Home Made CAI *Need Input*

[Fresh 240SX]

So ive decided to make my own CAI for my SOHC.. i mean a K&N filter on the end of a pipe can't be any better than my own fabrication...

But i need a little input... what type of piping should i use... and how am i going to go about connecting those little rubber pipes that were on the stock pipes, also do i need all of them.... and that screw in sensor, its copper coloured that screws into the air box just infront of the filter i believe? i think its a O2 Sensor.... but im not 100% sure
anyways... any input or links to some info would be helpful

ive searched but i dident come back with much that points me in the right direction....

[DSC]

The one on the air box is the air temp sensor. I asked about how to relocate that one myself not to long ago. You will have to drill a hole into your new piping and fit the sensor in it...I still haven't made mine so I can't tell you first hand the best way to do this.

As for the hoses, there are 3. the one to the valve cover can be fitted with a mini-filter thing. Then one of the other ones can be fitted with a mini-filter too but the last one cant because it creates a vaccum with the intake or something when you let off the throttle. I can't explain it (because i don't fully understand) and don't remember which is which...hopefully someone will give better info.

BTW, o2 sensor is on the exhaust.

[Fresh 240SX]

Okay thanks alot for the input..... now does it matter where on the intake trac i mount the temp sensor, as for the hose mounting... could you be alittle more specific? i kinda lost you these with the valve cover thing.... because i don't remember seeing that hose anywere near the intake..... iirc.... but i have not had a good look at the engine bay recently so i dunno.... but thanks for your help.......

[bbp]

I drilled holes in my filter for the temp sender.

I agree with D on the valve cover vent, or run a hose into a catch tank. I'm not sure about the others, check your manual, they may be emissions related.

[Fresh 240SX]

this pipe you speak of running from the valve cover..... im gonna have to look into it in the morning....but that temp sensor placment looks good..... i see you just used the stock pipe..... yea thats kinda out of the question right now because the bendable rubber parts ripped off... (it was very cold and i moved it hard)
anyways.... theres a little box where the airbox used to be and theres a pipe coming off it.... should that just be fed in just after the filter...? i also thinking of moving my battery so i can just have this stuff run right down that little hole down there with out haveing to pipe accross the top of the rad, still thinking that its defeating the puprose of a CAI because its heating it up abit....
as for routing it down where the battery is.... i have not really looked into it in terms of how well protected the intake would be of the elements.... ie.... water....

[240Degrees]

DAAAAAAANG THAT'S HUMONGOUS! is that a k&n? do they all come that BIG?

[Dream240]

In my opinion, the home made intake is too overrated. The reason for upgrading the intake to a Stillen or Ingen(the best) kit is to increase the performance on all aspects.

The piping is larger than your stock plastic tube, the filter and all hoses are already drilled and placed in such a way that they provide maximum performance and take up as little space as possible in your engine bay. The installation is a breeze too.

Granted that most guys want to save a buck or two, but for all the hassle and work that you put into designing your own, you could just spend the 200.00 bucks and get an Ingen kit already made. Also the Ingen kit looks so much nicer with all that crome than leaving your stock piping in there! Yuck!!

I'm not trying to step on any toes or crush any ideas, but I have dynoed my 96' DOHC with the intake and Apexi N1 exhaust with 115,000 on the car produced 145 hp to the wheels at 4500rpms!! Not bad for a 200.00 intake!!

Yeah the exhaust helps but not as much as you would think. The intake is responsible for about 70% of the gains across the board. If you don't believe me check the Ingen website.

[Kreator]

Originally posted by Dream240
In my opinion, the home made intake is too overrated. The reason for upgrading the intake to a Stillen or Ingen(the best) kit is to increase the performance on all aspects.

The piping is larger than your stock plastic tube, the filter and all hoses are already drilled and placed in such a way that they provide maximum performance and take up as little space as possible in your engine bay. The installation is a breeze too.

Granted that most guys want to save a buck or two, but for all the hassle and work that you put into designing your own, you could just spend the 200.00 bucks and get an Ingen kit already made. Also the Ingen kit looks so much nicer with all that crome than leaving your stock piping in there! Yuck!!

I'm not trying to step on any toes or crush any ideas, but I have dynoed my 96' DOHC with the intake and Apexi N1 exhaust with 115,000 on the car produced 145 hp to the wheels at 4500rpms!! Not bad for a 200.00 intake!!

Yeah the exhaust helps but not as much as you would think. The intake is responsible for about 70% of the gains across the board. If you don't believe me check the Ingen website.

If i was trying to sell you a 200 dollar intake, believe me, i'd claim 80% accross the board.

As for 145 at the wheels, it depends on a car. AceInHole dynoed at 142rwhp with just a k&n filter. So it's only 3 hp difference between your $200 intake and $350 exhaust and his $30 filter.

Yes they look uglier, yes they take some time to make. As for performance, you are wrong. Say your intake gives you 8rwhp. My home made intake gives me 6rwhp. Big deal. the 2 hp difference will most likely be unnoticable.

Plus, unlike most people that would rather pay someone to do their ****, i'd rather do it myself. And i take way more pride in my own creations than some parts that are just plug-n-play.

As for the original topic. Personally, i would just drill holes in the original pipe, and glue the stuff in there. Easiest and cheapest. THe only bad part, you gonna have some trouble removing them later on...

[Bbandit]

Originally posted by bbp


I drilled holes in my filter for the temp sender.

I agree with D on the valve cover vent, or run a hose into a catch tank. I'm not sure about the others, check your manual, they may be emissions related.

i dont see the fan???!?!?
where did you hide it bbp?

[bbp]

it wasn't on yet in that pic. I am running a small electric fan now.

[Dream240]

I can see your comparison to the rwhp between the two.
I guess I'm just the kind of guy that prefers to buy well made parts that have guarantees of producing power as opposed to messing with different set ups on stock parts that wind up with you having glue and left over drilled holes all over them with wires sticking out of the pipes like your intake is trying to grow limbs. And wind up looking like you just raided the junk bin at your local Gadgets-R-Us shop.

While there's nothing wrong with gaining speed in any form, most of the time you will want to look good doing it.

But if your one of those guys that doesn't care about your cars looks and take pride in showing off what's under the hood just as much as when you slam the pedal then why don't you just rip the whole intake off and slap some panty hose over the throttle body with rubber bands? That'll make you some real power for only 2.95!!! Gimme a break.

[Fresh 240SX]

Well my main argument is.... i can make something just as good for 1/4 the price.... but im thinking of making it run down where the battery is. My engine bay looks way less cluttered with the airbox gone as well as the pipe running accross the rad.... now... hide those wires that you found under the stock intake pipe.... move the battery to the hatch and run the pipe down where your battery was getting much better air than the Injen is getting sitting on the exhaust side of your engine bay as well as running over a hot rad.... not to mention some hightemp paint and a clear coat and all of a sudden this intake is not looking that shabby.... your not gonna see much besided a pipe running down from the TB the rest is out of sight... so i have no problem spending the money on a part that looks nice and preforms... but i think i can make something to MY OWN specs for much less money and look how much engine bay room i gained.

[Kreator]

Originally posted by Fresh 240SX
Well my main argument is.... i can make something just as good for 1/4 the price.... but im thinking of making it run down where the battery is. My engine bay looks way less cluttered with the airbox gone as well as the pipe running accross the rad.... now... hide those wires that you found under the stock intake pipe.... move the battery to the hatch and run the pipe down where your battery was getting much better air than the Injen is getting sitting on the exhaust side of your engine bay as well as running over a hot rad.... not to mention some hightemp paint and a clear coat and all of a sudden this intake is not looking that shabby.... your not gonna see much besided a pipe running down from the TB the rest is out of sight... so i have no problem spending the money on a part that looks nice and preforms... but i think i can make something to MY OWN specs for much less money and look how much engine bay room i gained.

Ok now i feel like a dumbass cuz i didn't suggest that to you lol. Yeah, move the battery to the back. Then get a 45* bend from home depot (rubber or plastic) or go order online from jcwhitney or burnstainless (steel). It should look awesome, plus unlike injen intake it'll give you response at low rpms. Not sure about the heat, but the air supply will be way better. The only thing you should worry about is that you'll have to cut harness a little bit to free the maf and temp sensors.... Umm and get rid of the stock fan while you are at it The engine will be so much prettier

[Fresh 240SX]

Ahh now you see the light.... lots of clean open space for more goodies... i would not believe that splicing these wires to extend them would be hard..... just cut, strip add extention, sodder then shrink wrap, repeat.... Correct me if im wrong

[bbp]

for the wiring, consider this...

cut the stock sheath off the harness and pull only the couple of wires you need to move to the other side, there should be enough length to relocate with out actually cutting wires. I always try to avoid cutting and splicing, it just leads to a problem later down the road. Jus be careful where removing the sheath and tape without cutting and of the wires and creating a short. When donw get some corregated tubing from summit or your local autoparts store, cover up your new extension and put a few wire ty's to secure everything!

[DSC]

Here is a pic I took of greasers s14 at lowes motorspeedway


For the most part, this is how I plan to do mine.
I'll have shorter piping with a longer filter, but it will be positioned over in that same spot. There is a hole over there for the windshield wiper fluid. Since I'm removing my resovar for other reasons anyway, I'll have a nice spot for cold air to come in. I will most likely run ducting up to it also. Just as good, maybe even better than a cold air intake as far as the amount of air hitting your filter. Even better, less chance of your filter getting wet since it is not down just infront of your wheel well. And if that wasn't enough reason to do it, better throttle response due to shorter piping.

So for $200 you can have a nice looking shiny peice with a name on it or for $50-$60 you can have a better setup that is nearly as shiny and no name. *this is not including the price of battery relocation. But for someone relocating anyway, this is perfect. And actually you can make this intake and do battery relocation still for less than an injen intake*

Only downside is having to take the time to do it yourself (which would be less time than it takes you to earn $140) and having to unwrap the maf and temp sensor wireing to redirect it...but they are more than long enough so it's not even really a problem.

Edit: BTW here is a pic of my car with a borrowed *thanks again beissen* injen CAI. Gained ~2rwhp. I think an error with the temp sensor caused it to be lower than average though, so don't base much on that figure.


Personally, i think the home made one above looks better...
But yeah, home made with pvc and stock piping would look like ass, and yeah i've seen that done too.


Edit2: just thought I would add. I don't think bbp actually WANTS to run the stock intake. IIRC classing rules don't allow any changes past the mas.

[piratepete420]

http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...=285039&page=3

[Fresh 240SX]

yes i agree that PVC would look like ass... thats why im looking into material options..... maybe a few metal pipes bent at a muffler shop..... i would only need i piece with maybe 2 - 3 bends..... this method is still cheaper than $200 US plus shipping
then feel free to rice out the pipe with a Blitz sticker or something that its not j/k

BTW i know many ppl that weld.... i could always weld on little nibs for those pipes to plug into... does the position of those rubber hoses really matter as long as they are relitivly somewhere similar in position to the stock intake trac...

[InferiorWang]

some of the benefits of an aftermarket intake are the larger size, mandrel bens, and supposed resistance to temperature. If you're smart, you can put something together that's larger (maybe with some mandrel bends and pipes welded together, if you have the stuff for that)

I've heard of people taking drier hose and duct taping it for strength and using that for an intake pipe on other cars. The hardest part is supposed to be setting it up so that you can use all those little hoses, but you can get little hard tubes from home depot and some super glue to work for that.

Wal-mart sell a ceramic spray paint that will help resist heat so that your intake charge is a lower temp.

I've always been an advocate of making your own stuff as long as it works well. Usually, the things I do are reversible, so if it doesn't work as planned or you decide to shell out the cash on some name brand parts you can do it easily enough. I'm all about the go, and don't care much for the show. I take pride in ghetto mods that get the job done better than stock parts, are nearly as good as aftermarket parts, and make my friends jaws drop b/c they can't believe I'd have the balls to put some odd home depot parts on my car.

[InferiorWang]

and pvc definitely isnt something you want under the hood of your car. something about poisonous fumes...

[DSC]

Originally posted by InferiorWang
and pvc definitely isnt something you want under the hood of your car. something about poisonous fumes...

Only when it burns/melts IIRC. I don't think the heat from the engine (unless actually touching) would be hot enough to melt.
If you know differently, i'm all ears.

here is the cheap ass intake I was talking about
click here for the install
Though I'd never do what he did with his battery, you can model your intake after his if your super cheap

[Fresh 240SX]

LOL no i wanna make something cost effective but nice.... mandrel bent pipe should work good...

[Nerfdude]

i'll be doing the same thing come spring w/ an HKS mega power flow...

and since some of us are all about tha mad blingin' brands:
which would YOU rather have: an Injen or AEM short ram, or an HKS CAI? yeah, the pipe may be homemade, but so long as it's done well, who cares? i can just slap an HKS sticker on my pipe.... i'll be doing the battery-location CAI, getting the pipes mandrel bent at Meineke, and welding in some screw-in ports. once it's all welded and fits properly, it'll recieve a coat of black ceramic engine enamel, and hell, if the mega power flow comes with a decal, i'll slap it on there for good measure. my intake will be even MORE bling than your stupid little Injen, show better gains, and STILL cost less, providing me with money to spend on more important things like chrome dubs and light up wiper nozzles

oh, as far as making friends' jaws drop... back when i was 16, i fabbed a CAI for my '94 Chrysler Lebaron out of a noname open element and the stock intake piping turned in a different direction. it had bigtime wow factor, especially since it was red

[live2drift2live]

Dont use PVC well if you do get the black kind. Also you dont want a really big intake tube because the size would reduce the terminal velocity-> which means Take a lot of air suck it through a small straw you get quick reponsive sips. Suck it through a big straw it will take more time but you have more air. But I say go with 2.5 or 2.75 piping and get it from Advance Auto or Pepboys custom order and its that easy. I made some pretty nice intake for my friends 300M. He is getting prowler exhaust and nitrous. But good luck and damn this forum for I should be studying.
JBM

[AceInHole]

Here's what I'd do:


Heh... without the turbo part of course.
Parts required:
2x 2.5" OD 90deg bends (www.jcwhitney.com: $10 each)
2.5" ID radiator hose and
2.5" to 2.75" hose adapter (from a truck store: $10)
+ filter and adapter plate (whatever you wanna go with)

Should be enough piping to cross the stock intake path and get into the fender well... a lot of cutting and hose coupling involved though....

[Fresh 240SX]

Sounds good..... but im kinda bent on the idea of moving the battery for the 2 reasons of freeing up engine bay room & not running the pipe accross the rad area.... just down from the TB to the nice air under where the battery was...

[misnomer]

Ace: you forgot to list the price for the duct tape ;-)

[Fresh 240SX]

Almost got a drawing done.... LOL
where can i get a bored out TB or how much can i have mine milled out?

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by misnomer
Ace: you forgot to list the price for the duct tape ;-)

LoL... i already got rid of the duct tape though!

[Anubis]