I slapped a 6inch K&N air filter in my car. I was reading around and people were saying it won't fit or its not going to help much. I ended up taking the Radiator Shroud off and the hood closed just fine. I Was able to connect the front fan to the intake tube with zipties (changing to brackets soon)

Why did i do this? Because my engine gets to hot and i was hoping this will help. If it fits, it sits lol I just changed thermostat today, hopefully that'll help too.

Wondering with the Shroud off if that wont make to much air flow around Radiator instead of going into it.

(Radiator cap is off because i still have to burp it)

Its not pushing on Radiator or anything



Still have to vacuum out some more **** from the radiator, it was about half full of debris. I dont have air compressor

I dont know anything about cars, if im doing anything incorrectly, let me know lol i have to learn somehow.

 

Air follows the path of least resistance. With no shroud, there is no reason for much airflow to go through the rad.

 

So if i just cut out the area needed for airfilter to fit in the Shroud it would be fine?

 

My suggestion is that you put the stock components back on.

But clean out the radiator area and possibly replace the radiator to solve your cooling issues.

 

You could remove your radiator and carefully use a shop vac to clean it and your AC evaporator core. You would be surprised how much stuff gets into the radiator/evaporator fins.
Edited bad out information given.

 

Cleaning a radiator should not be done with pressurized water. The pressure will bend the fins up big time and then you have a real mess.

For your home AC they make something called "Coil Cleaner" that removes corrosion from the aluminum and enhances the heat transfer. Use this material to clean your radiator on the outside. Simply spray it on and the rinse it off with water flowing from an open hose, again no pressure. I also clean the condenser coil up front while I am at it. Don't let the Coil Cleaner sit on anything painted or it might damage the surface.

If you weld aluminum you should have some aluminum corrosion remover (mild phosphoric acid, I think) and that too will clean all the corrosion off the radiator. Again, don't let it sit on your paint very long as well.

Installing a screen under your Corvette 's radiator can slow down the accumulation between the Radiator and Condenser.

 

Not trying to be a bummer, but it's highly unlikely what you've changed is going to help cooling at all. In fact, it will probably make it worse.

The radiator needs the shroud, both when moving and when sitting still with the fan on. When moving, the air is not going to be directed through the rad properly. When sitting, the fan will just be pulling engine bay air in from it's tips and blowing it around. The shroud forces the fan to pull air from in front of it and that means it draws air through the rad.

The air filter? At best it will perform like the stocker as it's pulling air from the same spot as the stock housing. It probably will make a nice "air sucking sound" when you stomp the throttle though.

I'd recommend going back to the stock components.

Or if you want a "better" intake housing, look for a SLP kit to show up on one of the "used" sites. Not sure if you can still buy them new. I have one on my 88 and what it does is replace the filter cover.the new cover does away with the "louvers" and closes it up. then , there's an opening on the bottom that extended down to where it can get cool, fresh air with a bit of a ram effect. That's about the coolest air you're going to get. Don't expect to see a noticeable difference in power (or sound), but it is a little bit better design for our "bottom feeder" air inlet. I could only find a small pic on the net, but it will give you an idea of what it does:





For the rad, you can't beat the clean you get when you pull it out and give it a thorough wash. It also lets you clean the area properly and you can also straighten any bent fins, further improving airflow and thus; cooling.

I use Scrubbing Bubbles on my rads. I take them out, lay them flat and then soak with scrubbing bubbles. I give it about 5 minutes and then flip the rad over. I finish with a flush from an open ended garden hose. Then flip it back over to dry and while waiting, I straighten any bent fins and also pull out any pebbles/bug carcasses still wedged down in the fins. I use an assortment of dental picks to remove crap and a good bit of careful manipulation. I use a pair of needle nose pliers that I ground down nice and thin to straighten fins. If the fins are crushed, I use the dental picks to separate them and then back to my straightening pliers.

If you're feeling really "sporty", you can pour a weak vinegar/water mix into the rad and let it sit for a while. Then dump and backflush the rad. That's about a clean as you can get it without putting in a new one.

Also make sure the short little plastic air dam is still on the car and not broken and flopping around. It might not look like much, but that 2-3" piece of plastic forces more air up and into that opening underneath the nose.