401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

so..ive been running an open element filter for a while now and i thought id like the idea of a cold air intake instead of all that hot air going into the engine.

so i took my stock air intake and ditched all the flexible plastic tubing and im going to remove the thermic valve junk and also remove that ring inside the intake that goes around the throttle body as well.

i cut out the thermic valve and im going to replace it whith some 24ga sheetmetal i snagged from work. i cant weld so this will be assembled with jb weld. i love jb weld...ive used it for years with great results. ive used it to attatch a t handle shifter with threads to a ford ranger that has a slip on shaft and it lasted long after the 2 years i had it!

i took pics if my process. far from done yet. the end result will be great. im going to use a truck lid to use the taller filter and im also going to use 4"pvc from the air intake to the spot where the charcoal canister is (ive relocated mine and still need to relocate the vacuum ball underneath) and drill a hole and run the tubing down there to draw in cold air.

i dont have much money thats why im making this out of my stocker instead of buying some of those slick caps that go on the throttle body.

the big hole is the bottom of the air intake so im going to jb weld and rivot it with short rivots to attach this then im going to use a body hammer and contour the metal with the air intake then smoth out the edges.

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

more pics.

in the first pic you can see the inner ring that i will be removing.

second pic is of the top and these will be the easier holes to fix.

third pic is of the bottom and this will be a little more work to fill but ill get it done.

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

and more pics. the first pic is what the second pic originally looked like til i squared it up. the third pic is the top of the intake so im going to make this look as smooth as possible

wrenchmonkey

*Cries*

"It's just so beautiful! Like a double rainbow!"

*Continues crying*

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

keep in mind im posting pics as i go so you are seeing the entire process except for the part of me actually doing the work. i got a cance to do some more work on it this afternoon so i did a little more.

first pic is the ait sensor hole. im going to plug it here and exend the wires for the sensor to where its ging to be going through the fender

second pic is where the vaccum hoses for the thermic valve connected to the bowl part of the intake.

third pic is the holes i drilled for the rivots i decided to use on top of the jb weld. i tend to overdo things. i rather overdo it and be done with it than having to go back and redo somethng.

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

the first pic is of the finished jb weld job (minus the sanding and smoothing out)

the second pic is of the inner ring i removed. i found that trying to remove the spot welds was trickier than i thought so i used a screw driver and stuck it in between the ring and intake and pried out at the bottom and the ring popped out of the groove. i just had to go back and hammer the groove back. when doing that i decided to hammer it almost shut..like a hem.

what do yall think so far? im a ways from being done but the finished product should look pretty good. i think when its time to paint it itll be painted red to match my car.

wrenchmonkey

Sorry if you felt like I was making fun of you. I'm not. I was making a joke about the "Double Rainbow" more than anything.

I'm excited to see how it turns out!

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

its cool i knew what you meant.... i just wanted to post this fabrication process up cause i havent seen one yet on how to do it so i wanted to let my experience doing it possibly help someone else if they decide to do it.

let me know what you guys think good or bad. so far im out $2 for some rivots. everything else i already had or got for free. im hoping to have less than $30 in it all together. including a junkyard lid from a fullsize chevy and the pvc tubing.

wrenchmonkey

Yeah, it's a cool project. I'm actually thinking about doing something similar on my boat's engine. Luckly, I have a welder, so that simplifies things a bit for me.

The boat's engine gets almost NO fresh airflow around it, since it sits at the back of the boat, and is complete enclosed, except for a few air vents that allow fresh air to be drawn into the bilge. The only air flow that happens is the bilge exhaust fans (that keep fuel fumes from building up in the bilge), and whatever the engine naturally draws in. By the time the fresh air actually gets to the engine though, it's been heated to the ambient temp of the bilge (which is quite warm).

Since the vents and air ducts are already present, I figure I might as well use them to draw cooler outside air directly to the engine...

Also, I'm thinking of going to a MAF system, so this seems like a logical next step before doing that, since I'll have to have all the air flowing through the MAF when I get ready to do that.

Trying to decide if I should do something like yours, or maybe go with the Cadillac intake that I've seen on this forum a few times...

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

yeah..i thought about the cadillac one too but then id have to buy and after market cone filter plus buy the throttle body cap. i used this because its cheaper. i already had it and the truck lid and pvc tubing should cost me too much thats why im eliminating everything obsructive in the stocker..ie thermic valve.

wrenchmonkey

Yeah, boats don't have air filters on them. Just flame arrestors... The reason I'm leaning more toward what you're going with, is because the flame arrestor would fit inside a filter housing.

Granted, a boat out on the water sees very little dust, but it's always kinda bothered me that there's no filter on it. I think I might put a foam ring filter on it, and oil it, to keep small bugs/other junk out of the engine.

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

got a chance to work on the intake some more. still a ways from complete but you can see the top and bottom of the inlet tube. i just put another coat of jb weld on it and also have the big plate sealed and rivoted into place as well.

you also can see where i removed the inner ring on the intake as well as where im plugging the IAT sensor hole and the vavuum port where the vacuum hoses for the themric valve connected.

still have to grind it all smooth and possible light layers of filler to smooth it out depending on how smooth i can get it with the jb weld. when its all said and done it will be painted red with the duplicolor engine paint which is rated up to 500 degrees. they come in spray cans and will add some pop to the engine bay. much better than that ugly black thing imo.

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

its been a couple weeks since ive posted my updates but here they are. im about 95% done. after going to the hardware store i realized that the pvc wouldnt quite work out. sizes didnt match up well enough. so i decided to go with 4" flexible aluminum vent. which is a little better because the aluminum wont absob the heat like the pvc possibly could. i got a air cleaner lid from a local junkyard for free from a early 90's chevy truck. i also realized all the time i spent on the stock air cleaner was wasted due to me changing which tube to use i cut the stocker all the way back just leaving about 2" left. it sucked cutting it after spending all that time on it but i knew that it would be better in the end.

i scuffed the air cleaner and lid and shot some sealer on them then i sprayed them with red high heat engine paint.

i still have to cut a hole where the charcoal canister was to put the tube through to the underside to get more colder air. im going to use a dryer vent that vents through the wall of a house to draw in the cold air. maybe not the prettiest way of doing it but it gets the job done.

i also extended my air intake temperature sensor to just behind the drivers headlight. this is what it looks like effective 20 min ago.

id love to hear all of your feedback good or bad. i know it isnt perfect but its cheaper than the alternative....for now

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

cool man when you get it all done make sure to post up the results from the seat of your pants test

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

ive decided to change my install a little. i decided not to drill a hole through the sheetmetal. instead i decided to modify the dryer vent with the plastic end on it to fit on the side where the horns are located. doing this made me relocate my horns underneath by the vaccum canister. this turned out really well. i bought a tool from harbor feight a couple years ago that allows you to rivot nuts to sheetmetal so i used it to be able to remove it easily plus it makes for a cleaner looking install. i used cardboard at first to make my template then i used 24ga sheetmetal to make the panel then painted it red to blend in better.

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

i drilled a hole in the panel to allow the vaccum hose from the canister to come through i also notched out an area for a wire loom as well. i havent drove it very far yet except for just around the neighborhood a couple times to test it out. seems to have a little better throttle response. i also lengthened the IAT sensor to just behind the drivers headlight. let it run in the driveway to see if i got any codes due to extended it and all is kosher. will post later after i put some real miles on it. all in all im very hapy with how it turned out. whatcha guys think?

401kfirebird

iTrader: (1)

really!!! no input on this at all?

well i drove it and out about 75 miles on it and not problems with the relocated ait sensor and i feel the engine runs smoother. i notice it alot more at higher speeds. dont need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why. engine also runs about 10degress cooler than with the open element as well. when i decide to go another route with this setup in the future im deffinately keeping the cold air setup!

Camarillo

Well done! I like the looks of this set up.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

good job man. im constantly debating to go CAI or use the cowl. even if i go CAI the cowl will still let the hot engine air out. I dunno. We'll see. I have other things to attend to at the moment.

iroc stangs

Sweet, very well done!

DeathStarr89

iTrader: (1)

I'd put the IAT back in the air stream where it belongs, other than that it looks like it's working as designed.

I did something similar to my 91 RS back in college although i ended up just putting a regular chrome Edelbrock air cleaner on it with a K&N filter after fighting the dryer ducting for a few weeks. The 305 seemed to like that a little better.