I was thinking tonight after reading a post about the differences between a short ram and cold air intakes. Has anybody fabricated a custom aluminum case to block off the filter of a short ram intake from the rest of the bay? I was thinking about doing this, but wondered if it would even be worth my time. Has anybody tried this or have pictures of a setup? Thanks a lot guys.

 

i have also thought about doing this. I'd love to try it, but i dont have the fund$ right now. I currently have an AEM CAI.

 

I can do all the fabrication at my school and probably even get the aluminum from the scrap pile for free. I was thinking that I could fabricate it so that it could bolt onto the existing attachments for the stock airbox. What do you guys think?

 

I'd think you're better off making it out of fiberglass since Al is an excellent conductor of heat. It may be cheaper (if you actually have to buy the Al) to use fiberglass, other than making it, there is no reason why it wouldn't work as well as a store bought one.

Do we even have space with the battery there?

 

I think it would be tight, but with the aluminum you could make it as thin as needed. Also, how much cold air do you suppose is comming out of that tubing under the fender?

 

If the resonator is there, probably not much since it gets air from the engine compartment (I think). I do some Al sheetmetal work, but to make the tub as big as possible where the oem box normally is isn't really beneficial, might as well use the oem box and open the hole at the bottom a bit. If our batterries were removed, then a huge tub and piping to below the fender, it would be optimal.

Without the resonator there, there is alot of cold air since the area where the resonator sits is almost pressurized at higher speeds......

As for looks, nothing (maybe carbon fiber) beats the look of polished al parts to match a polished al valve cover.....

 

So you're saying that to really have a gain, the resonator would need to be removed? Where exactly is that air being pulled from anyway? Is there any possiblity of water being sucked through? And lastly, why would you need to remove the battery? I figured that as long as you sectioned off the intake from the heat of the engine bay you would be okay. Are you saying you'd need a larger box to make it happen?

 

If I am not terribly mistaken, the resonator gets air from the engine compartment (on the integs and civics, the resonator comes back up into the engine compartment through the fenderwell). It has been a while since I took mine out and I am away from my car and manual now. No, there is not an easy chance water will get into the resonator unless you submerge the entire front end. To have the effect of the short ram intake and the icebox, you have to have a short ram intake tube and the tub surrounding it and the tub should be quite big. Our batterries are where the integs and civics short rams end up, so with the battery there, we don't have a large volume for a more effective tub and pipe. look for the icebox from comptech and look at your engine compartment, you'll see what I mean: http://solar.innercite.com/comptech/product163.html and http://www.theoldone.com/sc/type-r/babytub.jpg.

If you are going to make a box for looks, then why not. For function, the oem airbox minus the resonator is a cold air set-up for free. Find a way to change to Al piping via DC or AEM or muffler shop and put a cone filter and you have an icebox.......

 

I already have the AEM short ram intake, so I would prefer to use that as my setup. The second picture with the plastic tub looks like a good way of doing it. I could use the injection molder at school to make something real quick and cheap. What grade plastic would you need to use in order for it to not melt?

 

I am not into grades of plastic, but there is no +200deg F exposed at or near the battery, so whatever plastic could hold.... I have something for you to make out of plastic for me, want to make some cash????

 

Most of the road race teams use this set up. The shorter ram increases throttle response, and they will make a scoop to push air up into the box. They usually use carbo fiber for the box with reflective insulation and use header wrap for the intake pipe. I think using alluminum would be good as long as you use insulation around the box. Also make sure to seal the top of the box with the hood if you don't make the box fully enclosed.

 

What would work best, fully enclosed or open top with a rubber sealer around the rim to close with hood? I'm curious though if anybody else has done this setup on their own... a few experienced pointers would be really be helpful.

By the way what are you wanting to be made 'G'?

 

I want my 3 autometer gauges molded to the top of the steering column. There is more than enough room to see the oem gauges and the 3 autometers......