I'm trying to find a cold air intake for my 1990 3.1,can any1 help me? I thought about removing my baffle from my filter ,but i got this wire and probe looking thing connected to it and i don't want to screw anything up ,PLEASE HELP??? I'm being harrased by rustangs!!!!!!!

 

You will need to do a custom cold air, do a search, pictures and descriptions have been done b4..

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1989 Firebird
2.8 v6, t5 swapped in

Ram Hi-po clutch, Cold Air, 1.6 rockers,Lakewood LCA's, Lakewood Lift bars, Wonder Bar, 3" y-pipe, Random Tech Cat, 3" I-pipe, Flowmasters, MSd 6a, MSD Coil, Accel 8.8 wires, Auto Meter Gauges (Water, Clock, Fuel Pressure, and 5" Sport Comp Tach)TB Bypass, 4th Gen Seats

Coming for my v6:
Panhard Bar, 4thgen front seats, Nitrous, Line Lock, Posi, Spohn Torque Arm & Subframe connnectors

"I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT have run at all"
#3 Forever

 

i have made a home made setup from my 3.1 firebird. all i did was run 3" pvc pipe, and that black rubber plumbing pipe they sell in order to get it to squeeze in that three inch black piece coming off the TB.

so i hacked off the collar on one of those 90* flexpipes and and stuck that ribbed TB tube, and ran a straight and 45* bend of white pvc to the corner where the stock setup was, and then just stuck a conical K&N on the end. no water! more airflow! when you are done you can here it sucking the air in at idle and here the gulp as you hit the throttle.

as for the sensor i didn't know what to do either, so i measured it, and with a little math just drilled a hole on the underside of the 45" bend with a 11/16" paddle bit. then that sensor, which screws out of you stock canister, will screw in the PVC nice and snug. the PVC will mold to the threads, and viola. Home-made cold air for about $50.....not 200

TUBING = 10.00
FILTER = 40.00

good luck

 

Best way to deal with Mustangs in Ohio, race them on the freeway, where you know they are radaring for speeders!
That'll fix them!!

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

I'm kinda new to all of this so this is probably gonna sound stupid but what is "TB"and what is a flexpipe? Thanks for all your help every1!!!

 

TB throttle body
Flexpipe.....well thats pipe that flexes

[This message has been edited by Monkie (edited July 05, 2001).]

 

Would LOVE pictures!!!!!!!!!

 

Just don't mail them to Raleigh, South Carolina.
I haven't built the town yet!
BUT, I got a great police 2001 Camaro SS to catch ya when ya visit my town!!

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

LOL

 

pics aren't a problem, i am getting my car back tonight from the muffler shop and can have pics for ya sometime on sunday....

 

I did this. Can not feel that much more improvement (Slight). Here is a pic of mine

 

That looks sharp! You could visit a Home Depot Speed Shop, and pick up a sheet of aluminum. They sell it by the aluminum heating ducts for houses.. I think you can get a 3 foot by 3 foot sheet for under $10. (Been a while since I bought mine!) Then make a box; close the filter off into that corner, that way no engine heat will be getting sucked into the filter. All you really need is 3 pieces; a "top" piece with a hole for the filter's outlet, and two side pieces (one facing the radiator, one facing the firewall). Try it out with an old Pizza box first, when you get a good design, use it as a template to cut the aluminum. You might even be able to cut the whole thing as one piece, and just fold it together, sort of like an "L" shape.

You might even be able to run a duct from underneath the car and point it inside your passenger side fender; that would shoot cold air into your homemade box.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

firebird, i would say you didn't feel any increase because you are still using that highly restrictive factory ducting and just put a k&n on. thats almost equal to just droping one in. look at the factory ducting, its very narrow and the air has to make two very sharp 90* turns before it even reaches the TB.

after i did mine you can hear the air being sucked in, and gulps of air when the the trottle is opened and closed. also, there was a noticeable change in power at high rpms, especially when passing on the highway. it will drop your exhaust note a tad too.

constructing it this way, you are not only using a BIGGER EASIER flwoing filter than stock, but the air will shoot right into the TB nice and free. here are the pics of mine that i promised...i chose white inorder to reflect as much engine heat as possible from the ducting to keep the air cool.


wide shot of engine and new intake. like i said above, its 3" PVC. air will flow VERY easily. in fact when you are done, you can hear the car sucking the air in...even with the hood closed. and you can hear it gulp when the throttle opens. also no need to worry about rain or water.


here is that sensor i talked about. a 11/16" paddle bit puts a hole in the PVC and the threads on the sensor screw right in. its located right under the 45* bend.


and this is just a shot from the back.

1990 Firebird 3.1
-------------------
TA body kit
ASP underdrive pulleys
MSD 8.5mm superconducter wires (custom)
MSD GM blaster coil
2.5" hooker aero-chamber exhaust
GTS blackouts (stickers removed)
Home-Made C.A.I.
TB bypass (next)

[This message has been edited by SAEspinz80 (edited July 09, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by SAEspinz80 (edited July 09, 2001).]

 

just 2 questions ? doesn't pvc when heated give off toxic fumes? and what kind of k&n filter was that again ???

thanks

 

SAEspinz80and Firebird90
How do you guys keep your engine bays so clean???

Anyway back on topic, SAEspinz80, I love your K&N setup. I am so ripping it off next check when I buy my K&N filter. (I have the 2.8 so I'll have to deal with the MAF...oh well.)

Anyway great setup, and I really appreciate the pictures. What do you figure that setup gace you, and extra 5 hp?


------------------
1987 Firebird
2.8L Auto
T-Tops
New Paint last Fall
No mods yet...

 

hey, thanks for the compliments, it took me a while to figure how to actually do it, but glad you all like it. as for the toxic fumes, PVC will only give off fumes like that if you physically melt it....then that could be bad. put it doesn't touch anything hot, and the air in there isn't that hot. so it works out pretty good. for the k&n filter i can't get the part number until i go home next, i live in upstate CT....but just look for a conical with a 3" opening, it fits perfectly over the 3" PVC. I figure yea, about 5hp, like i said you can feel it a bit in the higher RPMs, at least i did. plus i just added a hooker 2.5" exhaust so maybe its giving me 7 now...but def worth the 45-50 bucks instead of 200. hey let me know how it works out for ya...

as for my engine bay being clean...its me being meticulous. i was fortunate to find my car in great shape, only driven 2,000 miles over the three years before i bought it....plus i think nothing looks much better than a clean engine bay. so whats my secret? nothen really, i just armorall everything underthere possible. all hoses, plug wires, and plastic. that really makes everything shine! plus i us STP's engine degreaser on the block....and a wet rag on everything else that is metal. its alot of scrubbing and cut hands, but when i am done it is worth it...thanks for noticing!! LOL....

lata

[This message has been edited by SAEspinz80 (edited July 10, 2001).]

 

Make a "box" behind the air cleaner, to keep hot engine heat away from air inlet.
Make it outta cardboard then make it from aluminum sheet & attach.
I LIKE YOUR IDEA, too.
More HP gained as ya go faster!
Miss CT alot!
You by Lime Rock?

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Joe_L, Thanks. I try to clean when I get chance. Engine cleaner works. Plus its not my daily driver which helps.

SAEspinz80, I like your setup. I'll try that when I get some time.

 

yea i like Tom's aluminum idea...so do you think i should just close in next to the radiator and by the coolant tank? or should i close in the whole thing by covering the top too? i will have to look an see where air would come from if i close in the top....but its a great idea...when i get i chance i can post follow up pics...what do ya think?

yea, actually fairly close to lime rock...i am originally from East Haven, and just moved to New Britain. I am working full-time in Bloomfield now that i graduated college.

------------------
1990 Firebird 3.1
------------------
- Auto Trans, TA Body Kit
- Home Made C.A.I.
- ASP Underdrive Pulleys
- MSD 8.5mm Superconducter Wires (custom cut)
- MSD GM Blaster Coil
- AC Delco Cap & Rotor
- Bosh Platinum +4 plugs
- Mobil 1 Synthetic Fluids
- 2.5" Hooker Aero-Chamber Cat-back
- 2.5" Hooker Elite Stainless Extension Tips
- GTS Blackouts (stickers removed)
- TB Bypass

KILLS = Dodge Daytona (stick), 2000 Toyota 4 Runner 4WD,
1997ish Explorer XLT, "older" Jeep Cherokee (don't ask why they are all SUVs?)

LOSSES = 300zx (had him half way through 2nd, he was manual)

"The racing dice added 5hp...I SWEAR!"

[This message has been edited by SAEspinz80 (edited July 10, 2001).]

 

the 90* piece ,is that made of rubber ,cause thats all that i could find that was black at my hardware store?

and is it good to use rubber?

Thanks

 

SAE, I have a similar setup; except I extended my K&N cone filter. I used "flexible air intake hose" (green box from Pep Boys), and ran the flex hose into the front corner of my passenger side fender. I had to move the charcoal canister a few inches over. I covered the sharp edges of the framerails with scraps of heater hose.

I then placed the K&N underneath the tray that holds the carbon canister. Underneath, there's a fender brace.. the filter runs "left to right", with the outlet facing the fender. I used a huge hose clamp from Home Depot (by their plumbing stuff) to anchor the closed end of the conical to the side of the fender brace closest to the frame rail. I then hooked the intake hose to the K&N.

I'm saying all this because that's where your blocked-off K&N could draw fresh air from! The SLP cold-air intake sucks air from this same spot- inside the passenger fender. In fact, if you wanted, you could probably take a piece of flexible plumbing pipe, and make a duct to force air into the fender.

I also got a nice surprise! On my '86 (don't know if later models are similar), the bottom of my fenders are covered by plastic that connects to the air dam underneath the radiator. If I unscrew the front of that plastic piece from the bumper and fender, incoming air has a "straight shot" into my filter- it's a bonus ram-air! Right now, the ram-air's blocked off; that plastic air-dam piece is still connected to my front bumper. I want to make a drop-down-door out of thin steel in the center of that air dam piece. Then I want to somehow control that drop-down door.. whether mechanically (thru a choke pull-cable) or electrically. That way I could close the ram-air if it's raining out.

90_RS, I bought a $40 piece of pre-curved, mandrel-bent exhaust pipe from Summit. They're made by Hooker, and the piece was called a "3 inch 180-degree J-bend". (The J-bend is a tighter bend than a regular U-bend.) I cut the J-bend in half to give me a 90-degree pipe. That's what I used instead of SAE_Spinz's rubber piece- but now I wish I did... I could've saved a few bux. I've yet to paint that pipe, too.. it's now a rusty brown

Oh and SAE, I like that idea about keeping the PVC white to reflect engine heat- that never crossed my mind!


------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited July 10, 2001).]

 

90RS....yea, the black 90* bend is rubber. very flexible. its the most expensive part, probably like 7-10.00. but anyway...yea, once you have the black rubber 90* bend you need to cut on collar off so it will fit into that ribbed TB hose that is there now. so you, you should have the right stuff. basically your only two options in home depot are hard white PVC. hard black PVC, and that rubber flexpipe....

oh and tom thanks for all the suggestions...i am gonna print it out and think it over tonight...my mind is brunt from work right now....ahahaha

 

hey sae,I can't seem to find the right filter is there anyway you could hook me up with the part #??????

 

HE HE I thought I was the only one that did that first?... Oh well guess not.. Felt some difference with that one too... No more bogs... or gasping for air. And ALOT of upper RPM gains. Now with the polishing I did I can actually pass people while still in 5th gear(doing 60-70MPH).


[This message has been edited by Camaro_hunter_d (edited July 21, 2001).]

 

i can get you a p/n jsut give me a couple of days...i moved out of my house a month ago to upstate CT, but i will be calling home tonight....check back and i will see if it is on the box....