Im doing my own ram air set up on my car. Im making my own air cleaner assembly which i will show once i make it but since the aftermarket does not know how to make a nice air cleaner for a ram air set up i will. Anyway. i want this set up to look good and be functional. I am using the air bells through the high beams but for the tubes im intrested in using the reproduction units from super cars unlimited. Are the tubes cloth ???? or a fiber style plastic ??? I saw a 69 w31 at the mcacn show and they lookes a bit cheap almost like your typical vent tubes that use vinyl and wire supports. Does anyone have pictures experiences etc etc that can help me pic this final piece to my ram air project ????? i would appreciate it.

 

Mike Siedlik has or used to have the correct OAI tubes. I would call them tough black cloth over a spiral wire. Not plasticy.

Having seen both in use, even as cheap as I am, I would rule out dryer vent plastic and dryer vent AL.

I have made one or two such OAI air cleaners, back when that was about the only option. I would love to see your approach. Via PM perhaps?

 

well i was looking at this rubber tubing with the wire support used in industrial apps that is chemical reisistant and is heat resistant sells for about 5 bucks a foot but i gotta buy 25 ft. But im sure once my ram air set up is made i might be able to sell a few units as i plan on making this something i can offer for sale. But i like the cloth tubes and thats what im after i want this set up to look like something detroit offered. Sorry for my lack of knowledge but who is mike siedlik.

 

Mike is a great guy who knows Oldsmobiles. He now has a book with lots of part numbers, specs, etc.


http://www.thegoodoldsdays.com/

 

Nice going in making your own. A repopped air cleaner is $500 bucks. I have the cloth/wire hoses. I wish I could remember where I got them.

 

I just checked out the parts place and they offer the cloth re pops. The parts places is 20 minutes from my house so i think im gonna make the drive and check em out. I did check out mike's website but i think his prices reflect a different clientele and its a bit steep for my wallet.

 

Im making a 3 inch steel band that will fit inside your standard performance air cleaner and i have a local source for 4 inch oval pipe to make the inlets for the ducting. My goal with this project is to make it an insert versus some bulky overpriced kit with cheap stuff. So the only real custom piece i will make is the part that sits inside the air cleaner the rest you can buy or i can provide the part numbers and sources to make your kit the same as what i came up with. Im yet to see a ram air set up like what i have in mind and i think it will be more appealing than whats available in the aftermarket for performance since they all look generic and cheap. I want something affordable but with factory style looks.

 

Interesting!
I am not sure what you mean by an insert...

I found that 70's Pontiacs used a snout VERY similar to the 68-9 OAI air cleaner, so I bought as many as I could find, then fitted them to air cleaner bases like 68+ units.

I have a stack of these snouts and whatnot in a box, somewhere.

 

By an insert i mean a unit that will drop into your standard 14 inch air cleanerbase available at the local autozone. It will fit between the lid and base but that unit it self will have the snouts which will be made from 4 in. oval ex. pipe. so all I will be offering for sale if its appealing to members and prospective buyers is the insert that will drop into the air cleaner in place of your filter and you use a smaller filter inside the unit. This is the style air cleaner im talking about. that the insert will go into. http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/50024...FYU9aQodd8oFSg .

By all means im not trying to make a factory style looking air cleaner but im trying to make a nice in between for the guy at the cruise night or the guy that races on weekends like me.

This to me is cheesy and cheap looking and tacky and bulky . I think i can come up with something better . http://www.jegs.com/i/Spectre/865/73...FQoKaQodF_MG7Q

 

Why not use the 68 bumper scoops they look Badass?

 

I don't like em for my 72 . I thought about it but I don't like it. Plus the repo scoops are not cheap. I got some really nice aluminum air bells for 50 bucks.

 

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr...p?Product=3630

Source for the tubing...

 

Those are too cheap looking and for the price I'd rather get the o.e. style cloth tubes.

 

copper whats wrong with the The Parts Place repops? These were prototyped by a rather skilled individual, then, from what I under stand he was supplying them for the TPP. Im not sure but I think hes still making these for them...last I heard? The 68-69 OAIs look correct to me? Have you had the op to hold n touch one of them? Or they just too much for your wallet?
Several vendors offer the cloth over steel duct hose. There are other aftermarket ram-air kits available as well..non-oem. Spectre has a variety of kits as well.

 

I'm going with the parts place repops. The spectre kit is too bulky and looks generic. I'm doing a blend of stock and home made stuff .

 

I did the same thing with my 70 Cutlass a long time ago. I had a "double whammy". A ram air through the high beams and the ram air hood. What I did for the ram air through the high beams is I had an air cleaner housing from a 74 Cutlass Supreme because it had a large snorkel and bought another air cleaner housing in the swap meet and use that snorkel. I relocate both snorkels more forward of the housing so I can attached the ram air hoses in a somewhat straightness. I cover the excess holes with sheet metal and rivets. I bought the hoses from JC Whitney and it was like a nylon material. I made a sheet metal plate and form it into a cone shape so I can attach the hose to the high beam with sheet metal screws. On the snorkel, I use a large hose clamps to attached the hoses.

 

Hmmm. Not to rain on your parade, but that std issue 14" aire cleaner has flat surfaces on the base and lid where the filter sits and seals. If you put a shroud with hose ovals on that OD you lose a large part of the air flow area to the shroud. If you wish to place your insert as a wall at the OD of that lid and base, with a smaller OD filter inside, then you lose that Good Surface for the filter to sit and seal on. So, you would have to start with a custom made base and lid... which means start over.

Unless you get real crafty and lucky and the filter seals on a non-flat part of the base and lid and then you adjust your insert width to suit... precisely.

At least the air filters are available by the 100, unlike 1970's pontiac air cleaners with the OAI-ish snouts.

 

I used the inside head lights on my 1970 for ram air. I still have bright and dim on out side bulbs. I used aluminum ducts didn't like them. I used plastic dryer ducts didn't like them.I used the fiberglass Ram air box. Ram air is the company i think. 4inch ducts.My air inlet horns were metal stove pipe With quick release on the hoses at the air inlet on both ends. Specter ram air system is a joke for ram air had to prove that to my buddy and i won! Track results don't lie! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.Good luck on your effort copper.Sounds like you have something cool in mind.

 

Octania i have that all figured out. I was waiting for someone to ask me. i will be using a smaller air cleaner. I personally have a flat based air cleaner so i can use a smaller air filter since the whole base is flat. Plus at the track i will not run an air cleaner. On the street i can care less. But i also have a drop base air cleaner which will actually be easier to use. You can fit a small 8 inch air clener between the center raised portion and the lid.


Ther is alot of filter options out there so i dont see it as an issue. The beauty of this is i can make the insert for a drop base or flat base. air cleaner base. I honestly dont think the filter kills much cfm. I have ran my car with and without it and have not seen gains of anykind. so even if the filter sat against the openings i wouldn't
see it as an obstruction since air has to go past the filter from the get go whether or not the ram air was on it. I intend to run it with out the filter at the track for the street it make sense to run the filter but in reality my set up wont be too much diffrent than the stock set up. I will have to be creative but i think its worth it. and i may use a drop base as most people use that style. I use the flat base to have a more direct air funnel effect into the carb since i use a flow through lid. I will not ise a flow through lid with the ram air.


This filter is only 2.5 inches tall and 6.375 inches in diameter. so i can make the insert accommodate the added height so it can sit in the center flat part. and fit snug.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-1219/overview/

Or this one

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mrg-1487a/overview/


Or this one with the flat based air cleaner.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mrg-1487a/overview/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bsp-rp1508/overview/


I could also use a small airfilter like for an air compressor that will fit much like the wire mesh on the l88 vettes and have it sit in the center opening of the air cleaner base clamped in by the lid. although it would be hard to find something that would not obstruct the carb opening . In reality the 6 in. x 2 in. would work best as the carb opening is just under 6 inches. and slim at only 2 inches tall. it should fit the the center raised area of the drop base.

bbut a filter like this comes to mind
https://aircompressorservices.com/ga...FQooaQodD64JdQ

sitting similar to this.

 

Just for your information, the factory had some very nicely shaped bases that looked to have a lot of RD in them.

 

How did the double cold air intake work?

 

I know the factory had bases. That's not the point. I don't wanna mod an old one and I'm not paying an arm and a leg for a stock one. I'm making one because I don't like how the stock ones look. The factory has alot of R&D into our engines yet we swap cams and port the heads.

 

Doesn't use hoses but a custom built base

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ir-intake.html

 

I'm trying to eliminate the custom base. That's why I'm making an insert that will sit in a common air cleaner base that I can offer to people. I have had this in mind for a long time. I did have a proper dual snorkel air cleaner but I didn't like how it looked so I sold it. That's the whole point to me making this. I don't like the factory ones at least on my set up , and the aftermarket ones available are junk.

 

Nice thanks for reposting this i have not seen it before.

 

I bought my ducting from http://www.aircraftspruce.com/index.html and I used their CEETAircraft Ducting http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/ceet.php

I've never examined the real OAI ducting, and this stuff seems to be really stiff (heavier wire maybe?), and doesn't seem to flex like the original. As you can see in the attached pic, it is pretty straight. It is black cloth but has a tan or brown cord wrapped around the outside which I removed. It was pretty tough to form around the snorkels on the air cleaner. With a little patience you can form it.

 

Before the double cold air intake, I did 12.02 in a 1/4 mile. A month later, with the double cold air intake, I went back to the track and I did 11.98 by advancing 2 degrees on the timing and moved up on the jets by 2.

 

I had a similar setup as I posted on #16 but the hoses is closer to the radiator.

 

I'm not looking for huge gains. I'm more intrested in feeding the engine fresh air. I have a steel flat hood with no vents. My car is driven to the track so on hot days the engine is sucking in nothing but hot air. Some guysk claim 2 tenths some nothing. I have had racers say with out a pan under their ram air hood they loose 2 tenths. And I have witnessed it before. To put it in perspective my car ran a 12.68 with the engine at 165 and after a few runs. One week later the engine nearly at 130 after sitting in the staging lanes for 2 hrs I ran a 12.62. Underhood temps play a big role. I'm trying to squeeze a 12.4 out of it. I'm having a 3.90 gear put in it .I'm adding full roller rockers and the ram air and see what we can do. My first time out this year I ran a 13.09 . After a carb swap and going to electric fans and electric h20 drive we went 12.90 . A week later we went 12.80 with no changes. Then I lost the front sway bar and the weather was cooler and we went 12.68. I made rather small changes that all added up. I mean that's a big gain between a 13.09 to a 12.62. These next changes I make hopefully will get me where I want. I hate making one change at a time I likes to make several small minor changes at once. It does not make sense but that's how I do it.

I will say im optimistic and skeptical about seeing gains but testing will tell us if it works or not. The whole point is im making what i like and i have in my mind vision wise and i think once i have it made it might be a good option for guys who want something thats nicer than whats available aftermarket wise but not as expensive as a re pop., not to mention you can dictate how expensive it can be depending on choice of ducting , air bells , etc etc it gives guys options which imo is always good becasue with the spectre unit you pay 150 still have to buy air bells and it looks cheap and tacky. The factory one looks great but its a big and to me it just does not look right on my set up not to mention its expensive. Im pretty handy with fabrication work and i do all my own work on my car because i enjoy being able to say that. So when i pop the hood and i have a one off custom ram air set up it will be nice to say i made it. This set up wont be cheaper than an aftermarket unit but it won be as much as a reproduction. I might be cheap but i find creative solutions because i also like my stuff to look good but be functional so its not always easy.

 

I think it is cool that you want to build your own ram air/cold air intake.
The reason I mentioned the factory bases is because at one time there were a few very quick stock class racers running factory bases.
They cut the side portion of the air filter housing off and kept the base.The one base I remember came from a Buick
and look very impressive.

 

I can't quiet picture that. The reason I want the flat base is because the air has a straight shot into the carb vs having the obstruction of going over the bump in the drop base.

 

That won't matter. Compared to the rest of the losses you're getting with all the ducting, a small rise will be statistically low in the total.

If you want to get ram air for cheap, i'd get another hood, whack a hole in it, and hang some cheap tunnel ram on it. Or put an open air cleaner and run without a hood.

 

Instead of using the base that came with the aftermarket air cleaner they just used a modified factory base.The sides and base were trimmed to take the place of the aftermarket base.Open air filter and after market top completed the assembly.
As far as running a air filter at the track there are two camps. Those that don't and those that do.
The guys that do run a filter are trying to protect there investment and carefully prepped cylinder walls.

 

Idk about all that koda. I think the fresh air is a big plus.

 

One trend I have seed in the stock pits is the removal of the cowl seal. This is the gasket between the hood and cowl.I have also seen a lot ill fitting hoods as in the back end of the hood is raised up.
This is done for the cowl induction effect. How effective or is this legal in stock class are questions that are left open for debate.
How is the body and paint coming along?

 

I have the rear cowl gasket gone but thats to try to get the engine heat out. one thing i have heard about stockers is they like to run them at running temp ???? perhaps the ill fitting hood and missing seal is to rid the compartment of heat. In my car it gets to the points hot ait gets pullled into the cabin area when i have my electric fans on. i think it has its benifits. I also plan on doing a heat sheild for the carb and adding a wood spacer to keep the carb cooler. Im a beliver in small things like this. people dont belive me but i picked up almost 2 tenths with an x pipe. I was stuck in the 14.0's with open headers and it ran 14.2's with the mufflers. I ran a 13.86 with an x pipe through the mufflers. All the little things add up.

 

I'm a huge fan of the small mods. We got our junk yard 350 to run 13.04 with little to no $. Keeping the air and fuel cool is always worth the effort.
I have seen many a stocker with well insulated fuel lines. I have even seen guys running cool fuel as in filling the car with fuel that was in a cooler before a run. Does it work? Is it worth the effort?
To me this is what the hobby is all about trying new ideas and learning from others.

 

One more though, is with the small mod approach is that the goal is to not give anything away.Its a detailed approach to lowering a cars et . Another thing I learned from the stock class cars is they like to run large dia fuel line. Have you thought about wheel alignment specs. The water temp would be engine specific, there is a wide range of approaches to racing in the stock class. That`s one reason I`m a fan of the class.

 

Wheel aligment falls just barely into usable specs based on factory specs and im running it as is. I run -8 fittings and .5 aluminum line from my fuel cell to the pump. from there i use -6 an lines and fittings.

 

I look forward to hearing what your car runs after your latest set of improvements.