swirled the air for an improvement or hurt it due to turbulence?? I wished I had tried some smooth exhaust tubing before I pawned it off. Would the smooth pipe help or would it be offset by the heat the metal absorbed? I just connected the tubing to the existing snorkel with a hose clamp.
That car never ceased to amaze me: I adavnced the timing to 14 degrees b.t.d.c. and tuned it up and it ran 11:15 spinning the right rear retread off the line!
I think peeling the fake woodgrain shelfpaper off the side could have knocked off another .000000005 off the time.Similar threads
