Need a lesson in air induction

[pathology knight]

hey everyone-
i'm new around here, so this might be a "no-brainer" question.

i got my 2000 bird a few months ago and would like to do some upgrades. i'm wanting to get headers but i don't know about the cat back. anybody know what size the stock pipe is? the car sounds pretty good right now, but i don't know if it's stock or not. i would assume so, but i'm not sure. if it is, i'm pretty impressed with the sound. Of course it's no "v-8 rumble"...but not bad none the less.

also, i'd like to check out some options for better air flow up front, but i'm not sure where to begin. I've seen talk about an upgraded "lid", but don't really know what that is. i'd also like to put on a ram air hood (i just really like them) so i want to check out better air options. Can someone give me a lesson and let me know what's a good upgrade?

thanks everyone!

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

seeing as a bone stock 3.8 is very quiet, i'm assuming you have some kind of catback or muffler already on....pics?

if you get some pacesetters, they will collect into a 3" y-pipe, and you can fab up your piping after that to be what size you need, you can go anywhere from 2.25-3" after that and be fine. i'm about to run full 3" myself and look into a cam.

as far as air induction, whisper lids are a great thing, but hard to come by...do some searching on here and you'll find a DIY shaved lid/silencer delete that works pretty well. i'm a big fan of the slp cai kit, which is a "ram-air" style duct that pulls air from under your car in front of your radiator and directs it to the lid. until i get my whisper, i have the shaved lid/silencer delete w/ the slp cai, ram air upgrade kit, and k&n filter...works great.

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

oh, and welcome aboard!

[Blizzard242]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

Stock pipes are 2.25in. Most catbacks increase the pipe size to 2.5 Flowmaster makes one, Magnaflow makes one, and if you have money to burn, Borla makes one. I would definitely go with Borla though but it's like a $400 price difference.

If you do however start upgrading your exhaust for performance, it's very important to do ALL of it. Any stock part is likely a bottle neck for flow.

As for the airlid, you can get a "Whisper air lid" do a google search, you'll find them. They get rid of the restrictive fins and opens airways, as well as rid your engine bay of the big black baffle that sits right behind the air lid. They are very very easy to install.

And definitely get a ram air hood if you can. Awesome appearance mod and it helps a bit with airflow.

Start reading, you're in the right direction by starting with intake and exhaust. If that gets you interested enough you could learn a bit more about engine internals and go from there. That is, if your interested in HP mods. This forum has taught me basically everything ever since I started modding my car. I haven't had to go anywhere else for anything besides PCM tuning.

[Blizzard242]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

lmao, I knew someone was gonna post while I was writing all of that.

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

haha sorry bro! but hey at least he's getting good responses

[venom3300]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

it ur exhaust is dual and the pipes come straight out the back (not turned doesnt on the end) it probably aftermarket....pics would help

the lid is the black plastic piece on top of the radiator and hold ur air filter

the other 2 answered everything else, and welcome aboard ;)

[pathology knight]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

hey thanks everyone.
i went down to the garage to check out something and i do have the stock manifolds still on so i'm guessing the exhaust is stock (not dual). it's a low mileage car, but i'm just guessing. when i get the headers and everything, i'll have the shop check the size and everything to be sure.

i'll check out a whisper lid...i haven't heard of those before. if i upgrade, do all those plastic "chambers" come off that's around the air lid assembly? that seems like a confusing piece of engineering! is the lid just a replacement of the upper lid?

anybody got some good pics so i can check out how to do this right?

[venom3300]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

cant mess it up, it comes with simple instructions. yes it is a replacement of the upper lid back to the throttle body. and yes the plastic "chamber" or "air muffler" comes off- if is designed to make the intake quite by warming and slowing the air, which is bad for hp

sorry no pic here...

[Blizzard242]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

I doubt the intake baffles are made to warm the air. If I remember the stock setup correctly, the IAT is before the baffles right? Wouldn't you want to keep the air temp in the cylinders as close as possible to the IAT for correct fueling calculations?

[pathology knight]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

thanks guys.
i took another look under the hood and i now see what's going on. i think i'll try and find one of those lids.

question though.....other than getting rid of the bafflers and stuff, is the Whisper lid better that the stock lid? is it taller or anthing or just made to replace the stock one without all the crap? couldn't i jsut remove all the tabs from the stock lid, take off the bafflers, and call it good?
i also noticed thatthe hose from the throttle body and the lid aren't round, but oval. what could i use to re-connect those if i go the 'ol "diy" way?

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

the whisper lid is in fact taller, has no fins to cause air turbulence, and a round direct shot into the throttle body that gets rid of those baffles, pretty much the best deal all around. the DIY way is to use pliers and snap off the fins under the stock lid, sand it smooth, and take out the air silencer and put a straight 3" pvc pipe (or whatever you rig up) in its place. i did that to mine with no problem and it works great until i get my whisper to replace it:

[IMG][/IMG]

and yes, that's my art signature on the 3" piping haha.

[pathology knight]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

this might sound dumb...but did you have to get new clamps or anything to go from the stock "oval" shape to the round shape of the pvc pipe?

i know the clamps will just bend cuz it's this metal, but what about the flex hose? or is it really as simple as cut a piece of tube and clamp it together?

[screamin 99]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction



here is my set up. I shaved the lid and found a 3"x3" rubber pvc coupler at home depot for $6. the coupler came with new clamps. You will need new clamps because the stockers are a one time use type of deal.

edit. welcome to the site pathology knight

[pathology knight]

Re: Need a lesson in air induction

umm....i'll see what i can go find.

thanks guys.