Home made ram air

[70STOVEBOLT]

Has anyone fabbed their own ram air setup for one of our trucks? I am thinking about building one for my inline six. Let's see some pics or hear some ideas!!

[sixtyeightchevykid]

if you want to do it on the cheap you can get dryer vent hose and use that. there is a chevy luv that is around here that did that..

[70STOVEBOLT]

Is there such a thing as too much air? I have a dual snorkle air cleaner I was going to use along with some 4" flexible tubing.

[sixtyeightchevykid]

i would think so. you would have to increase the fuel aswell.

[pockets]

i highly doubt any ram air on a street vehicle would require changing the fuel mixture. The biggest benefit is cooler air.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by pockets

i highly doubt any ram air on a street vehicle would require changing the fuel mixture. The biggest benefit is cooler air.

What pockets said.

[Street Lethal '72]

I have thought about putting something together like this, bolt on top of the carb.. these are about $250 to buy.. they also sell components, the piece to just cap the carb with a single outlet is like $170.. but I bet it could all be fabbed.

[70STOVEBOLT]

That is more of a "cold air intake" to me, I was thinking about making something out of a stock type air cleaner with one or two hoses that would run to the bottom of the front bumper or thru the radiator support.

[Street Lethal '72]

I know what you mean, that was just a quick pic I found to represent the housing and piping.. the piping can go to a ram point anywhere.. I have seen regular air filter housings set up for a turbo piping inlet, but I couldn't find that. I am thinking that manufacturing one out of an air cleaner is definitely doable.. its just a matter of getting an enclosed one and changing the inlet to something round.. It would be cool I'm sure. I am thinking the air cleaner assembly off most 80's GM's would work, again, just rework the inlet.. I would stay away from corrugated piping/flex hose (like whats in this kit), as the turbulence inside begins to negate the flow effects. They sell every kind of shape and extension of aluminum intake pipe... I would go that route. Then you could top off the ram end of the inlet with a velocity stack of some sort.. I bet it would be cool.

I know I am showing "buy it" parts.. but to recreate these type of parts is what I am getting at.

On the Scion I built, I realized the intake filter was right behind a fog light cover, so I did this:


Its a part of a wire mesh bathroom garbage can, structural epoxy, and bumper black spray paint



..I DIY when I can

[69sixpackbee]

Originally Posted by Street Lethal '72

I have thought about putting something together like this, bolt on top of the carb.. these are about $250 to buy.. they also sell components, the piece to just cap the carb with a single outlet is like $170.. but I bet it could all be fabbed.

Most of these so called, "Cold Air Intakes" still suck in the same underhood hot air. The only way to truly get cooler air is to have the intake in front of the vehicle and mounted low in the low pressure area of the fascia so that it wil actually work.
Gotta love the ricer-look polished tubing though along with the "oil the crap out of the intake tract" K & N pods

[Street Lethal '72]

Right.. Unless you pay top dollar for a cold air intake designed for your application that has been dyno tested to run right and the location is trully pulling in cooler air. Unfortunately China has flooded the market with crap.. but anyway, as stated above, the plan is to pull from the front and away from the heat.. I just pulled this pic to show the housing to the carb mainly, and how the piping could be routed off of it.. if one were to make one, why not look at completed ones to get an idea from?

Companies like AFE started making all of the piping out of composites, because in the end, no matter where you pull the air from, the piping itself will heat it back up to a degree.. most HP is seen from unrestricted modern OEM intake systems. I think for these.. the open air filter is probably best, but I would be interested in seeing a good ram sir set up, especially home made.

*My ricer intake is black .. the intake manifold is polished however.. but I could swear American muscle started that trend

[68 Stepside]

My friends 71 Duster 340 had a dual snorkel with dryer vents and hoses attached to it when it ran the 1/4 mile.

[Andy4639]

OK,
I don't know about Ram Air but I built this cold air for my 71.
I drilled a 4" hole in the radiator support where the voltage regulator use to be.


I then drilled a 4" hole in a Caddy air box in the bottom and sealed the factory opening shut! I cut the threads off of 2 4" couplings and installed one in the bottom of the box and one in the support. The box is for a 90 model seville!


I then put a 4" ninty between them. I made a small bracket to mount it with. This picture shows the factory opening I sealed.

Installed a K&N filter.

Here is the finished product! The tube is what O-Riley sales in their store.

Over all picture of the motor compartment!

[hayhauler71]

http://www.jegs.com/i/Spectre/865/72...ductId=1203412

how about something like this

[Hubscrub]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=4014018Hottrucks was working on this idea

[Tkmadone]

That is really slick Andy!

[ERASER5]

My 74 Olds had cold ram air from the factory. Only single, not double like that 442. My 86 F250 6.9IDI has the same setup. My 99 Durango has factory cold air intake from the fender. Smoother tubing could be a help, but all three take in cold air, and the Olds and 6.9 has are somewhat rammed.

Most of the after market "cold air" systems fail at the cold part.

I have given some thought to making an air inlet from the cowl area. There is a lot of high pressure at the cowl at highway speed. A plan to keep water out of the carb has eluded me so far. Of course, if it was a clear skies only truck, it would no longer matter.

[Andy4639]

Thanks Tkmadone,

My system is on the 71 and I drive it rain or shine. I've never had any problems with rain. The 4" opening is right behind the grille so it has nothing blocking it from the air being drove into going down the road.
In these pictures you can see the opening beside the drivers head light!

[70STOVEBOLT]

Hayhauler, that is something like what I had in mind. Not a bad price either.

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

Has anyone fabbed their own ram air setup for one of our trucks? I am thinking about building one for my inline six. Let's see some pics or hear some ideas!!

I thought by the 1st post you wanted home made. I guess not!

70STOVEBOLT Re: Home made ram air
Hayhauler, that is something like what I had in mind. Not a bad price either.

[70STOVEBOLT]

I am talking about home made. In the response to hayhauler, I meant that style was what I had in mind, not necessarily a store-bought kit. See post #3 above.

[cantcode86]

I have a friend that runs a AMA pro race team and he once told me that ram air doesn't take effect until around 100 mph. I would say the best you'll do is a cold air set up.

[lakeroadster]

The "ram air" effect will be compromised if it is located in an area that doesn't get a clean non turbulent flow. The opening needs to be "out in the air", not behind a grille or other obsruction.

But as has been said before getting cooler, non-heated (i.e. underhood) air is the big benefit for a street set-up.

[70STOVEBOLT]

Cooler air is what I'm after. I know there will not be much power gain, if any. After all, it's a stock straight six. I am more interested in the cool factor, and having something that I built myself.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

Has anyone fabbed their own ram air setup for one of our trucks? I am thinking about building one for my inline six. Let's see some pics or hear some ideas!!

If you want cheap, I used a 3 inch plastic garden drain and duct taped it to an autozone antifreeze jug and stuck in on my 235 ci 1 bbl carb. I even left the autozone label on it as conversation piece. Nobody noticed how bad the body was once they saw that budget Air Ram