Yeah a shield is easy enough to do with sheet metal , on my truck i have my filter over where the air box was , it gets plenty of air there when the truck is moving , the best way to tell your air intake temp is to use a digital thermometer in the air intake tube between the filter and TB , mine was just a few degress above the ambient outside air temp at cruising speed witch was cooler than the stock system....

 

Here is mine.....Just have a few more tweeks to do...

 

I would have just put the filter where the stock air box was , you wan't a straight short tube from the filer to the TB , no turns , then duct up to it , or just build a big box out of 0.32 aluminum sheet metal , you may need to move the radiator over flow container , box from the fender and fender well up to the top of the hood , leave the front open so it can get air from around the headlight and fender well , you may wan't to open that up some , rubber on the top of the sheet metal to seal to the hood when shut , then you don't need a top , this should help , remember when the truck is running down the road theres plenty of freash air under the hood ...

 

Don't hate me lew, but there is a neat test here that shows that the lack of a heat shield may yield significantly warmer air. granted this is a diesel with no filter at all which may explain why he is seeing such high temps.

Intake Air Temperature Experiment - Oilburners.net

Here is another test done at various speeds using a unshielded filter with a 460. This one shows results that are closer to what on would expect. A definite increase in temps, but by 60mph not a big deal.

Project MPG - Intake Temperature Comparison

 

Do the test your self , need to take the temp from inside the air intake tube , my 2004 5.4 with the factory air box was hotter than my 95 with a cone exposed filter , just by a few degress , but my 95 has good ventalation with a cowl hood , also has a 160 thermostate , thermometers don't lie

 

Could just be a problem with the intake setup on the tritons. comparing an 04 factory to a 95 custom intake is not at all an apples to apples comparison.

Both tests shown above use 1 truck, change the intake, and retest. You are right though lew, it would be best to do the test myself.

 

Well think about it , the 2004 gets its air from out side , but the under the hood temps are much higher with a 195 vs a 160 , thats 40 degress , then with no ventalation it just makes it worse , but the main thing is a factory air box wont let enough air in on a high performance , i think everone can agree on that ...but yes do the test your self , the main thing i learned is if you keep the under the hood temps down it keeps everthing cooler , air box , intake tube , TB , it makes a big difference....

 

And if you do the test the probe can't touch the air box or tube , it must just measure the air temp , if it touches the tube or box the readings will be much higher...

 

Great info there Lew....Except I have a lift off....No inner support....and I have removed the overflow resevoir, etc....Relocating everything....

I may swap the sides, and have it on the inner side of the frame...

 

Ok, long post here, but I'm trying to explain my reasoning for my theory.

the PO had a 160° T-Stat in my truck when I bought it, I removed it because I've heard it will keep the engine from entering closed loop, and can also contribute to accelerated engine wear.

If you look at thermodynamics of an engine and ignore charge density (just for the sake of explaining the principle), the cooler your T-Stat, the more heat is transferred from the combustion chamber, through the cylinder walls, into the coolant, and out via the radiator.

The is essentially energy loss. The energy is going to want to take the path of least resistance. If you run a warmer T-Stat, your block stays warmer, and less heat will be absorbed into the block. Less heat removed from the gasses in the block means more heat in the cylinder. More heat in the cylinder means more pressure. More pressure pushing on the piston means more go.

I know this isn't the most important thing, and there are many things that affect engine performance much much more than than heat being absorbed into the block from the cylinders, but it is still is something. Ideally it would be best if your heat didn't get absorbed into the block in the first place, it all would just stay in the exhaust gases and exit that way.

IMHO, running the engine warm, but keeping under-hood temps cool would be ideal. Do you have any experience with header wrap material or other insulators to keep heat from leaking into the engine bay?

 

Sounds good there on the theory....Mine has a 195* t-stat......so yea....


And no, I haven't personally used wraps....Going to though....

And I need to cut out the slots at the top of the hood....It'll bring cool air in to the whole bay...

 

I don't use header wrap on my truck , but have used it on turbos with heat shields and header wrap , they get really hot , theres alot the goes into everthing , some of the best times i put down with my truck have been in the heat of the day , sometimes a night when is cool and the air is dense i thought its got to run faster , but sometimes 2 tenths slower , i guess the air is to thick ?? lots of condensation running off the roof after a run , you tell me ??

 

water is a funny thing. Water injection could potentially increase cylinder pressure because the heat would convert the water to steam. The problem is that converting water to steam requires energy (a lot of energy). Of course that's why you freeze your *** off when getting out of the pool, and that's also why a "swamp cooler" works. This cooling effect drops peak cylinder temps, and IIRC can prevent all of your fuel from burning completely.

This is purely a guess, so I may be so far out in left field that I'm in the parking lot, but if you're getting condensation it would seem that the day was plenty humid. Temps start to fall and the airs ability to hold water decreases. The air has so much water in it that it starts condensing out on everything. The water may be what's causing your problems.

If you did that run at 6-7 am, when the temperature is climbing, it might be possible that your ¼ mile times see an improvement, because you are running when it's cool, but the air's capacity for what is on the rise, so it is less than saturated. This goes along with what I've read is the best time of day to purchase fuel with the least amount of water in it (I don't know how much it matters, since the tanks are all undergound anyway). Once again, this is nothing more than a guess. I often feel that my truck looses some of it's pep on muggy days, but I have no data to back that up.