Homemade cold air

youngstr

Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
I just ripped that whole airbox assembly that holds the aircleaner, and added pipe onto my MAF and put a cone filter on the end, got it located right near the headlight opening, had to relocate the fuel canister, used the bolt holes for the airbox to mount the fuel canister. Its not much to look at being I kept some of the plastic stock pipes, but very functional. If I get some time tomorrow I'll grab a couple of pictures and try to post them.

Wow what difference! its like the car can breath, I never figured the stock air box limited the flow like that.....its like a new car.....an angry new car.

Not only has it lowered my aircharge temp about 10 to 15 degs on average, but I had to spin the waste gate out to cut out the new found 5 LBs OF BOOST....wow!! Yep, I took it to a stretch of road I know and rolled into the throttle, I was running 13 lbs of boost (Before changing the intake pipes) and by the time I pinned my foot to the floor I looked over at the boost gage (which I have hooked to manifold pressure) and was shocked to see a site I never saw in this car before.....18 LBS of boost. Well I lifted right away quite shocked, not just at the extra boost but how fast it got there. got it down to 15.5 now.....gonna try to get it to 14 tomorrow, no sense running high boost till I get razors alchy kit and put it on, and thats probably gonna be springtime. Man was that turbo hot, I went to adj the waste gate and I use a rag so I don't get burned by the turbo elbow, and when the rag touched the elbow it just started melting....not burning....melting.....so I thought it to be wise to just let cool down for about 20 or 30 minutes.

But if anyone is considering a cold air kit , or just doing what I did , it made a huge difference on mine, and I would highly recommend it. Very Very pleased with the out come! :D:D
 
I just ripped that whole airbox assembly that holds the aircleaner, and added pipe onto my MAF and put a cone filter on the end, got it located right near the headlight opening, had to relocate the fuel canister, used the bolt holes for the airbox to mount the fuel canister. Its not much to look at being I kept some of the plastic stock pipes, but very functional. If I get some time tomorrow I'll grab a couple of pictures and try to post them.

Wow what difference! its like the car can breath, I never figured the stock air box limited the flow like that.....its like a new car.....an angry new car.

Not only has it lowered my aircharge temp about 10 to 15 degs on average, but I had to spin the waste gate out to cut out the new found 5 LBs OF BOOST....wow!! Yep, I took it to a stretch of road I know and rolled into the throttle, I was running 13 lbs of boost (Before changing the intake pipes) and by the time I pinned my foot to the floor I looked over at the boost gage (which I have hooked to manifold pressure) and was shocked to see a site I never saw in this car before.....18 LBS of boost. Well I lifted right away quite shocked, not just at the extra boost but how fast it got there. got it down to 15.5 now.....gonna try to get it to 14 tomorrow, no sense running high boost till I get razors alchy kit and put it on, and thats probably gonna be springtime. Man was that turbo hot, I went to adj the waste gate and I use a rag so I don't get burned by the turbo elbow, and when the rag touched the elbow it just started melting....not burning....melting.....so I thought it to be wise to just let cool down for about 20 or 30 minutes.

But if anyone is considering a cold air kit , or just doing what I did , it made a huge difference on mine, and I would highly recommend it. Very Very pleased with the out come! :D:D

Nicely done, i have the same thing with my 85 t-type, right now i am booting at 16 psi with a stock turbo. Ill try to take some pictures tomorrow and post them up. My cold air is also located under the head lamps and man when the car is idling you hear that intake take in so much air sounds so nice, i also tried it 2 ways, one using PVC piping from homedepo works good but not good enough for me. I was looking through all my car crap in the shack and i found a extra intake tubing from my old import so i had a couple of rubber fittings and clamps i slap that bad boy on there and MAN you can hear that turbo spool so nice with a metal tube man the air flow is really nice.

SO now i have to go buy me the other metal tubing to complete the whole intake. So right now i have from the TB plastic 90 elbow then my metal tubing then MASS AIR FLOW, then another plastic tubing with another 90 elbow facing to the floor with my air filter at the end of it.:D

I know I know this post is not complete with some pictures, ill get them up ASAP.

-Mike ;)
 
Yeah, thats what I did, I have the throttle body then the stock plastic tube that has the accordian section in it so its bent with a slight zigzag, then I have a chrome tube about 10" with a slight 30deg bend in it, and then my MAF then another straight pipe then the cone filter.

And you right, you can hear the air moving at idle, and the spool is crazy fast.

all i need now is some alchohol and after that open the exhaust up from the down pipe and back I'm thinkin 3" dp and cat and a catback 2.5" dual kit. Once I get all that done I should be able to run some decent numbers.

I've been wanting to get some pictures to post but its just raining non-stop here.....

That sucks too, cause I was lookin forward to going to maryland for the buick meet. Hopefully they'll get that raindate they were talking about set in stone, the only event i've gotten to this year was kirbans open house in the spring.
 
Ok, spun the car around in the car port and got myself some dry space to take some pics, so here they are :



DSCF3160


DSCF3161


DSCF3162
 
nicely done....that is a sweet looking ride and I bet its a blast to drive! Looks great under the hood too
 
Any pressure drop (restriction) before the turbo will increase intake charge temps. Calculates to about 9 F/in vac.
Every 10 Deg charge temp drop is about 1% HP increase. :cool:
 
I have a 85 and did almost the same thing I have the Spector air cleaner and couplings as well...Things is.. I am in the process of restoring the car. I am jumping from one thing to another like a crazy man not knowing what to do first! Anyway, I put this setup on the car before I even got it running. I just got it running today (needed a new fule pump) but its running like crap. Black smoke, shaking, stalling...You mentioned you adjusted a waste gate...Is that necessary for the car to run right? If so what is it and where is it and how do I adjust it? Sorry for all the ? but this is my first GN and I'm trying to get all the info I can to run this baby!
Thanks! Bill
 
I have a 85 and did almost the same thing I have the Spector air cleaner and couplings as well...Things is.. I am in the process of restoring the car. I am jumping from one thing to another like a crazy man not knowing what to do first! Anyway, I put this setup on the car before I even got it running. I just got it running today (needed a new fule pump) but its running like crap. Black smoke, shaking, stalling...You mentioned you adjusted a waste gate...Is that necessary for the car to run right? If so what is it and where is it and how do I adjust it? Sorry for all the ? but this is my first GN and I'm trying to get all the info I can to run this baby!
Thanks! Bill

Well you came to right forum, lots of good people here to help.

I'm not one of those guru's I'm actually fairly new to turbo cars, I CAN point you in the right direction to get the answers you need.

First stop jumping :D second, make a list of all the problems you see going on with your car, third take the list of all engine woes and either post it in the hot air section of the forum as a new subject or post it out in the main forum under engine tech, either place should get it seen by the right people.

Lastly if you have not read the sticky threads at the top of the page or in the main forum, do so, theres a ton of info there everything from set ups, maintenance to tuning, very good reading, I'm still printing stuff from those threads. Like I said before though, I would go after the engine problems first.

As far as adjusting the wastegate, if you have a stock 85 the wastegate actuator is what you're looking for, and first thing to check is if you have an adjustable one, I'll tell ya where it is, but with the problems you mentioned, I would not turn that turbo any higher till I work out the smoking and shaking issues. The waste gate actuator is mounted on the turbo, it looks like a tiny keg of beer (smile) and has a rod coming out of it that attaches to the 90 degree elbow that is bolted to the left of your turbo. Before unhooking the pin that secures it look at it closely, If it is adjustable the shaft will have threads and a jam nut on it, other wise you're out of luck unless you buy an adjustable wastegate actuator, or you can modify the shaft If you do a search I'm pretty sure I've seen a thread about putting threads on the shaft to make it adjustable, but like I said, get your motor issues straighten out first before you worry about tuning, thats the fun part you save for last. :smile:

I would concentrate on your mechanical problems first then work on any body issues the car might have, then tune it.
 
Thanks for the advice! I was wondering what sticky was! I see it all over the forum but had no idea what the heck it was! LOL!! I gotta check it out. Yeah first thing tomorrow I have to check my ALDL connector...It seems I have a shorted A/B circuit that is making the car go into diagnostic mode with the car running. I just got some good info off another member on how to troubleshoot that. With any luck that might be why the car is running so bad. I also just checked my brand new Chrome alternator to find that its only putting out 11.54 volts..Another headache! I wanted the car, Now I've got it! Never expected it to be easy but once the hard work starts so does the bitching! It will all be worth it when its done! If it ever gets done! lol..
Thanks again for your reply!
 
I did the cold air kit as well, however used an aftermarket kit as a starter. HOT AIR Big Mouth Cold Air Induction System Page is where i got mine. The elbow from the MAF to the elbow pipe wasnt fitting right, so that required buying new silicone hoses. I got all 3 so they match at a cost of about $100.00. Also had to have a machine shop put in a fitted thread for the intake temp sensor.

Im new to the Turbo Cars as well, though old enough to remember them coming out in high school. I have had mine about a year and have slowly been going through it. When i got it, it needed some additional maintance the prior owner hadnt gotten too yet (timing chain, cam and crank sensor, rear main) and with the rebuilt trans/turbo and FI system, along with the 87 ignition its running like a top. I never drove one back in the day, so dont have anything to compare it too as far as fast, but it smokes my SN95 mustang (stock) especially midrange, and has similar thrust though a tick slower than my LT-1 Z-28 i had. I have been finishing refurbishing it, with a new hood insulator and heat shield (same supplier as the Cold Air kit for the shield for about $440.00 total) and will post some pics as soon as the monsoon stops around here. Some people rant and rave over the 86 and 87's, and as much as the economy has tanked and values softened, i could have one for what i now have in my 85, but at least i know its issues and am not buying someone elses frankenstien. Anyone that ever gives me any lip saying its "Only a Hot-Air" i just ask, what kind of Grand National do you have, and that usually shuts them up. Its what i have wanted for 20 some years and couldnt be happier.

By the way, on cold startup, it is wicked how it sounds. I work where its parked in a parking garage, and it sounds like a Harrier Jump Jet is getting ready for takeoff till the idle gets to about a grand.
 
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