Cold air intake

[Gunner]

I was looking at my turkey pan and had some of the same questions. I note that the hood scoop only loosely corresponds to the TP location. Simple edge seal would in fact block off the front from the scoop, which dumps onto the front of the intake manifold and not into the pan. You'd need an extended shelf, much like the one shown at the start of this topic, to actually seal the top of the pan to the scoop.

All this raises the question of how much good the pan does. Has anyone (on CC or elsewhere) ever done comparative tests, like a significant amount of back-to-back track time with and without the pan?

I assume most of us have TPs for looks and originality... but did they EVER provide a performance boost?

[TerrysSPF]

The TP was supposed to keep the hot air from the engine away from the carb. It was never meant to "seal" up against the hood of the car.

I know a reputable engine builder in Ohio that performed dyno test with, and without the pan on the engine and there was a LOSS of HP with the pan on.

While I like the looks of Chas's set up, I'm not sure how much air he's actually getting into the carbs. The forward facing scoop on a Cobra is very small / thin. Generally, forward facing scoops are designed to keep air flowing THROUGH an engine bay, thus keeping it cooler. The air comes in the front of the car and escaspes through the bottom of the bay and through the side vents (like on Cobra's & Corvettes).
Performance scoops that seal to the hood and direct air into the carb generally enter from the REAR of the hood (called cowl induction) which draws air / wind in from the windshield. This type of setup is very productive and definately increases HP.
Check out the hood of a 69 Z-28 or a 1970 Chevelle SS (both of which I've owned in the past) and you will see what I'm talking about. Corvettes that had the L88 427 also had this type of hood setup. They all included a rubber gasket around the air cleaner which sealed to the bottom of the hood.

IMO, if you want more air to get into the carb on a Cobra, buy a bigger air cleaner. The S&H 8" cleaners are too restrictive (even with the K&N filter). But, they are period-correct, and they (along with the TP) look cool. -Which is why I kept it on my SPF (although I usually ran the car without the TP and only put that on for shows).

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by TerrysSPF

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While I like the looks of Chas's set up, I'm not sure how much air he's actually getting into the carbs.

Getting all that 'little' scoop can give-enough air to run 11.8's @ 121 on Hoosier TD's (crap for drag racing) and pull strongly to 6800. No nosing over. There are many guys on here running 10's and low 11's with the same or similar sized scoop so I have no scientific marvel.

I allowed as much air entry as possible on the front and side entries of the pan. Drag radials are worth 5 tenths and the pan is a solid tenth. Improved throttle response and no washout returning to idle-it cured those problems. The Extreme tops are a major factor-at least in my setup. Closed tops (especially on the Stellings) are a rev limiter. Been there, saw that.

Agreed, cowl inductions are the most efficient but few of us will do that.

The TP probably lost power on the dyno because the air feed hood may have stood above it. Still, holes of any kind defeat the purpose.

I know my pan is not to everyone's taste but it
really works for me-if it didn't, it would not be on the car since 2004.

[TButtrick]

Here's another from Fortes that you can feed from your brake scoops up front.

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

The Extreme tops are a major factor-at least in my setup. Closed tops (especially on the Stellings) are a rev limiter.

Does anyone know if the 9-inch Extreme top will fit the S&H air cleaner? I don't care about looks (I'd put the chromie back for show) but want to know if it will seal against the filter - K&N - properly.

[ERA Chas]

IIRC the Stellings is smaller, around 8 or 8 1/2".

[Gunner]

Right, that's why I asked. If I can slap a filter cover on the existing setup, I'd be happy with that for road days. A sloppy/ugly fit is okay as long as it fits. Otherwise I'm looking at something more involved like pulling the TP and putting a big-oval air cleaner on.

I do want to keep the TP and S&H for show.

[MaSnaka]

If your running with a choke on your carb, check the distance from the top of your low profile air filter to the top of the choke horn. In my case using the 1 3/4" filter element the top of my "big oval" air filter cover was actually resting on the top of the choke horn. Believe it or not that restricts mucho airflow into your primaries. My short term solution was to use the 3/4 x 1/2" dense foam weather stripping with the adhesive side purchased at home depot. I layed a strip on the bottom and top edge of my filter element and which added about 1/2" of thickness once tightened down and compressed. This raised the bottom of the air cleaner top up off the choke horn and still has clearance from the hood. I do plan to have the choke horn milled off and live without the choke. I'm in a pretty moderate climate zone so this will just annoy my neighbors for a couple extra minutes when I take the car out. No problem right?

Chas your innovation looks good. I was under the impression that the small scoop on the Cobra hood act more like an exit for air because of the open snout and small side vents. I think your design would counter that.

John

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by MaSnaka

Chas your innovation looks good. I was under the impression that the small scoop on the Cobra hood act more like an exit for air because of the open snout and small side vents. I think your design would counter that.
John

Thanks John,
-but it's not my 'innovation'. Drag racers have done similar for decades-of which I was one. Getting it fit in a Cobra is where you've got to be clever.

[Scufty]

this is mine....could use a few refinements but seems to work ..I guess my thing is I would like a little bigger setup...engines like air!

[TerrysSPF]

Chas- I didn't mean to imply that it didn't work (sorry if you took it that way). I was just curious as to just how much air could be coming in from that tiny scoop. If you have noticed performance gains then it must be doing something right!

Prior to building that setup, did you ever try just going with a larger air cleaner & filter? Just curious.
I had a Moroso 14" on my side oiler for awhile and it breathed MUCH better than it did with the little 8" S&H and TP. Whenever I ever went to the drags I would run with the Moroso setup. Couldn't tell you what the difference was in my times though because I never raced it with the S&H and Turkey Pan on the engine. All I knew was that the engine ran MUCH better.

When I had my 70 Chevelle SS I screwed around with the hood a little (what can I say, I was young). I removed the cowl hood and rubber gasket around the air cleaner and replaced it with a copy of the 67 Corvette "stinger" hood. The small forward facing scoop never gave the engine the same amount of cold air that I was getting with the cowl induction setup, so I eventually switched back. It was amazing the difference in the way the engine performed.

Most of these types of things are all trial and error. Try different setups and go with what works. If your setup works for you (and obviously you're happy with it) then that's all that counts.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by TerrysSPF

Chas- I didn't mean to imply that it didn't work (sorry if you took it that way). I was just curious as to just how much air could be coming in from that tiny scoop. If you have noticed performance gains then it must be doing something right!

Prior to building that setup, did you ever try just going with a larger air cleaner & filter? Just curious.
I had a Moroso 14" on my side oiler for awhile and it breathed MUCH better than it did with the little 8" S&H and TP. Whenever I ever went to the drags I would run with the Moroso setup. Couldn't tell you what the difference was in my times though because I never raced it with the S&H and Turkey Pan on the engine. All I knew was that the engine ran MUCH better.

Most of these types of things are all trial and error. Try different setups and go with what works. If your setup works for you (and obviously you're happy with it) then that's all that counts.

Did NOT take it that way-we're all good.

Yes it's a trial/error thing. Previous to this I started with Stellings 'cause I thought I wanted to be an originality guy. Going fast was much more important than lawn chairs so I switched to Mr. Gasket taller paper elements for a while and noticed a slight power improvement.

Knowing that cooler air was the best thing and battling washout on heavy braking, I looked at Pro Stock intakes and adapted that idea to my ERA with Rube Goldberg engineering. Yeah, it ain't pretty but works for me.

BTW, My first new car was a '67 SS 396/375 and I ran the Olds W-30 snorkel hat like Buttrick shows with tubes to the inboard light holes. Worked real well and was slightly simpler than the rear facing hood you had. Both are effective to make the effort worth while.

[RACERAL]

Build one like the old school Fords used
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ld_air_intakes