ken bell ram air kit (pic's wanted)

[blackazz]

Hi,guys I have a question.does anyone here on the site use the ken bell ram air kit? An does anyone have a couple pic's of it in there car.I picked one up an want to use it but want to see how it installs.thanks if you can help out.

 

[williamsGN]

Keep the air cleaner that came with it and ditch the rest of the enclosure. It is a restriction that will flow less than an open air cleaner. Been discussed by many before.

 

[WE2Regal]

The Kenne-Bell ram air was a neat idea that didn't work very well. If you insist on using it, get a hole saw and drill the heck out of the canister. The inlet in the air dam will still feed some cooler air at higher speeds then.

 

[blackazz]

So I guess I got myself a ken bell paper wieght.Ill just stay with the open air filter,that's why I asked only out 40bucks.

 

[WE2Regal]

It may not be necessary, but it's still a cool piece. Since you already paid hard earned money for it, I'd just modify the canister with neatly laid out interlocking holes and use it. I don't think there are any downsides with it then.

 

[Ttype6]

So I guess I got myself a ken bell paper wieght.Ill just stay with the open air filter,that's why I asked only out 40bucks.

So,you're gonna let people talk you into believing something and then never do it and then advise others (in the future) to not do something that you never did?

If you don't want cooler air going into your motor,don't do it and send it to me. If you want cooler air,do it.

 

[forzfed]

So I guess I got myself a ken bell paper wieght.Ill just stay with the open air filter,that's why I asked only out 40bucks.

I put a 14" filter in mine, seems to work good. With the whole filter covered it did seem a little restrictive.

 

[blackazz]

So,you're gonna let people talk you into believing something and then never do it and then advise others (in the future) to not do something that you never did?

If you don't want cooler air going into your motor,don't do it and send it to me. If you want cooler air,do it.

Ok,ok,ok ill give it a try.I do want the cooler air, ill just drill the extra holes an see how she does then.thanks for the kick in the A$$ an setting me right.

 

[Ttype6]

Ok,ok,ok ill give it a try.I do want the cooler air, ill just drill the extra holes an see how she does then.thanks for the kick in the A$$ an setting me right.

Don't drill any holes. Run it the way it comes. If you had a data logger you would see a 40 degree drop in temp when installed. Run it the way it comes and get a good reading of your boost level(not easy to do without data logger). Then remove the canister and observe boost levels. It would be nice to also observe a/f ratio with a wide band. If you don't see a change in boost,you don't have a restriction.

Don't assume that I've set you right. Do your own test. If you think there is a need,based on your before and after boost numbers,drill away. Just don't drill first because you'll learn nothing and if you drill first when not needed you can't go back. Well,they do make duct tape in black.

 

[chopped39]

After 40mph its great . Its restrictive over an open filter. I had both sides om my car. Dont drive it in a heavy Florida rain either. I had the right side blowing air on the turbo. It does pull air from front of car but not as much as a open filter. I took the canister off and just left the the hose blowing on the filter. I going to put them back on when car is finished because I like the way the look. Doing a test would consist of scoping tps and maf with and without canister installed. Without will flow more air . But its warm air. Maybe a little less and cold would be better. Thats all Im saying is two reputable buick shops told me to remove the canister so I did

 

[williamsGN]

So you're going let someone convince you to put a proven downgrade to the car when Many others have shown it to be a restriction. Blind leading the blind.

 

[Ttype6]

Many others have shown it to be a restriction.

The hose on this ram air set up has a much larger diameter than the MAF or MAF pipe. However it is a fixed diameter. So is the scoop opening. Eventually a fixed sized opening could become a restriction as the amount of airflow increases as engine power production rises. The question is,at what airflow rate does this set-up become a restriction. The other question is,where ever that point is,how much can that point of restriction be raised by forcing air through this set-up? We are forcing air into this set-up at a tremendous rate at speed and even more so as speed increases. You can't test this on a chassis dyno because the forced air feature is negated.

There has to be a point when this set-up becomes a restriction,but I doubt if a mildly modded motor with a T60 and 42LBS injectors reaches sit.

If it did then my TE67 at 28 LBS of boost and 5800 RPM would absolutely fall on its face. I wouldn't describe what it does as falling on its face.

All we need is a data logger on a car with this set-up.

 

[daves87gn]

you dont need to spend money on data logging equipment for this test, just install it go to track and run. then remove and run again, or you can just listen to a very well respected member on here.

will your car see cooler temps at 25 mph yep, will it go slower in the 1/4 mile yep

Ya this has been beat to death. I am a believer of the K%N in the engine compartment since 1986 in all my cars. Had a Kenne Bell wiz bang newest greatest in the world ram air kit . They def have the "kool guy" "look". Racing at Etown Buick event back in 86.. ..Made a few runs then a Buddy said to try an just run without the canister that enclosed the air cleaner. The car ran quicker and faster. back to back same day. Sold my brand new KB ram air kit the next day an never looked back. :biggrin: Sorry I don't remember my times or mph. to lazy to dig back into my poor old brain.

 

[3.8L V-8 eater]

After 40mph its great . Its restrictive over an open filter. I had both sides om my car. Dont drive it in a heavy Florida rain either. I had the right side blowing air on the turbo. It does pull air from front of car but not as much as a open filter. I took the canister off and just left the the hose blowing on the filter. I going to put them back on when car is finished because I like the way the look. Doing a test would consist of scoping tps and maf with and without canister installed. Without will flow more air . But its warm air. Maybe a little less and cold would be better. Thats all Im saying is two reputable buick shops told me to remove the canister so I did

I agree here...Get rid of the restrictive canister and have an open filter thats pulling in air plus being feed fresh air by the large hose from the scoop....

 

[Grumpy]

.Get rid of the restrictive canister and have an open filter thats pulling in air plus being feed fresh air by the large hose from the scoop....

Yup... X 10000000 ... that ends the restriction. DONE .. I have to stop reading threads like this

 

[TurboDave]

The hose on this ram air set up has a much larger diameter than the MAF or MAF pipe. However it is a fixed diameter. So is the scoop opening. Eventually a fixed sized opening could become a restriction as the amount of airflow increases as engine power production rises. The question is,at what airflow rate does this set-up become a restriction. The other question is,where ever that point is,how much can that point of restriction be raised by forcing air through this set-up? We are forcing air into this set-up at a tremendous rate at speed and even more so as speed increases. You can't test this on a chassis dyno because the forced air feature is negated.

There has to be a point when this set-up becomes a restriction,but I doubt if a mildly modded motor with a T60 and 42LBS injectors reaches sit.

If it did then my TE67 at 28 LBS of boost and 5800 RPM would absolutely fall on its face. I wouldn't describe what it does as falling on its face.

All we need is a data logger on a car with this set-up.

It sounds like you're basing your assumptions on how this item "should" work, and not on actual testing.

Whether he wants to use it or not is entirely up to him. But..... I am one of those that did extensive testing on this thing way back when they came out. I fell into the trap that "if it's a KB product it must work"! While much of their stuff was good, this one wasn't. I conducted quite a bit of testing and found it to be a restrictive device with the canister in place. It reduced both ET and MPH totally negating any positive affect the cooler air might have had. A restriction on the turbo inlet side isn't necesarrily going to negatively affect boost levels....maybe spool up to a smaller degree, but it didn't affect my boost levels.
I consistently lost 1-1.5 MPH and ET when switching back an forth. One weekend I switched every other run. Another weekend I'd run 3 runs with it on, and 3 without. The test results were completely consistent. Canister on...slowed down, cansiter on....ran quicker and faster.

Drilling a bunch of holes in the canister may or may not help. Didn't try that so I can't say, other than uglying up the canister. Maybe drill the holes in the bottom half out of site.

 

[WE2Regal]

I also did back to back testing at the track years ago similar to TurboDave and convinced myself that my car was slightly faster without the ram air. I did not do any testing with a modded canister back in those days. But a friend of mine still runs one on his amazingly stock mid 11 second 86 T Type. He turned the cannister into swiss cheese though. My personal belief is that AT BEST, he may have managed to equal the performance of a simple K&N filter on the MAF, but really didn't gain anything beyond that from the ram air effect. For me, if all I'm going to do is equal the performance of a simple K&N, I can do without it.

 

[blackazz]

Wow,a lot of pros an cons with this thread.So I say ill just try the 50/50 approch,keep the lower air dam cause it looks good an put the filter on duct the cold air into the engine compartment an see how she does.Besides the track don't open till May 11.An that canister don't fit to good,it pushes the a/c lines into the hood.Thanks for all the input.

 

[3.8L V-8 eater]

Wow,a lot of pros an cons with this thread.So I say ill just try the 50/50 approch,keep the lower air dam cause it looks good an put the filter on duct the cold air into the engine compartment an see how she does.Besides the track don't open till May 11.An that canister don't fit to good,it pushes the a/c lines into the hood.Thanks for all the input.

That's a good move!! I used to have this set up and because of the canister I got rid of it...The next year I went to the Buick Nationals and saw alot of people were keeping the scoop and ducting and routing it to next to the K&N and I kicked myself in the ass for getting rid of the set up

 

[CGASTON]

Hey, My 86 T Type has Kenne Bell scoop and years of Kenne Bell history. Send me a PM n number and I can hook you up!

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