Free or $.25 CAI upgrade

fowljesse · Post by **fowljesse** » October 14th, 2007, 6:08 pm

One thing bothered me about all the CAIs I've seen: the stepdown in diameter from the MAF to the TB is pretty harsh with the silicone piece, and alot of people still have the accordian thing, both causing turbulence. I wanted to smooth it out, and looked everywhere for a peice to fit there with a gradual transition. This is what I came up with:

It's a plastic cup from a thrift store, and has been there for over 2 years, with no problems, and a noticable improvement. Yes, it's ghetto-fab, but proven to work.
Here's what I did:
Bought a microwave safe cup with the mouth being the same ID as the OD of the MAF (The longer the cup, the smoother the transition).
Take the peice out of the accordian peice that the small hose plugs into, and drill a hole in the cup for it to fit snugly into. Push it through from the inside.
Cut the small end of the cup to match the TB outer diameter. Put the small end in boiling water for a few minutes to soften it. While it's soft, shove it onto the TB. When cool, hose clamp it.
Hose clamp the small hose onto the peice sticking out.
Hose clamp you MAF on.
Obviously, you're not going to gain that much, but for a few minutes, and 25 cents (or free), it's worthwhile! Plus you can find one that matches your color scheme.
If you're afraid that it won't hold up, you can get a stainless steel cup. I was going to, but this has worked fine, even driving thousands of miles in 100+ degrees in the desert, and through sub-zero snowboarding adventures.

Timmie_g · Post by **Timmie_g** » October 14th, 2007, 9:13 pm

this is the current set up on my ZE i took a different approach and put my VAF in the middle of my tubing and used a pipe diameter that was essentially the same size as my tb to reduce the step down. I made this CAI using parts from vibrant, and with a little modification and cutting here and there it fits perfectly.

the only real step in size is the pipe to the VAF but Vibrant makes a 3-4" adapter and i just used 2 of those.

cost more than .25 though

mx3autozam · Post by **mx3autozam** » October 14th, 2007, 10:25 pm

^^^^^
That is a nice intake setup. the black pipes are cool too.

But man your spark plug wires are a mess.lol

Mnemonic · Post by **Mnemonic** » October 14th, 2007, 10:34 pm

mx3autozam wrote:^^^^^
That is a nice intake setup. the black pipes are cool too.

But man your spark plug wires are a mess.lol

Agreed, I plan on using black pipes on my turbo setup, with black silicone, then some nice heatwrap

And they even have anodized black intercoolers now

Kirk95gs · Post by **Kirk95gs** » October 15th, 2007, 6:02 am

mx3autozam wrote:^^^^^
That is a nice intake setup. the black pipes are cool too.

But man your spark plug wires are a mess.lol

me 2 ^

i'm running stainless pipes with black silicon couplings...

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » October 15th, 2007, 11:46 am

I went slightly different than all of you LOL Not that I think there is much difference.. just what I found when I started digging for parts. I got a couple of cheap kits off of e-bay and made this setup. The pipe diameter is the same size as the VAF internal diameter. 3 inch. So at the VAF I am using two 3-3.5 inch couplers and at the TB I am using a 3-2.75 inch reducer. Here is a pic.. you can see more pics in my worklog if you want. Excellent fit, no rubbing or rattles and its very secure in its location.

Tunes67

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » October 15th, 2007, 2:10 pm

wow a plastic cup LOL.. i though i was ghetto

its original tho. cant that cup melt tho?

fowljesse · Post by **fowljesse** » October 15th, 2007, 2:13 pm

They look great! That's more along the same line.. Bigger diameter for better airflow.
My point is: the smoother the transition from VAF to TB including the edge of the mouth of each, the better.

Timmie_g · Post by **Timmie_g** » October 16th, 2007, 8:46 pm

haha yea they are, they are actually k8 wires so they are longer than ZE wires. but i got them a month before i got my ZE and i didnt want to trust the wires the ZE came with. so im usign a set of wires i know is good until i get my new wires.

i just cant decide which wires to get haha

any suggestions??

(sorry about stealing the thread)

fowljesse · Post by **fowljesse** » October 19th, 2007, 12:05 am

wow a plastic cup LOL.. i though i was ghetto its original tho. cant that cup melt tho?

Oh yeah. Cheap!
Like I said, I drove it in 110+ degrees across the desert, from Houston to Austin (about 250 miles) and back many times. Sometimes so hot that the K8 barely produced any power. No melting problems after over 2 years. I got a microwavable cup!

fatray · Post by **fatray** » October 19th, 2007, 5:06 am

fowljesse wrote:No melting problems after over 2 years. I got a microwavable cup!

Nice job that.

Man if I ever do a write up, Microwavable cup will be on the essential tools list, not the parts list.