cranky
11-28-2005, 02:53 PM
My understanding is that this is only for non-turbo 850s. Tech can correct me if I'm wrong.
When I first learned of this small modification... lets just say I figured you get what you pay for - right?
I finally decided to try a few things, even though I didn't believe it was going to work.
The first thing I did was to disconnect the pipe that provides heat to the airbox, and cover the hole where the heat came in. Sometimes it ran better, and sometimes it felt the same. Then a few weeks later I took the airbox off the car, and looked at what was going on. I saw how the thing worked, and I realized why it ran better sometimes, but not others. This is when I decided to make a more permanent change.
When you remove the airbox, the part that has the inlet for the heat comes off, and can easily be taken apart. Then taking out the parts that can be removed, leaves some molded plastic pieces that I removed with a hacksaw blade. Once that was done, I used a pad on a cordless drill, for removing paint and rust, to smooth out the places where I had cut the plastic. I covered the small holes with a piece of scotch tape from the inside, then epoxied the outside, and when the epoxy dried, I removed the tape leaving a nice smooth job. I covered the hole, where the heat entered the airbox after I reinstalled the airbox. I would be tempted to get some pipe to fit the hole, and extend it to the front of the car, where it could draw in more cold air if I weren't going to modify the whole thing later.
Yes, there is a difference / gain in power - no question. And the difference is in the low to midrange RPM - where the engine is used the most. I'm not claiming 100hp gain or anything like that, and I can't tell that the gains are in the 4000 to 6000 rpm range. I don't have any idea how much Hp or torque increased by making this change, but I can say that it is certainly noticeable.
An improvement in power, and it is doesn't cost anything - what could be better than that?
One more thing, if there was a change in fuel mileage, it wasn't enough that I can tell a difference.
Here is a picture of the pieces after being modified.
When I first learned of this small modification... lets just say I figured you get what you pay for - right?
I finally decided to try a few things, even though I didn't believe it was going to work.
The first thing I did was to disconnect the pipe that provides heat to the airbox, and cover the hole where the heat came in. Sometimes it ran better, and sometimes it felt the same. Then a few weeks later I took the airbox off the car, and looked at what was going on. I saw how the thing worked, and I realized why it ran better sometimes, but not others. This is when I decided to make a more permanent change.
When you remove the airbox, the part that has the inlet for the heat comes off, and can easily be taken apart. Then taking out the parts that can be removed, leaves some molded plastic pieces that I removed with a hacksaw blade. Once that was done, I used a pad on a cordless drill, for removing paint and rust, to smooth out the places where I had cut the plastic. I covered the small holes with a piece of scotch tape from the inside, then epoxied the outside, and when the epoxy dried, I removed the tape leaving a nice smooth job. I covered the hole, where the heat entered the airbox after I reinstalled the airbox. I would be tempted to get some pipe to fit the hole, and extend it to the front of the car, where it could draw in more cold air if I weren't going to modify the whole thing later.
Yes, there is a difference / gain in power - no question. And the difference is in the low to midrange RPM - where the engine is used the most. I'm not claiming 100hp gain or anything like that, and I can't tell that the gains are in the 4000 to 6000 rpm range. I don't have any idea how much Hp or torque increased by making this change, but I can say that it is certainly noticeable.
An improvement in power, and it is doesn't cost anything - what could be better than that?
One more thing, if there was a change in fuel mileage, it wasn't enough that I can tell a difference.
Here is a picture of the pieces after being modified.