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Oldsmobile Aurora: Modifications
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If you have a "ram air" connection going to the box, and you also have another intake opening in the box, any pressure/force/ram effect will be lost through that other opening.
Again, I can't picture what you did, but for a "ram air" to work, you want that feed to the box to be the only feed so you can create a supply pressure in the box that is greater than atmospheric pressure.
You're right -- we're not connecting. Maybe I'm just missing it, but I did not see "The path of least resistance is directly across from the box about 2 inches away - big opening in that inner fender." What I'm looking to accomplish makes no sense given such an opening. I'll look again this weekend.
seth042280:
Did you cut out the panel behind the left fog light or is there another way to route the flexible hose? Some late '60s / early '70s musclecars had outside air induction setups that had a vacuum operated valve to control a flap that closed off the intake path. The valve was normally closed by intake mainfold vacuum working against a spring. At WOT the manifold vacuum goes to zero and the spring then opens the path to outside air. That may work for what you mentioned in post #604.
I guess I could always shove some scrap foam insulation around the side of the box there.
I thought I'd mention that I just upgraded the headlights on my Classic to Sylvania Silverstars. Someone here was talking about it a few months ago (800watt? Javi?) and said that they loved them. I have to agree, these things are amazing. While I was replacing the lowbeams I put one in and left the old one in the other side to compare. The difference in apparent brightness was stunning. The old bulbs light looked distinctly yellow in comparison. I know the the bulbs aren't actually any brighter (55 watts), but they *seem* brighter. I would recommend this upgrade. (btw: the Silverstars are not the "blue" lights -- they're super white.)
It's not even that expensive -- the usual bulbs for the Classic Aurora are about $10, the Silverstars are $19.99 at AutoZone and Sylvania has a $10 rebate per pair. Which comes out to $15 per bulb. (And much less than half the price of the PIAA lamps.)
Anyway, I thought I'd share. Happy 'Roaring...
I see you finally got around to upgrading your headlights with the Sylvania Silverstart lightbulbs, I was going to buy a pair of those because, I have heard good reviews from people that have bought them and installed them on their rides, and yup you right they are a lot cheaper than these other bulbs out there.
For me I have decided to go with a High Intensity Discharge Kit from Hella, it should be here in a couple more days.
I can't wait.
I will take some pictures of my installation and the HID kit itself, for you all to see.
Peace.
Thanks
I think that test on caddyinfo was with a G-Tech so the car was running under actual driving conditions. I think when Taylor chassis dyno'd it, he had the hood open which probably helps keep fresh air around the cone filter.
Also, it would be interesting to see the same for a filter without the heat shield.
I hope Taylor checks in here. I think he built his shield soon after installing the RSM, but did drive awhile without a shield. I guess in winter it may not hurt you quite as much.
Thanks
Kayman, when I started my heatshield idea, I started out with some carboard and a pair of scissors, riping and cutting to get my desired size. Once I was happy with my multipiece cardbaord mock up. I remaded a nice 2-piece one out of carboard again to test fit and made some small adjustments. Once I had a good carboard mock up, my nice father got out the sheet metal bender and recreated my mock up. I than gave it a light sanding so paint would stick and gave it a couple of coats of high temp BBQ paint I found at ACE. Not really hard at all. Finally product came out 3-pieces, long side piece that butts up behind the radiator and a top and bottom for the back piece to fit and kind of overlap the intake pipe. Finished it off with some split black radiatior hose to help seal off the pipe and not scratch it up to much, I did put some nice ones in there too. Don't forget to have the top hit the hoodliner. Once a had my metal shield, I made it too tall, so I could trim it down to fit against the liner.
As for filter cleanlyness. Just from early fall to this spring, the whole filter is dirty. I do think that the shield does help restrict hot under hood air from being consumed. I haven't tested it any way though, I do know hot air is bad. My dyno was hood up so filter had plenty of fresh air to breath.
http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=214083- &page=4
Also, it indicates you may be effectively using a little more filter area than I am with the box mod. That's cool. I'm not sure it makes much difference, but it is a good thing. Simply looking at the dirt on the filter tells you a lot about how your intake works.
Hey - I got the K&N cleaning/oil kit. It's really easy to make that filter just like it came out of the box. My hints on making sure it's done right is to soak it really good with the cleaner and let it set for awhile (like they say). After I back rinse it, I soak it in a bucket of clean water for several hours to make darn sure there is no cleaner residue. Then I stand it up in a corner and let it dry for several days to make absolutely sure it is dry. Give it a nice spray of oil like (going laterally with the pleats). Holding that can 3 inches from the filter (as instructed) greatly helps shoot the oil into the filter rather than it collect on the top of the pleats. Don't try to make it look nice and "red" all over immediately. I let it "wick" into the cotton overnight and I was surprised at how much the oil evenly spread itself throughout the filter. I then give it a light second spray anywhere it seems a little thin.
Garnes- With Taylors cone being dirty all over I think the cone is pulling in a lot more air than the air box mod. Who knows how much of a difference it make though.
When you test a K&N against a crummy paper filter on a dyno, you will see that the paper filter flows air about as good as a K&N - probably up to about 4000 rpm +/-. From 4000 rpm and lower, I think the K&N added maybe 1 HP at most. It really helps a lot on the top end though.
So, for most flow rates, even a paper filter doesn't restrict the air flow much more than a K&N. The car breaths freely with either media at those rpms. Now, say I'm effectively using 30 square inches of filter area with the box mod and the cone allows 40 or 50 or whatever. It's very likely (like in the paper filter performance) that either K&N set up is MORE than enough for minimally restricted air flow at the 5500 to 6000 rpm range.
Put another way, going bigger and bigger with the cone would not necessarily give you "more air" either.
What's also weird is that the box mod did NOT help the peak HP. It actually helped in the lower rpms and helped peak torque. It added nothing to the very top. So increasing the flow area on the filter did not help at the very top. I suspect there are some complex things going on with turbulence. Maybe the box mod introduces some detrimental turbulence at the peak flow rates and that negates the benefit of the larger filter area.
Additionally, We both dyno'd the intake and got similar results.
One concern I've had with the cold air intakes is that the intake tube is a smaller diameter then the MAF. It expands quickly with a rubber boot or something to connect to the MAF. Any sudden change in the diameter (especially from small to large) can introduce turbulence which will reduce flow. I also wonder about the possibility of "shooting" a narrower stream of air through the MAF (if that's indeed happening). Part of the MAF calibration is based on it's diameter, so if it sees a certain stream of air, it will calculate the total flow based on that stream across the entire diameter.
This is speculation on my part, and again Taylor has dyno'd it and it seems to work very well. In the end, they both seem similarly effective.
Thanks in advance if you do.
However, based on what I've heard from the custom exhaust shop that installed my exhaust system (and also sells "high flow" converters) I don't think the converter will do much or anything. The bottom line is that you have to pass the exhaust through the same amount of substrate to satisfy emissions. The substrate in catalytic converters is all pretty much the same I believe. Perhaps a high flow unit has a slightly better inlet and outlet. But the exhaust shop that sells them even said they won't do much. Furthermore, he noted that as long as your car is running correctly, the stock converter will last a very long time without degrading the flow.
I was once interested in doing this too, but have changed my mind. If your converter is fine, I'd save the money and leave it alone.
I'd put toward an exhaust system. Larryfl seems to have a very nice system for not too much money. Otherwise you can go the big $$ route and go Corsa.
I have already changed both O2 sensors , but it is still stinky. The only reason Im going the high flow route is because a stock cat runs about $700. The high flows are only around $99.
A more easy fit, assuming you are keeping the resonator is the 94200 series. In 2.5" and dual o2 boss, it's model 94266. I think that is the size for the Olds Aurora. You can call them and verify. www.car-sound.com
Ideally I'd go for a 94439 (resonated 1 o2 boss) at 3", have the downpipe expanded to 3" or as close as possible and on the other end remove the resonator. Then a bit of straight 3", then whatever you have right now. You did feed 2.5 from the Y? If not, you can get a dual 2.5 to single 3" Y from magnaflow to do that.
It's going to be loud.
Francois
The resonator does control the sound a lot and the stock unit stinks as far as flow.
These weekend was a great one for me sort of, I finally picked up a set of new shoes for my Aurora.
I decided to go with some Enkie Kapone wheels, size 20X8.5, and for the rubber I went with my previous performance tires Nitto eXtreme NT 555 size 255/35 ZR20.
After the installation at the tire shop here in Chicago, I drove back about seven or ten miles back home, the ride was fine, no drastic change was noticied.
I did feel the Aurora sticking to the pavement like "gum on a hot day". The tires are definitely worth every penny. The wheels do not stick out of the car and are fitted perfectly in everyway. I'm kind of surprise on how these wheels do not look like a size 20 wheel, cosidering the fact that they have a 2 inch chrome lip on them, so they look perfect on the Aurora.
I will be updating my webpage for my Aurora over at www.cardomain.com.id/javidogg, so you guys can see the new 20 inch wheels.
Peace.
Http://www.cardomain.com/id/javidogg
Let me know what you all think.
Peace.
Enjoy Javi!
Believe me when I drive to Chicago, I try to keep on eye on the road real good, plus I only drive through streets that I know are in decent shape.
Most of my driving is done in the northern suburbs as it is.
I'm only going to ride on my wheels for about 4 1/2 months this year, then I will clean them and put them away.
I just want to be able to say that my Aurora was fitted with 20" wheels, plus I really did not noticed any difference while driving, and I still have about an inch of clearance in the front tires, just like the stock wheels.
Well for now I'll enjoy the cruzing with the Enkie Kapone wheels and the Nitto eXtreme NT555 size 255/35ZR20 tires.
Also I will try to take more pictures of the wheels, man you guys got to see the chrome lip on these wheels.
Peace.
Http://www.cardomain.com/id/javidogg
I kind of wanted to do that, but I heard that it will void out your Aurora's warranty.
Is that true?
If it's true, I have the extended warranty on my Aurora, I don't think I might want to add an Air Intake.
Let me know.
Peace
http://www.cardomain.com/id/javidogg
The ones on ebay are like a no name brand but, they seems to perform like a K&N product.
Peace.
http://www.cardomain.com/id/javidogg
Great photos and great car on the photo gallery!
My '97 needs tires; I have been looking for 2 years for a set of 17" OEM non-chrome wheels from a gen 2 Aurora. I haven't found a good deal yet, but I need to move ahead before I'm driving on slicks. I plan to install 255/50-17 tires (probably Continental ContiExtremeContact) instead of the stock 235/55-17. Have you encountered any clearance problems with your 255/35-20s?
Even with the 20's in the front of the Aurora, I still have about an inch and half in clearance.
Peace.
http://www.cardomain.com/id/javidogg
However, the guy at the tire store isn't convinced that my plan to mount 255/50-17 tires on 2001+ OEM wheels for my '97 will not cause interference problems. He is sincere and appears to be knowledgeable. He said that 255/35-20 have a different profile than 255/50-17. Obviously true, but enough different to cause a problem?
garnes, if my memory is working right, you mounted 2001+ 17" wheels on your classic, but I don't remember what tires you have. Did you go wider than stock?
Does anyone know the offset or back-spacing of the Aurora classic 16" and 2001+ 17" OEM wheels?
I have done the simple air box mods posted on here and installed a K&N filter.
I have replaced the plugs with double platinums and replaced the wires with Accel 300+ race wires.
Some of my thoughts have to do with engine compartment temperature and insulation.
First: Does the "sight shield" over the intake manifold actually help or hurt anything?
Second: Is there a real purpose for the insulation on the underside of the hood? I am wondering if it was intended to reduce noise or if the engine compartment actually gets hot enough to cause the paint to discolor.
But I still need to figure out how to replace the worn out rear shocks, _without_ replacing the dead compressor. I see that another member's Aurora has the shocks installed with an air line to the rear bumper of the car to manually adjust the air pressure. This would work just great but I have no idea where to get the lines/fittings/etc to do this.
The easiest answer would be to just buy some pre-charged shocks (with a fixed psi in them, just like all other cars use), and install them. But I cant figure out what kind would fit, or what model to buy.
If anyone has any info something like this please share it with all of us, theres little information on this board (or anywhere on the internet for that, trust me I've looked all over)
Thanks
"the log" was what Les Paul called his first electric guitar invention.
- had to mention that.
I do think something as cool as an Aurora and somebody as cool as Les Paul need to be mentioned at least once on this site. Opportunity knocked - sort of.
Of course, there are more than a few differences between a '77 eldo w/ a 425ci and a classic aurora w/ the northstar and an aluminum hood; but, you get the idea.
-Brian
I'm not sure if it would look goofy or cool... Plus, I'm not exactly sure how I'd do it. I was thinking I could bend the "AURORA" logo in photoshop, then print onto a label, cut along the letters, stick it to the rotor, peel away the lettering (the label means the inside of the A, R, and O would still be there) and then paint it by hand (not spray) with some white or maybe silver paint. Not sure if it would look dumb, or be too hard to do or what... Any thoughts?
Here's a rough idea of what it would look like. If I curved the logo along the curve of the brake (roughly a 6.5" radius), it might look a bit better. I knew how to do that in Illustrator, but not Photoshop... Maybe because I have the LE version of 5.0?
BTW rjs, I think you should try it out with the calipers. I know that I would be interested in seeing the result. I think they'd look great.
1) replacement of water pump
2) replacement of EGR valve
3) check condition of radiator
4) upgrade cupholder
Just a suggestion.
Henri
Sure, go for the mufflers and tips. Although, I did the total cat-back system from Corsa. Some others here have had a great experience with just the mufflers and tips for a lot less money than a whole cat-back system.
If you are interested in more power, don't forget RSM's throttle body and at least drop a K&N filter in. Perhaps modify the air box too.
Another thought - those plugs and perhaps plug wires don't always give you 100% through 100k. Changing those out is not a bad idea. I'd stick with AC Delco. If you don't do the RSM bigger throttle body, at least clean the stock one. It may not have been ever done.
http://members.cardomain.com/kayaman420
The tips I have on my car are Magnaflow stainless steel. I got them for $43 a piece at bigexhaust.com. Regarding the mufflers I went with Dynomax super turbos because most people think the flowmasters are too loud. but that might be what you want.
Congrats on the Autobahn. Damn I wish I knew about those before I bought mine.
Henri