Mounting a stock truck air box

[LeesTruk]

A fellow member asked how I mounted a stock Chevy air box in my C10, so here's some pic's. My truck is not a show piece and does have some rust, although some prefer to call it patina. I trimmed the side of the stock battery tray to allow for fitment of the box, and to allow the inlet of the box to be pressed against the opening in the inner fender structure. I fastened a piece of aluminum angle to the tray to act as a mounting shelf and a place to fasten the box to the tray. The "acordian" rubber tube will stretch, to allow for difference in distance from the throttle body to the MAF sensor

[solidaxel]

Is the location of your MAF is the "best" location for accurate readings

[LeesTruk]

I'm not gonna argue with the GM engineers, 'cause that's where they put it when they designed the system

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by LeesTruk

I'm not gonna argue with the GM engineers, 'cause that's where they put it when they designed the system

Nicely done.

I'm the guy that designed that system, for the GMT800 models. Thanks for not arguing (believe me, it happens!).

And - yes - the MAF is in the right spot.



K

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Nicely done.

I'm the guy that designed that system, for the GMT800 model.

And - yes - the MAF is in the right spot.



K

Thank You Sir.........confirmed!

[Steve Cole]

Wow, where else but this forum can you have your questions answered straight from the guy that designed the system!!

Hey Keith, I have a question-

What is this reservoir looking thing for? Can it be cut off with no adverse effect?
This is from a truck motor. Thanks!

[solidaxel]

Did your boss come from Cadillac !!!
I'm with you on the Induction sound !

[Steve Cole]

Wow! Thanks! You are a great resource!

[LeesTruk]

Thanks for your input/expertise, Mr. Seymore. Getting feedback from an engineer/designer, is kinda like being "photo bombed" by a celebrity. It's nice that you can mingle with us blue collar people and participate in what we do with what you've created

BTW, did you find that helmholz resonator on the same shelf as the flux capacitor?

[Keith Seymore]

Thanks, guys -

Originally Posted by LeesTruk

BTW, did you find that helmholz resonator on the same shelf as the flux capacitor?

It was right there behind the muffler bearings...

(lol)

[72MARIO]

This is what I did it AIT tempatures are much cooler than my other truck with a open air element

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by 72MARIO

This is what I did it AIT tempatures are much cooler than my other truck with a open air element

Hey Mario,

Did you just mount the box away from the fender to allow air to enter? Thanks.

[Daaaanz67]

LOL that’s my motor in that picture. Funny someone used that must mean I did something right. I took the cove that has two oval opening off the box and it’s open you can see the filter. It gets its air fro the front corner of fender area. Never had a problem with air temp. I wii be making something to cover the opening later.

[ls1nova71]

On my 67-72's I usually cut a hole in the fender that the plastic piece with the foam on it buts up to, so it looks decent. But on my cammed Blazer I figured I needed cooler air so I cut a hole in the bottom of the box, the mounting plate and the core support. There is a 90* pvc elbow that connects them. Works great and isn't really seen unless you really look for it.

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

On my 67-72's I usually cut a hole in the fender that the plastic piece with the foam on it buts up to, so it looks decent. But on my cammed Blazer I figured I needed cooler air so I cut a hole in the bottom of the box, the mounting plate and the core support. There is a 90* pvc elbow that connects them. Works great and isn't really seen unless you really look for it.

Now that looks nice! Is that a stock style battery tray? It looks different from mine. I'm curious as to how you "flanged" the bottom of the box.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by Steve Cole

Now that looks nice! Is that a stock style battery tray? It looks different from mine. I'm curious as to how you "flanged" the bottom of the box.

It's not a battery tray, it's the factory air box mounting plate from the donor truck. The box has tabs on it, one slides into the slot towards the fender and the other two pop into the two rubber grommits.

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

It's not a battery tray, it's the factory air box mounting plate from the donor truck. The box has tabs on it, one slides into the slot towards the fender and the other two pop into the two rubber grommits.

Dang, one more thing I should have kept from the donor truck!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Steve Cole

Now that looks nice! Is that a stock style battery tray? It looks different from mine. I'm curious as to how you "flanged" the bottom of the box.

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

It's not a battery tray, it's the factory air box mounting plate from the donor truck. The box has tabs on it, one slides into the slot towards the fender and the other two pop into the two rubber grommits.

There's a little bit of a story to that tray design.

We originally wanted to drop straight down into three grommets but we couldn't when we added the snorkels off to the side because they wouldn't clear the fender catwalk during loading.

We decided to create a "glide path", where the box would be moved outboard and down, engaging the Christmas tree type fastener in the groove and then jamming the box home into the grommets.

The air box design is still in use, even on the project I am currently working on. The other day I heard the engine air induction engineer on our program say "...I don't know why the tray is designed like that".

I spun around in my chair and said "I know EXACTLY why it is designed like that!" and proceeded to tell him the story.

K

[solidaxel]

So where did all the cold air people come from in the aftermarket?
Sounds like they are going backwards with their design

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

So where did all the cold air people come from in the aftermarket?
Sounds like they are going backwards with their design

They are, but they don't want you to know it. Their goal is to sell their product and they will pummel the market with advertising (whether true or not) in order to sell as many as they can.

K

[Keith Seymore]

One more story:

I mentioned earlier that water is the bane of any engine induction system engineer's existence.

The problem with the GMT800 was that not only was the truck new but the engines were a new design, too. That meant there weren't many around and you sure as heck didn't want to damage one.

Water ingestion testing is, by definition, a destructive test. If you put enough water in the cylinder you will break it, the rod, the piston or whatever is weakest. If you don't break it you don't know how far you can push it.

We debated for a couple months about how (and if) we were going to test our design. Finally we hit upon an idea: we found an "old" prototype GMT800 radiator support and fender in the trash, so we added those to a carryover GMT400 pickup, and then installed our new induction system to emulate the new front corner. We remote mounted the engine air cleaner in the existing truck and then plumbed our new system to a shop vac (and generator) in the pickup bed. That allowed us to (a) drive the truck in the water trough, (b) not damage a current production engine (c) flow air through our new system in a somewhat representative environment and (d) collect and measure any water that was drawn in. Pretty clever, I think.

I still remember the first time we hit the 1000 ft trough at 25 mph with 12" of water: water was spraying over the top of truck and flowing big time into the cab through the heater box. I felt like I was on the Titanic, pulling my feet up on top of the instrumentation and screaming like a little girl. But - our basic idea worked and we were able to continue the development process.

I was still pretty nervous, though, the first few times we had rain once we started driving the new GMT800 trucks on the road.

K

[72MARIO]

Keith.

In your opinion using a k&n replacement filter in the stock box is a good idea or not ?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 72MARIO

Keith.

In your opinion using a k&n replacement filter in the stock box is a good idea or not ?

I'm going to withhold commenting on level of filtration, but I will say you should never use an oiled filter with a mass air flow sensor.

K

[mongocanfly]

those behind the scenes stories are great Keith. ..

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I'm going to withhold commenting on level of filtration, but I will say you should never use an oiled filter with a mass air flow sensor.

K

I'd like to know why this is. Mine runs fine and for 4 years now.