On my 87 gta air box i removed the top and then cut out the the 3 pillers that the air pass' through ,i replaced with two thin bars across the middle and a washer to bolt it down ,will i have any adverse effects ,i know i freed up alot more air ,but with my filter exposed will that do anyhting bad.
Thanks

 

no

 

I attempted a similar thing by cutting rectangular holes in the sides of the airbox lid. After running this for a while with a stock K&N replacement, I made a cold-air induction system using a K&N cone filter and some 3" thin-wall PVC - ~$50. At the same time I relocated my MAT sensor. Although it's hard to quantify, I noticed a huge seat of the pants improvement in the throttle response. The K&N filter sits in the same location as the airbox once it's removed. After some black semi-gloss all my friends agreed that it looked good. Look at the SLP cold-air induction as a reference if you're interested in doing this, or e-mail me and I'll give you more detail.