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The flow difference on the newer, LT1 MAF's without the screen is very slight. You won't pick up any power. The newer ones were redisigned to flow better than the old L98 ones and don't benifit from the screen removal. I would leave it on, and you won't have to worry about having your $250 MAF ruined by a piece of debris or a slip of the tool you use to remove the screen.
As far as the L98 MAF's go, the screen removal makes them flow something like 15 or 20 percent better, according to some of the flow tests I've seen.
Re: MAF screen keep it or toss it? (okinawa86vette)
Leave the screens! I removed mine some years ago, but after getting into the tuning aspect of the vette I have read many studies WRT the screens Vs. flow I wish I had not. The screens are there to straiten the air over the filaments to give a more accurate idea on air intake. They do not impede the air intake. Several people on the tuning list I am on have found that a stock non-ported MAF with screens will flow over 1000cfm of air. Leave the screens.
Actually, its the opposite. The L98 style MAF's seem to work much better without the screens, while the newer, LT1 MAF's are meant to use the screen (only one in the newer ones) to straighten the flow. The newer ones are of a bigger bore, and flow much better than the older units.
BTW, at the track, I removed the screen on my 97 LT1 Trans Am and promptly picked up no time. While I have had no ill effects, if there's no gain, what's the point of wasting the time and possibly damaging the MAF?
Re: MAF screen keep it or toss it? (okinawa86vette)
Leave the screens in the MAF. They are not hindering me any that I can tell and I am still using a stock MAF with the screens. I saw one person at the Dyno remove their screens and they lost 5 horsepower on the run thereafter. Now, if that means the computer needed drive time to adjust, or if the screens helped, you decide. I did.