Cold air intake Project/ DIY

Cold air intake Project/ DIY

So I started researching the Cold air intake and I decided to get started building one, with help from some people on the Forums I got started, heres my progress so far...

Step One, I jacked up the driver side of the car to get to the wheel well, from there I took out the bolts and clips that held in place the rain guard. There were about 3 clip ons that I took off, and one bolt that had to be unscrewed in the wheel well area and one in the front of the car under the bumper.



Step two, Remove the battery from the engine and unbolt the bolt in the red square, underneath in the wheel well there will be another bolt that you will need to remove that is connected to the air box, its in plain sight seen even without taking off the rain guard *Note rain guard does not have to be completely taken off.* Next there is a bolt behind the head lights that you will need to reach and take out, marked in the red box.




After you take out the 3 bolts holding in the air box, wiggle it till it pops out, you should be able to bend the bumper just enough to get the box out without having to take off the bumper OR fender. End result:



Im now off to go buy piping, I already have the filter.

General idea of what it should look like without the filter attached:


Many people thought I built a CAI without a filter; FALSE!


Your gonna have to use your own technique to get the piping around the batter and into the whole in the bumper, but the end result should look like this; *note this is an OLD picture and my engine bay looks different now*


And if your worried about hydro locking the engine you have 2 options; buy an AEM air bypass valve or use it in the summer.



UPDATED: 10-29-09

Very nice write up so far and good luck with the CAI. If it works well enough I might just have to do one myself considering the ELP ones are near to impossible to get..

Question.

Why couldn't you start with a SRI, such as an Injen, and then simply extend it down the back side of the engine down to the opening in the wheel well where the tie rod sticks through?

I've been wanting to do a DIY CAI, but I'm not sure how I would connect the MAF sensor that's in the 00-02's. Does anyone know how to do this?

I don't think there's enough room, plus every time you hit a bump wouldn't it contact the pipe??

That's why I'm asking.

Day 3: Its still not done, im just trying to make room today and get it to fit in there without bumping around.

You bought the parts from that one company right?

Spectra..... Can you say CEL. Been down this road.

Wait I dont see a MAF....

What company was that??

Thats what I was asking about before. The 98-99 don't have a MAF, but the 00-02 do. So I would love to do something like this, but I don't know how to make a bung to mount the MAF

They sell a piece that the MAF goes in. However the size pipe is to much.

Like I said, its not done yet today was fitting.

Spectre sells a piece that the MAF goes into, and it is the right size.
Im making my own though because I have a kit from my SRI, and I also have to buy extended tubing for my air flow tube.

Im worrying though because it started raining now and there are alot of puddles... how well will the rain guard help...

The rain guard is more than enough. I've driven through flooding streets without any problems.

Ive driven through rain hell with my ELP CAI and no worries for me. On top of all things, my splash guard has been shred to pieces after coming off while I was doing 80mph on the highway and still nothing happened. Pretty much your fine as long as the filter doesnt get submerged under water.

Kool , i was gonna say when i pulled out my stock air box from under the fender it had mud stains on it, i guess no more off roading for me... Once i get back from school today im gonna finish installing it, my day off

Success!?

Required items:


Before:


After:




Ill test it out later when I go pick up my gf from work
What do you think? Effective?

If you're really worried you can get a bypass valve. Some are not that expensive, but supposedly the AEM ones are the best and they're about $40.

Also can you make a list of all the parts you needed? Just to make sure others(like me) can get the correct angled pipes. Oh by the way everything looks really good.

Sure, your gonna need the following, or this was at least what I used.

All items are Spectre brand, found at Shucks.

(2) 60 degree elbow intake tube
(1) Coupler kit 2 1/2" to 3"
(1) 45 degree elbow intake tube
(1) Coupler kit 3" to 3"
(1) fuel line tube 1 FT
(1) tube adaptor <--- Its in the picture of req items.
(1) 1 ft PVC piping 2" diameter, I dont think anything larger will fit through the hole.
(1) Air filter of your choice, I used spectre, its the same design as K&N so dont waste your money on a K&N.
I already had a kit to install the MAF ports so I had the parts for that, not sure what brand or what it was called, but it came with the tube adaptor and the drill hole to make the hole and the plugs that fit into the holes.

This isent an easy install as it looks, or maybe because I suck but it took me about 3 hours because I had to keep having to route the batter wiring around the tubing, as well as moving the fuse boxes, some hard to reach spots, and alot of wiggling around to get the tubing to fit.

Bottom line, I cant say with certainty, but it certainly seems like I can notice a difference after the car warms up, faster acceleration, not at all loud like some people think it is. Be careful with puddles and have fun

Got links?

Nope sorry.

www.spectreperformance.com

They have a intake for the Corolla supposely if you look at their catalog.

Just the same old SRI for the 8-gen.

But they have all the modular pieces to make your own CAI, and I found the Spectre products on Amazon for pretty cheap. I can do it for about $35, with some parts I already have. When I get home I'm going to see what I have, then I'll probably order it tonight.

Hey guys, I regret to inform you today that as a result of installing the cold air intake, I have sacrificed the life of my fog lights... Yes thats right... I moved back the power cable for the fog lights and it fell through the engine bay and got wrapped around the axle... RIP I was driving home from school (10 miles) with a TIK TIK TIK TIK...

well i guess you have your next project, convert to an 01 front and get stock fogs haha, thats my current project, just piecing the parts together and getting them painted before installation

Hey i have to ask some one who has a CAI, should i really worry about driving in the rain with it? I live in oregon and it just started raining and i got a little nervous today, im planning on trying to seal the all the cracks and holes in the water guard, but should i worry about water reaching the filter from the bumper based of were my filter is in the picture? My major worry is... well look at my stock resonator! its covered in mud (from off roading, which i dont do anymore) so im a little confused as to how that got up in there...

Splashes of water won't get sucked in. As long as the filter doesn't get completely submerged, your fine.

If you want to make sure you don't hydro lock your engine, buy an AEM Bypass valve:

How does that work?

And Also i took apart the CAI today and i looked inside my filter and there was water inside it, just a little maybe 5 or 6 drops of water and some water spots on the top of the filter, is it coming in through the bumper or what!?

When your filter is completely submerged it would usually suck up all the water, but it also causes pressure on the walls. So when this happens instead of water being sucked into your engine, air gets sucked in through the bypass valve and you save yourself an engine.

By the way, the owner of AEM was so confident in this product he submerged the intake of his NSX in water, and nothing happened to his car.

hummerh20 nice diy project,you feel more power topend?

definetly, i can feel that extra power at the top of my acceleration.

What about the bottom end? I have an automatic and the bottom is where I need it.