Ram Air close the inlet in the aircleaner

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Robsweden

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Nov 18, 2016
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Location
Sweden
My Car
Mach 1 73 351c
Hi

Im planing to put in the Ramair kit. The snorkel that comes out on the passanger side from the aircleaner what purpose those it have. If the scoops in the hood sucks in cold air , the other one sucks in air from the engine bay.

Can I just block that port so all air coming in would come from the two air scoops in the hood. Only outside temp air would get in, good bad idea ?

 
The flappers / scoops on the hood are only open under wide open throttle / hard acceleration when vacuum drops. 

Most of the time air will be drawn in through the snorkel

 
It also draws warm air off of the exhaust manifold when your cold starting.

 
You cant block it because it is needed when the scoops are close. However, i understand what you mean. When the scoops are open still some warm air can be sucked through the snorkel. I think the thought is that the air coming from the scoops is at higher pressure (if moving at speed) so thats where must of the air will be coming from. That said, there is no easy way unless adding a flapper that closes the snorkel when the scoops open.

 
I am not convinced that the RA setup does anything other than look badass.

Don't connect the scoop solenoids to any vacuum so they stay open all the time and then you can remove or block the snorkel opening.

This way your setup looks functional retaining its bad ass looks and your engine won't be sucking hot air when you aren't flooring it...

I can't hear the scoop flappers opening over my exhaust so this will be my plan when I get my new engine up and running...

 
  Just my observations. The snorkel does provide warm air from the manifold when starting. Engines like warm air to atomize the gas better when starting cold. Once the engine warms up, the engine heat itself will atomize fuel, and the snorkel valve closes off the manifold and opens to the engine bay. Under normal driving conditions, the warm air from the engine bay, drawn through the snorkel, doesn't affect engine performance to a noticeable degree. You would seldom get above 2500 rpm in daily driving. I put headers on my former Mach 1 and removed the stove pipe from the manifold. I live in a cold climate, like you, and in the fall/winter/early spring, it was very "cold blooded". It did not like to run very well until the engine temp came up.   Under wide open throttle, the ram air valves open to the outside air. The cooler air creates a denser fuel/air charge (less atomization), which translates to more available power. If I remember correctly, I read somewhere many years ago, that the ram air provided an additional 11 hp, but I don't recall the elevation or air temperature that number was based on. My recommendation would be to leave the snorkel in place, and if you have headers, install the fitting that goes over the front pipe to hook the stove up.

Steve

 
My flappers rattle with cam vacuum at idle.  I’m sure the original vacuum motors are weak, but mine kinda sit there and chatter or rattle at idle.

Yep, Ram Air is NOT a supercharger by any means.

kcmash

 
Funny, now that I installed the actuators that now work I am thinking of disconnecting the vacuum line so they stay open full time, can't shake the feeling that more air is better.  When my actuators were not working I wanted very much to get them to work............ 

 
I have EFI and a way to measure inlet air temperature. In the summer I have seen differences up to 20F when I open the RAM air flappers while driving. BTW, I have a normally-open vacuum solenoid switch in order to open the flappers whenever I want so I can open when driving in the highway.

 
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I don't think that it provides any measurable performance increase, it's just meant to get cooler air (more dense) to the motor instead of drawing from a hot engine compartment.  Keeping the actuator doors connected keeps rain water/dirt from entering your air cleaner when doing normal driving.  Only when accelerating quickly or motor off will the hood doors be open.   The solenoid in the air cleaner snorkel will draw air from the top of the exhaust manifold during cold starts or from engine compartment while driving after the motor has warmed up. During hard acceleration the outside ambient air enters the air cleaner and provides some positive pressure to force the hot engine air back out through the snorkel and into the engine compartment so that you have cooler/denser air entering the carb.  I think that was the design concept but in reality it only provides minimal performance increase, just the cool factor is gained :)

 
Thanks guys

Im going  EFI again this time with Holley Terminator X Stealth. I have a friend that has Firebird with ramair and it was very big difference with cold air coming in all the time. It dropped some serious amount

on the MAT. So I probably will be leaving them fully open and blocking the snorkel :) or getting a tube that extends the snorkel inlet and taking air from the front.

 
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More question does it work with 351c with Edelbrock Airgap Intake and Holley 4150 DP ? Dualsync distribuitor ? Or has the baseplate need to be modified ?

Thanks :)

 
My flappers rattle with cam vacuum at idle.  I’m sure the original vacuum motors are weak, but mine kinda sit there and chatter or rattle at idle.

Yep, Ram Air is NOT a supercharger by any means.

kcmash
If the flaps are not working - i.e. rattle noise - there's a good chance the internal diaphragm inside the activators is shot,  Which could mean a vacuum leak.

Something to keep in mind.  

 
Okay the Ram Air setup is finished.

I blocked the snorkel of and left the flappers open so it only sucks air from the scoops. The air cleaner filter is changed to a KN filter. 

The whole unit is lowered by 1 inch to make it fit the Edelbrock Airgap intake. I manage to cut away 1 inch and squeeze in a 2 inch filter.

As a christmas gift to my self I bought the new Terminator X stealth with the DualSync dizzy. Il probably start the engine next week :)

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Looking at your pictures, I notice that you don't have shock tower braces on the car. Do you have them, just not on yet? If not, my personal suggestion would be to get a pair. The engine bay just looks unfinished without them, plus they do add some strength to the body especially as you have some "upgrades". 

If they are difficult to find in Sweden, there is a set advertised on Kijiji, Ontario. If still available, I could get them for you and ship them via FedEx. Let me know.

The mods you have done look really good making it your car your way.

 
Looking at your pictures, I notice that you don't have shock tower braces on the car. Do you have them, just not on yet? If not, my personal suggestion would be to get a pair. The engine bay just looks unfinished without them, plus they do add some strength to the body especially as you have some "upgrades". 

If they are difficult to find in Sweden, there is a set advertised on Kijiji, Ontario. If still available, I could get them for you and ship them via FedEx. Let me know.

The mods you have done look really good making it your car your way.
Yes I have them , they are not just on yet :)

 
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