Hi All,

Can anyone share a link to the article on how to gut the airbox on a TPI motor?

Been searching for a while and am not sure if it's been deleted or if I am having a "slow" day

thanks

Bungle

 

witch part do you call a airbox exactly, I'v worked on mine and I'v cut out the plastic under the filters to fit a "ram air kit" I found at hawk's third gen at http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/airboxes.aspx on this page I see a part that is called the airbox but is it the one you want. I bought the ram air boxes and they fit great by the way! I'm looking to buy a modified air lid from one of these two guys on those threads https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tpi/...pi-camaro.html and https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/fabr...i-air-lid.html hope this helps!

 

Removing the baffles under the air filters was what I am after.. i had a great article on this with pictures and now that i'm reqady to do it, typically i can't find it!

I'm not going the full ram air roue but I did read that just removing some of the plastic below tha air filters helps too.

Any help appreciated...

 

Removing the baffles in fact is pretty simple, just unscrew the piece where the filters sit on and cut the plastic under with a dremel or even cutters. I saw that som guys keep a slice of plastic in the middle but I removed it all and the filters sit there great and secure. I also removed a plastic pannel under it all so that when I removed a filter I could see the pavement. When I did it it helped the car to breath but I really suggest to get the ram air kit, it unleashes the beast, you can really feel it! and is rather simple to instal. If you are at the point I am with all the plastic removed and the ram air instaled, it directs the air trough the fog lights holes with a pressure the faster you go so its simple to understand that it helps! I also suggest to remove the fog lights to help even more. to instal the ram air kit you will have to remove a x brace under the plastic pannel. After that you are at the point of thinking of increassing the flow through the airlid like the guys did at the links I posted earlier! then of course cut the screens of the maf, some say that its not good but I never add any problems with it. You will see the increase in cfm at this link http://dtcc.cz28.com/flow/index.htm by cutting the screens. Then port the plenum and runners and you will be at the most airflow possible for a stock engine. No need to change the throttle body yet because the original 48mm supports up to 420hp I read. I have a crate GM block with 340hp and 400 lb-ft of tq and it really breaths well! I put on 24 pounds accel injector and of course K/N filters.

 

I might actually buy that "Ram Air" box from Hawk's, then when I get another car I can always copy that design and have another made for $25 at a machine shop. $100 seems fair, but reading those threads they use to be $150, which it too much.

I don't really know about those TPI Air Lids, not really interested.

 

yeah the design is super simple could easliy be made much cheaper than what hawks is charging, I got a set from haws, and had to send them back cause they were all warped, and the next set I got was the same way so I just had to make them work

 

When I saw thew pics on hawks page they looked like they where made of aluminum sheet (the link I posted earlier), but I ordered them anyway and the boxes I received are made of rigid aluminum plates, they are solid and fit well. I could have made them but I went with the simpler way!

 

I realize you have them installed on your cars already, but do any of you have the measurements, so I could make them? Up close pics or anything?

 

they advertise 12.5 hp on a 305, which seems awfully optimistic to me.
they must have been going pretty fast to get that much of a ram air effect.

 

I'll post the measurements this week-ends, I'll have time.

 

awesome..thanks.

 

hi new to the site would it be possible to have the measuemnts of the ram air boxes.hawk's is a rip off. thanks

 

of course they are a bit expensive, by seeing the image on their site they look cheap and seem to ba made of thin sheet metal but actualy, when I recieved mine, they are made of a think very solid aluminum plate and very well made with a nice curve to maximise flow that fits directly and precisely behind the fog lights holes.
I admit they are costly but in my case, to avoid the hassle to fabricate them, I thought the price was ok regarding the quality.

 

sorry tu haven't posted the measurements yet :s will be putting my car on the road soon and will be working on it to instal my 58mm throttle body and porting the plenum so I will take pics and post them here so you can see how they fit and leave a couple of measurments to help

 

damn my typing is bad today, must be due to my drunk evening last night lol!

 

I made my own ram air boxes, cost $35 for materials. Also made my own hi flow air box, similar to 1bad91Z's design. The air box is alot of work but once you get into it, you really see how restrictive the stock piece is. On my extreme 355 TPI the difference is noticable. I will be monitoring AFR on my first few runs this summer to be sure I don't need to retune my base fuel map in response to the added air.

 

Here is a pic of a stock air box gutted.

 

you will need to remove the cross x braces to fit in a dock that would reach the fog bumper holes, either fabricated or hawk's kit. If you are do do it.

 

Hi ASE doc! would love to see pics of your air box, I want to work on mine but I dont think doing it like 1bad91Z and raising the entire piece would fit on my cam cause I already see a little rub of the under hood foam on the top part of the curved area. I figure I could not be able to raise it as hight as he did to maximise flow. I feel it would be best to only traighten the curved area in a more 45deg angle from the lower part and the top part, where I feel the most air restriction is comming from. What do you think!?

 

I'm sorry to say, I didn't take any photos of mine, though it did turn out pretty nice. I waqs selfish and wanted to get the car finished so I could test the system. It could use a little more sanding but it's good enough for the shows I attend. As I said before, mine is a copy of 1bad's design. Enter "hi flow air lid" in search to find threads on the subject.
My ram air boxes also turned out very nice. Personally, I think one is really only as good as the other. As far as clearance, i found that I had about 5/8". The hood touches the airbox but doesn't cause interference with the hood closing. I don't slam my hood anyway.

I don't have the hood liner as it would interfere with my functional hood louvers. BTW, the hood louvers are very effective at keeping the TPI cool. If you think you may not have sufficient clearance, you might check the adjustment of your hood latch. Is you hood aligned properly with your fenders?

 

thx ASE doc! I'll check if I can move the ajustments of the hood, I'm about sure it is fitted well but maybe I can tweek it a bit to help for clearence.
looked at your pics and love the work you are doing, I'll be putting in a 383 motor sometime in the future and I'm trying to prepare everything else as to maximise airflow before I actualy have the money for the engine. I feel with all those mods I will achieve the airflow the engine will need without a doubt since I really want to keep my tpi on the engine, I love the look!
I'll be porting the plenum in a couple to fit my 58mm throttle body, I found how to do it here http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox...-port/port.htm and it will help alot. Did you get your fat runners at Arizona speed & marine? I figure you bought or ported the intake to fit them?
I will be looking in the hood louvers I can easily understand how thay can help evacuate heat from under the hood, but I might hesitate because I feel alot of dust and water could end up on my plenum and engine that I try to keep well polished and spit shined.
thx dude!

 

some of you guys might like this link too! http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox/tips/mat/mat.htm or go see the home page , there are alot of cool tips !

 

Through the winter I keep my IROC Beasty in the garage under a nice cover that my wife bought me. With 450hp and no traction control or ABS, driving it in the rain is out of the question. So I don't worry about water or debri getting onto the engine. My runners are TPIS. I've heard that ASM makes them. The base is an ACCEL superram, ported huge to compliment the runners and the Twisted Wedge heads. The plenum is ported to maximize area and airflow to the runners. The runners are definitely the most restrictive part of my intake. The specs on my ZZX cam are 240/240 @ .050 .560/.560

I love what 1989GTA is doing with his "Long Runner TPI" experiment. You should check out that thread. His new TPI will support 600hp.

 

Mine too is always tucked away under the cover, I would never drive it in winter, not this one. I drove an stock rebuilt 89 GTA I had more than 10 years ago for 3 winters and rust came out all over the car, but I must say it was great to go out in winterstorms to play in the snow, going broadside everywhere with my nailed winter tires I had on! lol Whit my IROC I dont drive on rainy days but sometimes I get caught when already on the road.
I will have this car for a while and have alot of plans for it but first things first, I'm working on the air restrictions before I have the money to build my engine. I took the plenum off today and will port it to fit my 58mm TB and get rid of exess material inside. I'll work on the runners when I do the engine cause I'll be putting in a new intake of course.
what type of plasic did you use to raise the air lid and how did you "weld" it? I'll be working on that really soon!