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Is open element a good thing

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Old Apr 2, 2001 | 12:27 AM
  #1  
unknown_host's Avatar
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From: Medford, Oregon
Car: 1989 Iroc Z L98
Is open element a good thing

I am rebuilding my 82 with a 350, and it wont have any smog on it. The 305 originally in it had the single air intake, i hate it, i dont like how it looks, and it obviously doesnt provide enough air for a 305 let alone a 350. I am seriously thinking about getting an open element filter by K&N. Has anyone tried this and if so what do they think? I know it takes in hotter air, but does it make a huge difference? Thanks
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Old Apr 2, 2001 | 12:05 PM
  #2  
CleanRS's Avatar
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 90
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From: East Atlanta
Car: 1990 LX hatch
Engine: 5.0
Transmission: t-5
Axle/Gears: stock
Open elements are definately the way to go. There is plenty of information about open elements in the TBI forum

------------------
-John
92 RS
-L03 305
-700R4 auto.
-2.73 peg leg
-GMPP open Air Element
-Hypertech Street Runner chip
-Hypertech under drive pullies
-R&R High Flow Catalytic Converter
-Flowmaster Catback Exhaust (with NO tips)
-K&N Crankcase breather
-Kenwood CD head unit
-Kenwood 6x9 speakers in rear.
johndugan305@yahoo.com
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Old Apr 6, 2001 | 12:53 PM
  #3  
Black Beauty's Avatar
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Joined: Jun 2000
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From: Los Angeles, Ca, USA
Car: 90 Camaro RS
Engine: 305 TBI
Transmission: T56
i like mine...i got the k&N xstream lid to boot....it sounds good...real good.

i didnt know my engine made any noise...but now it sounds pretty aggressive
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Old Apr 6, 2001 | 03:50 PM
  #4  
CraZ-28's Avatar
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From: Tucson, AZ
Car: 1991 Z-28
Engine: Can you say stroke?!?!
Transmission: 700-r4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
With the addition of a cowl hood, you'll also be able to get a more plentiful amount of "COOL" air in the system also. But that's for later on down the road. Any ways, yes it's a good idea because it will flow more than the single/dual snorkle air cleaner.

------------------
'91 Z-28 5.7, SLP 1 3/4 headers, 4 inch Mufflex/Flowmaster cat back, gutted cats, Edelbrock intake, 8.5mm Jacob wires, MSD Blaster coil, S&W subframe setup, Jacob Pro Street Ignition, complete Kenwood system.
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Old Apr 7, 2001 | 03:50 AM
  #5  
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From: Somewhere in Nebraska
Engine: turbocharged 4 cyl Dohc
Transmission: 5 spd sentronic
I'm adding a Chrome K&N open Element to my vert, I hope i will feel a difference after i add it, I already have a STB from HP Motorsports in Omaha, This car is REAL TIGHT Now ------- WOW! will the engine get the air it needs even if the car doeSn't have a Ram Air Hood (ASCD)


------------------
91 firebird vert
tan top&interior
305/700r4<A HREF="http://www.fbody.com/members/305inmybird/index.htm" TARGET=_blank>WEB SITE HERE
</A>
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Old Apr 7, 2001 | 06:12 PM
  #6  
Dan87IROC-Z's Avatar
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From: Fort Collins, Colorado
My friend is using one on his 85 Z28 LG4. He bought the K&N one from Jegs for like $85 or so. He has been very happy with it, it really sounds sweet when you go to WOT.

------------------
1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End

Current Mods: LT4 HOT Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition Coil, Cap, Rotor, 8.8mm Wires, K&N Filters, JET TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET (w/o LT4 cam): 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)

Soon to Come: 7.625" 10 Bolt with 3.42s and Accel TPI Intake Base
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Old Apr 8, 2001 | 02:37 AM
  #7  
GiddyUP305's Avatar
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From: Somewhere in Nebraska
Engine: turbocharged 4 cyl Dohc
Transmission: 5 spd sentronic
it really sounds sweet when you go to WOT.



TRUE TRUE TRUE i just installed it tonight and it sounds SOOOOOOOOO SWEET!!!! Oh Man it feels different It responds quicker OMG!!!

Pictures of the install are here!!!!!!
------------------
91 firebird vert
tan top&interior
305/700r4
MY SITE HERE

[This message has been edited by GiddyUP305 (edited April 27, 2001).]
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Old Apr 8, 2001 | 10:12 PM
  #8  
MikeDwhoROCZImports's Avatar
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From: CT
I've got a LG4 and went to the dual snorkle setup over the open element. For the amount of air my car needs, an open element isn't necessary, and wouldn't give me as much power as the Dual Snorkle does because it would be picking up hot underhood air.
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Old Apr 14, 2001 | 07:32 PM
  #9  
Big454blockchevy's Avatar
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 640
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From: El Paso Texas
Car: 86 z28
Engine: Hyd. roller 498
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 12 bolt 3.90 gears
A dual snorkle will give you a cooler(fresh)not hot air as with an open element.

------------------
Big 454 72 Chevy Nova
383 86 Camaro Z28
10.5:1compression 186 casting Heads,234dur.488lift exh&int,Edelbrock performer intake, Holley750 vac.sec 400 crank,flat top pistons,edelbrock valve springs and lifters,tranny shift kit,2500 stall converter. Will install 3.73's later on and might go with a more aggresive cam.As of 4/01 added Hooker Headers,2.5inchpipes with 40 s. Flowmasters.Ignition upgrade include: MSD Coil and MSD module.
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Old Apr 14, 2001 | 08:24 PM
  #10  
RadarRunner's Avatar
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Posts: 110
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From: Duncan, OK USA
Car: 1987 Z28
Engine: LG-4 305
Transmission: 5-speed
I have people telling me different things on different days. Some say open element & other say snorkel for cooler air. Does anyone have a consensus as to what is best for any particular engine or year model?

------------------
1987 Z28 Black & Silver 305 LG4/5-Speed . . .
NRA/AMA/FOP/IUPA/Blue Knights
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Old Apr 15, 2001 | 03:31 AM
  #11  
JPrevost's Avatar
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,621
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Car: 91 Red Sled
Axle/Gears: 10bolt Richmond 3.73 Torsen
Open element is the way to go for most setups. If you have a really tight engine bay like a 4th gen camaro or corvettes then a cold air setup might be a better choice. All in all they come out to being about the same performance. The advantage of an open element is the price and sound. For $20 you can't really go wrong. When I had teh L03 I had the stock unit, the stock unit with all the ultimate TBI mods, a dual snorkel setup, open element, and no filter at all. I have a story to prove that there is a difference between stock snorkel and open element but I'll get to that in a bit. I honestly didn't notice much of an improvement when I did the ultimate TBI mods. The ring removal probably helped a little but I was still sucking air in through a small snorkel. I even had a ram air setup through the high beam but that was the first thing I got rid of because it looked like %^#$. The dual snorkel was great after I gutted it. The car sounded great and there was a noticable increase in power, not a lot but when you race your friends frequently you can see certain things. Maybe it was the floormat now that I think about it....lol . Really though, the open element sounded like the dual snorkel but because my engine wasn't exactly a fire breather, I couldn't feel a difference. Now if you figure the dual setup is ~$60 used now and a new open element is $20, hmmm....
Okay, now I told you before that I had a story about the stock air cleaner and no air cleaner. Well at my summer job we had a glass beed machine for cleaning parts. I took my stock air cleaner and after I gutted it I cleaned it up. I forgot that I needed some high temp paint, so during my lunch break I drove over to the local pep boys. Well while I was pulling out onto RT.1 (like I did every day) my car lost traction bad. This is a 3.08 open so I figured it was just sand or something go spilled. Well it was a hot summer day in the high 90's and the tires are 245/50 16. That was normal. I didn't do anything differently but the car still broke traction and that was when it hit me that I didn't have the air cleaner on. DUH!!! I was only 17 and I thought that a bug would fly in and #%@# my engine up! So from an unbiased position I noticed the hp improvement, it had to be at least 10rwhp improvement. NJ Speeder runs no air cleaner at the track, infact he drives the car with no air cleaner too frequently if you ask me. He also has an L03 bottom end and stock cam running 14.2's with a stock sized TB!!!
Get the open element, if you don't like it sell it for $10, so you're out $10, ladi frecken da!

------------------
, Jon (350 TBI! getting 23mpg highway)
91 Red RS w/grey int, sq stereo (Alpine v12, kicker solo, MB quart premium etc)AIM: JPrevost
  • Holley 670 TB unit w/ 1/2" spacer/adapter
  • Edelbrock RPM vortec intake
  • 350ho 330hp vortec crate motor
  • 8" harm. balancer
  • Stewart stage 2 water pump w/160 thermo
  • SLP tri-y headers to full 3"
  • Rebuilt trans w/ SLP shift kit
  • Centerline 16x8's all around
  • 36/24 mm sway bars
  • Full poly bushings, even motor mounts
  • SLP LCA and panhard
  • Alston SFCs
  • Edelbrock 3 point STB
  • Global west steering brace aka wonderbar
  • Eibach pro kit springs
  • Bilstien high perf. struts and shocks
  • All this and I still have AC
My websiteAny questions?
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Old Apr 15, 2001 | 04:28 AM
  #12  
Demon Z28's Avatar
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From: Houston, TX
Car: 2001 Camaro SS
Engine: Almighty LS1
Transmission: T56
I say both... if you can get away with it, find the intake from a TPI car in a junkyard and gut it and put it in ... might take a little bit of modifying but probably not much... just leave it gutted, don't use filters in it because you already have the open element...

works better than the snorkel and you have a direct flow of cold air into it, so it not only cools the engine bay down a little it acts as a cheap way to get cool air into the carb /tbi
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Old Apr 24, 2001 | 09:09 PM
  #13  
Jer82Z28's Avatar
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 860
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From: Alberta, Canada
Car: 1987 IROC
Engine: Vortec 350 TPI
Transmission: 7004r
I run an open element and I LOVE the sound of it at WOT
Is it better/worse than a dual snorkle? I don't know, I had plans to make one, but the crome edelbrock air cleaner just looks too damn good to take off

Besides, i might get a cowl hood in which case I will be getting cold air anyway.
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Old Apr 24, 2001 | 11:07 PM
  #14  
302GT_killer's Avatar
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 76
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From: burnsville, MN
i did the open element thing a couple weeks ago-man what a difference! the sound is much more authoritive and mean and i would say it was an honest 10 hp gain! yes it flows hot air, but the amount of hot air far outweighs the small amount of cool air the snorkel gives, so yes its worth it. edelbrock PN 1207 14x3

------------------
soon that white 5.0 lx at school will get a good waxing from a nasty 355 RS...heheheheheh
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Old Apr 25, 2001 | 12:07 AM
  #15  
unknown_host's Avatar
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From: Medford, Oregon
Car: 1989 Iroc Z L98
hey guys, what is the largest Edelbrock open element i can fit under my hood with a edelbrock performer intake and a q-jet, with a stock hood. thanks
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