The Oldsmobile Connection

[88_Cutlass]

I have been looking for a cold air intake for my 1988 Cutlass Ciera and was wondering if any companies make a bolt on product or should I make my own out of aluminum flex tubing and a cone filter. Also i was wondering how to make one out of the tubing and filter.

[88delta88]

Making your own is a very good idea. Search the forum for threads on COLD AIR INTAKE or CAI

[raskull]

i tried buying some 3inch flexible aluminum tubing today so that i could redirect some cool air into my stock airfilter when i was suprised to see that the intake part is bolted to the front of the car and encased in the body right behind the left headlight. theres about a 4 inch diameter hole next to it where the only air could get in. How can that possibly be efficient? Im sure the air there is a little bit cooler, but i cant imagine it flows very well, and any air moving in is coming straight off the radiator and engine block anyway.

needless to say, i was unable to weave the tubing around the various wires and what not in the engine compartment so untilll i figure that out, ill just keep saving up for a real air filter system

[88delta88]

raskull wrote: ...untilll i figure that out, ill just keep saving up for a real air filter system

Why not examine a "real" filter system and see what the difference is? Its very easy to make a cold air induction system that works, you might just have to get the right idea rolling with some inspiration.

Check out cardomain.com, I am certain someone there has a car similar to yours with a system already designed & installed.

[88delta88]

I found one guy who did his intake:
Custom intake

Another, this guy has pics of 2 different setups he tried:
Intake 2

This guy says hes got a K&N setup:
K&N

One more:
Nice job

I could look for more, but my time has run out ;-) Hope this helps a bit.

[raskull]

88delta88, thanks for the links, those are gonna help me out a lot. I went out today and i loosened some screws so that i could fit that tubing in the car. I slid it into that opening next to the air filter intake tube, so its not directly feeding air into the filter, but it should help. The tube fit pretty well behind the radiator and i used some of those metal collar things to attach it to the bottom of the radiator frame. I also put some screen on it. It hangs down kinda low and looks pretty funny, but this suffices for now.

thanks again :)

[88delta88]

no problem!

[raskull]

So i got my new cold air intake off ebay for 15 bucks



this was the first performance altering modification for my car, and i'm pretty excited that i actually did it.

I got rid of the ridiculous dryer duct that i was using as a ram air intake these past few weeks. It was getting so bent out of shape anyway, it was really busted.

heres a few before pics with the stock air filter.




the old crap:



The biggest problem i had with this was there was a precut hole with a grommet in it designed for the oxygen sensor. I tried for a while to slide the sensor into the tube but it was just way too tight. I gave up and went to autozone where the guy just gave me a bigger diameter grommet for free which worked perfectly.




the finished product:





So now theres a new sound to my car which makes it sound a little bit meaner. Also, its WAY more responsive now. gas= acceleration. unlike before where it was press down on the gas and wait a few seconds for it to start accelerating. I'm very pleased with the results.

Thanks again to 88delta88 for showing me those other eighty-eights. thats basically where i got the idea to do this from

To 88_cutlass: this is where i got mine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-99-OLDSMOBILE-EIGHTY-EIGHT-NINETY-EIGHT-AIR-INTAKE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38634QQihZ002QQitemZ120145263989QQrdZ1
if your looking for a cheap way to make your car a little more responsive, i recommend this route.

[88delta88]

glad to see you are happy!

[afrats]

How much difference did the CAI make? I just bought one for my ninety-eight and it should be here Friday. :D

[raskull]

unfortunately, i cant give you exact numbers in horsepower or quartermile times, but after i calmed down from the excitement i had from working on my own car for the first time, there was still a noticeable difference.

Don't expect to be thrown back into your seat when you step on the gas, but from i noticed, Ive had about half a tank of gas for a week... which is new cause my car loves gasoline. Other than that, the most noticeable change is the response. Before my car was extremely sluggish; about 0-60 in 20 seconds (im pulling these numbers out of my ass) but now when i step on the gas, theres a bit more power which lets me act like a have an actual muscle car haha

It was easy to install for me (which means anyone can do it) it looks clean in the engine, and it adds a nice little sound which was something i didn't expect.

Im very pleased with it. Now that ive done something like this, im determined to keep trying to work on my car :D

Let me know how it works out for you afrats.

[afrats]

I will let you know. I should get mine Friday night and will install on Saturday. I will have to take out for a test drive shortly there after to see if I can tell the difference.

[afrats]

Got my CAI yesterday and installed it this morning. I like the way that it makes the car sound and it definately is more responsive. It looks nice under the hood too, it cleans up some of the space.
Check out the pics in my album...

[raskull]

looks good :)

[afrats]

Thanks, I can definately feel the difference from before. It's not a lot, but it's there. :D