The project is complete....and I am happy to report the gains are worth the effort. I made my own carb bonnett....It is 6 inches OD, I machined the inside edge to 5 1/8 to fit. It is 4 inches tall, with a semi oval port to accept 3 inch blue silicone hose (had on hand) Instead of fooling with a box and drawing air from the side......I went for the cowl area where the wipers used to live. The hose goes straight back....through the hole where the WW drive shaft used to be. The hole had to be enlarged and moved towards the drivers side a bit. I fabricated a very custom filter unit to fit in the cowl area using K&N filter and aluminum side plates....it has as much area as a normal 14 x 4 round filter. It is hidden by my cowl cover, which has black, perforated metal grills hand formed to fit the profile of the WW slots at both ends. Very sano appearance. A few pieces of armaflex foam ensure the filter won't vibrate against anything. The hvac is gone too....so air will only be drawn through the two WW slots....plenty large enough.

The results are as follows. Very nice power increase....especially around 3k....but noticable everywhere. The tires break loose much easier.

Carb body temp, checked after a 45 minute drive...mostly 50mph and below....was only 98 - 110 degrees !!!! I measured this within 1 minute of engine shut down....to ensure heatsoak would not skew the actual operating temp reading. Carb temp before was 140 to 150 ....and higher some days.... PS....my Qjet site atop a 1 3/4 inch aluminum riser with one custom cut heat isolation gasket.

And finally.....my temp gauge....it used to go up and down 5 or more degrees as the thermostat opened and closed. Now.....it is rock steady at 185.....and the electric fans never came on once....even at long lights. It was around 55 or 60 today....and before the mod, the fans usually came on at traffic lights (on mild days)

Oil temp was lower too....but I forgot to log that before and after.

Food for thought for the open air cleaner users.

 

Years ago I put a chrome open filter on mine just for looks......

Then one fall day I put the stock one back on. Car ran like the wind.....

 

[QUOTE=weimer20;1562654470]I can't remember what the exact figure is for H.P. increase per degree drop in temp......

I believe it's a 1% increase in horse power for every 11 deg drop in temps.....

 

That's a VERY nice looking engine compartment!

Uh, you forgot the pictures.

If I could, I would pull air from the windshield base, but there'e no room with wipers etc. on an '80. There is no room there. The stock hood and firewall panel almost touch. I'd have to switch to a hi-rise hood and I'd still have the HEI dist to work around. Cowl induction is the way to go if you can. I'ts not a very practical option for me. I'll post before and after measurements when I finish mine next spring.

 

SJ... Hit up Durango Boy...he has a proto type cold air induction on his 77... it's not pretty but with some imagination you could probably tweek it to your own look...

 

on my 77 i use a combo of s 1974 hood/cowl induction with a late 70's l82 air cleaner base with dual snorkl set up...i have no under the hood air comming in at all.....also i have mod. the dual snorkl set up to work evn better ...both snorkls come in the front like the old buick setup...i will be glad to send picks if you like...i dont post pics enough to remember how to do it..so i can just email them

 

I would post a pic.....but my engine does not look absolutely perfect like SEVN T6 !!!! I bet you worry about micro dust on that engine!!!

I would love to post a pic...but can't since I have not paid the 50 bucks. Called last year to pay...but they did not take cards on phone or through site.....I never got a check in the mail. Can this site take debit / cc yet???

Yes, you have the ditch the wipers for this one it is pretty darn trick for sure and worth loosing the wiper crap..... if you don't have a "all original" vette. Rain X works wonders!!

The hose from the carb hat to hole to access filter pretty much clears the distr less a minor indent. I am going to order some thin wall stainless tubing tomorrow to replace most of the hose. If I polish it......SEVN T6 would be proud!! I really should at least pull by finned valve covers and finish what I started on those a year ago. They are stripped and ready for final paint and polish out of fins.

 

Thanks Man! And unless something changed you don't have to pay to show pics......

Speaking of ditching wipers. I hid mine under a cowl cover & filled the holes with screen. The clean look......