Well after trying the K&N airfilter and the ZO6 airlid, and before that the Swiss Cheese modification to the stock airlid using the paper filter, and finally the Zip Tie Mod, I broke down and bought the Blackwing.

The quality of construction is all everybody says it is. Nothing short of remarkable. The instructions are average at best. No pictures. The Blackwing looks like it should have been stock equipment on the car. It's exposed surface area is enormous in comparison to the ZO6 airlid hole. It looks better than the Zip Tie mod and the Swiss Cheese Mod (Swiss Cheese Mod is my moniker for the technique of boring holes into the stock airlid in an attempt to allow more air to enter it)

Install wasn't bad, but I have been tampering with my airlid repeatedly now so I knew my way around it.

Careful disconnecting the MAF plug, its tough to get off. Don't attempt to pull it off. Pry it off with a large blade screwdriver and a twist. For reference I went to http://ls1howto.com/index.php?article=19
Only things I did differently were, I removed the lid from the stock airbox and the filter before removing anything else.. I didn't remove the AIR hose from the elbow, I just removed the entire elbow from the stock box with the hose attached. I then removed the elbow from the hose by moving the teeth of that weired clamp sideways so they would sort of slide and allow the clamp to be removed.

A little WD40 comes in handy to make rubber grommets easier to deal with.

From reading here I knew I had to be careful of the MAF connector wires, whatever you do don't break one of these. And be wary of air leaks.

I have put 34 miles on the car so far after the install. 17 up, 17 back. Was doing this at night so I could only open it up here and there. Already the car seems to breath much better and pull harder. The Corsa exhaust note is deeper and the throttle response seems better. The car is definitely getting more air.

My only regret is the money I spent on the ZO6 lid and K&N.

I understand the relearn process takes about 50 miles. Blackwing seems to be an improvement not only over stock, but over the other alternatives I had tried. WIth the ZT mod, I was always afraid of a gap or a leak between the filter itself and the back or side of the airbox that it was secured to and thus getting some trash into the intake alongside the filter.

 

:iagree:

I did similar to you, except used Amsoil foam filter. Regret that purchase as well and should have put that money towards the Blackwing, but knowledge is gained from experience :)

I had to make my own adapter since one didn't come with the filter I bought off a forum member. Wonder if Blackwing will sell me an original?

:cheers:

P.S. The biggest thing I noticed right off was the smoother throttle response.


[Modified by TopCat, 12:44 PM 3/12/2004]

 

It's just a short piece of blue silicone hose. You can probably get something like it at your local speed shop. BTW, I did two dyno runs (different dyno's , different days) but after installing the Blackwing, I gained 14 HP and 16 TQ at peak. :thumbs:

 

I got that piece. EB20003 sent me this link that shows the adapter I need. EB says he's got it (love this forum!!!), so I'm gonna try to make a deal with him and get it :thumbs:

Here's the link:

http://ls1howto.com/howto/c5/blackwing/pics//07_mafadapter.jpg

 

thanks for the post, EB20003 :cool:

 

Here's another good link for people doing an install on an early model C5:

http://97vette.com/howto/blackwing/index.html

I hope anyone thinking of trying to save money by using a Z06 airbox or doing the swiss cheese (I tried it) or the zip tie (did that one, too) will skip all that and go with the Blackwing as the best value. Anything with the stock airbox is a waste of time since it's design was leaned more towards noise reduction than performance.

The Blackwing is the least expensive product you can get for real HP gains ($200/20HP = $10/HP). Of course, actual gains will vary, but you get my point :thumbs: Also, Donaldson (Bllkwng mfg) is a MAJOR filter mfg and makes high quality products!!

 

In stead of WD 40 on the pieces to put together as it is messy...Try Windex it is slippery and drys quickly.. :cheers:

 

Between the blackwing and the Stingers on my dad's car, I could have sworn it picked up liked 20 horses (I know it didn't though). I had done the zip tie mod on his car a while ago and while it was better than stock, the blackwing still beats it hands down. I'm thinking bout cutting a hole in the shroud underneath it to allow more air in, but then I got to worry about surging and water intake.

 

I did the Blackwing and Stingers with in a couple weeks of each other. Wow, what a difference. If anyone asked I'd say do the Blackwing first as I believe it gave the most performance gain. But I'm sorry I waited a year to do them. Definitely the way to go! :thumbs: