i was reading a message that someone posted earlyer on about how an open element airfilter, say my 14" one is not doin it's full job if you dont have a cowl hood or something to get fresh air in..now i do have a stock cowl hood on my 82 TA but non functional, just the scope by the windshield is covered over by a piece of plastic.. should i just go ahead and remove that, or will water and **** be bad to get in there say when it rains? i also have the extreme air top on the filter so that could draw good air in from the top.. any ideas on what i should do, because i assume my losing horsepower by having hot air circulating in the engine bay right? probably quite a bit of HP..
any ideas would be great
thanks

 

Your not really going to see any huge power gain from going cold air/ram air from open elemnt. I have a 14" open element in my car now and I'm working on a way to make my hood (see sig) scoops functional by installing a stock air cleaner with foam on top to seal the cleaner against the hood. It's also going to have a baffle to collect water from the open scoops and drain them properly beneth the engine. Also I'm leaving the stock inlet open so I can put the caps on the scoops if I'm driving through a thunderstorm or carwash. I'm assuming you could do the same with your 'bird. This wouldent look sloppy like all the other "ram-air/ CAI" systems that have tubes running every which way, if you care how your bay looks like I do .

You will notice some performance, mostly upper-end throttle responce and a little more power up top. Dont expect 25 hp or anything.

-Matt

 

hey flash wut edelbrock intake did u use? the performer or performer rpm? i am lookin for a manifold that will fit unde rmy stock formula hood with a holley and a 14x3 element on it. thanks