HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Ok today we had a monsoon. My ram air hood does not have the functional airbox, instead it just had open airflow to the motor. I had some surges today driving, figured it was due to water getting somewhere in my engine bay, but no clue exactly what was directly affecting it. It is not a factory WS6 hood, and i am scared to get the airbox because rain would be shot right into the intake. What part exactly is supposed to keep rain out of the air filter on a true WS6 intake? Also, I may need to cover this hole up until I get something better, any suggestions?

7901 WS6

iTrader: (6)

I think stock hoods had a lil mesh screen and also a small baffle behind it, not a 100% sure only detailed 2 or 3 when I was a detailer

xXSilencerXx

iTrader: (4)

Stock hoods have baffles to keep water out. I'm taking mine off as the LS1's don't seem to get much water in without the baffles.

nddragon01

Not sure about the stock hoods, but my Mecham hood doesn't have the baffles just the screens for bugs and leaves, and I never have any problems with water getting in. Then again, I have the functional airbox, so maybe not having that part on the car is causing you to suck water into the engine with the throttle open?

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Yeah, I really want to get the airbox, but I can't find one cheap enough to justify getting it. I dont think there's gonna be a performance change at all really. GMpartsdirect seems to have it for around 180, but thats 180 that could go towards headers. My dilemma.

nddragon01

So are you saying that you have no airbox, no air filter, no nothing keeping rain, dust, road salt in the winter, and insects in the summer from entering your engine? Good luck with that motor in the future!

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

I have a BBK TB, trickflow inlet elbow, and SLP CAI. I am saying I dont think the airbox will increase or decrease performance at all. My hood has more open flow than a stock WS6 hood. I think more water will come in through my hood than a normal WS6 hood. Is there anything I can put on the filter or after it to prevent water from coming in, if I was i was to get a true airbox?

But yes, anything in the air is entering my engine bay right now

nddragon01

The filter itself will absorb hold the water out of your engine, not to mention all the rest of the **** out in the air while you are driving around! There's a reason companies put air filters on the cars, and it's not to restrict airflow (though that is a negative cause of them)! It's to keep things like bugs, dirt, and water out of your engine! I've never heard of something as dumb as running a car without any sort of filter on it!

Yes, you will lose a small amount of power (maybe 5-10 horses) when using a filter vs. not using any filter at all. Run a K&N or Blackwing or some other type of high-flow filter. But saving your engine over the long run keeping **** out of it and not having to buy another is a huge gain over the small amount of power lost. Ever look at your engine bay and see how much dirt builds up in it? Notice you have to clean it to keep it looking nice? You're getting the same dirt inside your engine as well without running some sort of filter. I do believe anyone on here will agree that running a filter is what you should be doing.

Again, good luck with that engine, for as long as it lasts.

LS1LVERBULLET

Stock hoods have baffles to keep out rain. Some people cut them out with no issues, I think the overall risk is pretty small. In "monsoon" conditions, I personally would want the baffles, here in MI we don't get much more than your average rain storms.

K&N's have shown no gains when dyno tested against a paper filter on these cars. They are however reusable, and I would think the cloth would protect against water better than paper if you choose to cut the baffles out. More or less a personal choice for us f-bodders.

In a true ram air setup, when the intake is sealed to the inlets in the hood it creates a vaccuum. Yes, your hood does let air into the engine bay, but it is allowed to travel all over as opposed to being "rammed" into your intake (hence ram air). According to research the vaccuum is not created until at the very least speeds of 50+ mph. People with sealed boxes usually feel the car pulling harder at highway speeds, but this is hard to prove on a dyno due to wind factors. I would put my money towards headers, as you can't realistically expect more than a very generous max of 10bhp from the box, and only then at higher speeds.

I would ABSOLUTELY DEFINITELY POSITIVELY reccomend running an air filter if you want your engine to last. $12 for a cheap fram now or 100+ times that for a new engine later? Seems simple to me.

Hope that helps...

LS1LVERBULLET

I may have mistook you...

If you're planning on buying a stock ram air box, that won't be true ram air. The WS6's just had a raised air box, not a vaccuum seal. I was thinking of the BGRA, which seals the hood to the box.

nddragon01

Thank you! Finally! Another voice of reason!

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Wow. You guys are way off. I HAVE an air filter.. just not connected to my hood, because i have an SLP Cold Air Intake


Which airbox would I need to make my car true ram air? Would I be better off with an LS1 Lid, rather than an LT1 WS6 airbox, and replacing my SLP CAI?

LS1LVERBULLET

Ok, now that the air filter mess is cleaned up...

To have "true" ram air you would need the WS6 style airbox (raised), and then something like the BGRA, which hasn't been made for a few years. You may be able to find one floating around, but they were pretty pricey for what they were. BGRA stands for Brian Green Ram Air, search the forums and you'll find old links to sales sites if you want a better idea of what it was.

BGRA can be easily mocked for pretty cheap, if you've got some tools and patience. The basic idea of the kit is to seal the underside of the hood to the airbox. Here is a link for some ideas (LS1 style):

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-external-engine/488300-replacement-bgra-ws6-ram-air-spacer.html

I'm an LS1 guy myself & I'm not sure how different the LT1 setup is, but this should help get you started.

My recommendation... If the LS1 whisper type lid fits, do that. You can get one from sponsors for under or around $100, and you'll probably feel a touch of difference. Don't be too optimistic about power gains though, it's not really much of a bolt on, just cheap (relatively) and easy. If you're really hot on the idea of functional ram air, get the WS6 box and fab up some kind of seal, to me it wouldn't be worth the money, time, and/or effort. I say throw a lid on for kicks, and put the rest towards something that you're really going to feel... you mentioned wanting LT's... plus you already shelled out a buck or two for the CAI, why not keep it? Either way you go you'll be netting about the same gain, it's just a matter of preference and determination. Like I said, if you really have a hard on for "real" ram air, no reason to give yourself blue *****.

Hope this helps.

nddragon01

Then why didn't you say you had an air filter with an air box in the beginning and save all this posting? An SLP Cold Air Intake is just the metal box piece to direct air up into your air box from the bottom. An SLP Cold Air Package ("Flow Pac") is the one that includes the filter and air box lid. Maybe if you had been correct with your terminology, we here would not have been so "way off."

IMO - save your money for putting toward something else. The money spent trying to get a true "ram air" system will be more for just saying you have a true "ram air" system. The performance gain will be very subtle.

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Not sure if you haven't noticed yet. I drive a 97 LT1. I think you are thinking of the SLP lid. I have the SLP twin cold air intake for LT1s. I did in post 7.

nddragon01

That would be my bad.

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Ok, so, I want to compare my hood to original WS6 hoods.. Where can I find a picture of the baffles on an original WS6 hood? If anyone could take a picture, that would be great.

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

heres a few pics of a hood i just bought off ebay... its supposed to be an oem WS6 hood that was a reject due to a small dime sized hole in it over on the drivers side and was thus never installed on a WS6 car,.. its 10 years old and the guy who had it said his buddy worked at the place they were made for GM and got several of these "rejects" after they stopped maknig the hoods.....

i think the baffles they are referring to are in the pic of the niside of the hood, where the airbox would be... you can see small passthrough holes on either side of a large peice of fiberglass... i'm assuming that is the baffle...





I got the hood for $307.50 and am going to pick it up in michigan this weekend. My body shop already quoted me $600 to repair the hood (fix the little hole, and fix the corners as they have a little bit of chipping) fit it, paint it, install it, as well as repainting the roof behind the t-tops and the headlight doors....

heres a photoshop i did of a ws6 t/a by adding my black ZR1's to it... the car should look great when done in march or april (its in the garage right now for the winter, i don't want to get the hood/etc painted until the weather is nice)

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

When you can, can you get a closeup pic of the inside of the intake on the hood? Mine looks WAY more open.