"Air" Holes in air filter box.

[Dave]

Hmmmmm. I wondered what that dadburn paper thingie was for.:-)

For the benefit of those folks who missed the first part of
the conversation......the stock 4KSQ air intake pulls in air
through a rather circuitous bit of ductwork that does a nice
job of silencing the air intake by providing a restriction in
the way of a "snorkel" under the front of the car.  By 
drilling a couple of good sized holes in the *lower* part of
the air filter box, air is sucked in from the area behind the
RH headlight, ending up right underneath the filter element.
As an old drag racer and present day sports car owner, the
sound of an engine sucking in air at full throttle is music
to my ears.  As noted, putting holes in the upper part of
the filter box would defeat the purpose of the filter.  
Hopefully, we all have better sense that to do that.
Dave

Suffolk wrote:
> 
> I'd be interested if I could get more air into the air box by drilling holes
> or ducting "ram" air into the air box intake area.
> The idea of holes seems to help, I beleive (and hope) that this is before
> (in the airstream) the (paper) or air filter element.  I don't think he has
> referred to removing his filter, but only Dave can clarify that.
> Removing the filter or having holes after the filter reinforces Ameer's
> claim, but I think ( Dave  ) is referring to holes in the bottom or the
> filter canister (box).
> IMHO
> -Scott BOSTON
> 
> Subject: Re:  Holes in airbox
> 
> I don't understand why you would do this to your daily driver. Basically
> you're eliminating restriction of the air filter. This is just like what
> racers do in vintage racing when they put air horns on the carbs. There's
> no filter to decrease the airflow, making it easier for more air to get
> into the cylinders. That's fine if you're racing in known conditions and
> you rebuild the engine after a season anyway. But my car is a daily driver
> and it gets into all sorts of situations. Look at an old air filter and
> you'll the tons of fine dirt and dust it picks up. Why not just get a K&N
> or some other solution. A screened hole is still going to let in dust and
> sand, which is always around here in New England. Why not just take the
> filter out and leave off the cover? That'll give you better response, but
> how long will it last? Those not so little particles can get caught between
> cylinder rings and who knows what can happen. I just think there's a reason
> manuf.'s put use filters and don't put holes in air boxes...
> 
> At 12:29 AM 9/21/00, you wrote:
> >I put a couple of holes in the airbox on my stock 4000Q.
> >It seems to run a bit better and definitely sounds nice.
> >I am going to do some before and after stopwatch tests on
> >the 90Q 20V and see if it really makes a difference.  A
> >bit of screen siliconed to the inside of the box should
> >cut down on the leaves, bugs and small animals.
> >Dave