What is this and should I remove it?

[gifters]

So I was looking at my Baja, seeing how I wanted to do my wiring upgrade for my lights when I noticed a piece of plastic on the hood. It looks like it might have a purpose of preventing water going into the engine but honestly it more looks like a device to prevent airflow... I took some pictures



sorry for the poor photo quallity but if you click on the image and go to the link it should get a little better

[speedymatt]

the pics are so close i cant tell where about the car you are so i cant really help yet. i'd say leave it though it looks to be small and unless its obviously in the way of the intake why bother.

[gifters]

Its on the front left of the hood looking at the front profile of the car. The first pick is through the grill with the hood closed and shows it right infront of the intake, the second is from the front of the car with the hood up and the third is a picture from the right side (from the front view) with the hood open

[Zooom]

if I could see the pics, I might be able to help, but the webfilter here at works keeps personal networking and pic hosting sites blocked out.

[gifters]

I believe its part #7 the "Front Plate"

[speedymatt]

ok i went out and snapped some pics to help. at first i thought the plate was to direct air to the intake but after feeling around it does actually block the scoop. when i get home this peice is history! hope these help clear it up.

all pics red cloud=plate green=intake
pic1 hood up, plate is attached to underside of hood

pic2 hood almost closed, taken from drivers side looking up and toward the passengers side

pic3 hood almosted closed, taken from passengers side looking toward drivers side plate drops right infront of the rad support with maybe 0.5" of clearance

pic4 hood even closer to closed, taken from passengers side looking toward drivers side

[gifters]

I removed mine, did you notice any performance difference speedymatt?

[speedymatt]

i'm going to do it today, life with a 19 month old and expectant wife makes even the simplest of tasks take a back seat.

[speedymatt]

nevermind i said to myself how long will it actually take and took a "smoke break" at work and ran out to the parking lot and just did it.

i'll let you know how it does on the commute home but i'm not expecting it to feel any different. in the long run there might be some mpg gain with the fresh air but minimal at best. i just didn't like the idea of a blockage in the system.

[speedymatt]

ok i want to say i felt an increase in pep on the ride home. however the mind plays tricks on the body and because i wanted there to be a difference i thought i felt one. we will see if there is an effect on mpg.

[gifters]

Well I thought the throttle response was increased as well as a their being a little more noise... now I want to work on deleting the silencers in the intake and see what that does

[speedymatt]

i'd say the response is up but i dont think it gained any power.

autozone in my area started selling the sylicone joints for a diy intake type thing. since i have a k&n drop in i was going to cut larger holes in the air box and re-pipe sections of the intake.