Homemade ram air

[98 3.8]

Many people have said it's not practical to use any of the holes in the from of the Camaro as an intake. I like to prove people wrong...

What I did is widen the holes that are behind the grill. Then I cut two 4" holes in the radiator shroud. This allowed me to route the 4" dryer tubing up under the shroud and into the bottom of the airbox. A prerequisite mod to this is the free ram air mod; the tubing goes right up into the bottom of the airbox through that gap. Oh, and those nifty little metal pieces that you see behind the grill are some sort of flange piece...I picked them up from Home Depot in the air ducting section. I think they add the finishing touch to the look.

EDIT: Writeup is now complete. You can view it at http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2130533/5










So I went for a 1.5 hour drive from home to school and I LOVE this thing. Not only did I feel more pull in the top range, but I felt the best difference in 1st gear! I am genuinely surprised at how well this is working and now think I could recommend it to you guys.
The other think I like is the fact that it makes cool sucking sounds and looks pretty sick.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a cheap gain in power and is willing to spend an afternoon working for it.

[98 3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

Couple more pics:

[flyfrito_SS]

Re: Homemade ram air

Why did you put duct tape on them?

[98 3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

To hold 'em in place.

[Cyborg]

Re: Homemade ram air

I like the idea of how you put them in the holes where the foglights are supposed to go (at least where they are supposed to go on my car (94 3.4)).

You used the stock air box/filter ect right?

I want to try something like this, but dont want to use dryer tubing, is there any other material about 4" in diameter, just so it isnt so flexible, and have all those ridges.

Also, on the 3.4 the air box is behind the headlight, would I be alright to use this, or should I try and eliminate it, and try to drop it straight down infront of, or behind the radiator? I just dont know about all the curves and how well the air would flow.

I guess Im off to find me a grill hey?

[98 3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

I'm not sure how well this would work on the early 4th gens. You'd probably have more luck just using a CAI with the way your intake is set up.

[01PewterDropTop]

Re: Homemade ram air

how much did it cost you, and how long did it take? do you notice a difference?

[98 3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

It cost me like $12. I bought 8 feet of 4" dryer hose and the 2 flanges you see behind the grill. Both items are in the ducting section at Home Depot.

Construction took around 6 hours. Most of the effort went into cutting the openings behind the grill. Not only do you have to cut through the foam there, but you have to enlarge two small holes in the metal from 1.5"X2" to 4" round. That cutting was the hardest part.


I think I'll take more pictures of this apart next weekend and do a writeup; there's been a lot of interest in this on ftv6 as well as some here.

Edit: and yes, I felt a significant difference in all gears. As far as I can tell, this is not only acting like a ram air setup, it also works well as a CAI. That would explain why 1st gear pulls so much harder. :D

[01PewterDropTop]

Re: Homemade ram air

did you so something about the duct tape?it looks like it closes them up? where is your windshiled fluid container

[98 3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

The duct tape was put there to keep the ducts in place. No, it's not closing it off...

I actually removed the duct tape today and nothing is slipping down. Next weekend I plan to make up a plate like this so seal off the bottom of the box.

[camaroz87]

Re: Homemade ram air

it looks pretty sweet but the duct tape looks like its defeating the purpose by covering it am i going blind or is that duct tape covering the whole hole on the left?>

[98 3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

NO! No duct tape over the air passage! That would make me too much stoopid!

Lol...I'm not sure why everyone thinks it looks like the tape is over the duct.

Here's another pic that hopefully won't fool you.

[camaroz87]

Re: Homemade ram air

oooooo ok i see it better aNGLE pic it blends in with the duct tape pretty good

[99camaro-3.8]

Re: Homemade ram air

it still looks like its covering it to me.

[T-Mill]

Re: Homemade ram air

I have a 96, but am getting ready to do the front-end swap, and I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while now, I already have the foam mold for my fiberglass ram-air box.... I think yours looks awesome though, the flanges behind the grill look bada$$. I wish I could hear the way it sounds, nice mod....

An alternative for the crinkly look of that kind of drier tubing is the other stainless steel drier tubing, the kind that's basically sheetmetal wrapped into a tube. It's really thin metal so it'd be easy to flatten out a little to fit, and they make bends for them also in various sizes... that's what I'm probably gonna try.

Awesome job...