Engine air intake
 

I own 2 of these V8 conversions and I have been told by my "Tuner" that I need to consider redesigning the cold air intake system before we proceed with component part choices etc. The one car has a 5.0 HO intake with the throttle body, maf and a very small air filter out the side 90°. The other one has a 5.0 Cobra intake with a 45° bend and the throttle body maf and a larger air filter stretching out to the left of the alternator, the latter is somewhat similar to what I have seen other people do. I told my "tuner" this but he was not impressed. He says maybe piping through the radiator core support and the filter in front of that. I don't really know how I would do that. I don't want to cut up the car but I would like it to perform better Some sort of a cold air box might be doable. The one has a Simpson fiberglass hood and I really don't want to cut it up and add an additional scoop. The other car has a stock hood and is the perfect sleeper. If I had a carburetor there would be a round open air air cleaner sitting on top of it and probably wouldn't give it another thought. I am open to suggestions, I realize that there will always be compromises. What say you? -Brad

You don't say which model is involved. With my NC swap I found a hole in the radiator mount sheet metal and mounted a K&N ahead of the radiator. As far as that goes, you have already modified the car with an engine swap. Why worry about an additional mod? It certainly won't affect the car's value.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.v8m...5905919dac.jpg

NC's have acres of room for the intake solution compared to either the NA or NB, although the NA is the worst because of the flippy headlights taking up a lot of room. I have both an NA and NB 302 conversions and haven't really found a good solution for the NA. It has a Racing Beat bumper and I'm leaning toward a duct forward and down with a cone filter behind the bumper cover. The NB seems happy with the typical airbox solution that you have seen, stuffed in the right front corner. IAT gauge shows near ambient when moving. Let us know what you come up with, not much action on the forums nowadays.

Yes, I'm sorry about that. Both cars are NA's. One is a 1990 and the other is a 1993.

Well yes that's true about the car's value but I just don't want to have to cut up my Simpson hood or the stock hood on the other car. I would like to keep it as close to a sleeper as possible, at least until the engine starts. LOL.

OK guys. I see that there are several threads discussing this from the past. Good information. I am now curious to learn "which ways are the best" vs "this way didn't work too well forget it". I might be pushed in the direction of building a closed air box to incorporate the bottom and sides of the filter, then cutting a hole in the hood so that the filter is open to outside air through the top. I would then need an air scoop of some sort. I won't do this with the hoods that I have. Those would be saved. I will buy another one to experiment with. I am just now starting to put my laundry list together of things that I would like to do to further upgrade the car. Things like proper wiring of the eggbeater (read loud, VERY LOUD) fuel pump so that it runs under computer control etc. I would like some feedback on that as well but I will post that to another thread. Thank you all .-Brad

One other quick thought. It looks like I could gain some real estate if I move the evap stuff to the drivers side. Would this be practical or very easy to do?