Custom Air Intake with Fan Heat Shield

[www.03msp.com]

Hey everybody!

I thought I would post my experience and creativity with an OBX air filter and custom fan heat shield/bracket I made. I thought that for $32.00 this would be a good mod to do that would increase performance for the price prior to buying a $200.00 system. The heat shield does block 100% of the air coming from the fan when kicked on. I was even surprised once it was installed and I had the car idling and the fans kicked on. It's quite amazing actually.

I can tell you, the butt dyno definitely could tell a difference over the stock airbox with filter. I have an K&N panel filter on order but I don't think it will be as good as what I have just done. Beside the engine being a lot smoother, I could definitely hear the blow off valve as well as when I slightly push the gas pedal down I could here the air being sucked in ever so slightly.

The materials consisted of:

1-OBX 3" Air Filter
1-1/2" Rubber Grommet
1-24"x1/8" Aluminum Rod (like a ruler)
1-12"x18" Plated Steel Sheet
1-3" Hose Clamp
3-Grade 8 1/4"x1" Bolts
3-Grade 8 1/4"x1" Nuts
3-Grade 8 1" Washers
1-Rustoleum Flat Black Spray Paint
1-Rustoleum Clear Paint
1-8 1/2"x11"x1/8" Adhesive Backed Foam

(reused nut on battery tray as well as bolt near oil coolant tank)

Utilized lots of different tools and a whole bunch of know how.

Without going into a how-to, I'll just show you pictures:

What do you guys think?

- Brian

 

[blu_msp]

Sweet!! Nice mod! looks like very good craftsmanship.

 

[www.03msp.com]

Thanks! I'm pretty happy myself. Takes practice I guess, but this was a do-it-once and worked job.

 

[AutoBox]

i was planin the same thing for my msp....what does the plug on the stock airbox do??? does it need to be connected>? and im not talkin about the one pluged into the maf

 

[03MSP]

i was planin the same thing for my msp....what does the plug on the stock airbox do??? does it need to be connected>? and im not talkin about the one pluged into the maf

I believe what you are talking about is the intake temperature sensor.

I don't think it has to be plugged in, but it will make you car run more efficient if it is, because if it is left in a cold area you will run rich as hell(even more-so than already), and if it is left in a very hot place, you will lose performance I think because the ECU will think the air is hot.

 

[TurboMan]

Wow.... I'm very impressed. That's an extremely nice mod for $35 and some hard work. I would really encourage you to make a How-to. I bet this has the potential to become a very popular mod.

 

[mp5jeff]

i did somewhat the same thing with my intake for my turbo, i used aluminum ill take a pic, it seems to work very well and absorb the heat, have you tried touching the side of the shield where the fan blows then touch the other side by the filter, it should be hot on fan side and cool on the filter side...then you know its working well =)

 

[www.03msp.com]

Everyone,

Good morning!

Well, last night I drove the car for about an hour. Immediately after I got home in my garage I popped the hood. I touched the fan-side of the shield and it was semi-warm (not really hot), and the other side was cool, not icecube, but definitely cool. Just as another member listed - it works! This morning my wife called me from her work. She drives the MSP on the weekends. She said she thought there might be something wrong with the car. I had asked what she meant and she said the she heres "woosh, wheeee, gobble gobble". I laughed. I spoke with her further and she explained she heard a sucking noise - intake, a whistle noise - turbo, and the gobble noise - blow off valve. I laughed and explained this to her. She said she had a few people look at her on the highway as she shifted. Wow! Just imagine what an aftermarket "psssssht" type blow off valve would do.

I'll figure out how to do a "how-to" since I didn't do a step-by-step on this. I will say, that the filter cost $25.00 and the parts were about $7.00 more (not including the paint). The time was about an hour and a half for everything total.

- Brian

 

[Blazzin]

Hmmmmm! Now You have me thinking ! Should I be cheap and do it ur way ? car-a-holic hell i've had 15 of them my self lol never thought of being a car-a-holic 1st one was a 67 cutlass surprem with a 455 , got it for a $100 dallors when I was 15yrs old but the two best were 73 Capri and a 77 roadrunner KILLER car till it was stolen !

 

[www.03msp.com]

Okay, here is a stab at a HOW-TO for what I had done. Read through the original posts, look at the pictures, then read this. If you can't figure it out or have access to tools to do this, you may want to refrain from this and just buy a different intake system. But if you have the patience, then it is well worth it:

The materials consisted of:

1-OBX 3" Air Filter
1-1/2" Rubber Grommet
1-24"x1/8" Aluminum Rod (like a ruler)
1-12"x18" Plated Steel Sheet (do not use aluminum, bends to easy and is not as durable plus it retains heat)
1-3" Hose Clamp
3-Grade 8 1/4"x1" Bolts
3-Grade 8 1/4"x1" Nuts
3-Grade 8 1" Washers
1-Rustoleum Flat Black Spray Paint
1-Rustoleum Clear Paint
1-8 1/2"x11"x1/8" Adhesive Backed Foam

General Instructions:

Cut the 12x18 plated steel sheet lengthwise in half to make it 12x9 so that the 12 side is now lengthwise.
Take the aluminum bar and cut it from end-to-end to be 15 long.
Place the aluminum bar at edge covering the 12 side of sheet so that 3 of bar is exposed.
Bend the plated steel sheet over the bar so to make a sandwich.
The plated steel sheet is now 12 by 8.
On the plated steel sheet, mark holes to be drilled at the 3, 6, and 9 marks.
On the aluminum 3 extension, at the 1 center, mark a whole to be drilled.
Drill the four holes with a drill bit.
On the plated steel sheet, insert three washers, bolts, and nuts and secure tightly. You may want to trim off the extension of the bolt flush with the nut.
Next, via the 3 extension, with the plated sheet sandwich and nuts side up, ever so slightly bend the unit into a slight V to make a 20-degree bend (rough).
On the plated steel sheet, corners bend them over like rabbit ears and make flush against the sheet so not to have any more sharp edges.
Use your favorite can of color spray paint and clear spray paint. Spray both sides evenly.
Once dry, take the piece of foam and wrap around rabbit ear edges.
Take the 9 side of the metal and attempt to slightly wrap it around the filter with the nut-side in (kind of like a snow shovel).
Remove stock air box assembly (on battery tray and by coolant reservoir then Callaway air extension on coolant reservoir bracket).
On MAF 3" inlet, remove round rubber grommet that goes to air box assembly.
Cut a piece of foam or a little more of an inch by 3.25 and wrap around MAF inlet.
Drill a hole in center/top of 3 air filter. Insert a grommet.
Place aftermarket 3 air filter around MAF and tighten with strap brace.
Put intake temperature sensor in grommet in air filter.
To add additional support, create a bracket with the remaining aluminum bar.
Take the bar, bend the bar into an L and drill a whole on the small part of the L bracket.
Measure the height of the bracket from the lower battery tray up to about 6 and cut.
At about 1 down from the top of the bracket, drill two-ajoining holes to place additional strap brace through.
Attach strap brace through new L bracket around behind the intake MAF.
Secure the bottom of the L bracket onto the battery tray with original nut.
To the cars front of the coolant reservoir, unscrew the additional (not holding anything down) bolt and remove.
Place the heat shield into area and bolt down using unscrewed bolt on an angle (use your judgement) that would best prohibit air from the fan to blow on the air filter.
Bend the painted plated steel in accordance to the flow of air to prohibit air on the filter.
You may want to cut small foam pieces and place appropriately on the exterior of the heat shield if there may be issues of rattling against engine components.
You may also want to cut small two foam pieces and place on bottom of hood if the filter might touch the hood, would provide a cushion and avoidance of rub.



Good luck!

 

[TurboMan]

What tools do you need to do this? Just glancing at your how-to makes me think that you probably need some metal cutting device.

 

[AutoBox]

some tin snips should do the job, thanks for the how to, im gonna try it this weekend when i do my nephews heat shield fro his civic


hey by the way, where did u plug the "intake sensor" into???

 

[www.03msp.com]

Yes, tin snips on the plated steel sheet and rotozip on the aluminum bar.

Air intake temperature sensor into the air filter (made a hole, put a grommet in it) and that went inside. Look at last pic above.

- Brian

 

[AutoBox]

ok thanks

 

[benimal]

That's a pretty nice mod, and it looks decent, too. Maybe I can convince the wife to let me spend $35.

I doubt you are gonna get your car dyno'd but do you feel any difference (seat of the pants type feeling) based on your mod? Do you feel like you lost any low-end torque?

Thanks.

Ben

P.S. Where'd you get the OBX filter? Is there a specific part number you used? Would any other 3"filter work here?

 

[www.03msp.com]

Hi.

Thanks everyone for the reply.

My wife thought it looked pretty "stock" too. Though, she doesn't know what she is looking for, but she didn't notice it like "wham". Seat of the pants feeling - yes, the entire RPM band felt smoother and at 4000RPM, you could feel a definite kick now. Also, the BOV is much louder (just want that psssst now) as well as a slight sucking sound on the filter. Regarding the OBX, you can get any kind actually. Just make sure it is quality. I liked the OBX since I could drill a whole near the center and put the sensor in. On my old P5, I just zip tied the sensor to the 12V plus terminal, but found it does work better in the flow of air. I wouldn't make a whole on the filter element itself though (the screen part) but rather a solid surface. You can pick up a filter at www.nopionline.com if you would like or go to PepBoys and by yourself a $20.00 filter (though the OBX I have is still better, it's OEM'd to RACTIVE). I got my OBX at www.grdperformance.com, a local shop here.

Cheers!

 

[Notorious_V.I.C]

Hey, great job on the custom job..... I decieded to do that and went ahead and ordered a BOMZ fliter...i got everything done like u said except i havent made the heat sheild....but what i'm not sure on is what is the 24"x1/8" Aluminum Rod for..sorry if i didn't see were u said it. Anyways i drilled a hole in the middle for the sensor...for some reason when my car is idleing the rpms jump for once second and u can feel the car shake....whats up with that???

 

[Vulcanon]

hey man, I like the intake, pm a moderator to get it posted in the how-to section =)

 

[SirJaime]

yA ya like I said earlyer very nice..., but I had to do it right even though I dont have the cash ! Hell I figured my income taxs refund could handle that little bit (damn I could of gottin a 1/4lb for that). I saved about 50 - 70 bucks going thru APEX Motersport online ,( depending on where you look is how much you could save ). Thats with shipping , I had to go with the cosmetics for my car! I mean DAMN this is my BABY ! ! !

ps: HOW the ___ do I get my pictures to come up on these post every time I post ?

 

[www.03msp.com]

Stalling - ah, you did something wrong.

Let's see, when you drilled the hole, you did it on the metal/plastic of the filter, not on the actual grill/filter part right? Did you put a grommet in the hole then (rubber seal)? Hey, you can always reuse the grommet from the stock airbox where the air temperature sensor goes. I ended up doing that as it is a little tighter and cleaner install. Make sure it is nice and tight. In addition, you just need a piece of metal (aluminum is easier to bend and drill) that looks like a ruler for the bracket to aid holding the maf/intake system on and attach it to the battery. The intake piping is already pretty stiff, but I did this as added security. Look at my pictures for a silver bar near the battery with a silver strap on it - this is what I'm talking about.

Good luck dudes. Who should I PM?

- Brian