so once the weather started to get really cold my gas mileage dropped drastically, so i took some scrap metal and slapped together an air cleaner lid to try to keep the air coming into the filter a little warmer so i could try to get a little better gas mileage. performance isn't a real big deal for me right now, because i can't afford any speeding tickets.

here's the setup i had before,

and here's what i put together,




so what do you think?
i figure the shield around the filter will help to keep warmer air from the engine and more specifically from the intake around the filterand the thicker metal will also hold heat and heat the air. maybe it's just crazy thinking. but i have noticed a little more mileage and a cleaner sound too.

 

Maybe a little more room for the air to get in would help even more, but I like the work, nicely done. Can you post some more pics, or email them to me ? Closeups and even more details ? I'm putting my Z28 hood on tomorrow, and I need something similar to what you made.

 

i had an open element air cleaner assembly made from the original air cleaner assembly, it was cut so all that was left was a bottom and a lid, so i just made a new lid. i made the shield on the side to go around all the way except for in the back there is a space so it will fit easily around the distributor and coil without any problems. it also covers the throttle linkage without any interference. what else would you like to know?








i had made a second one because the first one wasn't done as well as i wanted it to be.

 

What material did you use and how did you attach it all ? Thin steel sheet metal and MIG weld ?

 

yup, i work in a machine shop so there is an abundance of scrap metal and welders everywhere. so i grabbed what i found and welded, believe it or not, the only thing i had to cut was the shield to make it shorter and i had to drill a hole in the top of it for the stud to fit through. i would have used a lighter gauge sheet metal but that was the lightest i could find.

 

You should paint it or powdercoat it black, and throw some old style decals on it, that would make it look like a factory option or something

 

i did paint it black, the one that's bare metal was the first one that i had made, i'll prpbably paint tbi on it with some silver paint or something.

 

I always thought that colder more dense air was better for an engine and created more horsepower. Maybe I am wrong, but I am confused why your mileage would go down jsut due to colder temperatures.

 

Good fabrication skills....My gas mileage always goes down in the cold weather. The motor is more responsive and i put my foot into even more because of it.

 

Colder more dense air is better for an engine and creates more horsepower. His mileage went down, because when an engine is cold, it needs more gas in proportion to air until it warms up. No matter what is done to the air cleaner, the engine still needs a richer mixture during warm-up, and that's the main reason for the decrease in fuel mileage during cold weather.

 

Wow, that's an awesome job. Looks good to!