Browsing through the forum I have seen a few people mentioning modding their air boxes and adding the Green filter. What I have yet to see are pictures of what and how to do the mod. I tried searching the forum specifically for that and turned up with nothing. So whos up to the task of showing me what to do.
Air box mod
- Thread starter David Powe
- Start date
Blckshdw
Moderator
Welcome to the forum!Basically, if you remove your air box cover, and look at the inside of it, you'll notice 2 molded chambers that sit on the air filter when the cover is on, and a hole that sits over an outlet in the intake tube. These are resonators.
All you're doing is taking a cutoff wheel and a rotary tool, and cut around the edges of the resonators, removing the plastic that would normally contact the filter. The result is an open box, so more surface area of the filter gets used. You'll want to cover the hole on the intake tube, so unfiltered air doesn't enter the intake through that opening.
If no one has comparison pics they can post before I get home from work, I still have a stock box in my garage somewhere, and can do a side by side pic for you.
Edit: I did find a couple of old pics I took. Here's one of the gutted air box, and the intake tube with the opening I mentioned.
HARDTRAILZ
Moderator
- Nov 18, 2011
- 49,665
I just did it and never thought to take pics back then. A side by side would be good for people looking to try it out.
Blckshdw
Moderator
A few 
for reference
Stock left, gutted right. The hole that's right next to where the filter rests, is the unfiltered air resonator. The hole that's in the intake tube area, is the filtered air resonator.
Unfiltered resonator on the stock box. The 3 depressed areas are plastic welded to the shell.
Same area, but gutted. You can see plastic welds.
Here's the stock filtered resonator
Same area gutted
Hope these help make things more clear.
for reference Stock left, gutted right. The hole that's right next to where the filter rests, is the unfiltered air resonator. The hole that's in the intake tube area, is the filtered air resonator.
Unfiltered resonator on the stock box. The 3 depressed areas are plastic welded to the shell.
Same area, but gutted. You can see plastic welds.
Here's the stock filtered resonator
Same area gutted
Hope these help make things more clear.
Honestly it is so much easier to get a piece of pvc pipe. drill a hole and put a barb in and delete the big resonator box that says vortec on it. get a rubber cap from home depot as well and cap that hole that stuff can get sucked into and boom. insta loud growl intake for the cheap. I have pics on tv but hogging out the airbox won't do much I don't think. It already comes stock with a cone filter, that is just a place for it to sit...
Attachments
smt 59
Member
Denali n DOO
Member
- May 22, 2012
- 5,596
A phone pic? Maybe crop the picture while holding the phone in the normal up and down position and upload the cropped picture, that always works for me, don't know why.
Get rid of the air box and intake resonator. Install an intake (with a heat shield) and Green filter. I went with K&N's performance intake.
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Pittdawg
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 538
Umm...no. That setup just sucks in hot air with the filter essentially completely open to the heat coming off the engine, that flimsy "heat shield" won't do much of anything. Either modify the stock COLD air setup or go with an aftermarket system like Volant that is also a cold air intake setup.
Get ride of the air box and intake resonator. Install an intake (with a heat shield) and Green filter. I went with K&N's performance intake.
View attachment 72677
He's right, most of the setups do suck in hot air. Especially when they rest a metal pipe right on top of the valve cover. Even with an aftermarket system too. It is just nice for the sound and less turbulent airflow, but all in all it doesn't add an extreme amount of horsepower. Just a fun mod.
I assumed you have been around the forum long enough to understand there is no such thing as a COLD air intake, unless you pack dry ice around your intake filter. We are talking about ambient temperatures. With my current setup, my air intake temperature is only 6* above ambient temp and that's even in the summer, so yes my "flimsy heat shield" is indeed functional. How do I know this? Watching live data.
What data can you provide for the Volant intake? Are you saying the Volant intake is capable of pulling in air with a temp that is lower than that of the ambient temp?
I never mentioned anything about a COLD air intake or saying the heat shield blocks all the heat. Every intake setup brings in hot air, but the goal is to bring as close to ambient as possible. Even if you run your intake outside of the engine bay, you are still only bringing in ambient air.
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Pittdawg
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 538
There was a dyno years ago on the old site which showed a larger gain of the Volant vs. the FIPK (it was like 14 rwhp vs. 7rwhp or something along those lines). Unfortunately I didn't save a copy of the dyno sheet. There is a reason the stock intake was designed with the filter in a closed box isolated from the engine heat and near the headlight/fender area to draw in cooler outside air as opposed to the open system you have which is much more susceptible to heat soak. The only real limiting factor of the stock design is the baffled tube which is designed to keep everything nice and quiet as opposed to maximizing air flow/velocity. With all of that said I'm sure you still picked up a few ponies in the higher rpms given the better flowing tube and filter you have but a closed system would function even better.
paul2005tb
Member
I have already cut out the inner plastic layer of the stock airbox. I dont know if this really helped or not but many trusted contributors here have recommended the mod.
What is the consensus on cutting a slit in the front grill plastic chrome colored piece right in front of the air intake. This would allow cold air to flow right into the front of the air intake.
What is the consensus on cutting a slit in the front grill plastic chrome colored piece right in front of the air intake. This would allow cold air to flow right into the front of the air intake.
Blckshdw
Moderator
Not directly. The opening in the stock airbox is on the corner by the grille, along with a short funnel. You'd need to mod your air box with a hole in the corresponding area. Then possibly plug the stock opening depending on how far you wanted to go with it.
Midnyteryder196
Member
If getting a "cold" air intake is that important to you, instead of going forward like you mentioned into the grill, just do some searching on the fender well intakes that some of the ss guys do to their trucks.
for me personally though, thats quite a bit of work for a negligible gain on an i6.. I will just stick with my modded air box, and K&N kit that deletes the resonator..
I have read horror stories from using the fender well intake (FWI) setup. There is a risk of sucking water into the engine when driving while it is raining. The SS guys with the FWI have fair weather garage queens. I would definitely not go with this setup on a DD.
I wonder if anyone has ever watched the air temps with the stock intake setup and can compare that to air intake temps on an aftermarket one to see the difference, if any. I did not have/knew about torque pro years ago when I swapped out my stock intake.
Midnyteryder196
Member
I was just giving options.. lol
I also didnt think about checking AIT before swapping.. but i imagine it cant be that much difference..
Blckshdw
Moderator
Hmm, I think I have a stock intake in one of my many parts bins somewhere. Maybe I'll try that if someone reminds me... The joys of being a pack rat!! 
Blckshdw
Moderator