Cold Air Intake

[IPreferDIY]

It may help flow. Maybe marginally.
I removed the trumpet on my Town Car and didn't hear or feel any difference.
How would help with engine wear? Just curious.

I’m no engineer, and I’m only being theoretical and hypothetical, but let’s look at a more obvious example. When I did my driver training in the 80's, the instructor suggested putting the car in neutral if you arrive at an intersection at the start of a red light. The theory was that the engine would be under less strain and therefore have less wear. I’m not endorsing this position, and I had actually called it into question at the time, because: 1. with a higher RPM in neutral, you would seem to be using more gas, and 2. the strain of putting the car back in gear would probably offset any gain from having put it in neutral. (It’s kind of like the debate about whether it’s more efficient to turn off house lights for short periods of time or leave them on due to a surge when turning them back on.) Now, if you ran two engines for a year straight, one in gear and one in neutral, it does seem logical that the one that was left in gear would have more wear.

After removing the trumpet, the improvement in my engine’s ‘breathing’ made it seem like it was under a bit less strain. The extent of the improvement is certainly open to debate, but it’s definitely noticeable in mine. Would there be less wear after several hundred thousand miles? I dunno, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Something I noticed today was that the improvements from removing the trumpet would likely complement the kinds of improvements one could expect from a J-MOD. Unfortunately for me, it’ll probably be a couple of years before I try the latter.

[IPreferDIY]

Things weren't all that easy after all. Without an adhesive, my 'tuba' kept working its way out of the airbox hole unless it was shoved in so far that it didn't extend into the rad frame hole. I bought some silicone, and then got obsessive about filing and sanding the insides of the ends (particularly the inner lip on the narrower end). But, before I use the silicone, I'm going to try using a second 'tuba' from another chair. With one in the other, I can shove them into the airbox so they're nice and tight but still extend into the rad frame hole the same amount as the trumpet.

Something I tried while the single one kept working its way out of the airbox was reading the IAT with my code reader/scanner. The outside temperature was 27 degrees C, but the IAT while parked was in the 40-50 degree C range (apparently 104-122 degrees F). I'm not sure when I will be driving again over the next several days, but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone has IAT numbers for their fancy cone filter intakes.

Incidentally, here's an interesting web page with a Panther air intake comparison:

http://dissertation.jtlopez.com/?page_id=184

[IPreferDIY]

I couldn't resist going out for a drive. The performance is great. My car acts like the way I imagine the police interceptors were meant to act. After I left the car running while in a store, the IAT was 26C while the outside temp was 18C. After starting to drive, the IAT dropped to 22C, and it didn't change when I went on the highway. I might as well note that I had also put tape over the drain hole in the airbox so no warm air could get in that way. I might end up putting foam between the tuba and rad frame to see what that does. I've been reading up on air dams too, and one of my next steps will be adding a couple of inches to the air deflector under my rad to see what happens.

[IPreferDIY]

You need an air box from an 04+ CVPI, thats what you're looking for.

I went to a U-pull today and thought it might be my lucky day. There were only five Panthers, but there was a '98 GM beside an '07 CVPI. I was hoping I could use just the lower part of the CVPI box with my cover, but they're not compatible. Oh well, my 'tuba' setup is better than the trumpet, and that's good enough for me.

[IPreferDIY]

... I removed the trumpet on my Town Car and didn't hear or feel any difference. ...

I had a look at a '98 Town Car today at a U-pull and discovered it had a bent trumpet on the bottom of the airbox. Is that what you had? The narrow part seemed to be the same size as the one on a '98 GM, though I noticed that the hole in the '98 Town Car airbox was a bit smaller than the one in the '98 GM airbox. I'm not sure if the curvature in the trumpet would have any effect.

[IPreferDIY]

Towards the end of a 100+ km trip on the highway, the outside temp was 25°C and my IAT was 25°C. You can't get any better than that without some kind of air cooling device.

[IPreferDIY]

My 'tuba' installation is officially finished: the tuba segments are modified for the best fit and secured with silicone to prevent them from coming loose; a broken airbox cushion has finally been replaced; and the gap between the tuba and the rad frame hole has been filled with pieces of foam.

[sly]

sounds like some of the redneck engineering I've done... need pics

[IPreferDIY]

I wasn't going to bother with any more tweaking [Damn you, sly! Just kidding.], but taking photos gave me an excuse for adding more foam.
I've attached a bunch of photos showing the following:
1. comparison of old trumpet and new tuba - I put silicone on the last 1/2 inch of both tuba pieces before full insertion. It merely adds a little something to the friction fit. I needed some silicone for my tub, so I killed two birds with one stone.
2. view from inside the airbox - I cut some of the inner tuba off so there was no protrusion into the airbox. The '04+ CVPI airbox has a larger hole, and its rubber tuba has a 'lip' that attaches to the airbox hole so that nothing protrudes into the airbox. If only the bottom part of the '04+ CVPI airbox was compatible with my lid. [Damn you, Ford! Not kidding.] Sanding the inside of my outer tuba segment was a time-wasting mistake, but any effect on airflow would be infinitesimal.
3. airbox side of rad frame hole - If I had seen the rust, I would have sprayed some of the thick Rust Check Coat and Protect in there. Incidentally, the black plastic thing on the end of the black rubber hose is for the air suspension compressor. There's a hole in the bottom of it, and the push pin at the top of it goes into the hole above it.
4. foam around tuba after installing airbox - I just used two layers of thin mattress topper foam plus a short third layer for the oblong part of the rad frame hole. Incidentally, the wire on the rad mount is an extra ground strap for the engine.
5. end of tuba in rad frame hole - The end of the '04+ CVPI rubber tuba is actually angled so that it looks straight in the rad frame hole. I couldn't be bothered to cut the end of my tuba at an angle.
6. air filter - I just started putting the 'curve' in the filter. This is from 'fanning out' the pleats. It's kind of like fanning out a stack of paper before putting it into a printer so you get some air in there. The filter seems a lot dirtier after putting in the tuba. I still have about five months to go before my usual replacement time, and it's usually not that bad.

[sly]