I have a quick question about removing the air silencer ring on the stock air cleaner on my LO3. What are some ways to break the tack welds that hold that thing in place, and why in the hell would chevrolet put that in there in the first place? Any ideas on how to break these welds would be helpful. Thanks.

 

There are lots of ways to do this, but I'd drill them out. Find a drill bit roughly the same size as the tacs. don't be too forcefull bc you could go right through both the silencer and air cleaner itself. use cutting oil or wd40 to help cut it go slow and check often to see how far through you are. Just becareful and it should go pretty smooth.

 

I appreciate the reply. I will go give it a shot and hopefully not damage the cleaner. I still would like to know why that stupid ring is there in the first place. Thanks for your time vette.

 

On the subject of why the ring is there, I believe to do exactly what it says silence. When I removed mine, before going to an open element, I noticed an increase in noise from the intake. Probably from the rush of air threw the air cleaner and into the TBI unit.