I have an '84 Camaro, LG4, all factory besides catback, cutout, rear end swap, 4wheel disc upgrade, factory steel hood.... was thinking of switching to an open element air filter

need to know what everyone thinks as far as:

* will MPG improve?

* will HP be gained?

* does my insulation blanket on the underside of the hood play a role? (its filthy)

* how will taking the front hose off the factory QJet affect it, for better or worse MPG/HP?

* do the low hood lines of 3rd gens really keep a lot of heat inside the engine bay? so an open element would be a bad idea?

* for the money/time, is it even worth it?

thanks guys, i know it seems meaningless but I just detailed the factory air cleaner assembly and i was thinking and still am thinking of going open element and just wondering a few things...


here is what the lid turned out looking like:
Lid Picture 1
Lid Picture 2

 

should I go ahead with an entire dress up kit? I know they can be had for cheap, should I do it?

 

Engine Pic 1

in the above link, you can see the engine isnt all that bad really... or the engine bay. the strut towers need some attention and the cowl needs cleaned... the ugliest part is the insulation blanket.

 

you are *supposed* to get a couple hp from the extra airflow, but that's assumming that the extra air that's getting sucked up is cold, but with your hood closed, it's warm engine air, which negates any gains from the extra airflow. It's minimal, but that sound is pretty nice

 

Go ahead and do it it's better than having the stock one

 

well, i dont even know what it sounds like!!??

I might just do it and keep the black approach instead of doing it silver, i think that'll keep it low-key and not look wrong under the hood..

 

Hmm...to get an idea take the intake hose off your current intake and have someone rev the engine up, it'll sound similar to that just more intense because the open element allows it to pull air in from any direction.

 

100% incorrect. Its a known fact that an open element or dual snorkel setup will greatly improve performance on even the base LG4 and L03. People have documented times of over .25 second improvement in 1/4, on a bone stock LG4. It made as much difference in performance on my car as did a full exhaust system.

Just look at the single snorkel inlet. It measures a measly 1.5" x 2.5" It restricts air flow tremendously. And although the dual snorkel may or may not be a better choice due to engine heat, you cannot beat the bang for the buck appeal of the open element. True, you will suck in a little more heat from the open element, but certainly not enough to "negate" the extra airflow as mentioned above. I'd bet a LOT of people here would be quite surprised as to how little engine heat there is at speed than compared to idle, when most check temps. Who needs cold air at idle?

 

I agree with marc, i did an open air element on my 78 ta and it helped alot. Granted a 2nd gen and a 3rd gen are different the basic concept is still the same, the more air you can cram in the better, even if its hot.

 

Major improvment over stock. You will notice it immensely in cold weather/when the engine bay isn't too hot...but the longer you drive or the hotter the weather, performance will suffer. It will always be better than stock, but the heat does play a role. I had a K&N open element on my L03 Camaro, and it made a huge SOTP difference for what that's worth. Sounds sweet too, really nice sucking sound on startup and WOT. You should plug that vacum line coming from the carb, I had to plug the one coming from my throttle body. Honestly, my car always had terrible mileage and I'm pretty sure the open element didn't help a thing, maybe hurt in that area. Of course I ditched the IAT sensor completely because I was too lazy to relocate it

 

the thing is, i detailed and painted my factory POS air cleaner assembly but now im bored and income tax check just arrived, so Im thinking of doing a few things here and there.

are there any kind of 'jimmy-rigged' mods I can do to get the hood to act somewhat like a cowl?? maybe like loosen the bolts on the mounting brackets along the fenders JUST A TINY BIT and stuff a roll of quarters up where the hood seals against the cowl...???

Also thinking of replacing the stock hood with an IROC one and that would eliminate the insulation blanket that I HATE!! Because while the IROC hood will be sitting in the garage i'd detail the under side of it and get it painted. I bet that alone would lower the under hood temps by 10*

 

TTT still curious and would like a few more opinions...

 

Bah! More opinions? Just put one on temporarily and see what happens. It isn't expensive. Again, do you REALLY think you're engine is breathing freely through that tiny little snorkel?