Cowl cold air intake

[eventhorizon66]

Has anybody ever considered, attempted to fab a cold air system that draws from under the cowl on one of our trucks?  Here's a pic of what I'm talking about on Dale Jr's Camaro that Detroit Speed & Engineering did for him.  Well it's a fake, but it still illustrates what I'm talking about.

Dale Jr Camaro 01,  Dale Jr Camaro 02

My exhaust guy thinks this is the best way to get cold air to the engine.

[VileZambonie]

They did a nice job with that but a cowl induction hood would give the same result.

[eventhorizon66]

I know, but (A) I prefer a stock "sleeper" look and (B) I don't have $400 + cost of painting to drop into a nice steel cowl hood.  (reason "B" is real reason, I would have one if I could afford it).
So the question remains was anyone seen anything like this done?

[Redneckchevy]

Well i would make a Mold out of Foam ..Cover it with Foil..And make one out of Fiber glass...Then Use a aftermarket lid...Would get u the same thing..

[HAULIN IT]

That can be a good source of cool air. One concern I would have is that you would need a little care to have the opening high enough & a baffle on the top that you wouldn't get water in. The Nascars,ect. are not being driven in very much rain or parked where rain could get in. A little off topic, but sorta the same. I chose to make a front ram air set-up from leftover air cleaner parts. Good Luck & Enjoy, Lorne

[monte85]

is that a big block olds in your truck?

[HAULIN IT]

Why yes it is! I'm relatively new to the site. I posted some other photos & info in the Member's ride section about a month ago. Lorne   

[eventhorizon66]

HAULIN IT: I was actually mostly inspired by your system before I was advised toward the cowl setup.  And yes I definitely am concerned about sucking water.  On top of that I'm not a fan of drilling a 4" hole in my firewall over something I'm not 100% sure about.  I now have both front snorkels installed, so I could do the same thing as on  your truck if I bought a twin snorkel air cleaner.  Now that leaves a few options for twin snorkels cleaners.

Everyone tell me what you think would fit best in my engine bay.

Option 1 (most expensive, most attractive): Repro Z28 twin snorkel

Option 2 (also expensive, least attractive IMO): Ram Air Box

Option 3 (less expensive, somewhat attractive): Spectre Aluminum twin snorkel (just the cleaner in the middle, not all the aluminum tubing)

Also here is an engine bay pic so you can see what space issues I have.  Notice how close the AC hard lines (from the compressor) are so close to the master cylinder.  The snorkels coming off the air cleaner are going to have to be short enough to allow the 4" tube to run under the MC. (so much for option one, my favorite) My Engine Bay

[monte85]

i was going to put a dual snorkel air cleaner on my monte carlo, but i found that the ac lines coming off the compressor hit the left snorklel. spoiled my plans that day. with that ac box, it doesn't look like you have much firewall to work with. i don't know how much water you might actually suck in. you could maybe put some kind of baffle over the opening so rain water doesn't come down in front of the hole, but air can be pulled in from the sides. i would probably just use a nomal air cleaner but make a larger inlet and run a big hose to the radiator support.

[HAULIN IT]

I used an extra hose & snorkle from Chevy trucks & welded them onto the Olds air cleaner, that is definitely the most cost effective method. The vans for many years used a spacer about 3 1/2" high that I have used at times (cut down in most cases). It may help get the air cleaner up high enough , not sure, it looks like the A/C lines go pretty much straight up off of the compressor? It doesn't look like you have much room on the firewall either. Good Luck in whatever route you take, Lorne 

[team39763]

There is a company that specializes in air cleaners, but I'm not sure what they were called.  They had a bunch of those setups on their site.  They came in different sizes, shapes, and configurations.  I'll post up if I find the site....they had a bunch of applications.

[werewolfx13]

www.ramairbox.com

[monte85]

i looked up the price to put one of those ram air boxes in my monte and if i remember right, it was like 500 bucks for a full setup. thats the air cleaner assembly( which was 3 seperate pieces), ducts and duct ends. not a cheap investment at all.

[werewolfx13]

$258.50 shipped for a kit from ramairbox.com..you don't NEED a kit, especially if you already have a 14" aftermarket air cleaner, and can save some money that way, or tailor the look how you want.

Kit part number is R14x4@110KIT

[monte85]

thats still more money than i would spend.