Shave OEM Air Intake like a CAI Tube?
#12
Thanks bro! I'm headed out shopping in a few minutes. Wanna pick up some tubes and go ahead and make this thing. I got an AFE filter in the resonator box now. Might go with a cone later on, but for now I'm gonna mess around with the stock box and some tubing to see if I can redneck together something better than stock.
ABS Plumbing tubing you say? I'll try to look for it. Of course as always I have a query... Obviously the point of a CAI is to get air that is cool as possible to go into the engine. I hear a lot that plastic may not look as pretty as chrome, but it definitely resists heat a bit better (other than price, it's part of the reason I wanna go that way). On top of that, if you really wanna get cooler air to the engine, you should run tubing of some sort out of the box to the front of the vehicle. But I'm wondering...would it be worth it to not only use plastic tubing, but wrap it in some kind of thermal barrier, fiberglass over top, and then sand and paint for a smooth finish, in order to help keep the air as cool as possible?
ABS Plumbing tubing you say? I'll try to look for it. Of course as always I have a query... Obviously the point of a CAI is to get air that is cool as possible to go into the engine. I hear a lot that plastic may not look as pretty as chrome, but it definitely resists heat a bit better (other than price, it's part of the reason I wanna go that way). On top of that, if you really wanna get cooler air to the engine, you should run tubing of some sort out of the box to the front of the vehicle. But I'm wondering...would it be worth it to not only use plastic tubing, but wrap it in some kind of thermal barrier, fiberglass over top, and then sand and paint for a smooth finish, in order to help keep the air as cool as possible?
To do this with any tubing, you'll need the outside diameter of your throttle body & the inside diameter of your filter end - this is to buy/build an interface to the tubing. You'll also need to determine the routing so that you can figure out how to support the tube and whether you need any special plumbing for hoses, sensors, etc.
Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I did on my jeep - this was the only CAI project that I took pictures of.
This shows the adapter I used to mount the filter - I used an ABS shower drain for the main part & used a 3" male/male ABS coupling stuck into the drain end & sticking out about 1.5" as the filter mount. Then I had room around the drain flange to mount the heat shield.
AirIntake-04.jpg
AirIntake-03.jpg
This one shows the rubber adapter from the tube to the throttle body:
AirIntake-01.jpg
#13
You think this is legit?
Even though the ad lists it in 12"x12" sheets, I contacted him and he said he could do a single sheet big enough to cover the whole under side of the hood. Also, mentioned that he has 3 diff thicknesses (6mm = $35 , 10mm = $44 , & 13mm = $53 ...shipping $5.13 )
With an adhesive backing, you think it could work nicely to wrap a CAI tube and then wrap in a single layer of Fiberglass (just to have a rigid surface to paint)?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171046652163...S:1123&vxp=mtr
Even though the ad lists it in 12"x12" sheets, I contacted him and he said he could do a single sheet big enough to cover the whole under side of the hood. Also, mentioned that he has 3 diff thicknesses (6mm = $35 , 10mm = $44 , & 13mm = $53 ...shipping $5.13 )
With an adhesive backing, you think it could work nicely to wrap a CAI tube and then wrap in a single layer of Fiberglass (just to have a rigid surface to paint)?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171046652163...S:1123&vxp=mtr
#14
Thanks, been doing a bit more research and looking at several other options for a new hood liner...don't need one right this minute, so I got time to get the best price on exactly what I am looking for. I totally understand the whole "reflective" heat sheilds and all, but I plan to paint on the underside of my hood, so I don't know what I'll go with. I saw a few DIY videos on YouTube where people made their own with fiberglass sheets and tin foil...*shrug.
#15
That's an awesome set up you have there! I'm gonna head on over to my Home Depot and see what I can find...I totally like the PVC or ABS pipe plans...but me being me, I want to see what they have so I could keep everything smooth from end to end, with out having to get male-female flanges etc. Maybe a way to bond two ends flush to one another (i.e. like between a 90 and straight piece)
#16
That's an awesome set up you have there! I'm gonna head on over to my Home Depot and see what I can find...I totally like the PVC or ABS pipe plans...but me being me, I want to see what they have so I could keep everything smooth from end to end, with out having to get male-female flanges etc. Maybe a way to bond two ends flush to one another (i.e. like between a 90 and straight piece)
If you plan to "weld" a flange to the tube, remember that both PVC and ABS need to be brought together tightly to get a good melt of both pieces thereby making a strong bond. With flat or butt welding, you need to clamp the pieces together (you can also use self tapping screws to pull the pieces together tightly), but with adding a flange to a tube, you need to taper the outside of the tube and the inside of the flange so that the 2 pieces will come together tightly when you push the tube into the flange. I always do the fit dry first, then, I add the solvent to both surfaces and bring them together quickly and as tight as possible. You'll bet a good bond this way.
With PVC, try a few samples of solvents until you get one that reacts with the particular tube the way you want it to - I've found through trial & error that you can't rely on generic PVC solvent working on all PVC - in my experience, it doesn't (again, another reason I usually choose ABS).
If you look up "how to bend ABS tubing", you'll find quite a few articles and some videos that will show you what you need to make an ABS heatbox. This box allows you to heat up a section of ABS tube (about a foot to 18 inches is a good start for trial) to the point of flexibility (you need to experiment on how much heat you run through this box and how long you keep it closed to get that particular tube to flex cleanly). To make a gentle clean bend, you need to get the feel of how much effort you apply to pull the flexible tube apart as you slowly bend it. Once you stop, you're done. If you blow it, start over.