Building my own cold air intake

[AMCRambler]

I've been reading good things about a fiberglass over the radiator intake that a guy on the ls1gto.com forums designed and built himself. Supposedly flows as good if not better than the other CAI's out there. His nick is Svede on the forums and they started calling this thing the Svede CAI. He's working with a vendor now to mass produce them and they're selling them for $300-400 a pop but they're way back ordered. If you want to buy one get ready to wait a couple months.

When he built the first one he made a detailed post about how he did it so others could give it a try. A couple of people have, but most are too lazy. Being the tight wad I am, I figured I'd save a couple bucks and have some fun in the progress so I'm doing it. This is the link to Svede's thread if you want to check it out: http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=278436

The basic process is to build a form out of foam insulation board, use this form to lay down the fiberglass and then use acetone to dissolve the foam out of the fiberglass. I've been working on it for a couple weeks now and I'm just about ready to start laying fiberglass. Here's the pics:

Intake removed for measuring

Intake will need to fit over the radiator beneath the hood

1" foam board sandwiched together with silicone for adhesive

Stacked to 4.25" thick since the throttle body is 4" in diameter

Roughing out the shape

Applied some bondo tonight where I removed too much foam. Have to sand it down tomorrow

 

[AMCRambler]

Rear of form

Here's the form where the intake will go:
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/amcrambler/mockup.jpg[img]
[img]http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/amcrambler/mockup2.jpg

Intake hose that will be used to connect the intake to the MAF and to the throttle body

 

[bommy261]

How much airflow does that take away from the radiator?

 

[AMCRambler]

How much airflow does that take away from the radiator?

It does redirect air that would normally flow to the radiator. The condenser for the AC is in front of the radiator though, so the rad wasn't getting the first crack at the air flow anyway. From what they've talked about on the forum no overheating issues with these yet but it will be a concern.

What it really capitalizes on is the gap between the hood and the upper grill. There's normally a plastic shield behind that opening that goes over the radiator and condenser. It blocks any airflow you would have gotten through that gap to the rad. Nice thing about it is when the car is moving it's going to be a ram air effect pushing the air into the engine rather than the little snorkel that comes up out of the air box into the engine bay.

 

[Demo24]

No water concerns?

 

[Throckmorton]

Just don't put a K&N filter in there. With it so exposed to the outside you want as good filtration as you can get

 

[Mike Gayner]

I'm sure the engineers didn't really consider the air flow across the radiator when they designed this car

 

[Throckmorton]

BTW, you may overheat and not know it. The stock temperature gauges are made to stay in the middle even at abnormal temperatures, to prevent people from panicking.

I wouldn't block the radiator in any way without a Scangauge to tell me for sure what the temperature is in degrees.

My Jeep has an overheating problem, and when it creeps from the normal 210F up to 230F, the needle is still smack dab in the middle. Only when it reaches about 250 does the needle move, and when it hits 260 the Check Gauges comes on. For short times 230F-250F might be fine, but it's not really good for the engine. Yet you'd never know anything was wrong just from the gauge.

 

[Howard]

I'm sure the engineers didn't really consider the air flow across the radiator when they designed this car

You'd be surprised what details can slip past (or are OKed by) a design team.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Looks like you will easily gain 500-600 hp.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Anything that comes off the inside of that will go directly inside the motor. I know you're acid etching the foam out, I'd be concerned about fibers etc coming off inside the intake past the filter over time.

You'd be amazed at the bugs that can get past those little holes on your grill, let alone the perfectly sized pebble at the ideal angle and speed that punches a hole right through the filter. Worse yet, what if you don't notice it for 2-3k until your next oil change.


And +1 on the temp issues..



To me, an intake (and your filter) is one of the main things you shouldn't cheap out on. It's one of the few parts that are impossible to notice anything until after a ton of damage is done.

So... Cool project, but be careful!

 

[exdeath]

How is the air supposed to get to the throttle body with a block of foam in the way? :awe:

 

[XZeroII]

How is the air supposed to get to the throttle body with a block of foam in the way? :awe:

That's part of the magic of how it works.

 

[AdamK47]

 

[SSSnail]

LOL, if you really think that you going down the road is going to create enough of a "ram air effect" and "push" air down your intake faster than your engine is sucking in... well, I have some bridges to sell ya.

 

[dug777]

LOL, if you really think that you going down the road is going to create enough of a "ram air effect" and "push" air down your intake faster than your engine is sucking in... well, I have some bridges to sell ya.

My snorkel is living proof of this You couldn't get much more 'ram air effect' than a snorkel with a front facing intake, and as far as I am aware it makes absolutely no difference to engine output...

 

[Iam_A_PC]

LOL, if you really think that you going down the road is going to create enough of a "ram air effect" and "push" air down your intake faster than your engine is sucking in... well, I have some bridges to sell ya

If you don't know what you are talking about you should shut your fucking mouth.

AMCRambler great post,. I read all of the link you posted, 4mph in the 1/4 mile is pretty good.
Thanks very good read

My only problem is how much louder is it from the stock intake

Let's see... personal attack. Less than 10 posts total. Returning Troll. Good-bye. -Admin DrPizza

 

[Mike Gayner]

If you don't know what you are talking about you should shut your fucking mouth.

Sounds to me like you're the clueless one TBH. BTW wanna buy a bridge in Brooklyn?

 

[Iam_A_PC]

whats aBrooklyn?

 

[sdifox]

How is the air supposed to get to the throttle body with a block of foam in the way? :awe:

The basic process is to build a form out of foam insulation board, use this form to lay down the fiberglass and then use acetone to dissolve the foam out of the fiberglass. I've been working on it for a couple weeks now and I'm just about ready to start laying fiberglass.

Should read the whole post and not just look at the pictures.


I had the same question til I read it :awe:

 

[Mike Gayner]

whats aBrooklyn?

wwybywb?

 

[AMCRambler]

No water concerns?

They talked about that on the ls1 forum. Guy has been driving his in the rain with no issues so far. I'm sure if the filter gets soaked it kills the air flow but the car isn't going to stall out. You'll just see the power drop off. This is a problem for all ram air setup cars if you think about it, but it hasn't stopped manufacturers from making them. I figure I won't be looking to floor it in the rain anyway. My car is like a cow on ice when the road gets wet.

As far as the radiator goes I'd say it's only in front of about 15 percent of the total surface area of the radiator. I'm thinking the thermostat will open up sooner but the cooling should still be adequate. I'll do some more research on the engine temp and see if anybody's done any logging with that stat. They were logging intake air temps in the thread and apparently the over the radiator setup makes a big difference in those at speed.

As far as hp gains I'm thinking I might get about 10 at the wheels. I dynoed the car stock and it pulled 340hp. Taking the intake off for one run it pulled 360. I figure with a better airflow I ought to get back about half that.

 

[Mike Gayner]

As far as hp gains I'm thinking I might get about 10 at the wheels. .

LOL

 

[exdeath]

The basic process is to build a form out of foam insulation board, use this form to lay down the fiberglass and then use acetone to dissolve the foam out of the fiberglass. I've been working on it for a couple weeks now and I'm just about ready to start laying fiberglass.

Should read the whole post and not just look at the pictures.


I had the same question til I read it :awe:

I was kidding, hence ":awe: "

 

[sdifox]

I was kidding, hence ":awe: "

I know...