Jump to content
HybridZ

What is your opinion on letting the air cleaner stick out of the hood?


rucus01

Recommended Posts

I currently have a hood scoop on my s30 because my air cleaner sticks up above the hood line. What do you think of just leaving a small hole in the hood for the base of the air cleaner and then just putting the air cleaner on after I close the hood? Do you think this is doable or are there any concerns?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hoods can be replaced. If the aesthetics of cutting a hole disappoint, it's not too great a trouble to start over afresh. It's not like tubbing the rear or cutting the roof to make a convertible....

 

One should be careful about extrapolating aero results for overall car aerodynamics, to the flow through an air filter. The middle of a typical hood is a region of local separation, so air flow into the hole would be poor. However, the air filter acts like a local low-pressure region - because, well, air is flowing into the engine. It would of course be better to source airflow into the air filter from near the hood/windshield juncture, but a hole in the middle of the hood is NOT necessarily awful.

 

Proper air-scoop design is difficult. So I suggest cutting a hole for Version 1.0, and then worrying about an air-scoop in Version 2.0. Also note that an air filter sticking out of a hole in the hood would at least partially alleviate issues of high underhood temperatures reducing intake mixture density. There are ways to solve this in a "clean" installation with no hood cutting, but which approach is simpler?

 

After much tinkering, my home-built fiberglass hood has a hole in it, for a 14" round air filter case (Chevy big block V8). It is not suitable for the rain, but in dry conditions it is very convenient. I can tinker with the carb without having to remove the hood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...