Dark Ember

Hey guys, thought I would share how I managed to squeeze 3mph, and .4 tenths outta my 1990 firebird from a ram air. This is a speed density car, so no MAF to complicate things further. This modification required me to move the battery to the rear, and required a lot of measuring, cutting, and welding of sheet metal and aluminized exhaust pipe. I'de say I probably have 20 hours in the development of this stupid thing, much longer than it should have been, but I couldnt decide exactly how I was going to route everything. I have track slips to verify the results. All slips came from the same, 85ish degree June 10th night at Royal Purple Raceway. For each pass the car was +/- 20 degrees operating temperature(gauge read from 160-180 at the start of each pass).

I tested the stock air box vs K&N throttle body(p/n RC5000) filter vs Custom Ram air. I planned on the ram air having the advantage of a cold air kit, which the other 2 did not have. However despite my best duct tape efforts to temporarily seal the openings for the ram air while I was testing the other 2 inductions, the force of air rushing through the base of the scoops actually shoved off the duct tape. So to some degree all of the methods tested had some cold air flowing through the engine bay. Although on a warm summer Houston night, there wasnt much of that in the air anyway.

Below I have posted the best run for each setup. What I did notice that looking at just my 3 best slips will not show is, the ram air set up was more forgiving on the losses of mph and et as the engine and therefore, engine bay became warmer. That told me that even though the base scoops were still ramming cooler air into the engine bay, the engine still wasnt getting the benifits of a full cold air induction.

Also, I could not run consistant 60 foot times that night, so do your best to interprete the differences as you please.

Slips:


Ok, now if you are interested in how to duplicate this in your firebird, I have posted some pics. Guys this was a nightmare of a project and I do not reccoment it for just anyone. I will try to describe how it is designed and have pictures to assist. Sorry I am not willing to create more of these to be sold. I would have to charge so much to cover my time that you could just about buy a set of heads. But feel free to copy and improve upon my design all you like should you decide to make one for your car.


Ok basically I had to remove the factory air dam, and the plastic panels below the battery, which are an extension of the air dam on the outsides of the car. I traced those on sheet metal, cut them out and drilled holes where needed in order to reuse stock mounting hardware. I relocated the cruise control vacuum canister closer to the driver side head light.




I made a new scoop for the radiator, and added screen to save the fins on the condensor from rocks that would now be routed right up to it, instead of vacuum sucking air through it.



Where the canister and battery used to sit, I cut holes to accommodate 1 square 3rd gen TPI camaro air filter on each side. Then I created a box around those filters which bolted down, and attached 2 1/2" exhaust pipe, and routed those to the throttle body. Mating 2, 2-1/2" pipes that looked semi semitrical next to the throttle body was the most difficult part of this job. The 2nd most difficult was cutting the pre mendrel bent pipes and routing those under the stock hood.





There are 3 seperate scoops below the car. 1 going to each k&N filter, and 1 wide one in the center which goes to the radiator/condensor. I had run metal straps from the scoops to the same holes with the plastic push pins that hold the front facia over the bumper. However after hitting 140mph, the rivets pulled through the aluminum, and the scoop was nearly touching the ground. I replaced many wind drag sensitive rivets with bolts and washers, and added more straps. The hole ram air is screwed and bolted together. However you will also notice duct tape. Regrettably, some of my cuts were not perfect and there were some gaps. For example, above the filter is a 6 1/2" X 6 1/2" box which funnels down to a 2 1/2" pipe. I dont know the magic recipe for making tha funnel. So I cut it as close as I could, and sealed it with Silicone. Then to reduce turbulance, I used duct tape to make it a smoother transition. There is also duct tape on the lower scoops for the same reason.



I know its ghetto in some ways and perhaps one day I will run through it again, and remake certain parts to fit better. This was very much a trial however, and I wasnt sure as I made if I would even keep it, since I wasnt sure it would be better than a throttle body K&N.

Dark Ember

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Pretty cool man. Nice speed pick up. I'm going to be swapping in a 350 TPI into my Camaro soon, I'll have to make a Ram Air intake for sure now!

Dark Ember

Thanks man. My friend had a 92' Camaro a few years ago and we did 4" plumbing tubing with 90 degree bends through the foglamp holes and curved right up to the filter. We removed the fog lamps and sealed it all off with duct tape and track tested it. Same night, similar temperature, the car went .5 tenths and 3mph quicker. Around town it did develope overheating issues when it was all taped off, because there was nothing left over for the radaitor. We solved this problem by making a radiator scoop similar to the one I made for the bird. It was a scraping nightmare, but it worked. That car is what made me so driven to do one for the firebird.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I was gonna follow the Tech Article here and try it. I outta do it before I pull the 6 and see what happens. Are the TPI filters you used K&N?

Dark Ember

Yea, well used K&N filters I bought off ebay. They cleaned up alright though.

DRIVE2FAST

I WOULD CALL THAT A SUCCESS . THE PERFORMANCE NUMBERS ARE BETTER THAN THE K/N SETUP. IT KILLS ME WHEN MY CUSTOM PROJECTS RUN OVERTIME AND OVER BUDGET BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO WHEN YOU ARE CUSTOM FABBING STUFF.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Cool, I'll just buy new ones. I'll see if I pick up the same results. Very impressive.

kaydoe

iTrader: (1)

Old post can anyone see these pictures?

Veaceonee

iTrader: (1)

Nope, there gone.