DIY: Cold Air Intake

Do It Yourself. Feeling game try some of the mods outlined in here. Some of these can be peformed by novices others require a substantial amount of knowledge before attempting them

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Boris
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DIY: Cold Air Intake

Post by Boris »

I recently did a pretty nice CAI, so now i decided to write a little guide on it. If you can think of any improvements let me know, because I did this CAI a month or two ago, i don't have actual pictures of it being made, but i have taken a number of pictures that should assist you. This CAI that I have designed will compliment the UAS setup, but will work with any good setup and it would be able to be adapted to most cars.

I’m not sure how this mod will go with a face lifted fto, because I have a pre-facelift stock front bumper.

I remember ages ago someone put up a similar CAI guide, but I couldn't for the life find it, it could of been wiped :|

Anyway, onto the guide, it's split into a number of sections,


Basic Theory
A CAI system is complimentary to a good air filter. The whole point of changing the air filter and the Cold Air Intake is to allow the engine to breathe easier. The denser and colder the air the more power you will get out of an engine. So basically the whole point of a decent CAI is to allow more cold air to enter the engine.


Requirements
Before you can do a CAI, you will need to have a number of modifications already in place. It is strongly recommended that you already have a Air Filter such as maybe a panel filter, or a POD filter. For a good review of air filter see the following link:
:arrow: http://www.ftooc.org/contents/pages/project/filter.htm

Other things that will greatly help the CAI along would be a heat shield or a heat shield box that surrounds the air filter. The whole point of a heat shield is to separate the hot air from the engine away from the cold air that is coming in from our scoop.

Another great improvement that you will feel is also a larger intake pipe that goes into you throttle body from the air filter. If you examine the stock intake tube it is quite restricted around the battery area.

So where can you find more information, and the parts? It’s pretty simple, either make something up your self, or purchase the Unique Auto Sports setup from
:arrow: www.nismo.com.au.

Another good article and a good induction system is written by Richard, this article covers air intake systems in much more scientific detail.
:arrow: http://www.ftowa.com/html/workshop/workshopart10.html

Another twovery important things are that firstly is to remove a piece of plastic that surrounds the radiator. If you look down between you front bumper and the radiator most stock FTO’s will have a piece of plastic surrounding the radiator. Secondly you will need to remove the old stock intake tubing from the air filter box if you still have it. For both of those things you will need to remove the whole front bumper, trust me. A decent guide on removing the front bumper can be found at this link:
:arrow: http://www.redmorris.pwp.blueyonder.co. ... /index.htm

That's about it! :D


Parts & Tools Needed
This CAI system shouldn’t take to long. The parts you will need are:

1) 90mm Storm Water PVC Pipe, get about 900mm in length
2) 90mm Storm Water PVC 45 degree Elbow, Male to Female
3) 90mm Flexible Pipe, 1.5 meters long
4) Metal Clamp, That will be able to fit 90mm
5) Long Cable Ties

You will find all these parts in a hardware store, such as Bunning’s for example, except maybe the Flexible Pipe, which you should find in possibly a car shop or a special shop that sells tubing. Make sure that the flexible pipe is 90mm. If someone knows a good place to get the flexi tubing please post. The one I used was the one that was part of the UAS kit.

The best way to get the parts is to get all the parts except the flexible tubing first, and then use the Elbow Male end as a guide to what flexible pipe you need. Make sure that the flexible pipe that you get fits snugly over the Male end of the elbow.

An alternative to the flexible pipe is air duct pipe. This is silver in colour and stretches. A picture of this is at the bottom. The disadvantage of this is that it wouldn’t last as long as the flexi tubing, because it’s very thin.

The tools you will need are outlined here:

1) Screwdriver for the clamp
2) Sharp knife or hole maker
3) Hack Saw, or a variety of saws that you may have
4) Metal File
5) Pencil

Everything here is pretty self explanatory, except the saws, cutting the actual 90mm storm water pipe to the right shape is the hardest. You just will need to find a saw that works best for you. I used the blade of a hack saw. So I was just holding the blade in my hand…


Instructions
Make sure you have all the parts, and you comply with the requirements.

Step 1
Start of with taking of your number plate, and cutting the 90mm storm water pipe to size of the length of the width of the area you want it to sit. Make sure you give about 5cm on both end as extras.

Step 2
Once the PVC pipe is cut to size, draw an outline with a pencil of how you want to cut the pipe. Remember to make it a triangle shape. Look at my pictures to get an idea of what I’m going about. Because like I said I did this a month ago, I don’t have step by step pictures. But to get a good idea of how to cut it, look at my other side of the pipe that I didn’t throw away. Make sure that at the start of the PVC pipe that you leave like 5cm where the pipe is still cylindrical.

Step 3
Now here comes the hard part, cutting. This takes a while, basically try a number of ways and a number of saws, and work out what is best for you. Make sure that you follow the pencil outlines you drew earlier. You can use the Metal file of sand paper to smooth out the edges and make them nice.

Step 4
Try and hold the pipe where you want it, and cut out a slot like in the bottom picture to completely hide the pipe.

Step 5
Once the pipe is cut to size, you have to run the flexi tubing from the air filter area down below into the elbow which joins the PVC pipe. The key here is to not be afraid to make holes and use cable ties. Don’t forget the metal clamp around the flexi pipe on the elbow.

Make sure you put as many cable ties as you can, I put 2 at the start, one in the middle, and another two at the end. Also I used about 4 to hold the actual flexi pipe in place that runs to the PVC pipe.





Pictures - Parts & Tools

Long Cable Ties
Image

Metal Hack Saw, I used the blade
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90mm, 45 Degree PVC Elbow (Ignore the flanges)
Image

90mm, PVC Storm Water Pipe, (Off Cut)
Image

After cutting it, this is the other side! (This is not the one you use)
Image

Other Saws that you can try
Image

The 90mm, Flexi Piping
Image

An Alternative to the Flexi Piping
Image




Pictures - End Product

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That's about it. There are ofcourse improvments that i will be making soon, which i will post up :wink:

If anything needs clarification, then just ask! Because I know the instructions here are pretty crappy. But atleast you have pictures!

Boris :D
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smorison
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Post by smorison »

that's a lot of air your taking from your radiator... you should watch your engine temp's during a hard drive and make sure the car doesn't suffer...

apart from that nice work ;)
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FTO338
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Re: DIY: Cold Air Intake

Post by FTO338 »

Boris wrote:
I remember ages ago someone put up a similar CAI guide, but I couldn't for the life find it, it could of been wiped :|
Yeah i remember that one, is the one where one member used a vaccum cleaner pipe. hehehee He actually posted lots of DIY, but they were dissapear soon after TWG was created, as i was looking for them, so that i can ask the old TWG to post it.
DISCLAIMER: The above text is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the indisputable truth. The author is not responsible for any deaths, injuries or mental illness caused by the above statments.
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Foe
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Post by Foe »

Owwww shucks thanks tanya.

Boris I did the same thing dude watch out for puddles :)
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FtoSam
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Post by FtoSam »

I cant see fotos. does that mean i'm blind? oh no...*wimper*
G_A_V
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Post by G_A_V »

photos are down
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FtoSam
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Post by FtoSam »

Oh good.well not really. will they be back up? i really wanna see em. *wimper*
G_A_V
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Post by G_A_V »

I dont know its on boris's server, where ever he has hosted it, but his avatar is not working either
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