Stainless steel lid? Bad idea?
10-04-2013, 02:43 PM
#1
Stainless steel lid? Bad idea? 
I want this, because it's cool and has all the holes I need, but I'm wondering if it's a bad idea because the metal will retain heat and cause IATs to skyrocket. If it's 90 degrees out like it often is here in SoCal, and I'm driving around for an hour, won't the metal be soaking up heat and causing all the air that gets sucked into it to heat up too?
If I'm wrong about this and it won't be a problem, I'm getting it.
10-04-2013, 03:46 PM
#2
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I would call this a show piece and keep it shiny for
when the hood's open. Use a plain plastic one for
actual driving. IAT mounted in the air cleaner
usually sucks regardless. Relocate it out of the engine
bay and don't look back.
when the hood's open. Use a plain plastic one for
actual driving. IAT mounted in the air cleaner
usually sucks regardless. Relocate it out of the engine
bay and don't look back.
10-04-2013, 03:56 PM
#4
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With the air moving through the lid, I doubt it would heat up much, if at all. All of the points the lid touches are plastic and rubber. Last time I checked, plastic and rubber do not conduct heat.
If it fits, polish that thing up and go. I think it would be unique and look nice.
If it fits, polish that thing up and go. I think it would be unique and look nice.
10-04-2013, 04:38 PM
#5
That's kind of what I was thinking... being that it is cooling down to 70s-80s here now...
With the air moving through the lid, I doubt it would heat up much, if at all. All of the points the lid touches are plastic and rubber. Last time I checked, plastic and rubber do not conduct heat.
If it fits, polish that thing up and go. I think it would be unique and look nice.
If it fits, polish that thing up and go. I think it would be unique and look nice.
You're right about the plastic and rubber not heating it up, but even so, being in constant contact with ambient hot air will usually heat up any piece of stainless, even if it is sheltered from sunlight and other hot metal. I'm no engineer though, so I'd have to actually test it to know what I'm talking about.
I would love to test fit it and drive around on a cooler day to see if it drives IATs up or anything like that, but I'm not sure I want to pay $100+shipping for something that I'm not sure I'm going to run.
Anyone else want to try it?
10-06-2013, 09:51 AM
#8
i came across this recently and wish id have found it sooner, looks cool and has ports for spray, i drilled holes in my slp for it. id do it. at 100 bucks if it turns out to suck in heat switch out in summer for plastic one.
10-07-2013, 11:00 PM
#10
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It shouldn't get hot. Nothing hot is going through it or connected to it so I dont understand how it would. People have metal intakes. I wouldnt be afraid to run this and it looks sweet!
10-08-2013, 07:02 AM
#11
The IAT tells the PCM the incoming air temp. The sending unit in the head tells the dash gauge the engine temp. Unless you're scanning the IAT report through the PCM while driving, you won't have any idea what it's doing.
In the early days of modern fuel injection, GM used to install the IAT in the intake manifold. The heat soak would cause issues.
Even though this lid is away from the engine, it's still under the hood of a hot engine bay. Highway speeds it'll be OK but sitting in traffic around town it'll provide the PCM some false elevated temperatures.
I wouldn't recommend or use it.
In the early days of modern fuel injection, GM used to install the IAT in the intake manifold. The heat soak would cause issues.
Even though this lid is away from the engine, it's still under the hood of a hot engine bay. Highway speeds it'll be OK but sitting in traffic around town it'll provide the PCM some false elevated temperatures.
I wouldn't recommend or use it.
10-08-2013, 09:59 AM
#12
It will not be as bad as you think.
SS does not conduct heat very well, in fact it is very slow. so it will not give up as much heat to the air.
As an example. If you took a 6" long piece of aluminum and made a 1" weld on one end and right away touched the other end, you will get a bad burn. Do the same with SS and it will feel stone cold at the other end. SS will not give up the heat to the air very quickly. Not as good as plastic, but far better than steel or aluminum. The thermal conductivity of aluminum is 204 and SS is 16. So you can see the energy move a lot slower in the SS. Plastics are like .5, so they are far better.
I may get one as I had to hack up my 102 to make it fit with my ducting, this I can add to it or remove and add to suit my ducting to the Harrop. If I am worried about heat, I could get coating put on the inside surface.
Something to think about though.
SS does not conduct heat very well, in fact it is very slow. so it will not give up as much heat to the air.
As an example. If you took a 6" long piece of aluminum and made a 1" weld on one end and right away touched the other end, you will get a bad burn. Do the same with SS and it will feel stone cold at the other end. SS will not give up the heat to the air very quickly. Not as good as plastic, but far better than steel or aluminum. The thermal conductivity of aluminum is 204 and SS is 16. So you can see the energy move a lot slower in the SS. Plastics are like .5, so they are far better.
I may get one as I had to hack up my 102 to make it fit with my ducting, this I can add to it or remove and add to suit my ducting to the Harrop. If I am worried about heat, I could get coating put on the inside surface.
Something to think about though.
10-08-2013, 10:33 AM
#13
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I just recalibrated my IAT, LS7 MAF with IAT built in, it was about 12 degrees off. Reading way hotter than its supose to be. The LS7 MAF has the IAT in the path of the airflow. Better design then having it in the lid. Car started running better.
10-08-2013, 12:37 PM
#15
It wont be as bad as aluminum because it dissipates head well it stays hot once it gets hot. Stainless takes a while to warm up. Try it and see which one works the best.
10-09-2013, 12:23 AM
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Paul Bell is dead on. I'm not saying its a huge issue, but if you think ANYTHING under your hood aint blistering hot you're living in fairy tail land. I bought one way back when, never installed it but sold it instead. The fit and finish isn't as nice as it looks in the pics once you get it in person.
10-09-2013, 12:29 PM
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My IAT harness went out in my C5 so I just bought a new IAT harness and sensor and relocated the IAT to inside of my Ram Air Box instead of before the radiator right in front of the motor where it was from the factory. Now the IAT is exposed to the same air my car is pulling in and it's far enough away from everything to not catch near the heat it was before, if any. Car has ran MUCH better and smoother since this change, especially in the blistering hot. I'd be leery of this lid unless you bought a ram air kit like the FTRA or SSRA kit and relocated your IAT sensor to that.
This is where my IAT used to be. This is a temporary plug until I order another air bridge.
Here's where it is now...
And here it is inside of the air box, this air box is open to fresh air, much like the FTRA or SSRA for you F-Body guys so I'm always getting accurate(enough) readings and not skewed readings.
This is where my IAT used to be. This is a temporary plug until I order another air bridge.
Here's where it is now...
And here it is inside of the air box, this air box is open to fresh air, much like the FTRA or SSRA for you F-Body guys so I'm always getting accurate(enough) readings and not skewed readings.