I have a 72 454 in my 58 Caddy. Will it run better with a cold air intake system. I've been looking at them. I need a new air cleaner and I got to thinking about the hot air that gets sucked into the carb. What do you think? I know standard air cleaners sitting on top of carbs has been used for years. Will I gain any performance from this or is it a waste of money. It seems that all that hot air being sucked into the motor isn't doing anything any good or am I wrong?
Depends on how hot the air actually is that it's sucking. If you gain considerably colder air intake, you bet it's worth it. On my OT beetle, I had the decklid closed and on the highway it would sputter and run rich. After propping it open a bit with a tennis ball, it's never had the problem again. Intake air temperature does matter, for sure.
Depends on the "cold air kit" you buy. Most of those cheap ones aren't really cold air kits....they are just a shiny "air filter relocation kit" and probably hurt performance. They probably don't make a true cold air kit for your application....you will have to build it yourself. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
You should be able gain somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1% peak power for every 7°C reduction of the intake air. Might require a little ignition/carb adjustment.
Cooler denser air makes more power and the motor is happier. On really hot days the heat from the engine compartment can cause drivability problems. Of course some sort of cold air induction is good. The factories have been doing it for over three decades. Go to a junkyard and look around, maybe at chevy trucks.
I fabricated a cold air intake for the air on a 454 motorhome. At the same time changing from the original Rochester Q-jet (not a good heavy truck carb) to a square-bore Carter AFB. The fuel economy improved 7 percent. The power and driveability also increased, but power was probably more due to the squarebore than to the cold air. This was a 15,000 + pound vehicle. But the air inside the motorhome doghouse was probably significantly hotter than the air in your Cadillac engine compartment. The combined change also made a significant decrease in coolant temperature; again, I believe most of the change can be attributed to the squarebore carb. And please don't misread the intent of this post. I really like the Q-jet, but NOT on a 15,000 pound vehicle! Jon.
In a hot climate, a cold air kit will work with a carb. But if you live/drive someplace where it gets cold, maybe not so well....
There has been a number of stock air cleaners with the option of letting in "cold" air in the summer, or preheated from around the exhaust manifold in the winter, later it evolved to thermostat control to do the changeover automatically. Someone with a old car might be willing to make something like that, or even change the air cleaner depending on what time of year it is.
My 1978 Impala wagon and my 1985 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup both came from the factory with sealed air cleaners that pull air from behind the grille just above and ahead of the radiator support. I don't see how it can hurt, although I do not think you'll see a big difference either. It MIGHT help the engine run slightly cooler if you're generating a lot of heat in your engine compartment, but again you're talking small gains. Is it worth it? Depends on if you are the sort of person who likes to maximize efficiency or the kind of person who likes to keep things simple. A = cold air intake, B = open element air cleaner.
Do you like to warm it up before you go or do you just jump in and go? For everyday driveability stick with the stock thermostatic air cleaner. You can run a big hose from the snorkel of the aircleaner to behind the grille. The thermostatic element in the aircleaner is set to keep incoming air at about 105F or so at the carb inlet. The stock carb is meant to be work with that temperature. I know we're all hot rodders here but the stock way was good.
You need to check if the TAC still functions. 1) full manifold vacuum to temp sensor in base of air cleaner? 2) apply vacuum to vacuum motor in snorkel to see if it holds vacuum and if it moves freely. 3) check snorkel flapper position on a hot day running with a mirror, should be wide open to outside air. 4) take an ice cube or two from your soda and place them on the sensor inside air cleaner-- flapper should start to close. 5) none of this matters if the aircleaner lid doesn't fit or it's turned up side down.
I've never opened up a carb to cool air and not felt a noticeable improvement. Of course, if you only start with 200 hp you will not feel much, but big blocks love cool air. The bad ass intake howl is nice on the ears too.
Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm still tossing around the idea. It runs great right now and did well in 105 degree temps with the engine maxing at 190 degrees. Maybe I'm over thinking something that doesn't need to be fixed. But anyway, Thank You.
If you do build a cold air setup, be sure it's big enough. Every newer car and truck I have, gained power and mileage by throwing away the stock breather pipe. Little bitty things you could plug off with four fingers. A big block is going to want a couple of tubes, 5" or so.
That's pretty big for a system. I think I'm just gonna old skool it and leave it alone. It runs good now. I was just thinking of improving it a little.
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