Ram air conversion

[and11200]

Howdy y'all,

As of now, my 95' firebird doesn't have the good ol' Ram Air. I know this may sound pretty dumb, but I need to know all the parts I need to switch it over. I'm just hoping I'm not going to over look any small mounts, or any other parts that may be needed to get the ram air fully funciotnal in my 'Bird. Thanks for the help in advance.




Andy

[Injuneer]

-hood with grills
-airbox with hood-seal gasket
-2 screws to mount airbox
-K&N Corvette panel air filter to replace paper filter
-MAF sensor extension harness
-revised pre-molded AIR connection hose
-rubber gasket for MAF-to-airbox, with band clamp
-rubber bellows for MAF-to-TB (can substitue Fernco sewer pipe connector) with 2 band clamps
-filler panel for drivers lower fender area (where old airbox gets removed)
-Ram Air decals (optional)

If you buy the SLP Ram Air HO airbox kit, you get all the pieces except the hood and grills, and the K&N.

-smooth, prep and paint, including tops of fenders and bumper cover for good match

[Nightrage]

Speaking of forced induction, i've heard that some people remove their headlights/ foglights and use that space to set up a forced induction system. Any ideas as to what kind of gains you'd get from that?

[NorthernSS]

Speaking of forced induction, i've heard that some people remove their headlights/ foglights and use that space to set up a forced induction system. Any ideas as to what kind of gains you'd get from that?

Forced induction is Turbo or Supercharging an engine. Forcing compressed air into an engine. Retrieving air from the headlight area is just getting colder air from the outside of the car. The gains are probably very minimal if not the same as a good CAI.

[Injuneer]

The theoretical gain from "ram air".... exposing the intake to a high velocity air stream... is only about 1% at 100MPH...... i.e. at 100MPH, your 300HP engine might gain 3HP. That's from the gain in intake manifold pressure from the "velocity head" of the moving air. This pressure boost is proportional to the velocity squared, so if you are only going 50MPH, the theoretical gain would drop from 1% to 1/4%. Push the speed to 150MPH and you are looking at about 2% gain. There's a popular online article that even questions whether there is any gain at all, but that article appears to try and apply "closed channel" flow to what it really an "open channel" technology.

And, all that assumes that the air intake is located on a part of the body where airflow is not impeded by turbulance or boundary layers. The boundary layer that clings to the hood could actually reduce air flow for some "scoop" locations.

I wouldn't consider the "ram air" issue as major HP producer, but its part of a "system" that does provide benefits: Getting cooler air (density = HP), shortening the path the air has to travel and removing the "turns" (less pressure loss), and avoiding the heat soak of a metal or plastic tube that snakes through the engine compartment are all positives. Very hard to quantify the end results.

I just think it "looks good".

[Black97]

I just think it "looks good".

I agree with you there. Just the hood itself makes a major attitude change in the looks departement.

[Nightrage]

Forced induction is Turbo or Supercharging an engine. Forcing compressed air into an engine. Retrieving air from the headlight area is just getting colder air from the outside of the car. The gains are probably very minimal if not the same as a good CAI.

I thought that forced induction was anything that forced air into the motor such as a cowl induction set up or ram air. That's what i was told anyhow

[fastTa]

I thought that forced induction was anything that forced air into the motor such as a cowl induction set up or ram air. That's what i was told anyhow

Northern SS is correct on this one. Forced Induction is supercharging or turbocharging a motor.

The major benefit of a ram air type setup is bringing in cool air from outside the engine bay, and not neccesarily pressurizing the intake system. There really hasn't been enough 3rd party R&D on ram air setups to make an educated opinion on whether or not it does in fact provide any additional pressure on the intake system, but I would imagine at higher speeds it would provide a very slight increase in pressure.

[Joe 1320]

The major benefit of a ram air type setup is bringing in cool air from outside the engine bay, and not neccesarily pressurizing the intake system. There really hasn't been enough 3rd party R&D on ram air setups to make an educated opinion on whether or not it does in fact provide any additional pressure on the intake system, but I would imagine at higher speeds it would provide a very slight increase in pressure.

And here is some of that research.........

http://www.ws6.com/ramtest.htm