kevm14

For all who are interested, this was fabricated using a 4.5L TBI Caddy intake, 3" PVC pipe with a 45 degree elbow and a K&N cone. The IAT and airbox breather have their respective hook-ups on the Caddy intake. I converted from my 2-stud system to the 1-stud caddy system by simply unscrewing my studs, taking the Caddy one from the donor car, and screwing it into my TBI. The hole was already tapped. Only a third hole (2nd breather?) on the back of the intake needed to be capped off. Otherwise, everything fit great.

See the rest of the pics here: http://kmoore.res.wpi.net/web9c1/intake.html

firbird

thats very nice, i was looking for somthing like that when i was having hood clearance with the rpm intake and the adpt plate, looks nice good job.

TBI305Camaro

killer dude what year caddies are those from and where can you get one that looks really good

kevm14

According to cars.com, the 4.5L debuted in the 1988 models. Allante and Brougham didn't have it (they had a 4.1L and 307, respectively). In 89, the Allante received a version of the 4.5L and the rest of the line was still using it. But good luck finding an Allante...the 4.5L continued until the end of the 1990 model year. Allante still used the 4.5L in 91, but, again, you'll never find one.
So I guess what you're looking for is an 88-90 V8 Caddy, like eldorado, deville, seville, etc. I have a feeling this intake was used on the 4.1L as well, or maybe the 4.9L, but I KNOW it was used on the 4.5L. You'll have to do some poking around in junkyards...

Tas

Bueno bueno :lala:

PaulD

I like it, Kev. I planning on duplicating it. I already have the Caddy box. Did you have to move your evap canister? I think Ken mentioned you changed to a smaller washer fluid reservoir. That true?

BTW, to answer your prevoius question, my original chip is marked AYDP.

kevm14

I did eventually unscrew the evap canister. However, I merely pushed it out of the way. You don't want it poking into the filter element, which mine was for a while. You can finagle it enough such that it doesn't interfere with anything. We also picked up a 94-96 windshield washer fluid reservoir which isn't smaller, I don't think. But it does move the reservoir towards the firewall a few inches. The K&N cone doesn't really interfere with it though, so I'll leave it until I get bored one day. Cool thing is, the 94-96 tank has a washer pump and a low fluid sensor (I think). Maybe I have a dash light for it and it will work...

iroc22

Ok now here's the questions:
Did it make a difference?
Was it worth it?

kevm14

Did I feel a difference in my L05? Not really...but the intake temp is likely a little cooler and the potential air flow is definately greater. The mods I had at the time were no muffler and gutted cat. And I had gutted my cat literally less than 24 hours before doing the intake, so I wasn't fully used to it yet. I can't really say if it made a difference - I was still getting used to the extra SOTP performance from having gutted the cat.

I do think that it will make a difference when I, for instance, install my LT1 cam. It was also fairly inexpensive, the most expensive component being the K&N filter itself.
For your mods, I would expect it to make a noticable difference, not promising anything, just guessing. Between the heads and cam you've got, I think the extra air flow the PVC + K&N provides would be useful.

JPrevost

Looks good. I'm probably going to make a custom intake like the one on www.turbocity.com
I just have to find the materials and order them. I also need to explore my fastening options. I don't want to have to weld and screw up. I'll probably end up using RTV and rivits .
Next time I go to the junkyards (hopefully this spring/summer) I'll be sure to be on the look out.

3T0B5I

Damn. Now only if it fit in my formula. I bought that Caddy Intake for 15 bucks at the junk yard..it fits great and everything...BUT it wont clear the stock hood if you leave the metal ring around the throttle body that raises the intake up. The car needs it or else it will be alot more restrictive than the stock air cleaner. When I put it on the car it sounded ****-like it had asma(sp?), it was ready to die and it did.I went for a test drive and the car would hardly go ! Anyway.. I didnt know what was the problem until the next day when I left the ring on. After that it sounded fine..but it was too tall for the hood. I couldnt believe that little ring made a big difference , and it does.

kdrolt

I have to chime in here since a buddy & I got dirty getting the parts at the yard, and then doing the install in my driveway, for Kevin while he supervised and chatted on his cell phone

We did attempt to quantify how much improvement the mod would make by GTech-ing the car before and after. We didn't have many clear flat local road choices so we (Kevin) only got a few runs in.

The before-mod 0-60 mph was 7.5 and the after-mod were 7.24 and 7.3x IIRC... so it appears that the mod reduced some intake friction and added a better cold air source (behind the driver's side headlamp). I also know that Kevin said he was having trouble launching (standard tire pressure, street surface) so there might have been more there under better conditions.

I suspect that the gain could have been more if a cold air box was built around the cone filter, much like the aftermarket ones installed into 94-96 Impalas, to isolate the underhood air further from the intake. Adding a thermal wrap around the pipe might also be useful because the pipe travels over the driv side exh manifold, and keeping the intake cold is essential for best performance.

The only other item I'll add is that the Caddy part had several places for smog breather, IAT, and heat riser to be connected. Some of these were used as intended and others were (as Kevin said) blocked off. The IAT also didn't read properly (too warm) initially because it was recessed too far and not getting the airflow -- so it was measuring the wall temp of the Caddy plastic. Once we revised the insertion, and got the sensor into the intake airflow, the air temp (on Kevin's scanner tool) dropped by 15-20 degs.

I think the EVAP canister relocation (under the battery, as in 94-96 Bcars) along with using the 94-96 windshield washer reservior would both be musts if you wanted to use the largest K&N cone and add the cold air box around the cone.

Anyway, the whole thing was cheap and it only required some effort, a little soldering & heat shrinking to lengthen the IAT wires, and some paint over the pvc tube.

We still don't know how quick the car will run since Kevin ran 15.86 @ 84+ before we modded the intake.... and I stil think the engine is too lean now. FYI. - Ken


Added note: Kevin has since run 15.70 @ 85.2 under what was probably ideal traction and weather conditions (at sea level, Epping Dragway in NH). He also ran several other sub-16 runs on the same day. I don't know how much of the performance increase is due to the intake, because Kevin did raised the fuel pressure (quarter mod) and he really worked at keeping the engine cool until he ran. Weeks later he pulled the plugs and they showed some evidence for running lean, as I thought, so it's not clear what the optimum fuel pressure should be for his setup. His engine is stock (stock heads, cam), and the only mods are the gutted cat, muffler delete, and the cold air pictured at the top of this thread.

I still want to see a cold airbox put in to isolate the air filter from the engine bay, as well as a thermal wrap around the intake pipe. Those plus the vFPR. With those mods I think there's a good chance he can get into the 15.5s @ 86+ mph, and that's excellent for a stock block/heads LO5 in a 4200 lb Caprice. That would be 14.6-range with the same engine and same mods in a Fcar. FYI.

exdog

That Caddy airbox is a sweet deal, It would be a lot easier than what I did with my ram air setup and a lot less hassle. Check this thread for more info and links.

TBI305Camaro

id like to do something like that but on that side maybe take out the bright light and put the filter there that should help some...i like the PVC pipe sure looks alot better than the dry hose stuff plus the air probably flows much better threw that than the dryer stuff

exdog

Probably right, less ridges to disrupt the airflow. I'm looking into getting a piece of 3" chrome tubing and the black rubber boots to sharpen things up a bit.