I just heard from a guy that built his own CAI and I was wondering if it is actually possible to make one for a neon by looking at the model # of an intake filter and then using a DRYER HOSE and PVC to hook it up??? is this true or madness and if its true will it actually make much difference?? this guy had one on his 91 firebird and it looks real but thanx u guys are great

 

for the price of materials and the work to do it you would be better of getting a cheap one off of ebay

 

The cheap ones off ebay should not be classified as a CAI. They put the filter directly over the exhaust manifold. Kind of defeats the purpose, don't ya think? Anything you make or buy should be routed to the front and down like the Iceman intake system.
One low budget tip is to take your stock breather tube, which is plastic, and use a heat gun to heat it up and make it plyable. You can reshape the tube to run over to where the battery is and down. Put a conical filter on it and you have it whipped. You will still have to relocate the battery, but a relocation kit is cheaper than an Iceman intake. 20.00 for a filter and 40.00 for the reloc. kit vs. 200.00 for the quality intake. The point is to be creative, but not dumb. To put a CAI, even though it is cheap, on your car that puts the filter over the exhaust manifold is going to hurt you more than it will help you.

 

Yes, and no. Your correct, even though you have the intake over the exhaust manifold its not the way to do it and you are sucking in hot air if you cant find a way to make the cheap **** re-direct(IF YOU HAVE MONEY GO ICEMAN),however any direct airflow of any kind let it be hot or cold is going to be an improvement over the stock intake setup.

If you buy the cheapo intake off ebay most of the time they come with and elbo of some kind, get under the car and play around with it, ive got mine running to the right, rather than the left away from the exhaust and its working as a CAI, and its only 20 bucks, plus the 50 or so for the K&N filter you can slap on there. Play around, theres a way to make cheap **** work.

 

The intake tube from a mid-late 90's Dodge 3.0L V6 works great - aka 3.0L "ghetto" intake, which has been dynoed HP for HP against the Iceman (well, until the car is putting out over 200ish HP, then the Iceman flows enough better to make a difference). With a little creativity, you don't need to relocate the battery, or go to a smaller battery and hack up the stock tray (like I did).

Best of luck!