First 3 runs.....

 

and the last 3 runs....

 

Well, those are the results. It was very hot and humid, but I was able to keep the engine temps down between 170-180 degrees for the first 5 runs, the last run with the open element and filter was with a coolent temp of 163 degrees per winaldl

I added the 1/8 mile to 1/4 mile mph difference in hopes to see if the ram air was actually working. I would say from the results, the ram air limits the airflow at lower speeds, but on average improves on the high end speeds.

***Important to note: The last run (open element w/filter) ran the smoothest, with no noticable knock or knock retard. All the other runs including no filter, ram air w/ and w/o air filters, I experianced considerable problems up high. One open tbi run experiance it around 4,700rpm and up in second but nothing in first. The other open tbi run knocked at the end of first and in the same place in second. All of the ram air runs had knock around 5,300rpm in first and 4,500 rpm and up in second.

My shift points (manually shifting through the auto obviously) were consistent at 5,500rpm out of 1st, and 5,000rpm out of 2nd. Other than my 1st '60 time, they were pretty consistent at around 2.3 seconds

 

Also, before someone else says it:

These results cannot be considered completely accurate, based on the various knock problems. But hopefully they can give some idea of what is happening. I have not made my regulator adjustable-based on the hopes that I'll have the good 'ol holley sitting atop the 383 soon. But to make for a nice test, fuel should have been added to make the knock go away, but the fact that I was going lean could be a good indication that the ram air is capable of making more power, but it is to hard to hypothesize as to whether or not it is enough to counter the lack of flow at lower speeds...

I would honestly say that given proper tune, the ram air would be beneficial, but you also run into problems in that you need more fuel at higher speeds given the same MAP and RPMs in say 1st gear vs 2nd gear. I'm still not too familiar with custom tuning, so I am not sure if the ecm can do such a thing..... It would be nice if the vss was useful to the ecm for more than just the speed limiter.

Anyways, with that being said, anybody in the local area can feel more than free to barrow the ram air setup and give it a try at the track if you have at least an adjustable regulator, even better, tuning equip. I have an extra z-28 grill from my '90 (parts car now ) that you can use as well. Just IM if anyone is interested. I'm about 20 minutes west of Joliet.