pasky

I would imagine so, I got the LT1 yesterday and just picked it up today, check out the transmission board for a good laugh. Anyways, I wanna throw on a cold air intake because it didn't come with the stock intake system, I need to buy a MAF sensor but I was thinking I can head to Lowes or some other hardware store and get some 3"-3/12" tubing and have it point down on the passengers side and throw a K&N cone filter on it.

Will this work? Or will I need special fittings for the K&N, i've never used a cone filter. I do have to go down the passenger side because the battery is located on the drivers side on the v6's right? Or will this be such a horrible idea since its home made it won't function as well as a kit? If so i'll just buy a kit, thanks.

coolrimsatleast

it's pretty easy, i put mine down in the front right corner. used some pvc pipe joints and bends, a couple hoses clamps, cut the sharp corner off the maf and connected the k+n cone filter (with large piece of rubber hose to make a really slight bend, and to adapt to the filter) straight to the maf. disconnected the battery for a little bit to reset the computer, and it works great.

cost was about $45.

i still want to make a barrier of some type to isolate the filter from the rest of the engine bay so it doesn't get any warm air.

out of the exhaust system, crank pulley, and ignition system, the homemade intake was the cheapest and most noticable difference.

TechSmurf

Uhm.. how do you think us turbo guys do this? Magic CAI kits? Heck no, Home Depot!

Dale

iTrader: (12)

You can make a CAI, or install the early 2.8l dual snorkle system like a few post down shows.


Not sure why you need to buy a MAF?? 3.1's dont have mafs, they have MAP.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

for the LT1. It's ok, it's early

Dale

iTrader: (12)

are LT1's maf??

I need more dr pepper

RBob

iTrader: (1)

Actually they run both. The MAP is used as a diagnostic input for the MAF and provides backup for a MAF failure.

RBob.

Dale

iTrader: (12)

If they are so worried about maf failure, they need to ditch it. However, seems more n more gm engines use maf rather then map.

pasky

Anyone have a picture of a custom setup? That way I can get a pretty good idea on how to route it? Thanks.

coolrimsatleast

here's my setup

pasky

Hmmm but how is that any different from the stock setup? I thought a CAI was lowered more towards the ground to catch the cold air.

TomP

Yep, they are... either that, or you need to run some kind of ducting between the filter and the ground. But that intake of coolrims' is better than the stock Firebird intake, because the stock Firebird intake is composed of boxes, not tubing. Tubing flows better (less sharp corners to interfere).

Now a stock 85-89 Camaro intake is the best, there's no way to improve it. Tubular design, twin filters, and the filters lie in a "high pressure area" in front of the radiator- so they're sucking colder air to begin with.

90-92 Camaros got cursed with the same crappy intake routing as the 85-92 Firebirds did... although the 90-92 versions of both Camaro & Firebird seem to be a little better designed with respect to "flow".

So all this means that anything is better than stock for 85-92 Firebirds and 90-92 Camaros, but yes, a true cold air intake will be picking up outside air- either directly, or thru tubing.

coolrimsatleast

i also toyed with the idea of taking out my non-working foglights, using the holes for intakes and running them up to the filter. (with the filter sealed of from the rest of the engine of course)

but i never tried it yet.

TechSmurf

Alot of people have done that.. some have had good results, some have complained profusely about the blockage of air to the radiator. I played around with the idea and decided there was enough cold air getting to the filter boxes for it to not really matter.

Nixon1

The main parts to consider when making a CAI are....if it's too low, it can pick up water you get splashed up from puddles, and rain mist. Now it's extremely improbably that this will be pulled into the engine, BUT it can ruin a filter fairly quickly since it washes the oil off of a cotton gauze filter (like a K&N).

Your other consideration is a compromise between cold temperatures and routing. If you pick up the coldest air possible but have 10 feet of routing to get to it, it negates the effect and gives you less power because the engine has to pull the air through all that ducting. Also reduces throttle response. So try to make some kind of compromise between a true CAI and a short ram, and you'll have the best success. Remember though...it's not the LENGTH of the tubing that really kills power, it's the amount of BENDS.

pasky

Thanks for the tip bud, i'll keep that in mind try to make it as straight as possible.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

not to mention frying the AIT sensor

devianb

Yes they are easy to make, but getting them to look like you want them too may take a little time. Here is a pic of my final one that I am pretty happy with. The K&N is directly connected to the MAF which is connected to a 3" aluminum pipe.


In the engine bay


By itself


I have no clearance issues, although once I put it in there is little room to play around with mounting wise, but it fits nice and snug. I originally had a pvc kind of thing going, but I wanted something that looked a little nicer than what I had so I spent a little more time coming up with this one.

I don't know if there is any performance gain other than the psycological effect of me hearing the airfilter breathe. I mainly made mine for the sake of uncluttering the engine a bit so I could have easier access to other things.