Air Box Mods
02-01-2001, 09:56 AM
#1
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Air Box Mods
I just put the dynomax cat back on.good stuff!anyway I read all the previous posts on air box mods& cold air induction.However I live in California & have to go thru smog checks every 2 years.I want to open up my stock airbox just a little bit, so it will breathe a little better but look stock to the smog guys that will be looking at my car.where is the best place on the airbox to drill.
02-01-2001, 10:07 AM
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
There were 4 styles of air boxes between 82-92 for the 2.8/3.1 V6 motors.
What year is your car, what motor do you have?
Oh, and welcome to the V6 board!
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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
[This message has been edited by TomP (edited February 01, 2001).]
What year is your car, what motor do you have?
Oh, and welcome to the V6 board!
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
[This message has been edited by TomP (edited February 01, 2001).]
02-01-2001, 12:20 PM
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How much money do you have to spend? That will help us out alot. WELCOME!
------------------
1992 Camaro RS 3.1L
T5 Manual 5 speed
Cold/RAM air intake
Z-28 Exhaust
8.5mm MSD Ignition wires
TB Coolant bypass
Soon to be a 3.8L turbo RS
AIM screen name - Stopsign696
Kills:
95 (****) Probe GT,94 Mustang GT,91 CRX (dont ask me why he raced me),2nd Gen Z28 (350) haha to you V8 guys!,1992 RS 305 TBI (good race),First Gen Integra, Old Escort LX
More to come
------------------
1992 Camaro RS 3.1L
T5 Manual 5 speed
Cold/RAM air intake
Z-28 Exhaust
8.5mm MSD Ignition wires
TB Coolant bypass
Soon to be a 3.8L turbo RS
AIM screen name - Stopsign696
Kills:
95 (****) Probe GT,94 Mustang GT,91 CRX (dont ask me why he raced me),2nd Gen Z28 (350) haha to you V8 guys!,1992 RS 305 TBI (good race),First Gen Integra, Old Escort LX
More to come
02-01-2001, 04:48 PM
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I dont have emissions so I dont know what goes on. Do they know what your car looks like stock or what? Could you do a ram air intake using the TPI setup? Very good idea. Thats what I am doing. If I were you I would do that. But you say you want to look stock. I dunno if that would work.
02-01-2001, 06:12 PM
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Car: 89 Camaro RS
Engine: V-6
Transmission: Auto
Remove the air silencers (one on each side) Remove the air filters, look straight down, and there will be the air silencers, Remove (I think two blots each) the silencers, drill four 1/2 inch holes in each box. replace air filters, and the top of the air cleaner. LOOKS STOCK from the outside.
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02-01-2001, 08:28 PM
#8
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Car: 99 WS6 / 00 SS / 11 CTS-V / 13 300
Engine: LS1 / LS1 / LSA / 5.7 Hemi
Transmission: 4L60E / T-56 / 6L80E / W5A80
Axle/Gears: 3.23 / 3.42 Auburn / 3.23 / 2.62
What Glen is recommendintg works nice!! My '89 RS has 2 K&N's and no air baffles, and it did pull harder past 3500RPM or so.
BUT, are there the same baffles in a 'Bird setup? Remember, they only have 1 filter in a different housing....
------------------
Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8 (Medium Gray Metallic)
Hypertech chip/K&N filters/Accel 8.8 wires, Accel Supercoil/RapidFires
Eclipse CD and 100x4 amp/Boston plates and 6x9s
Alpine Alarm, Keyless Entry
IROC tailights, tinted windows
"It's for sale"
Looking for: TPI 350 IROC, T/A or GTA
JasonEE98 on AOL IM
BUT, are there the same baffles in a 'Bird setup? Remember, they only have 1 filter in a different housing....
------------------
Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8 (Medium Gray Metallic)
Hypertech chip/K&N filters/Accel 8.8 wires, Accel Supercoil/RapidFires
Eclipse CD and 100x4 amp/Boston plates and 6x9s
Alpine Alarm, Keyless Entry
IROC tailights, tinted windows
"It's for sale"
Looking for: TPI 350 IROC, T/A or GTA
JasonEE98 on AOL IM
02-02-2001, 12:28 AM
#9
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Engine: LH0 3.1L
he has a 'bird right??? i'm pretty sure NO bird had the 2 filter setup. only FI camaro's from maybe 85-89. he has just one filter routed to the corner of the engine bay.
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Dan
1990 3.1L RS
80 Series Flowmaster
It's fast(er than a 3 cyl metro)
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Dan
1990 3.1L RS
80 Series Flowmaster
It's fast(er than a 3 cyl metro)
02-02-2001, 08:56 AM
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
1989 Firebird "Free" air box mod:
Take a look at the lid of the air box. Notice how one side has a ***** to it?
[edit] Why the Heck did it censor the word s-l-a-n-t ??
Remove the top. Underneath that s-l-a-n-t is the little rectangular opening that the car sucks air from. (85-89 Firebird air boxes suck "dirty" air in through the TOP of the air box.)
Take your pliers, or cutters, and snap that "s-l-a-n-t" backwards, and off. This will turn that little rectangular opening into a large rectangular opening.
An alternative to the brute-force method is to take a hacksaw, and cut off the "angled s-l-a-n-t" side of the air box lid so it's flush with the air box lid. Next, you'd use cutters to cut "back" another couple inches.
This is hard to explain without pictures, but you should get the idea just by going out to your car, removing the air box lid, and looking at it closely.
You should notice a slight increase in throttle response/power. You could also put in a "direct-replacement" K&N filter instead of a stock filter.
If someone's told you to drill holes in the side of your air box- DON'T! 90-92 air boxes sucked "dirty" air in to the side of the air box. If you drill holes in the side of your 85-89 air box, you'll suck dirty air PAST the filter into your engine! 85-89 takes dirty air in through the top of the lid.
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
[This message has been edited by TomP (edited February 02, 2001).]
Take a look at the lid of the air box. Notice how one side has a ***** to it?
[edit] Why the Heck did it censor the word s-l-a-n-t ??
Remove the top. Underneath that s-l-a-n-t is the little rectangular opening that the car sucks air from. (85-89 Firebird air boxes suck "dirty" air in through the TOP of the air box.)
Take your pliers, or cutters, and snap that "s-l-a-n-t" backwards, and off. This will turn that little rectangular opening into a large rectangular opening.
An alternative to the brute-force method is to take a hacksaw, and cut off the "angled s-l-a-n-t" side of the air box lid so it's flush with the air box lid. Next, you'd use cutters to cut "back" another couple inches.
This is hard to explain without pictures, but you should get the idea just by going out to your car, removing the air box lid, and looking at it closely.
You should notice a slight increase in throttle response/power. You could also put in a "direct-replacement" K&N filter instead of a stock filter.
If someone's told you to drill holes in the side of your air box- DON'T! 90-92 air boxes sucked "dirty" air in to the side of the air box. If you drill holes in the side of your 85-89 air box, you'll suck dirty air PAST the filter into your engine! 85-89 takes dirty air in through the top of the lid.
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
[This message has been edited by TomP (edited February 02, 2001).]
02-03-2001, 09:50 PM
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Car: 1999 Pontiac Trans Am
Engine: LS1 - 346 ci
Transmission: 4L60E
i was wondering, what if u just take off the top plastic part and keep the round ring on the inside? wouldn't that give it a LOTmore airflow?
------------------
Stock 2.8 MPFI auto w/ Flowmaster 40, More to come......
New Pioneer Head Unit
2x 10" Thruster Subs (blown) powered by 300 Watt Jensen amp
More to come..... (hey, i dont got a job yet)
------------------
Stock 2.8 MPFI auto w/ Flowmaster 40, More to come......
New Pioneer Head Unit
2x 10" Thruster Subs (blown) powered by 300 Watt Jensen amp
More to come..... (hey, i dont got a job yet)
02-04-2001, 03:47 AM
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Car: 1991 CAMARO 1968 FIREBIRD
Engine: CAMARO 3.1L FIREBIRD 455
Transmission: CAMARO 700R4 FIREBIRD TH-400
I did that all it is is a air silencer i didnt notice much change in HP but it was louder. Then i did the cold air intake and lieked that and then moved up to the front airintake from a 86 camaro and sawed the bottoms off so the whole air filter is exposed it jsut isnt happy when it rains outside lol
02-04-2001, 08:22 PM
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I took off those air box baffles like Jason E mentioned on Sat. I did it right b4 a long interstate trip. I did notice a nice difference at interstate speed as well as in the 3500-4000 rpm range. Not too much but it was nice. I also have K&N's w/ only about 6k on them so that might have helped a little. The only think I'm kinda worried about is the filters getting dirty sooner and having to clean them b4 30k miles or so but no biggie.
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Red 1986 SC, 2.8L, rebuilt 700R4, 3.42 Posi, t-tops, 135K miles and counting, K&N air filters, hopefully more to come!
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Red 1986 SC, 2.8L, rebuilt 700R4, 3.42 Posi, t-tops, 135K miles and counting, K&N air filters, hopefully more to come!
02-05-2001, 12:38 PM
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
89V6FBIRD, you probably can. I can't remember how my old box looks, but I think it's fine, as long as you seal the "outside edge" of the filter to the "inside" of the can.
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
02-05-2001, 10:24 PM
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I have a 1985 Firebird.
I plan on getttng the air to the BOTTOM of the air cleaner, via a tube, right into the middle of the air box.
I kinda understand your idea, Tom, I cannot see getting that much more air into the air box, by doing that, tho.
I kinda have big help, tho. I removed ALL the stuff from behind the bumper to the radiator. I hold the front facia on by bolts & coat wire hangers. Helped my cooling problem, BIG TIME, so much air flow into the radiaotr, not funny.
------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA
I plan on getttng the air to the BOTTOM of the air cleaner, via a tube, right into the middle of the air box.
I kinda understand your idea, Tom, I cannot see getting that much more air into the air box, by doing that, tho.
I kinda have big help, tho. I removed ALL the stuff from behind the bumper to the radiator. I hold the front facia on by bolts & coat wire hangers. Helped my cooling problem, BIG TIME, so much air flow into the radiaotr, not funny.
------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA
02-06-2001, 09:21 AM
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
KED, it does make a difference- but I never said it made a huge difference. He wanted his car to look stock for the California smog checks. The guys shouldn't care if his lid is cracked. He can say he slammed the hood with a wrench on the air box top and it cracked it- they should pass him.
Let us know how it goes with bringing air in through the bottom- it looks like a lot of work. The problem I see is getting the air cleaner lid to stay on without a center bolt; you'll have to rig something. Also I guess you have to seal the top of the lid off, eh? Otherwise the air from the bottom will shoot right out the top
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
Let us know how it goes with bringing air in through the bottom- it looks like a lot of work. The problem I see is getting the air cleaner lid to stay on without a center bolt; you'll have to rig something. Also I guess you have to seal the top of the lid off, eh? Otherwise the air from the bottom will shoot right out the top
------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!
02-06-2001, 04:07 PM
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Tom,
Hi, my thinking is that any extra air into the box, will be "bleed" off, like a pressure relief valve or gas flow back lines to gas tank.
I planned on making the rod stay in place by cutting holes thru bottom, keeping some metal for the center hold down rod attachement.
I have not done this yet, as I really want to get another box to butcher.
Yea, it may be alot of work, but, nothing compared to my 2.8 3.4 engine swap!
You're saying, destroy the top of the box lid?
I like that idea, too!
I kinda planned on using that box top lid, for the bottom surface. Holes already made! Only have to cut thru the bottom metal. I have a K & N filter in that housing already. It doesn't get dirty, so little air flowing in there.
------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA
Hi, my thinking is that any extra air into the box, will be "bleed" off, like a pressure relief valve or gas flow back lines to gas tank.
I planned on making the rod stay in place by cutting holes thru bottom, keeping some metal for the center hold down rod attachement.
I have not done this yet, as I really want to get another box to butcher.
Yea, it may be alot of work, but, nothing compared to my 2.8 3.4 engine swap!
You're saying, destroy the top of the box lid?
I like that idea, too!
I kinda planned on using that box top lid, for the bottom surface. Holes already made! Only have to cut thru the bottom metal. I have a K & N filter in that housing already. It doesn't get dirty, so little air flowing in there.
------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA
02-07-2001, 11:27 PM
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Car: 1999 Pontiac Trans Am
Engine: LS1 - 346 ci
Transmission: 4L60E
maybe ill go to the junkyards to see what i can do w/ an old box. and what about after the MAF sensor (the stupid little rectangular box)? what if i change that? I just think that little box is VERY restrictive
------------------
Stock 2.8 MPFI auto w/ Flowmaster 40, More to come......
New Pioneer Head Unit
2x 10" Thruster Subs (blown) powered by 300 Watt Jensen amp
More to come..... (hey, i dont got a job yet)
------------------
Stock 2.8 MPFI auto w/ Flowmaster 40, More to come......
New Pioneer Head Unit
2x 10" Thruster Subs (blown) powered by 300 Watt Jensen amp
More to come..... (hey, i dont got a job yet)
02-07-2001, 11:47 PM
#19
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Actually i kept mine on so it wouldnt be too bad to put everything back for smog and it wont look to bad if i ever get pulled over to check under the hood.(happened 2 times..) I just took a soddering gun and took anything blocking air flow out (the 2 little fins on start and end...)
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89 Firebird (AKA "Money")
2.8 V6 w/ t5 tranny (383 tpi t56 12/01)
Flowmaster 80 series, 3" Intermediate, SS Tips, Random Tech Cat, Msd Coil, MSD 6a, Accel 8.8 wires, Cold Air Intake w/ K&N, Lakewood LCA's, Brushed aluminum Hood pins ETC...
Next:
Spohn Torque Arm, Lakewood Panhard bar, BMR Fabrication Sub Frame connectors...
-------------------------
My Site:
www.geocities.com/firebird89white
" I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT run at all ".
------------------
89 Firebird (AKA "Money")
2.8 V6 w/ t5 tranny (383 tpi t56 12/01)
Flowmaster 80 series, 3" Intermediate, SS Tips, Random Tech Cat, Msd Coil, MSD 6a, Accel 8.8 wires, Cold Air Intake w/ K&N, Lakewood LCA's, Brushed aluminum Hood pins ETC...
Next:
Spohn Torque Arm, Lakewood Panhard bar, BMR Fabrication Sub Frame connectors...
-------------------------
My Site:
www.geocities.com/firebird89white
" I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT run at all ".
02-07-2001, 11:48 PM
#20
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Btw...if u take the black plastic off the top u have to get a new one before smog. They will fail u without it...i know.
------------------
89 Firebird (AKA "Money")
2.8 V6 w/ t5 tranny (383 tpi t56 12/01)
Flowmaster 80 series, 3" Intermediate, SS Tips, Random Tech Cat, Msd Coil, MSD 6a, Accel 8.8 wires, Cold Air Intake w/ K&N, Lakewood LCA's, Brushed aluminum Hood pins ETC...
Next:
Spohn Torque Arm, Lakewood Panhard bar, BMR Fabrication Sub Frame connectors...
-------------------------
My Site:
www.geocities.com/firebird89white
" I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT run at all ".
------------------
89 Firebird (AKA "Money")
2.8 V6 w/ t5 tranny (383 tpi t56 12/01)
Flowmaster 80 series, 3" Intermediate, SS Tips, Random Tech Cat, Msd Coil, MSD 6a, Accel 8.8 wires, Cold Air Intake w/ K&N, Lakewood LCA's, Brushed aluminum Hood pins ETC...
Next:
Spohn Torque Arm, Lakewood Panhard bar, BMR Fabrication Sub Frame connectors...
-------------------------
My Site:
www.geocities.com/firebird89white
" I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT run at all ".
02-08-2001, 11:06 AM
#21
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Leave the MAF alone!
When I did my swap, it pinged.
I replaced the MAF & it SINGS!!
Leave the MAF ALONE!
------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA
When I did my swap, it pinged.
I replaced the MAF & it SINGS!!
Leave the MAF ALONE!
------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA
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