Well, my first performance mod is complete. :-)
I got a 14" Mr. Gasket chrome air cleaner at Parts America and a 14x3"
K&N filtercharger filter. I ordered a Daytona 9793, but they substituted
a Mr. Gasket 1430 (1480? I dunno... If anyone wants the part #, lemme know
and I'll look it up when I get home.) Anyway, they called the supplier
who said its the same thing, just different packaging and a different
part number.
The Mr. Gasket breather valve was kind of cheezy, I'll admit. :-) I
took the advice of someone on this list (Sorry, I'm not at home to check,
and I forgot your name!) and I used the stock valve. All it took was
a little filing make the opening a little bigger. My craftsmanship won't
win any awards, but it got the job done. :-) (The metal plug in the
filter was a pain to take out though!)
I guess I could have gone the Meldrum S-bolt method, but I wanted it
done right away. I suppose an S bolt would give a smoother flow of
air... Anyway, what I did was to go to the hardware store. I found a
1/4" x 4 1/2" coarse thread bolt which was nearly identical to the stock
hold down bolt. (At the risk of sounding completely stupid, it had that
"square thingie" near the bolt head.) Anyway... I also got a nylon
insert lock nut instead of using the stock one. It worked great.
I used the stock gasket at the base of the air cleaner; I probably
should get a new one... I just cleaned and turned the stock one upside
down for the moment. The air cleaner wasn't a tight fit, there was some
play there, but once I tightened the butterfly nut on top of the air
cleaner, it stays put. I can still move it with my hands, but I don't
think it'll move on its own. I hope not, anyway. It would be nice to
have a spacer in there, but...
I used a cardboard-like washer on top of the air cleaner so that I
wouldn't scratch the chrome top with the butterfly nut. I used the stock
butterfly nut; maybe I'll get a fancy one down the line but its just
fine for now.
The 2" element that came with the cleaner had no clearance problems at
all. The 3" is a much tighter fit... I'm still not sure about how to
measure the clearance I've got left (if I have any left at all). I'm
almost sure the air cleaner is pressing against the hood liner, but
I'm not sure what the pressure is. I was trying to feel for pressure
by moving the hood up and down, but I didn't notice anything. Just to
be safe, I now close my hood by lowering it until the safety latch
engages, then I push down on the top of the hood to lock it.
Driving:
I can't say that I've noticed any performance improvement, and even
if I did, I wouldn't trust myself to be accurate. I'll have to wait to
get to the track to see what difference it made. The K&N completely
changed the truck's personality though. Seems like a different truck.
I get that hiss/whistle at idle (and at cruise speed). Its slightly
annoying, but that's the price of admission I guess. When I open up
the throttle, there's a HUGE difference. The truck makes this loud
roar; it sounds like a different engine. Is this normal? If so,
what is causing it, the sound coming back through the air cleaner,
or the fact that the engine is getting more air? Don't get me
wrong; its an awesome sound, I just want to be sure its not
damaging anything. :-)
When I get on the throttle all the way, I get some mild pinging.
I'm already using 89 octane; maybe I just got some bad gas? Is there
any reason why a better breathing engine would be more prone to
pinging?
The air cleaner was $23, and the K&N was $42, so my total cost
was $65, which gets me the same results as the $120 K&N. I got
both items at Parts America. Pep Boys wanted $35 for the cleaner and
$52 for the filter! $87 vs $65? Tough choice. I ordered the air cleaner
on Monday at 3pm, and they called me Tuesday at 10am to say that it had
arrived! So far, I'm quite happy with Parts America. Seems like a
decent operation. (No, I'm not a stockholder) ;-)
Well, I've gotta run. I thought this might be informative for
anyone considering this mod... And if anyone can answer any of
my questions, that'd be great too. :-)
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu -- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---.
| DoD# 1038, EAA# 518210, NMA# 117376, USUA# A46209, KotWitDoDFAQ, RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT Club Cab, '96 Kolb FireFly 447 (#FF019) |
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I do not speak for the SUNY College at Fredonia; all opinions are my own.
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