Pontiac Firebird 1967-2002 - What are the pros and Cons of "De-Baffling" your Ram air hood?

So I was looking into a few MODS and I ran across the term "De-Baffling" your Ram Air hood multiple times. I understand the simple concept that it brings cooler air into the engin bay..... But I was looking for a little feed back from you all that may have been there and done it already. Is it a good idea?

My only concern is that my 01WS6 is 100% stock and I use her as my "Weekend Car" if you will. So i'm very careful on what I do that cant be reversed.... or does it even matter? I may be over reacting on this one. haha thanks for any help you guys may have.

Water gets in easier in heavy rain situations. Some say they have lost engines due to this. You wont notice a performance gain from doing it. I took mine out to put some lights in there. Never noticed it at all but mine stays in the garage a lot and is afraid of rain.

Mine is a lot like your in the fact that its always in the garage and is scared of rain. haha
but I guess my real question is, Lets say I decide to do it..... How do i go about it? I went outside and was lookingat the hood. How do you get that thing out?!?!? lol

I just drilled out the rivets around the perimeter of the opening on the bottom/back side of the hood and the baffles fell right out.

Debaffling smooths the flow of air through the hood, but its probably not worth it unless you also seal the hood to the airbox w/ a thick foam weatherstrip. I believe theres also a bead of adhesive holding the baffles to the inside of the hood in addition to the rivets, if that hasn't dried out and cracked by now, you might have to do some prying to break it loose after the rivets are removed.

I agree that sealed and at speed it would probably show some gain. Not enough to account for anything but since it's so easy to do there's really not a good reason not to do it either. Except the rain when applicable. And that has to be an extreme circumstance in my opinion.

I didnt know they had glue on them. Mine must have dried like you mentioned cause they just came right out.

[QUOTE=kyoytey1693;16397788]I agree that sealed and at speed it would probably show some gain. Not enough to account for anything but since it's so easy to do there's really not a good reason not to do it either. Except the rain when applicable. And that has to be an extreme circumstance in my opinion.

QUOTE]

I agree here I've done both of the the ws6s ive owned. bottom line it CANT hurt I rarely drive mine in the rain also.

I dont know about the killing a motor to water thing. Even more so if you are running a clossed lid intake. I mean think about it. There are a ton of guys running SLP and Raptor hoods with the filters built into the openings.

I've been reading, and I think I'm going to do the baffle mod with my WS6 and the Volant. Reason being, for enough rain to get into the engine and hydrolock it, you'd basically have to be submerged. The filters (on my intake at least) aren't paper, and are a bit oily so they will stop moisture from getting through. As I've also read, the engine gets so hot, whatever drops might get in will probably evaporate very quickly. Avoiding puddles might be a good thing to do, but other than that, I don't personally see any reason not too unless you want to be super careful.

I just drilled out the rivets around the perimeter of the opening on the bottom/back side of the hood and the baffles fell right out.

Well this sucks, I dont have any tool to drill out the rivets.... But thank you all so much for the replys. If I can find a way to drill out the rivets then I will do this for sure.

You also have to think if water does make it past the filter it would have to make it down the intake tube, past the maf, down the intake manifold, past the valve and cylinder heads, and into the chamber. At this point it should only be vapor and would not do any damage. Keep in mind we are talking about water drops from rain not running into a pond.

I noticed when I daily drove mine that when it rained hard water would be sitting on the metal plate that's under the air filter. What I figured was that there would not be enough suction to pull the water into the intake from there.

The only thing that I need to do is paint inside the nostrils where the baffles left a white ring.

Pros: Lower IAT's. Will give you a little at the track or at high speed. Cons: Your car will no longer be 100% stock and it would be hard to put it back. I wouldn't worry about water.

I dont know about the killing a motor to water thing. Even more so if you are running a clossed lid intake. I mean think about it. There are a ton of guys running SLP and Raptor hoods with the filters built into the openings.

Im running a raptor hood that seals to my filter setup, all the way around my big a$$ filter. Been DDing this ride for about 2 years thus far and havent had an issue yet.

Here is the best pic I have of the filter setup
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/firemech21/IMG_1962.jpg

If your interested in seeing the underside of the hood let me know and I can snap a pic or 2 for you.

^^^ shortest distance of air flow.../ Ram Air... cool ambient air compressed on the leading edge of the bumper at a minimum designated speed that is forces said air into specific located air inlets located on a hood ... i say drill away! is won't help ,, last known real ram air was the LT1 Firehawks

Im running a raptor hood that seals to my filter setup, all the way around my big a$$ filter. Been DDing this ride for about 2 years thus far and havent had an issue yet.

Here is the best pic I have of the filter setup
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/firemech21/IMG_1962.jpg

If your interested in seeing the underside of the hood let me know and I can snap a pic or 2 for you.

Love the setup, If you wouldnt mind sending me a pic or two of the underside i would love to see it.

Here are a few pics of my setup, granted its slightly different due to the raptor hood.

I cant say there was any drastic performance difference, but when the hood is closed you can for sure hear the air getting sucked into the system. Also while driving if you get onto the throttle you can hear the intake as well.
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/firemech21/IMG_1983.jpg

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/firemech21/IMG_1984.jpg

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x462/firemech21/IMG_1985.jpg

Dang, Thats a sweet setup! I'm going to look into doing this for sure with my TA, Quick question....
If I buy a new SLP Lid (or whatever lid I buy) along with the LS1 JAAM Mod then would it be worth buying a Smooth Bellow also? I mean If I'm going to do this I always want to try and go top of the line and do it right.
"Firemech" On a side note.... your TA is so clean! Love the engine bay also. Nice work on that car.

Dang, Thats a sweet setup! I'm going to look into doing this for sure with my TA, Quick question....
If I buy a new SLP Lid (or whatever lid I buy) along with the LS1 JAAM Mod then would it be worth buying a Smooth Bellow also? I mean If I'm going to do this I always want to try and go top of the line and do it right.
"Firemech" On a side note.... your TA is so clean! Love the engine bay also. Nice work on that car.

Thanks man, excuse all the bugs in the intake filter. They fill it up quickly.

Dang, Thats a sweet setup! I'm going to look into doing this for sure with my TA, Quick question....
If I buy a new SLP Lid (or whatever lid I buy) along with the LS1 JAAM Mod then would it be worth buying a Smooth Bellow also? I mean If I'm going to do this I always want to try and go top of the line and do it right.
"Firemech" On a side note.... your TA is so clean! Love the engine bay also. Nice work on that car.

The smooth bellow is purely for looks. You MIGHT gain 1hp, if that. I went with the eBay one, half the price and the same thing. It does look a good amount better however, regardless of the (non existent if any) hp gains.

There's a writeup on here detailing a $5 "smooth bellow" from Home Depot. Don't spend $60 on that.

Link: http://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-external-engine/1231478-fernco-home-depot-lowes-etc-smooth-bellows-pros-cons-2.html

Sweet, thanks for that little tip and link.

Ive removed the baffles long ago. it does make a difference on the roll. anywhere above 30mph its an improvment. I would do it.. dont be a wanker!

Trust me I want to do it, I just dont have a drill or anything to drill our the rivets on the inside of the hood..... DANG IT! lol