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Cold air intake fitment issue

wstefan20

wstefan20

New member
Ok. Ok. So I know I'm going to get a lot of flack on this one, but here it goes:

So on a recent trip to the junkyard I cam across a badly mangled thrasher cold air intake with ram air hood. Upon further inspection, the hood was toast, but the cold air intake was just broken at the bottom where the side wall meets the bottom piece. I spent a few hours cleaning it up and re-gluing it with epoxy to look like this:

20171119_194547.jpg


Went to put it in and noticed this.....



I'm devastated!

So I 100% plan on finding some way to make this work, and I've been planning on going with an LS or northstar throttle body and maf sensor eventually, so my questions are:

1. Will the 4 bolt LS throttle bodies line up with the L26 intake bolts?
2. Is a LS1 Maf even tunable for a n/a basically stock engine? Would it go that low?
3. Is there any other options other than of course cutting the hole out or going back to L36 mainfold

Any thoughts are appreciated!
 


Yup. I know there's no real performance gains or anything, but I did the swap when I rebuilt my engine cause it looked cool and I never wanted to worry about coolant loss or warping. I also plugged the lim throttle body coolant passages while I was being paranoid
 
It's because the manifold is not only physically taller and thicker, but longer too. Plus you're adding the adapter to it. So to answer:

1. Will the 4 bolt LS throttle bodies line up with the L26 intake bolts? - Yes; however it's a totally different setup (cable vs. DBW). Won't work.
2. Is a LS1 Maf even tunable for a n/a basically stock engine? Would it go that low? Tuneable; sure. Worth it? Newp. Told ya that already.
3. Is there any other options other than of course cutting the hole out or going back to L36 manifold? Sure. Plenty of options. Sell the Trasher Intake and just go to an open cone. It's an N/A 3800. You're not making any difference in power...and if you are, you aren't noticing anything.
 
blueguy91 said:
It's because the manifold is not only physically taller and thicker, but longer too. Plus you're adding the adapter to it. So to answer:

1. Will the 4 bolt LS throttle bodies line up with the L26 intake bolts? - Yes; however it's a totally different setup (cable vs. DBW). Won't work.
2. Is a LS1 Maf even tunable for a n/a basically stock engine? Would it go that low? Tuneable; sure. Worth it? Newp. Told ya that already.
3. Is there any other options other than of course cutting the hole out or going back to L36 manifold? Sure. Plenty of options. Sell the Trasher Intake and just go to an open cone. It's an N/A 3800. You're not making any difference in power...and if you are, you aren't noticing anything.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input blue guy. I was under the impression that there were 4 bolt cable ls throttle bodies on some larger trucks and suvs.

I realize it's throwing way too much work and effort for such a small problem, but hey, that about describes this car in a nutshell!

Basically, I'm wondering if by removing the adapter and using the 4 bolt cable ls throttle body, I could dramatically shorten the snout, then position either an lq4 or ls maf sensor in line after I bend the tubing.

I'm currently running an open cone and I love it, I'm more trying this for the principle of the thing and the look, which yeah, I know is probably dumb.

I'm thinking the "easiest" route would be to see if the adapter and a northstar throttle body with lq4 maf sensor fits since these are much easier to adapt since there are adapters and converters by zzp where I technically wouldn't even need a custom tune.

Plus, I'm not sure where I'm going with this car, if I go turbo, although the gains would be small, I'd already have the maf sensor I need.

I really appreciate the input, and will definitely take it into consideration. Any other thoughts are appreciated!
 
wstefan20 said:
Thanks for the input blue guy. I was under the impression that there were 4 bolt cable ls throttle bodies on some larger trucks and suvs.

I realize it's throwing way too much work and effort for such a small problem, but hey, that about describes this car in a nutshell!
Click to expand...

There are...but like I said they're drive by wire...not cable driven like the 97-03's. I'm sure with enough jacking around it would/could work. But it's entirely not worth the trouble.

wstefan20 said:
Basically, I'm wondering if by removing the adapter and using the 4 bolt cable ls throttle body, I could dramatically shorten the snout, then position either an lq4 or ls maf sensor in line after I bend the tubing. I'm currently running an open cone and I love it, I'm more trying this for the principle of the thing and the look, which yeah, I know is probably dumb.
Click to expand...

4 Bolt LS TB's are DBW as well...the cable driven ones are three bolt TB's...and you'll need an adapter. And an external MAF. So it actually extends farther than OEM stuff or what you are working with currently. I like the ambition...but it's also an N/A 3800. That's like saying: I really want to just retard or advance the timing on this adjustable cam gear on my '96 Civic D16 single slammer. Can you? Sure. But the benefits aren't worth the trouble.


wstefan20 said:
I'm thinking the "easiest" route would be to see if the adapter and a northstar throttle body with lq4 maf sensor fits since these are much easier to adapt since there are adapters and converters by zzp where I technically wouldn't even need a custom tune.
Click to expand...

The easiest route would to be port that throttle body if you're wanting to do something. The Thrasher box is a nice piece; but it's just literally not worth all the trouble messing with it. I get it that it is about the presentation...but if that's the case just hack the crap out of the inlet portion of the box and angle it with some random silicone elbow. Frozen Boost sells a bunch of quality stuff.

wstefan20 said:
Plus, I'm not sure where I'm going with this car, if I go turbo, although the gains would be small, I'd already have the maf sensor I need.

I really appreciate the input, and will definitely take it into consideration. Any other thoughts are appreciated!
Click to expand...

If you're going turbo the Thrasher Box is gone anyways. So there's that to figure, too. So is it worth messing with it when you're eventually going to toss it out the window since the snail is going to be sitting right there.
 


This came out of a GP? How the hell do you connect it? Seems like the housing is too large?

Here's my K&N for reference.....

CAI_027.JPG
 
years ago when I was dumb and believed everything zzp said, I bought a wizaired cold air intake. this went on my first GTP that ended getting junked. before it went to the salvage yard, I demodded a bunch of stuff including the cai. because I had followed the directions and fastened the cai to the frame, I had a hell of a time getting it out because the fasteners had rusted in place. I don't even live in the rust belt.

my point is, don't waste your time with a cold air intake because it could bite you in the ass in the long run.

on a different topic, the northstar throttle body is shorter and with a gen 5 to northstar tb adapter would work. the different maf sensor is longer but if you get a 90 degree bend silicone tube, would also work, and if you use that, you could continue to do so possibly if you locate it pre turbo, but that would be challenging.
 
Haha thanks blueguy! I can't believe that I hadn't thought about that yet. Gees, I'm already strapped for room! No idea how a turbo would fit! Might have to get fancy and re- route my pcm.

I think as it stands, I might hack up the intake to get it to fit just for looks, or I might just sell it. Though, by the sounds of it, no one wants it!
 
WBody world is basically toast.

Hence why the involvement isn't much anymore. There are still some out there but you're about a decade behind the height of it all, IMO.

You can put the PCM in the bumper behind the headlight with some harness rerouting. It's not much fun.

Bronco Boy - For one; that aftermarket alarm horn is in the way; I hate it when they're always put there. (If it's not something else, but that's where they put it on the GT I bought years ago). Another is the plugs on the strut tower; I usually remove the nut and plug them in underneath the ABS module. Really cleans up the space there.
 


good to know! Yeah, could never afford anything like this before, and 10 years ago, I was still in middle school! :th_laugh-lol3:
 
blueguy91 said:
Yeah but that K&N is worse than an OEM airbox lol
Click to expand...
Worse? Really? I'd love to hear the reasoning behind that statement.

I use washable filters for that reason, I can wash 'em and re-use 'em. $20 for a stock filter, vs $50 for this used K&N kit. Seems like a good deal to me.
 
The filter isn't bad; it's the intake.

It's exposing the filter to tons of heat; the K&N on MANY platforms is a heat soaking pile. The hood doesn't seal anything with the weather stripping, the exhaust is right there heating up the plastic, not to mention the non-sealed hole around the tube that goes to the filter. You're literally just as fine running an open cone or a $30 eBay intake.

My point is a stock gutted airbox, with a smooth tube to the throttle body is better than that.

That's all. I'm personally using a K&N filter on my K1500 and an AFE Dry-flow on the C5. As for the GTP's I had open cone intakes. The GXP had a nice ColdAirInductions intake setup. Best one money can buy.
 


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