rjp911

I'm not sure where my first post ended up...I can't seem to get to the two rear clips to undo my air filter housing in my 1988 911. Is there a trick to this. All my previous experience is with CIS cars which the air cleaner is a breeze to change. Help!

stefang

Do you perhaps have a SO or child with smaller hands? Seriously - no trick that I could find. I get to the top by reaching around the back with my left hand. I just manage to get my hand/arm in between the oil and air filter to reach the bottom. Great piece of engineering...

Steve W

Remove the oil filter, and you can reach from under the airbox pretty easily.

RicoJay

Are there 3 clips or 4? If there is one in the lower back, I have no idea how I'm supposed to reach it. I can also barely get the top rear clip reaching over like you said. I get that one and the front two off but I still can't get the box off or the wide filter out due to having no room on the right side to manuever the box far enough out.

RicoJay

Okay, fixed my own problem, which is certainly the most satisfying. Here's what I learned about changing the air filter on the 3.2, and it might help others who know nothing about this kind of stuff.

1. Use the spot marked 1 to get at the top rear clip. Should be cakewalk. Some say you can get up and down to get at the bottom rear clip. I could not.

2. This was the way I snuck my right arm in to access the bottom rear clip. Snake your arm in and then down and fiddle with it and you should have no problem.

3. This is an alternate route to access the bottom rear clip and top rear clip. It didn't work for getting to my bottom rear clip. If all else fails, this might work better for those of you with longer arms.

PorscheDoc

Lol, yea those rear clips are fun. I am thin enough that i can just slide my hand between the cover and the fender and just pop them on and off. It is definetly tight, but i haven't gotten my arm stuck yet There have been other places i have stuck my arm and didn't think i was going to get it out, lol.

imcarthur

Saw that silly horn & the face of the box off & the clips are easy. You also get the massive HP boost this brings.



Ian

RicoJay

What is the official 'expert' opinion on sawing the face off the box? Not calling imcarthur a non-expert, I guess I just wonder why the project isn't in the 101 projects and wonder if Zimmer would endorse risking rain water getting sucked into the airbox for minimal breathability improvements.

rnln

Ricojay,
Cuting off the face is simply amking the opening bigger. It is the same (or similar) as "european" snorkle on BMW. It is where I learn this from and this is good. But it also means it is sucking all hot air to the engine beside lounder. I was thinking of doing similar project but trying to add a big hose there and lead the opening somewhere otside for cold condense air but sop because I found there is no where to lead the hose to unless I have co cut my car somewhere.
Well, our stock airbox is sucking hot air in anyway, so no complain really. The thing is that you can't go back when you want to.
How much is the stock airbox, anyone know?

imcarthur

The general consensus appears to be:

Rain: No.
More hot air vs cold: No.
More HP: No.
More good sound: Yes.

I bought a spare & broke out the jigsaw.

Ian

Jay H

Porsche usually designs stuff for a reason. That goofy horn on the air filter housing is there for a reason. The intake gets more cool air coming in from the rear deck lid grill in that location (horn opening area) and doesn't suck as much hot air with the horn in place.

I agree it probably sounds better with the air box cut. The 964 series had the Cup cars using a cut up air box, so Porsche must have found some efficiencies with that model, but I think the air box is efficient enough on the 3.2 cars that there are minimal gains (or maybe negative due to hot air) from cutting the air box.

Jay
90 964

M491

Rain: No.
More hot air: Yes.
More HP: No.
More good sound: No.

I'd bet you $100 that if we did back to back testing with your cut off one and a stock one, you would not be able to tell the difference with any degree of accuracy.

The snorkle isn't there just for decoration. Porsche is a pretty good engineering company. I personally wouldn't hack up my own car like that for no reason.

Jay H

I spoke with my Porsche dealer parts guy about a year ago on this subject and the air box lid is no longer available as a separate item. You must buy the entire air box and I believe the list price was north of $250 (looks like Porsche is screwing us again on parts). This was for my 964, but it appears that the 3.2 air box is identical (or at least very similar).

However, people have posted that used lids pop up on eBay every so often.

Jay
90 964

ron mcatee

Go to Parts Heaven in Hayward, CA, Oklahoma Foreign in Moore Okla, or other salvage places. See what they want for the whole thing or maybe they have a cracked base that is no good and will sell you the cover only. I bought one from Okla foreign and drilled 2" holes. All I got was a louder noise, but no HP increase. Sold it to another Pelicanite 3 years ago.

imcarthur

Wrong. It sounds louder & 'honkier'. Especially top down. At first I thought it was not as nice: more throat - less sewing machine. But it grows on you.

I bought a whole AFM with airbox for $100 CAD from a PCA'er. So there was also no $ guilt attached . . .

And really . . . rain? Up in there? No way. Tried & tested. Less airflow? Hmmmm. Bigger opening, no snorkle, major air inlet blocked with AC crap anyway so 'directled' airflow would not exist . . . hmmm . . .

If anything, Porsche used the horn to tone DOWN the exhaust so as not to offend their yuppie customer's wives . . .

Ian