When removing the stock MAF body you will notice a fine
mesh screen held in place by a large c-clip. If you have come to
believe this screen is to "straighten the airflow" or some other such nonsense,
please read on. All aftermarket MAFs I have seen do not have this
screen, nor will the stock screen readily fit the larger MAF diameter.
If you use a cone filter and abandon the stock airbox, you do not need
to read further. If you plan to
keep the stock airbox, you may want to consider a little insurance
against catastrophic engine failure.
Look inside the stock airbox cover and you will see three blind bolts
holding the MAF to the cover. These bolts are located downstream
of the filter and upstream of where the OEM MAF screen was. In other
words, there is almost nothing between these bolts and your valves.
Now picture one of these bolts working loose and dropping into the airflow
at WOT. :-(
At a minimum, you would want to do an exceptional Loctite job when installing
these bolts. The big shortcoming of Loctite in critical applications
is, you don't know how well it's holding until you put a wrench on it....which
kind of defeats the purpose. Better still, safety wire the bolts
in series. Safety wiring gives you a true mechanical lock and visual
reassurance each time you pop the air cleaner cover. If you can't
do the safety wire yourself, most race shops or even aircraft mechanics
can do it cheap. I'll do it for the cost of the drill bits. :-)