I have been wondering if this will help, hurt or make no difference at all in my 88 Bronco, 302L. I was planning on takeing metal dryer vent and re routing my air intake to the side of my radiator so that my Bronco has an unrestricted flow of fresh air(not right beside but a little away, not hot). It just seemed to me that where they located the air intake was a dumb choice. By doing this am I gaining any power?? I might have noticed a little when I tired this once before but then again it could have been all in my head. Am I gaining or hurting my gas mileage? more air, more gas I would think. Also since it is getting air from outside the engine compartment I would think it is better for the engine to get outside air instead of hot engine compartment air when in traffic?
And one last thing, when I did this before I placed the vent downhill from the filter and box so that any water should not get up to the filter and into my engine, am I right in my thinking or is this just a bad idea?
I welcome any opinions.
Thanks,
Kevin

 

you be on the money

 

Not sure when EFI was added to the Broncos....thought it was 87. Either way, increased airflow, especially cooler outside air, should improve your performance at least marginally. The only way you will get an increase beyond what the engine naturally takes in would be to change throttle/choke configuration depending on whether you have a fuel injected or a carburated engine. Then you would possibly see a change for the worse in fuel economy because more air at that point would necessitate more fuel. Any "improvements" in front of that point in the intake system is merely a reduction in restriction. The straighter and smoother the intake duct in front of the air filter, the more efficient the delivery of air to that point. If you can keep the air cool as well, so much the better.

In short...yeah right...too late for that....your theory is sound.

 

Your air box should be mounted un the drivers side inner fender, If this is correct then there is a factory part you can use to do this. the 87 trucks with a 300 six have a air intake tube that runs from the air box to the drivers side grill right beside the radiator the hole fore it is already there. This is what I did on my 86 when I put the new Sequintial Port Fuel Injection System on it. I gat mine from a Junk yard for $5.00

 

So would you do it???
Also I hear alot about these FIPK or whatever they are called air filters and they are really out of my budget I also like the idea of Ram Air. Is there a cheap(DIY) way to get Ram air or FIPK results??? I would like to keep what gas mileage I have but more power, more gas!

 

It certainly wouldn't hurt to get that air tube that Gacknar mentioned. I've seen it; it will give you a somewhat larger opening for fresh air, and since it doesn't sit directly on top of the radiator, you would think that the air charge was a bit cooler.

There has been a lot of discussion about the FIPK on this board, quite a bit of it being negative, especially considering the price. There are several homebrew solutions, including simply insulating the stock air box and hoses, which I did for about $5 using insulated tape from Home Depot.

The Broncos received EFI from 85-87, depending on the engine. The 302 and 300 got injected in 85-86, and the 351W went EFI in '87.

 

Check the results shown at www.performanceunlimited.com under "Project MPG". If its not enough to convince someone about the (in)effectiveness of the FIPK nothing is. FIPK....a "warm" air induction system. Way too much money for something that pulls warm engine compartment air into the intake. Say what you will about a redesigned system that partitions the filter off from the engine compartment, the air is still being drawn in from under the hood, not outside. Everyone knows that cool (and slightly damp) air is the best for an engine to be breathing.

My two cents.

 

So the Stock air intake temp was 144 and by simply insulating it it reduced the temp to 102! Now what I did is where the OE intake sits above the radiator I hacked it off as close to the box as I could leaving just enough room to hook up 4in diamiter dryer duct and ran that to the outside right beside the radiator so it has fresh air. I also noticed that where the lower intake opening where it's connected to the bottom of the OE box was only 1inch tall and maybe 6-8 inches wide, I hacked that and opened it up to about 3inches tall and 9-10inches wide. With doing that I have noticed a minor improvment in power, and my fuel economy is about the same as it has been(although hard to tell if this has helped or not) I am getting about 11Mpg. So if I insulate my box, hoses and any other intake parts like that it will keep the air cooler and help? What is the best thing to insulate it with(cheapest also) I like the $5 price tag of the insulated tape from Home Depot, wonder if lowes has any? I have also heard of disconnected the coolant lines that run through the throttle body to help improve power, is this a good or bad idea? It gets cold here in Ohio sometimes so would the coolant lines have to be hooked back up in the winter or not??
Thanks,

 

Lowe's didn't have the tape (at least not that I could find). The stuff I used from Home Depot had foil on one side, an 1/8" or 3/16" layer of foam, and adhesive on the other side. It came in rolls in a clear and orange bag for about $2.50/bag. It took me two bags. I found it near the water heater stuff if I remember correctly.

 

Do not remove the coolant lines from the throttle body. They are ther to cool of the throttle body becouse the egr valve dumps extreamly hot exoust gas in thru the upper intake right behind the throttle body. This gas is 600+ degres. Withot the coolant lines attached, the thottle body would heat up tramendously. And so would the intake around the EGR valve. Ford designed it to have them to cool the throttle body to lower the temp of the air charge. If you remove them it will get much hotter.