Here's the air snout mounted...
Here's the air snout mounted to the front of the car. The installation required cutting a hole in the front of the firewall, with the hose snapping right in. This is not rocket science; it's the type of racing moxie that's required to run at the front of any highly competitive series. From Nextel Cup to a local Street Stock class, brain power is just as important as money.
In the typical Street Stock application, the racer may use the stock air cleaner and run the lid upside down. While this may help make the air cleaner less restrictive, it allows hot air from the engine compartment free access to the air inlet. Another thing to remember is that on many short tracks the cars don't go that fast, but they still operate at high power levels relative to ground speed. This makes the availability of cooling air that much more difficult to obtain. We must also consider that the engines are usually wide open for much longer periods of time, and this coupled with lower speeds generates more heat under the hood.
Just how hot does the air cleaner get? A simple test is to touch the top of the air cleaner right after a race. The average person's threshold of pain is about 140 F; they'll feel pain if it's hotter. You'll find that on most Street Stocks the air-cleaner housing gets too hot to touch after a heat race or main event. If you're using an aftermarket air cleaner, you may not have a hot air-cleaner housing, but you'll still be drawing in hot air under the hood. Of course, you need to exercise a great deal of care when touching any hot surface, but you'll get the idea right away that there's a significant heat load under the hood. If fact, you'll likely notice just how hot everything gets under the hood and how fast it heats up in racing conditions.
In the Street Stock application, engines usually don't have headers, as many tracks don't allow the Street Stock racers to use them. If your Street Stock division allows the use of headers, you'll find the underhood temperatures will be even higher. Headers cool off faster than cast-iron manifolds, but that means the heat is being radiated into the engine compartment. The result is even higher temperatures.The FixFortunately, this can be avoided with some simple additions that can be done at low cost. A trip to the junkyard may provide the solution to the hot-air conundrum. Many cars have a factory-installed cold-air system that can be rescued from the crusher or possibly a landfill. Calls to multiple junkyards across the country revealed the average price for these factory cold-air systems runs from $20 to $30 and were common on GM and Ford cars from the '70s. It will merely take some looking around to locate one that will work for your application.
It looks like an OEM setup...
It looks like an OEM setup because that's what it is. The size of the inlet snout won't be restrictive as the engines used in Street Stock classes don't make more than 1 hp per cube. Getting cooler air will add more power than having the whole of the filter element exposed to the heat under the hood.
Fortunately, this can be avoided with some simple additions that can be done at low cost. A trip to the junkyard may provide the solution to the hot-air conundrum. Many cars have a factory-installed cold-air system that can be rescued from the crusher or possibly a landfill. Calls to multiple junkyards across the country revealed the average price for these factory cold-air systems runs from $20 to $30 and were common on GM and Ford cars from the '70s. It will merely take some looking around to locate one that will work for your application.
The fact is, the car you're racing may have come with a cold-air system that was removed during the construction phase and never replaced. The installation process isn't that complex. Once you have the required parts-the housing inlet snout and new filter-the installation process is fairly straightforward.
* Remove the old air-cleaner assembly.
* Reinstall the new air-cleaner base. This may require some minor fabrication if your carburetor is different from the one on the donor car. This is a small potential modification that shouldn't require much rework.
* Route the air horn to the front of the car. Also, you could possibly draw air from under the fender. (This may not be a good source if you race on dirt.) Many cars have ample area at both ends of the radiator to place an inlet snout. The point is to try to draw air that's as far away as possible from the engine compartment and the radiator.
* It may be necessary to fabricate some supports for the inlet hose so that it's not whipping around while the car is on the track.
* Install the filter and secure the top of the housing.
Again, it's up to the individual Street Stock racer to try to get as much power as he or she can without stressing their racing budget. The amount of power you may be able to get and still stay within the rules will be elevated with the addition of a cold-air system. Even the Nextel Cup guys use cold-air systems to draw cool inlet air from outside the car to take advantage of some free power. This project is a clear-cut example of using your brain and not your billfold to get to the front of the pack.