This has got to be the most restrictive air cleaner setup I have ever seen in my life. I was wondering if any of you guys have modified one before? If so what did you do? Can I remove the screens on each side of the MAF sensor? Is it worth it?

I has the ribbed tube that makes a right turn into a silencer baffle into the MAF sensor and into an air box the breathes through a hole smaller than a dime. I took it off completely and took it for a run and the car must have picked up 15hp, at least. What was gm thinking?????

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1986 CAMARO Z28 ->
151,000 original miles, 43,000 on 89' vette 350 block, Holley 650 DP, Weiand intake, 1.6 rockers, 1 5/8" headers, no cat, 2 1/2" Flowmaster catback, Mallory coil, March pulleys, T5 with 3.35 1st gear and 0 miles, 90% Centerforce clutch, 3.73 posi, Eibach 1" drop springs, Spohn LCA's, Spohn adjustable panhard rod, Subframe connectors, polyurethane swaybar bushings/endlinks, 2 12" Sound Streams, 2 Infinity 6X9's, 2 Pioneer 6X9's, 800 watt Lanzar Vibe amp. ET 13.22@ 106.4MPH 3300lbs less driver and speakers Next mods-> B&M shifter, Extreme Energy 230/236 cam, Holley street dom intake.

1987 TRANS AM ->
73,000 miles, 305TPI, auto, all stock.

 

I have done this.
First, take the orginal air can off, and cut some holes in the middle at the bottom of it. I also cut a hole in the body area underneth the air can so it can now draw in cold air.

Second, remove the screens in the MAF

Third, go to Home Depo. I bought a thin walled 3" sewer pipe, (It was flared at the end to slip over another 3" pipe) and also bought a 3" 90* elbow for under $6. Use the side of the pipe with the flare, use the orginal rubber peace from the rectangular box and this will connect to the MAF. Attach the elbow, with another 2" peace attache to it, and that 2" peace will fit into the rubber peace that connects to the throttle body. Works great!

Forth, if you choose to go even further, port the plenum.

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Rob
'86 TA 305 TPI
Gutted MAF
Ported Plenum
TB Bypass

 

I think he neglected to say, that the MAF is a $3xx part, and removing the MAF screens makes no bit of difference over haveing them. Plus if you look in the maf there's a small wire, very very small. If a piece of oh, i dunno, dirt at a good size gets it...kiss 300 bucks good bye. The wire is extremely easy to break. Think about it. If you want more airflow, i'm sure you can send it to TPIS or go find a Wells MAF something like that. Up to you man....just a fair warning.

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89 IROC-Z 350 TPI

-Flowmaster Catback
-Performance Resource Chip
-700R4 (Rebuilt) Too much done to actually list
-K&N Airfilters
-Ported Plenum
-2.77 Gears (not much to brag about but eh, its there)
-MSD 8.5 mm plug wires
-Problems every other day with the car (probably not a mod, but to me it sure makes a difference)

 

Does porting the plenum make a difference? The plenum is the area right behind the TB right?

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1986 CAMARO Z28 ->
151,000 original miles, 43,000 on 89' vette 350 block, Holley 650 DP, Weiand intake, 1.6 rockers, 1 5/8" headers, no cat, 2 1/2" Flowmaster catback, Mallory coil, March pulleys, T5 with 3.35 1st gear and 0 miles, 90% Centerforce clutch, 3.73 posi, Eibach 1" drop springs, Spohn LCA's, Spohn adjustable panhard rod, Subframe connectors, polyurethane swaybar bushings/endlinks, 2 12" Sound Streams, 2 Infinity 6X9's, 2 Pioneer 6X9's, 800 watt Lanzar Vibe amp. ET 13.22@ 106.4MPH 3300lbs less driver and speakers Next mods-> B&M shifter, Extreme Energy 268 cam, Holley street dom intake.

1987 TRANS AM ->
73,000 miles, 305TPI, auto, all stock.

 

JDM,

Do you have the cylindrical "garbage can" air cleaner setup? If so, check this link for the fix:
Air Flow.pdf

And if you are considering porting the plenum, check this file:
Plenum Porting.pdf.

Good luck.

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Later,
Vader
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"I'm'a do Things My Way - It's My way or the Highway."
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

JDM,

Incidentally, if you do have the garbage can air cleaner, the K&N filter element for that is part no. E-0890. It cost me $23.00 at the fleet discount store.

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Later,
Vader
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"I'm'a do Things My Way - It's My way or the Highway."
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

A: There is over 100 cfm differance in removing the screens.
B: If you worry about a peace of dirt distroying the wire, your air filter must not be hooked up.
C: The TPIS unit is a stock MAF with the screens removed, plus filling off the fins.

 

Vader, nice link showing the air filter can.

Look at this link to show the differance by removing the screens, and how restrictive that rectangular air box is.
http://dtcc.cz28.com/flow/index.htm

 

R.O.B.,

The screens are not necessarily there to keep dirt out of the MAF sensor.

The OEM Bosch MAF sensor has round wire screens mounted in metal rings which actually reduce the straight air flow across the sensor array. The more turbulent air behind the screen will flow through the sensor body more equally, so that the air flowing through the sampling tube will be a more accurate representation of the total air flowing through the sensor. There have been several notable instances of people carefully removing the screens without damaging the hot wire element, and then having MAF errors due to improper flow readings being reported to the ECM. At certain flow rates, the molecules of air tend to flow toward the outside of any curve, and can tend to flow around the sampling tube instead of equally through the MAF body if the screens are removed.

Additionally, these screens protect the fragile hot wire from debris and sonic wave shock caused by lean backfire and wide-open throttle "howl". These sonic pulses could significantly shorten the life of the platinum wire if not deflected.

Just though you might be interested in all the reasons Bosch installed the screens. I certainly don't believe thay intentionally wanted to reduce the flow through the sensor.

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Later,
Vader
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"I'm'a do Things My Way - It's My way or the Highway."
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

I had that crap on my T/A. I removed the box and bought a 3" PVC elbow and a 3" PVC straight pipe. And bought a K&N 3" Cone filter in place of the can. I noticed a huge differance in throttle response and my engine sounds better. I'll get some pics for you.