DIY custom ghetto cold air intake

[trent.davis23]

I assume no responsibility for any damage done to your car. All credit for this project goes to http://www.cardomain.com/ride/513081/6
I just rewrote it.

For this project, you will need

A square to 3" round converter. This attaches to the MAF housing. (O'reilly auto parts or ebay)


Hose clamps (lowes/homedepot)


A 3" Intake filter (Auto parts store/ebay)


3" flexible tubing, I used dryer exhaust (lowes/homedepot)


3" adjustable elbows (lowes/homedepot)

[trent.davis23]

Aluminum ducting tape (lowes/homedepot)


Metal shears, or good scissors (lowes/homedepot)


This is a pretty straight forward and simple process, It took me about 2 hours.

Start off by removing the stock parts. Loosen up the MAF housing clamp, take out any bolts from the breather box, unscrew the black intake towards the front of the car, and it all should come out easily. You should see this
The MAF is extremely delicate, don't drop it or you'll be out $200+


Now attach the converter to the MAF housing. (I had to bore the screw holes in the adapter to make it fit) Then seal it up with that handy tape.


Take 2 sections off of one of the adjustable elbows and slide it onto the converter. SEAL

[trent.davis23]

Attach the flex tubing to the elbow, SEAL like you've never sealed before.

The next part is tricky but self explanatory. Fish the tubing to the bottom of the car (you choose the best route) lift up on the piece that the MAF housing goes into and jam it back in. I sealed the U bend that formed just in case. It should look like this.


Now grab a flat blade screwdriver and remove the drivers side under body protection.


Carefully pull down on the tubing, clamp on and seal the filter. Push the whole thing back up.



I only used one zip tie to support the tubing, You shouldn't need anything else but it's your call.

You need to cut a square section out of the under body plastic to allow more air flow. I recommend covering it with an A/C return vent to protect the filter. Reattach the under body, plug the sensors back in, and pray that you don't see a check engine light when you start up.


Enjoy!

[dineth00i30]

hmm... very interesting but... wut ab8 rainy days with water filled roads?
but if you do it without takinf off the box with the filter and just connecting that hose to the round hole which is under the the little scoop that come from above the grill?

[n3985]

+1 on the DIY, but might need a bypass filter for those rainy days.

[trent.davis23]

Originally Posted by dineth00i30

hmm... very interesting but... wut ab8 rainy days with water filled roads?
but if you do it without takinf off the box with the filter and just connecting that hose to the round hole which is under the the little scoop that come from above the grill?

That would work, but it doesn't solve the water problem since that hole is the stock water logging system.

I'm going to home depot today to find some kind of metal/mesh filter for the opening, I should still get airflow and unless I drive into a lake, I'm thinking the water should stay away.

[trent.davis23]

Originally Posted by n3985

+1 on the DIY, but might need a bypass filter for those rainy days.

So whats a bypass filter again?

EDIT: Nevermind (thank's google) Im going to pick one of these up today, seems like it should solve the problem.

[trent.davis23]

So it turns out the filter will work fine in rain. Splashes and drops wont be sucked in (according to 3 autozone guys) I ordered the bypass though in case I drive into a lake.

[Crusher103]

Originally Posted by trent.davis23

So it turns out the filter will work fine in rain. Splashes and drops wont be sucked in (according to 3 autozone guys) I ordered the bypass though in case I drive into a lake.

dont trust autozone guys they are just the average person who got a job, i would look into heat shields, they might be of some help to keep water out

[sciff5]

Guys there is MUCH better ways to do this... this home depot special is ghetto as hell and not safe for your car... you should NEVER seal your intake with heat tape! Do yourself a favor. At least use some aluminized steel mandrel bends and some cheap silicone couplers all of which you can get off ebay for cheap.


At least this would look semi professional
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-B...spagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-M...spagenameZWDVW

and a filter

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S-B-I...spagenameZWDVW

Basically from these parts.. you can build your own cold air filter which is just as high quality as any intake on the market... 100+ dollars for any intake is silly and home depot parts do not belong in your car.

[sciff5]

Originally Posted by Crusher103

dont trust autozone guys they are just the average person who got a job, i would look into heat shields, they might be of some help to keep water out

One of the guys from my local autozone is helping me with my project car and he is custom building part of the chassis harness because it was hacked out by the last idiot, and he welds.. so some of those guys are pretty darn good. In fact most of em have always helped me find what I need, this particular guy is just unusually skilled.

[trent.davis23]

Originally Posted by sciff5

Guys there is MUCH better ways to do this... this home depot special is ghetto as hell and not safe for your car... you should NEVER seal your intake with heat tape! Do yourself a favor. At least use some aluminized steel mandrel bends and some cheap silicone couplers all of which you can get off ebay for cheap.


At least this would look semi professional
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-B...spagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-M...spagenameZWDVW

and a filter

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S-B-I...spagenameZWDVW

Basically from these parts.. you can build your own cold air filter which is just as high quality as any intake on the market... 100+ dollars for any intake is silly and home depot parts do not belong in your car.

I respect your opinion but were not using heat tape, I've never actually used heat tape. This is aluminum HVAC tape used for sealing home duct work. If you just tape the living crap out of it should be good. I'll probably look into your links but im telling you, It's nearly impossible to get around the battery w/o a flex tube.

[sciff5]

Originally Posted by trent.davis23

I respect your opinion but were not using heat tape, I've never actually used heat tape. This is aluminum HVAC tape used for sealing home duct work. If you just tape the living crap out of it should be good. I'll probably look into your links but im telling you, It's nearly impossible to get around the battery w/o a flex tube.

Then relocate the battery to the trunk... you should do that anyway based on the weight balance of the car. The point of having a cold air intake is to increase HP but I doubt that setup will do anything because of the awkward bends and the material used. People buy mandrel bends for a reason.. you want smooth bends, not kinks, and deff not flex tubing

[KC2010]

Good lord, look at that! Guys, if you have the $$$ to purchase an infiniti (believe me, I wish I could get a g37) then you should have the $$$ to purchase a simple CAI for it. I would never take the chance on doing such a thing.

[trent.davis23]

Fine.. It's now a basic short ram intake. No flex tubing, and no ducting tape.

[MrRogerStatus]

Your heart was in the right place. +1 for DIY

[dineth00i30]

hey guys since we are talking about intakes can i ask a quick question from you guys who know intakes. well i know i want a WAI because i herd you dont loose that much low end from them anyway i cant decide between the stillen hi floe intake and the berk intake. which one should i get?


BTW the 90 degree pipe that comes from under the intake scoop from the grill fell of is now resting on the mud guard and i havent got around to putting it back together yet, but since that thing fell off my throttle respond has gotten really good and i think that makes my car feel a little faster too. anyway could this be bad for my car?

[n3985]

Having anything other than stock intake and not losing low end is impossible, GAB > all.

[trent.davis23]

Originally Posted by n3985

Having anything other than stock intake and not losing low end is impossible, GAB > all.

I had the GAB for a while, and no offense to you, but it kind of scared me. There was a lot of surface area that had to be sealed by a coat hanger and I was worried about a corner flipping up or somthing (then again look at my CAI). IMO a short ram is the way to go, it costs about $5 for an adapter and another $30 for a filter.

[dineth00i30]

Originally Posted by n3985

Having anything other than stock intake and not losing low end is impossible, GAB > all.

thanx and i will deff try to search and read up on this GAB mod. thanx.

[n3985]

No offense taken, I have a WAI right now, while it sounds cool and all, the loss of low end power sucks....big time. I miss the days when crusing at 70MPH and tapping the gas and the car will effortlessly move forward, now it struggles a bit and/or downshifts

[KC2010]

I went with what I call a semi-cold air from Berk Technology. The tube is long enough to reach the side of the battery opposite of the engine but doesn't go all the way down to the bumper. I don't want to take a chance with hydrolock. So, CAI and NWP Spacers then get your sensors re-aligned at the stealership. I saw a major difference in low end HP/TQ when I had it aligned in comparison to doing the "relearn procedure". Then get a UDP and grounding kit. Without doing a piggyback system, headers, and catback system, this is the cheapest HP increase you can get. It's not much of an increase, more than stock, and hell, a little fun to boot.

[n3985]

Sensors re-aligned?