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Lets see your junkyard air boxes

mattt

Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
3,810
I'll play devils advocate for a moment. The factory air boxes do a great job of keeping the air cool. But wow are they restrictive! They usually have a very small inlet.

Is a lot of warm air better than a limited amount of cool air? The massive air leaks into and out of our engine compartments is pretty high. Next time I'm logging data I am going to see what my AIT is with my boring open element K&N hanging off the throttle body.


Ding, ding, ding...winner! That is why I went with a factory air box that could be modified to allow more air coming in. There is nothing "Cold Air Intake" about any of the open type K&N filter in the engine compartment setups. They're sucking up that hot air under the hood.

Spend some time looking at different factory box setups and there are a few out there that can be modified to flow adequate air for any realistic Bronco power plant. The advantage to a factory air box is some/most have mounting provisions for the MAF and calm/quiet the air down as it enters the intake tract, vs. having to build a shield to keep fan wash away. YMMV....
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,229
Loc.
Upper SoKA
Search the "Deck-plate mod" to see how late model Tacoma drivers deal with the supposed excessive restriction of those air filter boxes.
 

Bronco_69

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
2,070
Loc.
Monette Ar
my airbox is not restrictive and gets cold air. mustang owners used to ditch them them for the "open" element but quickly realized that the hot air and fan wash hurt performance. i have ran 9 second 1/4 miles with a stock airbox and k&n filter.
 

markw

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
2,047
Hey ntsqd check out the NORRA thread, I posted pics of the Ford airbox you were looking at. Mark
 

toddz69

Sponsor/Vendor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 28, 2001
Messages
10,080
its really odd shapped so a measurement is not going to help. is there a particualr fit question that i can help you with?

No worries - I checked closer and know it won't fit my configuration. Thanks for your offer.

Todd Z.
 
OP
OP
hammer

hammer

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
1,359
bump. anything new? Had to start running higher octane fuel as I really noticed a lack of power at higher rpms in the heat this summer. Need to get this delt with before next summer. Problem is, I'm really running out of room under the hood. I'd like to utilize the plastic heater box inlet if possible. Seen it done but it was super custom/lots of work. Gotta be simpler way to do it.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,229
Loc.
Upper SoKA
It was detonating because of the hot air?

Sounds like you're going to have to move something to make some room. Lots of options have been presented. It's either that or pick a filter element and build a box to enclose it that fits somewhere.
 

Broncobowsher

Total hack
Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
34,835
bump. anything new? Had to start running higher octane fuel as I really noticed a lack of power at higher rpms in the heat this summer. Need to get this delt with before next summer. Problem is, I'm really running out of room under the hood. I'd like to utilize the plastic heater box inlet if possible. Seen it done but it was super custom/lots of work. Gotta be simpler way to do it.

Are you sure you are not running out of fuel? Clogged filter, weak pump?
 

73azbronco

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
7,796
pulled one off a volvo turbo of all things and an f250 superduty. Still tinkering... But in mean time, cannot get over how easy the stock offset aircleaner is. Some back of the napkin math shows you need about 1 ft square of filter element to support the horsepower. IAW I picked vehicles which had at least 5.7 liters of displacement.
 

Steve83

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 16, 2003
Messages
8,981
Loc.
Memphis, TN, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Had to start running higher octane fuel as I really noticed a lack of power at higher rpms in the heat this summer.
1) High-octane fuel has LESS energy, and is HARDER to burn than cheap stuff. So it will only contribute to a lack of power - it won't remedy that.
2) You're in Canadia - your summer "heat" doesn't compare to Arizona & Florida, where the stock air cleaners work. If you hear detonation, you can be sure it's NOT because of the air filter box. Look at the things bowsher mentioned, to start with. %)
 
OP
OP
hammer

hammer

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
1,359
Well, it fixed it.


Anyways, this thread is about air boxes. Not my detonation issues.

Carry on.

Edit - stock air cleaners pull air from outside the engine compartment. Which is why they work in Florida and Arizona.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,229
Loc.
Upper SoKA
Back the timing off a couple degrees and you can probably go back to the cheep stuff.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,229
Loc.
Upper SoKA
Why? Because after 3 pages of suggestions none of them is a perfect fit, yet you don't seem inclined at all to try any of the options to see if they might work with some mods? Modifying Broncos is a big, scary thing and not for everyone.
 
OP
OP
hammer

hammer

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
1,359
Wow.

Cause the thread is about air boxes. Not my fixed detonation issue. How many times do I need to lay it out.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,229
Loc.
Upper SoKA
How many air box suggestions do you need before you'll actually try something? The sense I'm getting is that you want the perfect solution spoon-fed to you.
 
OP
OP
hammer

hammer

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
1,359
This thread is 58 posts long. It has 5 suggestions. 1 is not ford efi. 1 is still pulling air from inside the engine compartment. So 58 posts and 3 suggestions, all of which involve relocating the battery or flipping the intake to the passenger side. So yes, i'm still looking at options.

Feel free to move along if you don't have anything to ad.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,229
Loc.
Upper SoKA
Nah, I'll continue to spectate and comment when I feel like it. Thanks anyway.

FWIW A complete list of constraints along with illustrative pics in the first post would help a lot. As opposed to shooting down suggestions one at a time because they don't meet previously undisclosed constraints, which leads to where you are.
 
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