LSC Air Box

[Spanky]

Hi There
I am new to the site. I own a 97 LSC and ran across an article about drilling holes in the air box to increase flow. I already have a K&N filter in there but I was wondering if anyone has done this and whether it makes any difference at all. The article made no claims other than increased air flow and more noise.

 

[MrScalia]

when you were younger did you ever filp your air cleaner lid.
This will let more air in more air = more gas , a little more power

 

[98LSC32V]

If you are going to do that might as well get rid of the air box altogether and put in a conical filter. This will definately increase flow but the gains are still minimal. It cleans up the engine bay quite nicely however...

 

[fossten]

If you are going to do that might as well get rid of the air box altogether and put in a conical filter. This will definately increase flow but the gains are still minimal. It cleans up the engine bay quite nicely however...

I have seen some air boxes and silencers removed completely, with a conical filter and a heat shield installed. Does removing the airbox altogether make a difference in where the air flows? In other words, does drilling the box keep the air flowing toward the filter, or does it just not matter?

 

[Tractionless]

It certaintly makes you suck in more hot air which is NEVER good, well unless its compressed by a blower.

 

[98LSC32V]

Conical filters are proven in the Mustang world. For some reason people are scared of them that own Mark VIII's but they wouldn't be used unless they work. Once the car starts moving you get cold air anyways, it's not a big deal. I would never go back to the stock air box in my car.

 

[fossten]

Conical filters are proven in the Mustang world. For some reason people are scared of them that own Mark VIII's but they wouldn't be used unless they work. Once the car starts moving you get cold air anyways, it's not a big deal. I would never go back to the stock air box in my car.

So...does that mean the best way to go is: Aluminum heat shield, conical filter (K&N I assume), drilled out air box, and removed air silencer and resonator? Or should I just remove the air box altogether?

 

[67Continental]

i drilled my box and removed the silencer, picked up 3 mpg.

 

[98LSC32V]

I personally don't have a heat shield on mine I doubt it would improve performance at all but if you can fabricate one yourself it might not be a bad idea.

 

[BigT]

I have the LMS Icebox and K&N conical air filter with the LMS MAF on my other wise completely stock 98 LSC. It runs great I don't know how much of a difference from stock because the K&N and the MAF was on the car when I bought it. As far as performance it runs better than the 94 Mark VIII that I had. Some of the guys that were at the LVC Spring Meet at Geno's place in NJ will tell you how well it runs when I pulled out onto the side street when I went home.

 

[bhickmott]

If you've got a Gen2 car, save your money and just remove the the entire silencer assy from the wheel well. Once that's done you have a 4 inch opening feeding cold air directly to the stock airbox. Spend $40 on a K&N replacement filter and your done.

 

[scott9050]

i drilled my box and removed the silencer, picked up 3 mpg.

Come to think of it, when I did it I drove 100 miles and got 30.2 MPG average on the trip.

 

[Bmetzger8]

If you've got a Gen2 car, save your money and just remove the the entire silencer assy from the wheel well. Once that's done you have a 4 inch opening feeding cold air directly to the stock airbox. Spend $40 on a K&N replacement filter and your done.

Any directions/pictures on how to remove the silencer on a Gen2?

:steering

 

[Jamler3]

So...does that mean the best way to go is: Aluminum heat shield, conical filter (K&N I assume), drilled out air box, and removed air silencer and resonator? Or should I just remove the air box altogether?

To go with a conical filter, you'll have to lose that dreaded air box.
Drilling holes will help, but not much. The best thing to do is to get the
LMS Mas Air package. With the Ice Box cold air heat sheild, it comes to
about $325. But that is a marked improvement that you WILL notice!!!
Best thing is that on Gen-2 you can use the same intake tube. The new
MAF just attaches to it... Call Geno at LMS.

HERE IS A PIC OF MINE:
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/may01NJmeet/images/pages/lvcne59_jpg.htm

 

[fossten]

To go with a conical filter, you'll have to lose that dreaded air box.
Drilling holes will help, but not much. The best thing to do is to get the
LMS Mas Air package. With the Ice Box cold air heat sheild, it comes to
about $325. But that is a marked improvement that you WILL notice!!!
Best thing is that on Gen-2 you can use the same intake tube. The new
MAF just attaches to it... Call Geno at LMS.

HERE IS A PIC OF MINE:
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/may01NJmeet/images/pages/lvcne59_jpg.htm

Ok, I'm in, but I don't have the $$ for the MAF yet, can I still lose the box, silencer, and put in the ice box? Or does it only work that way with the MAF? I thought I would do MAF after I did my coil conversion.

 

[Jamler3]

Ok, I'm in, but I don't have the $$ for the MAF yet, can I still lose the box, silencer, and put in the ice box? Or does it only work that way with the MAF? I thought I would do MAF after I did my coil conversion.

FORD builds the MAF into that box so deeply, your better off just waiting till you get the cash to do it all together. You can't really lose the box, without replacing the MAF. I think its only $290 for the MAF and Conical filter. You can bypass the icebox, but is really only a $40 diff... I'd wait to do it all at once!
Trust me you'll be impressed with the results. Gas milage improves slightly too!
:Beer

 

[bhickmott]

Any directions/pictures on how to remove the silencer on a Gen2?

:steering

Instructions to remove the air silencer on a Gen2:

1. Remove the air filter box assy
2. Underneath the area where the box sat, you will see 3 nuts with captive washers. These retain the silencer assy in the fender well.
3. to gain access to the fender well Remove the right front wheel
4. Remove the at least the front 2/3 of the total number of screws that hold the inner plastic fender well in place.
5 Bend the plastic fender well down and back (you can hook it behind the caliper to hold it out of the way)
6. Reach up and maneuver the silencer assy out of the fender well. It's a very tight fit, paticularly around the the headlight ballast assy, but with some twisting and pulling it will come out.

You now have an unobstructed 4 inch hole feeding cold air directly to the bottom of the air cleaner box

 

[fossten]

FORD builds the MAF into that box so deeply, your better off just waiting till you get the cash to do it all together. You can't really lose the box, without replacing the MAF. I think its only $290 for the MAF and Conical filter. You can bypass the icebox, but is really only a $40 diff... I'd wait to do it all at once!
Trust me you'll be impressed with the results. Gas milage improves slightly too!
:Beer

But I could DRILL the box in the meantime, right? And put in a K&N filter and remove the silencer?

 

[driller]

I personally don't have a heat shield on mine I doubt it would improve performance at all but if you can fabricate one yourself it might not be a bad idea.

I personally installed the LMS IceBox and noted a 15 degree drop in intake temperature. Do the math before you open your mouth.

Speaking of math, I went through this argument before. Even underhood air is not THAT disconcerting unless you're stuck in freeway traffic in July or sitting in clogged staging lanes at the track in August. The stock engine requires 74.09 square inches of intake filter at peak HP demand. Stock filter is 72.71 sqin. The typical 9 inch K&N conical filter has 177% more filter area. How hot would that increased volume of air need to be to 'lose power' when compared to the same environmental conditions? Do the math.

It's all relative. You can do better than stock with an aftermarket MAF or adaptor with a conical filter - even exposed to 'underhood air'. You can increase the volumetric efficiency of that setup with a thermal shield. You can even rig a cold air intake in the fenderwell. But when you sit in the heat-soaking sun at the asphalt track or on the concrete freeway... it's gonna be hotter. All you can do is accept the compromise of how much hotter you are willing to consider acceptable.

 

[98LSC32V]

What I was trying to say is that I doubt a heat shield would change your track times at all. Do an experiment next time at the track.

 

[driller]

What I was trying to say is that I doubt a heat shield would change your track times at all. Do an experiment next time at the track.

Already have.

Summertime ETs dropped from an average of 15.060 to 14.994. Maybe not conclusively earth-shattering, but it was a drop. The most numerically significant result was the 15 degree cooler temperatures recorded with the heat shield. I used the outside air temperature sensor for the temperature readings. I have checked its accuracy to within a few degrees with a IR pyrometer. Even today I have the sensor mounted in the fenderwell next to the filter of the cold air intake setup. I record the temperature reading on each timeslip.