A little help on air cleaner please?

[NappyRacer]

Hello guys its me again. I was just wondering about the air cleaner on my 77 corvette. Its got that big ram air black tube thing. I was wonderin do I really need that or can i take it off? I dont want to mess nothing up. Thanks alot for the help!

 

[Tom73]

That tube feeds cold/cooler air to the engine. With out it the engine would be using hot underhood air.

tom...

 

[MaineShark]

Unless you go to an open element aircleaner system, you'd be getting hot air, and still having the limited breathing capacity of the original system.

So, if you want to keep the current aircleaner, keep the tube. If you want to replace the whole air cleaner assembly, an open element will add enough breathing capacity (less restriction) to make up for the hotter air.

Joe