Air Intake for Lumina

[Albanks]

Ok I want to put in a Cold Air Intake for My 1992 Chevy Lumina Euro 3.4 Liter. But they dont sell a kit for it. I just wanna know what some of you guys did it and about how much it cost you???

[Will Help]

Money bags handy?
You will probably have to measure your air horn on the throttle body for fit and then determine what kind of room and amount of pipe bend would be necessary. Then you need to figure out how to incorporate the engine sensors and how/where to secure everything. This experiment can be costly.

Poor man's cold air intake!!!
You could also modify your existing air box by drilling alot of holes, under the filter area, in places that would not be subject to water splash. Then install a K&N filter to increase air flow.This modification allows you to keep your original sensor hookups and your are only out the filter money. If you want to go back, just go to the bone yard.

This system works on alot of vehicles that currently do not have aftermarket systems available. Even Northstars.

[Albanks]

Yeah that poor mans way sounds like what I'm thinking of doing. I've been looking at some pics on other sites and I can sorta see what I should do.

[Will Help]

You can put the savings in your gas tank!!!

[DnaProRacing]

This is what i did. filter = $40, pipe = $45 and a cheap thin metallic hose to run to the back of the headlight. had to silicon the iat to the pipe cuz it wasnt a perfect fit. what i need to do now is fit a piece of sheet metal on the right side between the engine and the filter for more heat protection. Ill get that done after I get a couple other major repairs done. lums are money pits. fun if you have the cash. hell if you dont...

OR, go to pepboys or autozone and pick up the cold air intake kit. they run between $80 to $150. depends on what you want. the kit is a little more tasking to install on lums cuz of the lack of any space at all to work with. I seen on another board where a guy actually moved his battery to the left and ran his intake near the wheel well. that would probably have the best affect simply cuz of its distance away from any heat. there are several ways of doing it. do whats best for you moneywise. they also offer kits on partstrain.com for a fairly good price...

[cadgear]

I wonder what people think sometimes. A cold-air intake is just that; it's designed to draw in cooler air from outside rather than warmer air near the radiator/engine bay. My Grand Am had a good idea, though it would need improvement: the intake was actually in the bumper itself. A hose ran into the driver's side well, and took in the generally cooler air. Problem is, my friend thought it'd be great to go puddle jumping and drowned the car.

Most setups where people take off the airbox and slap a cone filter isn't necessarily more economic. You have, in theory, removed the only heat shield there is for the incoming air and are pulling air from directly under the hood; some of the hottest air in the engine bay.

Another problem is the aluminum stovepipes I've seen people put on their intakes. The aluminum absorbs the heat from the engine, and, although not significantly, raises the incoming air temp.

To drive my point home, here's a couple of numbers for you. All are actual readings I've taken of vehicles that are at operating temp and driven on the road at typical 45mph speeds. Readings were taken while the vehicle was in motion from the integrated IAT sensor.

Stock 1997 3.1 Lumina: ~120°F
Stock 1999 3.1 Grand Am: ~110°F
1998 Grand Prix 3.1 with no-name brand "K&N" style cone filter with al. tubing (something off eBay if I remember): ~125°F

Before you debunk me, I did this as a college experiment for my automotive class. I may not know everything, but I know what didn't work. Can anyone say IAT Resistor mod?

Bottom line, the cooler air is to be found away from the engine. Most stock Luminas are already good to go, and in fact could probably be easily modified to use the Pontiac thought process.

[DnaProRacing]

I enjoy working on my car, it sounds great and anything is better than the stock box. it cant be "completely" useless. the throaty sound mixes well with my flowmasters. with a decent heat shield, it has to be an improvement over the original air filter. with my setup, i did pick up a little more power. no i didnt dyno test, dont need to. its what i feel while behind the wheel. it all boils down to how you feel about your car and what you want to do to it. anyone can say dont do this or that or my car is set up better than yours, none of that matters, I simply love my car and what i've done to it...
Sorry if i sound a bit argumentive, dont mean to, Im just proud of what i've done so far simply cuz im no mechanic. before i bought my lum, i knew absolutely nothing about cars except how to drive them to death. now, i sit with my mechanic and talk for hours. i've learned a lot, and plan on continuing to learn more. not to mention how much i learned from autozones fix it yourself guides and these forums. im to the point now where all my neighbors want me to fix their cars. lol
here is the best advice i can give about intakes: learn from your mistakes, you WILL make them. a good example of this is that iat bypass, yes i had one. please dont throw rocks at me...

[cadgear]

Oh no no no.
Don't think I'm attacking you or anyone else for that matter. I'm simply pointing out the on-paper analysis I did. The actual temperature is lower with some stock setups, but because the oxygen concentration isn't uniform, you could very well have little to no difference even on a dyno. But it might feel snappier to the driver; sometimes it's placebo effect, sometimes it's actual results.

Trust me, I agree: it's not always about the numbers, sometimes it's all about what it feels like to you. The whole point of having a car, aside from transportation, is to be YOUR car. Do what you want with it, as long as it's comfortable and what you like.

Before I got my Cutlass, I didn't know jack about cars. I knew they had four wheels and went vroom. Now I've been in the shop for years. And I love it.

Hell, I had a 1998 Buick LeSabre left at the yard. I took off the exhaust and intake completely and drove it around the block. Best ten minutes I've had in a grannymobile.