Cold air intake

Topic: Cold air intake (Read 1543 times) previous topic - next topic

Cold air intake

October 04, 2011, 08:42:31 PM

Hi everyone,
I'd like to add a cold air intake to my stock XR-7 5.0. Is the plumbing from a Mustang intake kit the right length to fit up at the factory air box location in the fender wall? Also, I've seen some (BBK) that require an adapter for SEFI motors to fill the gap where the mass air meter would be. Any suggestions for a reasonably priced kit that will work with the stock setup? Thanks in advance.

Cold air intake

Reply #1 – October 04, 2011, 09:51:06 PM

FWIW, the stock airbox itself is already a CAI, it may not be a nice chrome tube and ricey looking filter, but it gets the job done. Throw in a K&N panel filter in and call it done. You will get basically the same results as buying an expensive kit. Unless you are going for looks,then it's a different story, but for performance, especially on a stock motor, a K&N drop in will do just fine.

Cold air intake

Reply #2 – October 04, 2011, 10:11:14 PM

Sounds good. Any noticeable benefit from removing the silencer in the fender well?

Cold air intake

Reply #3 – October 04, 2011, 10:14:51 PM

Yep. The sound of the intake sucking in the air will sound waaaayy better. Some notice a slight power increase, some don't. I never did but the sound is great.

Cold air intake

Reply #4 – October 04, 2011, 11:00:35 PM

Yeah, I would pull off the silencer. It sounds a lot better, kinda meaty.

Cold air intake

Reply #5 – October 05, 2011, 06:53:40 PM

Ok, so I took out the silencer and took it for a test drive...MMMMM, BEEFY!! However, It was nowhere near as easy as it sounds. The silencer has a second chamber which makes it too large to fit out of the bottom of the fender opening. I couldn't remove all of the fender liner parts in the way because my ground effects kit covers some of the screws. When it was all said and done, I had to pop out the right turn lamp assembly (the one in the side molding, not the blinker) and use a screwdriver and vise grips to tear the two sections apart at the two rivets (I may have been able to do this without removing the light, but didn't try before removing the light). Even with that, It was a royal pain to get out. In the process of removing the lamp assembly the front mounting screw sheared off and the little plastic nub on the front that fits into the molding in front of it broke off. I ended up drilling a small hole in the little stiffener about 1/2" behind the nub and then epoxied in an old broken drill bit to replace it. I had to epoxy a shim between the drill bit and interior face of the molding piece to keep it stiff/square. Overall, not fun, but was worth it. While I had the turn lamp and silencer out, it occurred to me that there may be some way to leave the light out, install screening material and use the opening for air intake. I know, kinda cheesy, but somebody may be able to take this idea and run with it. Just sayin'. Oh, and by the way, on the test drive I took it down and back on a stretch of highway I've checked my fuel economy on before, and according to the computer, my average economy went from about 23 to 27 mpg. I'll keep watching this and see how it does. Pick up is a little better now, too. :)

Cold air intake

Reply #6 – October 05, 2011, 07:11:04 PM

With the silencer on, it's like sucking air through a straw. Now it has a large breathing hole. As far as the light....put it back on. There's a lot of air in there for it to breathe. Now, what's next on the list of things to do?

Cold air intake

Reply #7 – October 05, 2011, 09:42:46 PM

Good mod to know about.....I'll be doing this during the HO/T5 swap.

Cold air intake

Reply #8 – October 05, 2011, 10:00:27 PM

Hey Dan B., what do you think about the 3:55 rear you swapped in? I have the stock 3:08 and want to go 4-wheel disc but don't want to lose top end/highway mpg. I am assuming that I should get similar results with my 5.0 and AOD if I do the TC rear swap.

Cold air intake

Reply #9 – October 05, 2011, 10:09:43 PM

Yeah, Vinnie, I put it all back together before the test drive. Next up is installing the dashcap I just got (doing it tomorrow) and maybe if I have time before the weekend is over, I will install the HO upper intake I've had sitting around for a couple of years. After that, I hope to pull the stock Mustang headers, h-pipe and Flowmaster cat-back off my partially crushed donor Cougar (a tree fell on it). LOTS to do, but slowing down in my old age, so we'll see how it goes.

Cold air intake

Reply #10 – October 06, 2011, 01:07:58 AM

About the filter panel intake tube.....I looked and it just seems to be an elbow with no other "filter" or anything on it. Is there something else usually in there that you guys are removing?

Quote from: CatManDude;369314

Hey Dan B., what do you think about the 3:55 rear you swapped in? I have the stock 3:08 and want to go 4-wheel disc but don't want to lose top end/highway mpg. I am assuming that I should get similar results with my 5.0 and AOD if I do the TC rear swap.

I honestly never checked the highway mileage to be able to give an accurate answer. But it is a LOT more fun to drive and you won't loose any top end.....the 3.55's with a OD tranny are rather tame. You will notice you get to the OD faster and it shifts up and down a lot less. Heck, my 351W Ranger w/ 3.55's and no OD still pulls 16mpg rolling around to car shows and running errands.

Cold air intake

Reply #11 – October 06, 2011, 06:07:04 AM

"CAI" does nothing for HP...Removing the silencer is for sound, the chrome tubes are for looks, the filters are for looks (and in my case to save money by cleaning them instead of replacing one) Stock, your intake allows the engine to take in as much air as needed. If you want to see some gains, get it tuned and mess with the air fuel ratio.

Cold air intake

Reply #12 – October 06, 2011, 06:48:52 AM

I would think that removing the silencer would help power, even if only by a couple of horsepower. It would be like having a 50mm throttlebody on my engine. Like I said, breathing through a straw. You're making the air intake hole a lot larger at the intake side instead of the tiny little hole that was in the silencer.

Cold air intake

Reply #13 – October 06, 2011, 07:08:43 AM

It sounds good in theory, but the fact that the computer tells it how much air to take in, and with the silencer, the engine gets every bit of air that it needs...Without the silencer, it is still taking in the same amount of air. So unless you tell the computer to take in more air (tune it), it wont. I saw a video on it where it was dyno proven...it might be on Youtube, but I cant do youtube at work.

I noticed that these things had super small throttle bodies...I wasnt planning on replacing mine until I saw how small it was compared to the one on the mustang. Guess we will see what happens when I get mine on the road with a bigger throttle body, bigger injectors/rails, and an air intake with no tune.

Cold air intake

Reply #14 – October 07, 2011, 12:48:22 AM

Even if there is a restriction, any improvment in the air tract will affect power. Dyno's are not all that accurate, and hp is just a number. 1/4 mile times can at least show an increase in speed, even if it shows a loss in power.