I have a 2001 Z28 6 Speed. I've read all the postings on the Free Ram Air and I'm sitting on the fence on whether to do it or not. I hate that the air comes up right next to the radiator and condenser, seems like a bad place to pull air in from. I was wondering if anyone has just raised the front inlet by putting washers under the filter housing? How much can you raise it before it hits the hood? Then I was thinking about taking out the foam that blocks the two large inlets to the nose in order to get cold air in to the nose area. I saw one mod where the guy actually ran some ducting up to the front of the filter, but I think that's overkill since it was not sealed off. Has anyone done this? Does it work? What are the downsides?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

glenn, here is some info and what I did. Like you, I did not like the idea that when the car was sitting still without the fans running, the IAT sensor would be tuning the motor for the heat drifting up from the radiator.

1. Those two ducts you mentioned are not blocked. If you put your hand in from the top, you can feel that they are really big and curve down to the openings in the stock grill. You will also find that the fins on the back side of the grill slope up to direct air into those ducts.

2. I only did the cut out in the bottom of the air box. The material at the rear of the box slants up and effectively seals off about 50% of the filter. Also while you have the lower air box out to do the cut out, you will see that the rear of the radiator brace has a lip that blocks air flow to the rear of the filter. You can bend this lip down and flat with the brace to open more space to the back of the filter. The lip at the front of the brace can also be bent down flat to increase open area at the front of the air box.

3. I raised the entire air box 1/4". The existing space is only 1/2", so that makes it 50% bigger than stock. I measured the space available for the spacer by cutting strips of paper about 4' long into different widths. I then taped the ends of the different strips to form short cylinders. I then taped the different cylinders to the air box in different locations. I closed and then opened the hood. All but the 5/16" and 1/4" cylinders showed some degree of contact. I settled on 1/4", just to be safe. A WS6 lower air box has a 1 1/2" opening and will not fit under a Camaro or Formula factory hood.

4. I am in full agreement with you about not attempting to seal this area off. The more ways that the air can escape, the more cooler air will be available, is my thinking. This is just my opinion, not based on any science at all.

I hope to get some dyno time later this month to see if the changes made any improvement under static conditions. That is the car still won't be moving. I have the bone stock baseline dyno to compare to. I never had a chance to take it to the track bone stock, so I can not compare there without putting everything back to stock.

Hpoe this helps you,

PJ

 

I can tell you that my car is getting water into the intake from my free ram air. I have calcium type deposits in the air lid, the MAF and even on the throttle blade and in the throttle body. So, it can have issues other than heat (mine does). I may not do it again if I had the choice.

 

"I can tell you that my car is getting water into the intake from my free ram air. I have calcium type deposits in the air lid, the MAF and even on the throttle blade and in the throttle body. So, it can have issues other than heat (mine does). I may not do it again if I had the choice."



i have the SSRA and have not had anything close to this happen...been there almost a year. and it rains alot in south florida


i say do the SSRA...or at least the slp or ftra

 

I considered that and wondered if it would make a diference.

 

To everyone,
Thanks for the excellent input. I'll probably do what PJ did and that's open up the tray some, but not open it to the radiator side. Plus I'll raise it another 1/4" and make sure it's not hitting the hood.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

I've removed all plastic, including the windsheild washer fluid res. from the front of my car. I also raised the airbox and cut/welded the metal lip in front of the lid. That made a big difference in my high end pull.

 

Pull the windshield washer bottle and the shroud under neath it. Free and effective ram air.

 

"I also raised the airbox and cut/welded the metal lip in front of the lid"

got any pics of that? i've been thinking of similar things...

 

I cut out the entire bottom of my box, and removed the plastic air dam in front of the radiator (not the bottom dam by the nose).

I live in a dry state, and do not drive my Z28 in the rain anyway.

My airfilter gets dirty quicker, which leads me to believe it is sucking in more air.

SteveC