ram air

Many of the old guard worked on ducted setups....

here's a quote from a post I made a few months ago:

"a couple of years back......and found they provided little or
no measurable benfit. Also, more and more people are learning
to refer to a ducted setup as "cold air" which is a more
accurate name.

The problem turned out to be this....simply not enough air volume..actually inertia also, at speeds below 100mph or so,
the cross section of the size of the scoops people were
incorporating into their "cold air" setup, as well as the
ducting cross section - could not physically direct enough air
into the air intakes (MAF's) of our engines to make a measurable increase in power.

If you could put a huge scoop....oh, four feet across with
gradually tapering ducting down to the (let's say 80mm) MAF then
you might create enough volume and air speed (inertia) to increase cylinder filling by a small amount. Even with such a setup, you'd
only realize the benefits towards the last part of your run....
above 60mph or so.

Where these setups do offer a little benefit on the street is
keeping ambient temperature air moving into the engine as opposed
to some engine heated air being mixed into the intake charge when cones are used without sealing them off in a box.

Detroit knew all about this back in the 60's-70's when they
slapped shakers and vacuum operated doors on the scoops of the
big muscle machines - they weren't worth squat on an et......but
they sure sold cars."

Hope this helps,

IF you want...you might add

ZackG said:

Magerthom, I have also heard they provide almost no increase in performance.. But I need somethign to put at the bottom of what I did to my car

Click to expand...

some form of ducting from under the air box to your front bumper
opening. It won't add any power, just a "fun" mod. I use a
setup like that down here beacause at 106-108 degrees every day
at this time of year I like to think it might help, just a little
bit, in maintaining as low as possible an intake charge - every
degree lower, helps, in this heat!

Good luck with you mods,

If you want instructions.....

Cold Air Intake Installation Instructions for 1994 to 1997 Thunderbirds
(May also work for 1989 to 1993 year Thunderbirds, and Cougars as well.)

Parts:

These can be found at Home Depot

1. 90 degree bend 4” PVC

1. 4” to 3” connector (black rubber piece)

1. 3” hose clamp

Phillips screwdriver (or electric drill helps)

Flat screwdriver or nut driver to match the screw head on the hose clamp

Time:

30 to 45 minutes (If you take your time.)


Note: You may want to jack your car up and take off the front right wheel, but I did it with the wheel in tact and on the ground just fine.

Installation:

1. Turn your wheels all the way to the left.

2. Unscrew the two screws underneath the front bumper. Your inner lining attaches here.

3. Unscrew the three screws that hold the black inner lining that attaches to the front of the right front wheel well (the body panel)

4. Turn your wheels all the way to the right.

5. Then there is one “plug” or black pin that you can pop out from the inner wheel well that will allow you to loosen the inner lining.

6. Now you can pull back the inner fender lining and bend it back behind the wheel and it should stay behind the wheel and allow you to work inside the fender well where the intake will go.

7. When looking up in the open area, you should see a black tube that comes down from the air filter box and then turns back up like a snorkel…. Take it off! It is in 3 pieces. Separate the snorkel and the piece that is attached to it from the down tube that is screwed to the bottom of the air filter box.

8. You will use the down tube so do not remove it.

Now you are ready to assemble the Scoop itself. There is a trick to this and if you do not do it right, it will not fit or will fall off.



1. You will need to separate the two pieces you just took off.

2. Throw away the snorkel part that turns up, you will never need that again as long as you live!

3. To make the assembly a sharper bend, we will put together the factory piece, the black connector, and 4” PVC.

4. Now for the adjusting part: You want to slide the outside of the assembly bends (angles) so they are greater than the inside bend (angle) of the assembly. Check the picture for an illustration.

Notice: The assembly does not point straight out to the fog light hole. It curves more along the right side of the front of the car and “snakes” around to point at the fog light hole at an outside to inside angle (like the way a fat curve ball comes at you!). This helps to keep bugs and junk from flying straight up your scoop into the air filter while still sucking up or scooping up cool air.

Additional Ideas: If you wished to protect against bugs, rocks, etc. you could take a portion of “metal screen” (mesh type wire) and fit it across the opening of the PVC pipe. An additional hose clamp around the PVC pipe can then secure it.

Again, this is not a ram air; it only makes your motor draw air from a cooler location which is always good.

You're welcome,
Big-Al

'96-97 'Birds Cold Air Scoop.....

It's a long story.....does anybody really care?

Keith Falerios made and sold a really nice scoop that fit
perfectly in the passenger side bumper opening - it was a
really nice piece of work. Mine got badly messed up, so I asked
Keith if I could buy another. To keep this story short, Keith's
not making them any longer. So I put mine back together (sort
of) but good enough to use as a guide. All you need is some
ducting and a couple of screw clamps to get the whole thing
working. If I can get some made.....would ANYBODY be the
slightest bit interested?

Big-Al

8. You will use the down tube so do not remove it.

1. You will need to separate the two pieces you just took off.

2. Throw away the snorkel part that turns up, you will never need that again as long as you live!

3. To make the assembly a sharper bend, we will put together the factory piece, the black connector, and 4” PVC.
--
Sir Will

If you did precisely what those pics show, you failed to do the most important part! You didn't actually remove the restriction that is the silencer!

If you look at the first pic on that page, you see 3 parts. The instructions there are wrong!!! You need to get rid of the MIDDLE PART. That's the restriction that's supposed to be removed!

If you still have that section in yours, get it out! It doesn't matter how, just get it out.
--
The 3" end of the adapter does fit rather nicely if a bit snug on the downtube that your instructions say to leave on. Though I will agree it fits easier on the restrictive part that your instructions say to attach it to.