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Snorkel air cleaner vs. Air box/plenum

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Hellfish, Jul 26, 2012.

  1. Hellfish
    Joined: Jun 19, 2002
    Posts: 6,626

    Hellfish
    Member

    I'm thinking about using a snorkel air cleaner to draw air from in front of the radiator in my v8 '65 Econoline. Anything has to be better than sucking hot air from inside the hot dog box.

    Is there any advantage to running an "air box" style snorkel ($125) over an OEM style snorkel ($50)? It seems to me that they are similar but with a larger intake snorkel and are aluminum (cooler). Not traditional, sure, but it's not like a prop the dog box lid so people can crawl inside my van to look at the motor. :) I'm looking for which of the 2 will improve performance the most.

    302 with a ~600cfm carb.

    OEM-style

    [​IMG]

    Air Box/Plenum style

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Mike VV
    Joined: Sep 28, 2010
    Posts: 3,029

    Mike VV
    Member
    from SoCal

    Either will do the job you need pretty much equally.
    The smaller carburetor AND...the fact that the carb. "isn't" gonna be wide open very often...says you'll be fine with the cheaper OEM "airbox".

    Just as you say, cool air from the front somewhere will go a long way in making your engine happyer thAn with the hot air the factory (Ford) gave it.

    Save the aluminum one for a car that has a more open area under the hood (as in, can be easilly seen)...!

    Mike
     
  3. I'd go with the OEM steel on a van. And it would be easier to modify if you had too.

    You could change the end to a different location or size if you needed.
     
  4. Holley says you get 1 HP for every 10°F of inlet air temp drop. Air-stream out of my radiator is often 145° plus - so its almost power for free....
     

  5. I think either will work just fine.

    Hell Ford used a similar setup on their T-Bolts.

    I'd go the cheaper route and modify an O.E.M. unit and put a 2nd snout on it to run dual inlets.
     
  6. One will work as well as the other if you are going to run a hose out to the front of the vehicle anyway.

    I personally like a tallish air cleaner like 3" minumum so if the OEM was not that tall I would go aftermarket but that would be the only reason for me to choose one over the other.
     
  7. Hellfish
    Joined: Jun 19, 2002
    Posts: 6,626

    Hellfish
    Member

    The dogbox in the Econo is pretty much the size of the engine, so I'm very limited by space. I think either will fit, but really tall might be hard.
     
  8. mrconcdid
    Joined: Aug 31, 2010
    Posts: 1,156

    mrconcdid
    Member
    from Florida

    you could always add a second snorkel to the OEM unit, and have dual air both from an airdam or grill area. simular to the dual set up on the 442 olds.

    Godspeed
    MrC.
     
  9. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    I have a buddy that buys all the cheap Ford Mustang snorkel A/Cs that he sees. He keeps them in stock for every car that he buys. I'm not sure that there is a performance boost but but he likes them and likes the look. He runs drier vent tubing to them and just mounts them below the bumper out in the air stream. It might not amount to a hill of beans but he's happy.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2012

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