Xophertony's custom CAI (more like lukewarm air intake) - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

Xophertony · 05-06-2004, 03:01 AM

ok, so i decided to make a cold air intake on my firebird since i was tired of getting all my air through a hole that was 6"X1". thats crap, so i followed the link on this site to a tech artical for CAI for firebirds. it can be seen HERE . well i went down to the home depot and auto zone, had to order the filter, once i got it a couple days later the complete install took like an hour or two. anyway, i hosted some pics on cardomain. its acting real funny so i hope the links work.

first, the stock intake we all know and love.

and now the new one

also, there was a senser in the side of the metal air box that goes around the filter, i dont know what it does, so i left it plugged in and zip tied it to the body where the old intake met the nose. it can be seen below. if anyone knows what this is please tell me.

and one more thing, my charcole can. will removing this cause any problems. and if i do remove it, where do i put that senser that plugs into it. and what do i do with the fuel vent line? could i run it to the intake so the fuel vapor gets burned in the engine? that would be kind of neat? anyway, here is a pic of the canister

and finaly the results. well in adition to making a baddass hissing sound, that is AUDABLE outside the car, it actually whistles as you hit 2k. sounds like i have a little turbo on there. i have not noticed any increase in performance, but my encine runs at like 180* instead of 220* cool huh (pun intended)

if anyone has any questions about what it took, or how much or anything feel free to PM me orpost them here.

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TomP · 05-06-2004, 10:09 AM

Nice job! That sensor's the MAT, manifold air temp sensor. As long as you hang it somewhere near the filter, you'll be okay... this sensor has to see the temp of the incoming air. So it wouldn't be good to hang the sensor over the exhaust!

br()bert · 05-06-2004, 11:53 AM

I removed my evap can awhile ago. I unplugged everything, blocked off the vacc lines, ripped the can out and put the vent line into the fender. No problems so far. BUT this doesnt give you any performance so unless yours is cracked like mine is there isnt much of a point.

Xophertony · 05-06-2004, 02:27 PM

the only purpose to me doing it to

1 clean up the engine bay
2 need the room for intake

Gumby · 05-06-2004, 02:29 PM

Id stick the air temp sensor back into the piping. say half way up. faster air is colder so you want the computer to read that and ajudst for the colder air.

The fuel canaister thing is dumb. most of it can be removed but you gotta know which line to plug n which to let vent. One of them lies is your gas tank vent.

Xophertony · 05-06-2004, 02:59 PM

what about the wires that i asume go to a sensor. what do i do with that sensor?

also, i guess i would just block all the vacuum lines.
but should i make a fitting and put that fuel vent tube into my intake piping? i am just concerned about venting petrol fumes into the environment. besides i'd like to burn that fuel rather then loose it via venting. canister or not.

also, does the current canister system condense the fuel and send it back to the tank?

thanks for the help.

Gumby · 05-06-2004, 03:14 PM

You gotta keep the can if you want to vent the fumes into the engine. You could hook it directly to a vac line but if you ever filled the tank really full, it may suck raw fuel into the engine. the can is suppose to have charcoal in it to suck up fumes and at time the car suck excess from it.

Why you gotta trace down the line a decide for your self kind of. Once cleaned off I found writing on my can that said what each hose went to.

TomP · 05-07-2004, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Xophertony
also, i guess i would just block all the vacuum lines.
but should i make a fitting and put that fuel vent tube into my intake piping? i am just concerned about venting petrol fumes into the environment. besides i'd like to burn that fuel rather then loose it via venting. canister or not.

also, does the current canister system condense the fuel and send it back to the tank?

Like Gumby said, the canister already puts the unburnt fumes back into your engine for combustion. Honestly I'd clean it up with some windex and leave it alone.

If you need more room, do what I did. Unbolt the canister. Unbolt what's left of your airbox (the piece with the foam gasket still attached). That way you can scrap the bracket that both the canister and airbox are bolted to! Now you can shuffle that canister around in that area. Plus, the mounting bracket actually adds a bit of height that you can "get back" for extra room.

And I actually wonder if you could cut a circle in that battery tray and "sink" the canister down a bit. I wouldn't say to cut the whole battery tray out, because it's sorta structural.

TechSmurf · 05-07-2004, 10:23 AM

There's a long thread and a heated debate somewhere on here about why you don't want to hook the fuel tank vent directly to the intake... I'll put a condensed version in here.

While the chances are extremely slim, if the fuel tank vent line were connected directly to the intake, an intake backfire *could* cause the vapor in the vent line to ignite, and that *could* make it all the way back to the tank, and you *could* die in the process. This is NOT reccomended. Plug up the vent line with a bolt and a clamp, or just find a way around the evap can. It will vent to atmosphere via the pressure relief valve near the tank.

Xophertony · 05-07-2004, 03:47 PM

wow. so hooking the vent line up to intake is bad. i guess i'll just shuffle it around like tom said. oh and i allready removed the bracket.

pasky · 05-07-2004, 04:30 PM

Anyone know exactly which one to plug? I just got the lines dangling.

TomP · 05-07-2004, 05:27 PM

The one off the fuel tank (connects to metal line going back along the passenger side main frame rail)

Xophertony · 05-07-2004, 06:30 PM

what do you do with al the vac line and that senser tht plugs into the charcole canister?

br()bert · 05-07-2004, 06:41 PM

plug the vaccume line. Unplug the wires that go to the evap can, remove the evap can do a happy dance around it, zip tie the wires someplace, and go take a bubble bath. jk about the bath part.

Nocturnall · 06-09-2004, 06:26 PM

I took that sensor that was in the air filter canister and zip tied it to the support for the nose. It's in front of the radiator, I figured that was the best place for it.

Egg83 · 06-10-2004, 11:02 PM

"Badass hissing sound" = major vaccum leak, and you said that you didnt notice a change in performance!

CamaroRS385hp · 06-11-2004, 01:49 AM

nah that's just the sound the K&N cones make. everybody's car that has one sounds like that.

as for the sensor...it's fine to leave it where you have it now, but it's very simple to tap it into the intake tubing. just drill a hole slightly smaller than the end of the sensor, and you can screw it in there really tight. but you'd have to take the intake tubing out of the car to clean it out, to make sure no shavings were left in the tubing and get sucked into the intake. since you already installed everything, i'd just leave it be

Xophertony · 04-20-2005, 04:15 AM

well this is a bit of a necro post, but just to clarify, i zip tied it to the unibody just above the filter. i don't know if you can see it verry well, in this picture it is on the FAR right of the photo almost off the frame.

EDIT upon reading this on 01-25-06 i discovered that the picture i linked too DOES NOT SHOW what i was talking about here.

but i'm not going to change it

you'le just have to use your imaginations

wizman073 · 01-25-2006, 10:55 AM

Xophertony, how did you support that 9" of tubing, it looks like its just sitting there. I was thinking of taking the hanger that supports the box on the stock setup and just bending it down to hold the new tubing, not sure if its gonna work tho.

Xophertony · 01-26-2006, 03:18 AM

BINGO. i bent it a little and secured the pipe to it with zip ties.

for a while i just had it hanging there (as pictured from last may) i do not have a picture with the zip ties. i'll try to get one to put up. also i would recomend using a bigger filter then i did.

good luck.

EDIT* detailed engine bay. new pic!

JoshDT91 · 07-02-2006, 01:54 AM

How is this setup better than stock? Your airflow is still obstructed in this area. Would be interesting to see what little power if any you have gained from this.

coolrimsatleast · 07-02-2006, 01:09 PM

I went with just about the same setup. I didn't get much of a cool intake sound, but I noticed a decent increase in power.

I actually cut the curved part off the MAF, and attached the filter directly to it. (left the screen in too, as it straightens the airflow I guess)

Then I just rigged a gradual bend after the MAF.

I also disconnected the battery while I changed it all, so when I started and drove it, the computer was starting out fresh while mapping the air intake stuff, instead of adjusting from it's previous airflow readings.

I remember reading that was the way to go anyway.

I need to procrastinating (sp?) and rig up something to isolate the filter from the rest of the hot engine bay air.

bobdole369 · 07-06-2006, 12:52 PM

Xopher, your CAI looks almost exactly like mine. I think my K&N is from a mitsubishi something or other and I was able to get it off the shelf at Advance Auto Parts.

I use a 3" 90 degree bent PVC elbow coming from the original rubber flexy hose thingy, then a rubber spacer, the original MAF, another spacer, then I popped a hole in the second spacer and inserted the MAT sensor. another 3" PVC pipe, then the K&N. Its angled just about perfectly in the area where I removed the original air filter can. I don't have any clearance issues with the canister, they coexist just fine.

I have had mine for about 3 years, and I'm quite used to the audible hissing sound and the "whizzing" sound that seems to happen above 2500.

Every single person who knows anything about cars thinks I have this huge vacuum leak until they look under the hood and find the sound coming from the intake.

Good luck with yours

mikehaase1norse · 10-19-2009, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby

Id stick the air temp sensor back into the piping. say half way up. faster air is colder so you want the computer to read that and ajudst for the colder air.

The fuel canaister thing is dumb. most of it can be removed but you gotta know which line to plug n which to let vent. One of them lies is your gas tank vent.

faster air is not colder

jensen73110 · 10-19-2009, 04:48 PM

3 years later, I don't think he cares.

mikehaase1norse · 10-19-2009, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jensen73110

3 years later, I don't think he cares.

prolly not, i dont think ill ever learn to check dates tho.