shaks 442 clone

well heres the thing i work for kragen and i recently blew my motor and i was looking up parts in our computer and it was saying oai parts were different from non ram air engines

well heres my question i plan on putting an oai hood on my car should i get the engine parts for the ram air engine or for the no ram air?

i did not plan on getting the special air element to maximize the ram air just the hood and a k and n air filter

so if anyone knows let me know my parts purchasing is on hold right now

joe_padavano

What parts specifically are you talking about? O.A.I. used a different air filter. W-motors used different spark plugs. Internal engine parts were different (depending on big or small block). Other than that, most of the engine parts are the same.

Stay away from the K&N (and knock-offs) filters. Many tests have been done by the construction industry and others and the all show that there is a marginal increase in airflow but a significant increase in the amount of dust and dirt that gets into the engine. Stick with AC filters and change them when they get dirty.

shaks 442 clone

i only want the oai hood for looks

but internals like pistons and what not ask if i have oai or not

so would i buy the oai pistons or non oai pistons?

joe_padavano

This is a classic case of misinformation in the computer. First, I assume we're talking about a 350, right? The W-31 motors used a unique flattop piston to get 10.5:1 CR vs a small dish piston on the non-W high compression 350s to get 10.25:1 CR. Of course there was also the large dish piston that gave 9:1 CR.

The thing is, you could order O.A.I. on any 350 as the W-25 option. It was just the hood and air cleaner, not the internal mods. If you have a W-25 car, the pistons are the same as any other 350.

In any case, you should be getting aftermarket forged pistons, not stock cast pistons. Order the CR you want for your combustion chamber size and head gasket thickness.