A little confused on the extras left behind and what to do with them. I have a small hose that was connected to the old air cleaner which I've read should be clipped and plugged. Then the pvc can be connected to the new assembly from the bottom and adapter it came with. So far so good, I think.

Last I have this gaping hole on the right side that had a metal hose of sorts attached to it and the old assembly, does said hole need to be plugged as well?? If so, would you say it's safe to drive with it open to grab a plug from an auto store down the road?

I can post a pic if needs be. Thanks!!

 

It's the gaping hole towards the bottom of the pic.

 

that is most definitely NOT a 2.8 V6..

that being said, buy a breather to put in the hole in the valve cover where that breather hose is... plug the vacuum port on the carb where the heat riser valve in the air cleaner hooked up.... and forget about that "gaping hole" in the driver's side exhaust manifold heat shield: it's just to get hot air from around the manifold up to the air cleaner for better cold starts..

all that being said, why are you getting rid of the stock air cleaner? unless you are putting in a 14X4 element and have an engine making over 400hp, it will make just as much power as an open element with a good filter in it and the cold air intake hose hooked up to the top of the radiator support- and maybe more from the cool air being fed into it- and will deliver better fuel economy... plus, the hot air from the manifold really does make a difference in cold start driveability up to about 50 degrees or so.. believe it or not, those guys at GM that designed these things were pretty smart..

one thing that can't hurt if it is a stock F body air cleaner is to take out that goofy little round breather element inside the big element. i'm not sure what it was for, but it just gets in the way of the air that the engine is trying to breathe..

 

just for fun, here's my air cleaner setup:



stock 2.8 scoop without filters and with all baffles and what not cut out, feeding into an F body air cleaner housing with a snorkel from a different 80's something car grafted on to point straight forward, with a lid from that same 80's something car. filter is a Wix replacement for that 80's something (most 73-89 GM cars and trucks with a small block used the same filter assembly).. i used the different lid because it's shaped better to direct air into the carb and the filter is about an inch taller than the F body one. i had to remove some of the underhood bracing to clear it, but that just added lightness to the car overall.. my vortec headed 355 pulls hard to 7000+ rpm and the carb is almost ice cold and dripping with condensation after going a few miles down the road due to the ram air effect..

 

The first photo shows the yellow arrow pointing at little black cap you need to plug the hole on the nipple that will be open when you take off the hose going to it. You MUST plug the hole before you drive it. If you have to just leave a piece of hose on it and plug the end of it by screwing a bolt into it.




The red arrow is pointing at the linkage. When you press the gas pedal it moves. Don't stop it from moving freely by setting the base of the new air filter on it. If it touches you have to move the base up some. Just post if it does.


The second photo shows the new air breather in the hole in the valve cover.
Both can be found at your local auto parts store.
I'm not promoting the open air element . I'm just showing you how to work with it.
I use an cowl induction hood to take advantage of mine.

 

novaderrik ,
That induction unit stock or modified for a TBI is the closest thing I've actually seen to being a true cold air system that is still under the hood and is my favorite.
If I was not using a cowl hood that's what I would run.
Here's mine.

 

thanks.. i did it that way because it was simple, cheap, and easy with just a few slightly modified factory parts...

you need to get that air cleaner sealed to the bottom of the hood for a couple of reasons..

1) this will assure that the carb is only breathing cool outside air.. it will also keep underhood air from getting into the HVAC air inlet at the base of the windshield at low speeds.

2) the high pressure area at the base of the windshield is actually fighting the air coming in thru the radiator as you go down the road, which means less airflow thru the radiator for cooling and extra air piled up under the hood which causes aero drag and front end lift..

 

Novaderrik,

Ahh, I'm actually a little embarrassed I missed the fact that I have 8 cylinders. So I have a V8...neat. Thanks for pointing that out. So I decided after what you had to say and a little more research, it's better in most cases to stick with stock if not alter it as you have.

I threw the stock back on after cleaning her up a little and swapped the old air filter for a new K&N one. I know, I know, they're garbage but it was the only one available at the time that fit.

Here she is put back together.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep this in mind if I do go open, but I'll be sticking to stock for now. Getting a little ahead of myself at such an early stage in fixing her up.

Though one thing does make me notice, the plug on the yellow arrow. When I took the stock assembly off to attempt to replace it with an open I noticed that hole was already plugged up. What I'm wondering is what and where is the hose that hooks up to that? I have a feeling it's the one connected to the "trunk", if you will, of the stock cleaner.

That's my feeling at least.



The hose connected to that branching off bit of the cleaner on the right. That the one that needs to be connected to the plugged hole?

 

By the way. You guys have some wicked rigs, jealous. That's what I'm hoping to achieve a little further down the road. What in yalls mind should I be looking to replace? I thought about belts, spark plugs and it's wires. I know I've been having to pump the gas a bit in the mornings to get her to start, usually will die if I let off the gas after startup. Have to put slight pressure on the gas for a bout 2 minutes before she can Idle on her own without dying.

 

The aircleaner thermac valve opens the trap door in the snorkle causing the motor to take in air that is 'pre-heated' by passing through the heat stove around the driver's side exhaust manifold. The heat stove should be connected to the thermac valve by a short aluminum flex tube. The vacuum source for the valve should connect to the carburetor at the vacuum tee front, passenger side. This tee also provides a vacuum source for the choke pulloff.

If you are missing the flex tube from the heat stove to the thermac vent, replacements can be had at most parts stores.

Always replace plugs, wires, cap and rotor before committing any other resources to the motor.

Note that you've got non-stock wires on there now. Stock style will have six angle boots and two straight boots. The straight ones go on #2 and #4. Odd bank wires will go underneath the exhaust.

You've also had a mech qjet and mech dist installed and your AIR tubes and system have been removed.

Your air cleaner lid does not look stock. A stock replacement air filter may not be tall enough to work.

 

The different engine bay photos in this thread bring forth a slightly disturbing 'before and after' vibe.

 

The aircleaner thermac valve opens the trap door in the snorkle causing the motor to take in air that is 'pre-heated' by passing through the heat stove around the driver's side exhaust manifold. The heat stove should be connected to the thermac valve by a short aluminum flex tube. The vacuum source for the valve should connect to the carburetor at the vacuum tee front, passenger side. This tee also provides a vacuum source for the choke pulloff.

If you are missing the flex tube from the heat stove to the thermac vent, replacements can be had at most parts stores.

Always replace plugs, wires, cap and rotor before committing any other resources to the motor.

Note that you've got non-stock wires on there now. Stock style will have six angle boots and two straight boots. The straight ones go on #2 and #4. Odd bank wires will go underneath the exhaust.


I honestly only got about a fraction of what you ment there, learning my way through this bit by bit. The cleaner lid was changed by the previous owner before I drove off with it and at the time and I thought he was putting on the stock lid.

I have no A/C but plenty of heat so I believe I know what you mean by removed air tubes and system, which why he did that is beyond me.

 

One day. Heh.

 

if you put an 80's Camaro air filter element in that housing, then it's not sealing... the F body lid is flatter and the element is about an inch shorter than the one you need for that housing..