intake ?

[Unidentifiable]

I've never tinkered with redesigning an air intake before, but I might consider trying it.

My practical questions are: Without a box, how do you keep the filter clean? And, more importantly, how do you keep it DRY? (Or does everyone who has done this mod live in southern California, where it never rains? )

Keeping the entire filter dry isn't really a concern, nor is keeping it from getting wet purely. Immersion is what you want to avoid.

Getting the filter a little wet won't hurt your engine. It can actually (for a very few cycles) reduce the chance of pinging while the water vapor (it'll be vapor by the time it gets into the engine) gets into the combustion chambers.

I live in North Eastern PA, and it rains here ALL THE TIME. I had my filter in the same place Petrified.Rabbit has his on my Civic, in replacement of the resonator box. I never ran a bypass valve, either, and splashed puddles, all else.

Now, that's not to say it was the smartest thing to do, because hydro-lock is a very real occurrence. I just didn't care.

[Wolfman AK907]

I run a homemade SRI right now, but thinking about changing up to a CAI to make some room in the engine compartment.

[screech985]

i'm just wondering if i wanted to make my own custom piping what kind of pipe is the acceptable to use

[Daox]

I'd recommend stainless steel as a primary material. It'll have less problems with heat soaking since it has a low coefficient of thermal transfer. An alternative would be aluminum. I'd stay away from mild steel as it will eventually rust and that piping is after your air filter. You can paint it, but you still run the risk of the paint flaking off over time and now thats going into the engine too.

As for sizing, I'd probably go with 2" - 2.25" outer diameter with thin wall (.040-.060") mandrel bent tubing. The larger diameter bends the better. For length I'd pretty much go as long as space will allow. I like Rabbit's extension into the area behind the fog lamp as its isolated from heat very well. I've done the same thing on other vehicles and it works very good. As Unidentifiable said, no need for a check valve either unless you're planning on taking your car through rivers.

[petrified.rabbit]

i never tell anyone that wants the check valve they dont need it, is actually kind of needed in any area that has standing water after rain. florida, new jersey, even a few places in pittsburgh, have enough rain fall at times to have area with enough "flooding" to hydrolock your car.

My friend lost his 2005 gti on the way home from waterfest because it started to rain and nj roads were immediately covered in 8" of water.

the key is to know your roads as well as you know your car. he lost his because he was unfamiliar with the area. it was also an APR stage 3+ putting out like 400 hp.. none of the investment did he get back from insurance,

[Thymeclock]

i never tell anyone that wants the check valve they dont need it, is actually kind of needed in any area that has standing water after rain. florida, new jersey, even a few places in pittsburgh, have enough rain fall at times to have area with enough "flooding" to hydrolock your car.

My friend lost his 2005 gti on the way home from waterfest because it started to rain and nj roads were immediately covered in 8" of water.

the key is to know your roads as well as you know your car. he lost his because he was unfamiliar with the area. it was also an APR stage 3+ putting out like 400 hp.. none of the investment did he get back from insurance,

I've had to deal with road flooding at times, so you understand my concern.

I'd be more inclined to find a different air box from a junkyard and modify it to fit.

A suggestion for pipes: I would imagine that PVC pipe and rubber pipe couplings would be useful.

[mikedudley17]

PVC pipe would look tacky, even if you did paint it. Its an ok solution but if your going to spend the money, you may as well do it right. A nice piece of aluminum pipe and good 3 ply couplers will not cost too much more and will last alot longer. Cheap home depot couplers just cant hack it on a car. I know this first hand from working on my DSM. The guy I bought it from had home depot couplers on parts of the intercooler piping and all of them were ripped which was causing nasty boost leaks. So do it right the first time so you dont have to worry about it.

[XJCasper]

I've never tinkered with redesigning an air intake before, but I might consider trying it.

My practical questions are: Without a box, how do you keep the filter clean? And, more importantly, how do you keep it DRY? (Or does everyone who has done this mod live in southern California, where it never rains? )

I am crossing my fingers. Live in WA state. Don't know why, but this car worries me the most; considering all of my cars/trucks in the past have had been converted to an open element. I went through and made sure all plastic under panels were intact and all screws were in place.

But, my car will (the goal) be paid off at the end of the year, and the excess free funds after the van is also paid off, will go into a savings fund. In case something goes bad, I want to have a back-up plan for a 2.0 or something else with a factory turbo.

After having a cheap intake pipe, I decided to return it and spend the money on the AEM. I am happy I did. I love the finish:



Matches the car fairly well.

[LarsBud]

I think each person has there own taste in what they want. It's important to look around on the net and see what you like.
You may be surprised to find you can buy a pre-made kit for less them a scratch build one.

[Beneficiall]

I'm putting a cai in, and I'd like to also get a hydrolock bypass valve...but I can't find the diameter of the pipe on here anywhere...the bypass valves I've seem are 2.5" diameter. I bought the same cai pictured in this thread, the same as petrified rabbit