Hey guys, over the weekend I got this wild idea to make my own "ram air" induction system for my 01 tib. (wanted to have something totally diff then the others at the car meet)

So... this what i did.

1st) I thought up what kinda materials i would need. i was gonna use normal alluminum (found on manufacturer cold air intakes), but allum. transfers heat through itself badly ( wich blows my mind why they would make our intakes out of this) so the best self insulated stuff i could think of is "grey pvc pipe" then of course ue silicone connections .

2) so i headed up to the Home Depot to get "grey pvc pipe" and rubber or silicone connectors. ounce i got to lookin at the stuff i ran into a big problem. I didnt know the dimensions of how pipe was gonna be bent to fit the engine bay. so i guessed , and this is what i got.

3) I bought 3-2.5'in.-45deg. bended grey pvp pipe, 2-90deg. rubber connectors(slow bend), and 2 straight small rubber connectors.(1 of the connectors will have to be a 2.5in to a 3in.)-this is for your MAF.

4) Your gonna have to take the driver side's wheel off and remove all the plastic shrouds thats blocking you from the engine bay( you need it wide open behind the wheel) u can see the tranny and everything perfectly.

5) After u have everything out of the way , you can start removing ur stock airbox if havnt already , if u have then u can start the connection process.

6)What i did was leave the stock rubber on the TB that connects to ur MAF,
on the other side (open side) of your MAF connect your 2.5-3in rubber connector to the MAF (3in side goes to MAF)

7) now drill a hole in one of the 45 deg pvc pipes that will match up to the same size of your Air Tmp. Sensor (the sensor that use to be in your stock airbox) make sure the sensor fits flush in there , now use some plastic or pvc adhesive around the ege of the hole and fit ur sensor snugg into it (make sure u dont get the glue all in the sensor , that would suck)

8) now connect that 45 deg pvc pipe into the other side of the connection on the MAF, you want this bend to drop down so drill the hole appropritly in the right spot of the pipe. now connect another 45 deg. pipe to that one using one of the straight connectors . u want the bottom of that pipe kinda facing towards outside the fender well. then slap a 90deg connector to the end of it .

9) the 90deg connector should be half in the engine bay , and half kinda pointing out under the front bumber. now connect the last 45 deg bend (the 90deg and 45 deg together will make the pipe go right behind the front bumper, up against the radiator.

10) now you can either try stuffing the airfilter in there (wich wont fit easily)
or you can go buy a slim line airfilter like i did (it will fit snug right up there)
or u can use your last 90 deg connector to raise the actual airfilter up in there a lil better(still might have to force it if using normal cold air intake airfilter)
now ounce u get ur airfilter up in there and connected , its time to reinforce all the pipe so it dosnt bounce around and sheet (i just used like 3 peices of metal wire and connected them around the bottom of the radiator area)
and WALA!!!
You have a custom ram air intake , (the air filter will sit right in the lip of the front bumper) this is a perfect high preasurre zone and trust me if u know ur car u will feel an immidiate diff in response and pull. espeaciialy if u do alot of highway driving (u just touch the pedal and instant power at highway speeds)

BTW.. if u dont like having all these connectors (like i dont) make the thing like this then take all of it off in 1 peice from the MAF down and go get some 3 in grey pvp pipe and a heating blanket and u can make 1 big 3"in peice and form it to the exact layout of how the other one was assembled .

Total cost -40$ at home depot
Total time - bout an hr.
Total gain- lots of immidiate "grunt" and awesome WOT power, and makes u wonder what the hell u were thinkin when u bought a 200$ "alluminum" cold air intake. :roll:

 

I beleive PICS are not only in order, but also part of the rules.

Good write up though.

Of course, one could also just use ONE 45 degree bend and thier original CAI to move the filter to directly behind the stock fog light opening. Then all you have to do is get rid of the fogs (if you have them)......

this would lead to a SHORTER and less convoluted path for the air to travel than the above DIY.

 

verry true , was just giving ideas to what iv done. but u dont want to use ur existing cold air intake (its allum.) transfers heat , therefore u can pull in all the cold air u want but as soon as it gets to the allum. (if warm or hot)
your air is gonna become that temp.
whatever kinda route u take to get the cold air is of course ur custom idea , but with the materials , u dont want allum.

 

1. aluminum is light, thats why they use it.
2. all that air travelling throught the intake keeps it plenty cool. it wont heat up. if it for some reason does, you can get some exhaust wrap and wrap the b**** up.
3. nice write up.
4. pictures are not necessary for posting, but they are for getting your DIY added to the main listing.

 

Wow, you definately put alot of thought into your work and did an equally good job of writting all this down..pics would be helpful though.

 

Hate to tell ya,... but
This is not "Ram Air"

 

I just want to make a coule more comments about this.....

1.) Yes aluminum soaks up heat.......It sheds it pretty fast also.
Question for you.....If you are so concerned about the intakes being aluminum, why not make yourself a PVC cylinder head??

2.) Placing your filter in an area where lots air is rushing by it does NOT make this a Ram Air intake. think of Ram Air like a race cars radiator or intercooler......they block off ALL the surrounding areas to FORCE air thru those items......

3.) like tibby01 said you can just use exhaust wrap on an intake. Prolly still look better than yours.

4.) Aluminum is much more resistant to deformation......whereas your PVC WILL melt and deform if its gets hot enough. Yes, you did use the PVC w/ the highest publically available temperature rating.....But there is a LOT of heat under the hood of ANY motor vehicle.

 

Well, all and all, I have to give you props. I already have a CAI but you thout of something that you wanted to do and used your own intellect to accomplish your goal. Great write up.

 

PVC pipes, when heated, diffuse fumes wink.gif

If I understand, your filter is close to the rad? See behind it?
If so, you are breathing the hot air coming from the rad.

For the time that the air spend in the intake piping, it has no time to heat up wink.gif

Good job but needs some more work. Your engine bay is not a garden nor a sink.

 

Tigershark dont sweat it, i thought the write up was a good one, i often wandered why they use aluminum to, because my AEM kit gets pretty hot on a summer day, but oh well ignore those guys i thought you did a good job, it bothers me to see that they jumped down your throat :roll: i know there just trying to give u ideas, but hey...sometimes i think they could ba a little more nicer.. (didnt mean to offend anyone in this)