[!Gn|T|0n]

Hi everyone. This thread is to show off my new ram air induction set up on my 98 5.0 EL Fairmont Ghia and to urge others to attempt a similar thing. Mine consists of an extra 50mm wide length of tubing running from the front bumper where the cornering lamps are fitted on the NF and NL fairlanes up into my air box. It took about two hours to do without rushing and with all the tools we needed (dremel, orbital sander, power drill, sockets etc etc).

First we removed the airbox, snorkel and all the tubing to the throttle body.

With the wheels turned to the right, we removed the shroud to reveal the underside of the airbox support. Using the length of corrugated tubing which was cut at one end to match the taper of the back side of the front bumper we guestimated the approximate location and area of metal to cut out under the airbox. The metal was removed and smoothed with a dremel attachment.

The bottom of the airbox then required similar treatment. Firstly we fed the tube through the hole and mounted it flush behind the bumper. Then we cut the excess tube off and marked out a matching area on the under side of the airbox. This was drilled out and the tubing pulled through.

The bottom of the airbox itself needed sanding down such that the position of the tube coming up through the plate could be judged.

Then it was a matter of bolting everything back together and hey presto! I must say THE INDUCTION SOUND IS AWESOME! Giving her some gas with the bonnet shut now results in an audible slurp of air… and as for get up and go… well ladies, catch me if you can I can’t wait to get her on the dyno but I’ve got an underdrive pulley kit arriving in a week or so and perhaps some roller rockers before that happens.

A very quick, cheap and easy mod. Thanks again goes to Tibbo!

!Gn|T|0n©®™

 

[old_mate]

Nice one

Not too concerned about water??? Would do this to my Fairmont, but Im loath to cut holes in it. I'll just fit the BA pod setup with T series snorkel.

 

[Soxx]

A much tidier job can be done with a 3" (yours looks like 2" - 2.5") crummydoor intake duct and a rubber coupling from a gas job.
The rubber coupling sits perfectly in between the air box and inner guard, and the bottom can be hose clamped to the crummydoor duct.
Because the duct is 'L' shaped with a nice bend and is smooth on the inside it will flow than the flexi pipe you have used.

This is what I have done to mine. I have to say, induction noise is much the same however. I can't say I noticed any significant power difference either.

You should also seal the intake at the bumper because air will always take the easiest route. That way all the air going through that vent will go into the pipe, instead in the inner guard.

BTW, it is only additional CIA you have done, not 'ram air'.

Rick.

 

[RaceCraft]

The price was right= nadda ,, the piping we used 50 mm I/D is the left overs from an LPG install.. It normally covers the wiring and LPG copper lines going to the tank., and is suprisingly thick walled and durable.
3" tubing would not clear the ABS goodies etc under the fender, the last one i did (on a EF GLi) we used 3" pipe but found that it also caused the plastic inner guard to bulge out and rub on the wheel..3" would also only expose the same amount of surface area at the front due to the Fairmont bar insets... You can see in the close up piccies, the piping is nearly as big as the inside opening of the bar insert.

And the noise is greater now,, you can suck a sheet of paper to that cut-out now

The bottom line is it works a treat for $0

 

[danege]

Looks good Paul :thup:

I hope you didnt get Camp Drunk (tm) whilst doing it tho *looks at jim beam can* hehe.

Any power improvements, or just the noise?

 

[blueoval]

Very similar set up to my car Ignition. I'll have to post pics of my CAI.

 

[EFFalcon]

good work mate, certainly very nice for a invisable install
be interesting to see what sort of difference it makes!

 

[Soxx]

tibbo -
I did mine on the XH which appears to have a bigger opening on the bumper, and I also don't have ABS so the 3" pipe fit perfect.

Rick.

 

[Rollin]

I hope you didnt get Camp Drunk (tm) whilst doing it tho *looks at jim beam can* hehe.

ROFLMAO!!!! does "im never going to drink again!!!!" sound familar ignition???

 

[cogo_81]

Atleast you used all the right tools for the job, I find the jim beam can is the most versertile tool I have, I seem to use it on every job!!!

 

[TIKFD6]

Yep, looks very nice.
I have had somthine very similar for years and never had any water issues(and mine is under the car). I do agree with soxx, on the size of the tube, i have 4", its Big and lets in alot of air.
You might want to put some fly wire on the airbox end of the tube, as you will get alot of bugs.

 

[!Gn|T|0n]

Thanks for the comments all!

Nice one

Not too concerned about water??? Would do this to my Fairmont, but Im loath to cut holes in it. I'll just fit the BA pod setup with T series snorkel.

Yeah it’s always scary cutting into your car, but we took care with it and the dremel really helped to smooth everything out and make it nice and neat. I’ve thought about doing this mod for a while. At one stage I even considered fitting a windscreen wiper activated relay that closed a cover on the tube somewhere… but really I’m not too concerned about it. I just have to be careful. I have to be careful with the ride height too and I never scrape.

A much tidier job can be done with a 3" (yours looks like 2" - 2.5") crummydoor intake duct and a rubber coupling from a gas job.
The rubber coupling sits perfectly in between the air box and inner guard, and the bottom can be hose clamped to the crummydoor duct.
Because the duct is 'L' shaped with a nice bend and is smooth on the inside it will flow than the flexi pipe you have used.

This is what I have done to mine. I have to say, induction noise is much the same however. I can't say I noticed any significant power difference either.

You should also seal the intake at the bumper because air will always take the easiest route. That way all the air going through that vent will go into the pipe, instead in the inner guard.

BTW, it is only additional CIA you have done, not 'ram air'.

Rick.

Well I’m sort of restricted by the size of the cornering lamp aperture. Additionally I can always upgrade the piping at a later stage. The point is, this was an exceptionally cheep mod and I’m confident that although it could be “tweaked” it is a significant improvement over no hole. The air going into the GT snorkel behind the Fairmont grille is quite restricted. The grille is solid and there is only a small aperture between the grille and the bumper. This probably explains why I noticed a difference and you didn’t. I could add a funnel type piece before the opening of the tube and some mesh may not be a bad idea either. I must be suffering from RamAirIgnoranceSyndrome ™ .. please enlighten me.

Looks good Paul :thup:

I hope you didnt get Camp Drunk (tm) whilst doing it tho *looks at jim beam can* hehe.

Any power improvements, or just the noise?

:rofl: good one Dane! I think that’s going over my avatar! Yeah after fanging around tonight I think the results are noticeable as mid-range pull. Also bottom end seems to be more jumpy and the tacho certainly feels more “free” when flying clockwise :hehe2: I’ve also noticed that when cruising I’ve knocked about 1.5L/100k off my usual average and when going flat strap it sits 2.5L/100k over my normal average (more air means more fuel I guess) but I’ve only averaged these over an arvo of city driving… I’ll try to get a better indication of fuel consumption over the next week or so.

Very similar set up to my car Ignition. I'll have to post pics of my CAI.

Yeah man, post up pics of yours :thup:

ROFLMAO!!!! does "im never going to drink again!!!!" sound familar ignition???

Um vaguely :whoaa: c’mon man, I lasted 36 hours, that’s pretty good :insane:

Atleast you used all the right tools for the job, I find the jim beam can is the most versertile tool I have, I seem to use it on every job!!!

Yeah well I thought being close to Australia Day, I’d “Ozz it up” a bit :s5 We have plenty of uses for cider during our mods too

Yep, looks very nice.
I have had somthine very similar for years and never had any water issues(and mine is under the car). I do agree with soxx, on the size of the tube, i have 4", its Big and lets in alot of air.
You might want to put some fly wire on the airbox end of the tube, as you will get alot of bugs.

That’s good to hear. Yeah I think perhaps some mesh would be in order. Just to relieve some of the strain on my K&N.

 

[TIKFD6]

Also, you might want to put somthing around the hole that you cut it the gaurd(I used a length of garden hose, spilt down the middle), to stop the hose chaffing on the hole.

 

[Soxx]

Well I’m sort of restricted by the size of the cornering lamp aperture. Additionally I can always upgrade the piping at a later stage. The point is, this was an exceptionally cheep mod and I’m confident that although it could be “tweaked” it is a significant improvement over no hole. The air going into the GT snorkel behind the Fairmont grille is quite restricted. The grille is solid and there is only a small aperture between the grille and the bumper. This probably explains why I noticed a difference and you didn’t. I could add a funnel type piece before the opening of the tube and some mesh may not be a bad idea either. I must be suffering from RamAirIgnoranceSyndrome ™ .. please enlighten me.

Yep, don't get me wrong, I wasn't knocking it, just adding what else could be done.
Quick ram air lesson -
Ram air is the capture of a large volume of air and compressing it at very high speed.
Typically the intake mouth needs to be much much bigger than the TB, and then this 'compression' effect really only works at speeds over 160kph.
Small amounts of boost can be measured at these speeds, however to have any worthwhile gain, speeds well over 200kph are needed.

For some strange (and misleading) reason every CIA setup sold comes with some kind of blurb which states it is 'ram air'. This is just pure nonsense.

What they do do, however, and as yours will do, is let more cool air in into the engine, and that is a good thing.
That is also where most people find the power improvements, not from so called 'ram air'.

Rick.

 

[!Gn|T|0n]

Also, you might want to put somthing around the hole that you cut it the gaurd(I used a length of garden hose, spilt down the middle), to stop the hose chaffing on the hole.

I guess you have to see the install to tell. The hose is quite thick and robust. Also we rounded the edges of the hole with the dremel so I don't think the tube is going to be ruptured any time soon

 

[blueoval]

hehe. Soxx we dont want another repeat of that past thread I saw you get hammered with! We all know you are right buddy!:hy:

 

[!Gn|T|0n]

Yep, don't get me wrong, I wasn't knocking it, just adding what else could be done.
Quick ram air lesson -
Ram air is the capture of a large volume of air and compressing it at very high speed.
Typically the intake mouth needs to be much much bigger than the TB, and then this 'compression' effect really only works at speeds over 160kph.
Small amounts of boost can be measured at these speeds, however to have any worthwhile gain, speeds well over 200kph are needed.

For some strange (and misleading) reason every CIA setup sold comes with some kind of blurb which states it is 'ram air'. This is just pure nonsense.

What they do do, however, and as yours will do, is let more cool air in into the engine, and that is a good thing.
That is also where most people find the power improvements, not from so called 'ram air'.

Rick.

Cheers for that Rick. Sounds reasonable :thup:

 

[fordboy1996]

good idea, but how did you get around the ABS modular under the guard??

Dave.

 

[TIKFD6]

There is heaps of room, i have a 3-4" pipe going past my abs module.

 

[ELXR8ben]

I have mananged to install 2 x 90mm ducts and fiberglass them into my air intake on my bumber. Without touching the ABS Module