Upgrade: Ram Air!!!
Well, I had heard stories of how the rain baffle was an air restriction in the intake of Fieros. Well, I wasn't quite sure how bad it was until I actually took a look at it. After removing the inner fenderwell, I was surprised to see how big the rain baffle was. It rests between the outer skin of the car and the engine compartment.
So, for the sake of cleaning things up, I removed the baffle...now here comes the rub...what to put in it's place. Well, by chance, I also own a 1986 Turbocharged Buick Regal which I had removed the tube connecting the air filter to the turbo. Well, being GM goodness, it happened to be the same diameter as the rain baffle.
Well, both ends fit but it was a bit too long. As much as I hate to cut it (for whatever reason I wanted to put it back on the Buick), but I said screw it, and cut it to proper lenght. Now I was already running a stock style K&N filter, so water penitration into the intake wasn't a very big deal.
Now, for Ram Air, you need some sort of device to hang out in the wind and catch it. For this, I used an A pillar gauge holder from my Buick (long replaced by a 2 gauge pillar replacement). It was the same height as the intake, so it was a matter of cutting it down a bit, opening up the face and attaching it with some screws. It just hangs on the existing grill.
I'll need to get some sort of filler to make it a bit more air tight, but that'll come with time. It's painted gloss black.