300D Beef Town Supreme via Air Intake

[Cinnamonandgravy]

So last Friday, while driving to work, I noticed my 300D (1983, 240k mi) sounded... great! Beefy and throaty under load, and I could even vaguely hear the turbo spool up at times. It was a treat.

Normally, the engine sounds fine, but not great. Standard 300D fare.

So the reason it sounded so great was because the turbo's u-tube became disconnected from the air filter housing. Turbo was sucking in hot, unfiltered air through the u-tube.

How can I reproduce the sound but still properly filter the air? I've heard that the stock air filter set up is about as good as it's gonna get (filtering-wise), and the "high-flow" cone filters are comparatively pretty crap (plus you'd have to reroute the valve cover breather tube).

A "high flow" setup may not even reproduce the sound, but if it does, how much would a "high flow" setup negatively affect longevity?

[mach4]

Do you really want to start an air filter war? I suspect no one knows for sure what the effects or lack thereof are, but there is enough evidence that they don't filter as well to cause me concern. You can go with a traditional paper cone filter by fabricating an appropriate bracket and going with a catch can.

I did both on my swap and while it does a great job I can't hear my turbo...even with the relatively "open" filter configuration. (I needed to do it due to space considerations not anything else)

Here's my setup



A little searching will turn up lots of interesting solutions.

[Rogviler]

It's interesting how the shape of an intake can affect the sound. I have the same setup as above, but with a short elbow piece so it points more toward the passenger side. With that I get a lub-dub from the intake and can definitely hear the turbo. Unfortunately it clashes a bit with the straight-through exhaust (can also hear the turbo there) so sometimes there's a strange harmonic that happens between the two at certain RPM. If you're going for sound then I'd pick one or the other.

-Rog

[Cinnamonandgravy]

Originally Posted by mach4

Do you really want to start an air filter war?

I know I know, ha. I apologize in advance.

Originally Posted by Rogviler

It's interesting how the shape of an intake can affect the sound.

I may be trying to run before I walk. Making sure I understand the variables and all that.

When the u-tube popped off the air filter housing, did I get the beef town supreme sound due to the turbo sucking in unrestricted air from the engine bay? Did the u-tube's shape also audibly affect the sound?

[mach4]

Originally Posted by Cinnamonandgravy

When the u-tube popped off the air filter housing, did I get the beef town supreme sound due to the turbo sucking in unrestricted air from the engine bay? Did the u-tube's shape also audibly affect the sound?

Since the tube came off the air cleaner, it would mean that the open tube would be pointing back toward the firewall directing the sound of the turbo toward the driver. You might even get a little "resonance" from the tube, kind of like an open exhaust.... Which likely explains why I don't get the turbo sound since mine is pointing the other way.

[Thingymagigercarpart]

Maybe a custom spool turbine&shaft.