Alright guys. I know I've been killing you all with dozens of intake questions. Well, I've bought that ebay CAI and its great. Only problem is that I haven't installed it as CAI yet, I only put on the first pipe.

My reasons for this are
1. Need a bypass valve, I'm not risking hydrolock, no matter how hard it may be to actually hydrolock.
2. A CAI is a bitch to install, I gotta remove the resonator and crap. Not to mention, my CAI is 3" diameter, meaning I would have to remove some of the rim which connects the stock filter box to the resonator. I really don't want to in case I ever have to go back to a stock intake... not to mention it just blows my mind shaving off metal from my lude.

Also, what sucks is that my "SRI" is not much of an SRI since it only rests behind the battery, rather than most which rest where the stock filter box did.

So here's the thing. I am going to have to accept my SRI for now, but in the future, I would like to get a really nice SRI, mabye a K&N (but I don't think they make SRI for the lude unless I get the CAI convertable, so probably an AEM).

Or, I could get a really good CAI with a bypass valve. This pretty much limits me to AEM since their pipes are made to be used with their bypass valves. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can put a bypass valve on any other CAI unless you cut the pipe. Problem is AEM is insanely expensive. And if I do get a CAI, I would like it to be 2.5" diameter so that I can fit through the intake box hole without having to tear out some metal around it.

So basically what am I asking here is, are there any CAIs that I can fit a bypass valve onto that are 2.5" in diameter. If not, then what kind of SRI should I get to replace the makeshift I have right now? I would really like a CAI since it means better and more power, it definitely will always be better than an SRI. But if I can't get something thats 2.5" with a bypass, then I suppose I have to get SRI.

Thanks for answering my billionth question

 

I think the stock setup is 2.5" If you want to keep that you should just get a K&N filter for the stock air intake.

 

I had a 3" ebay cai before I went turbo and ended up bending the tube into more of an oval to fit through the stock airbox opening so I didn't have to cut anything. I wouldn't worry about hydrolock, how often do you drive through a foot and a half of water?

 

Since you got rid of the stock intake setup, why are you leaving the remnants of it behind. Remove the resonator (its serves no purpose now so why have it) and install the cold air. If if rains that bad, remove the second tube and run it short ram. Easy.

 

Yeah, I will take out the resonator some day. But also, what about that Vacuum resivoir? I would have no problem taking that out, but you also have to remove two vacuum tubes, one that goes to the fuel injection, and also, you have to unplug it from the elctrical system, leaving the electrical plug open and exposed to the elements. I guess I could cover that, but I don't know if it would be safe with removing the two vacuum lines.

Also, here's a pic of what I'm talking about

 

You can remove that piece as well. I just unplugged and safely tucked in the electrical plug that you are referring to. There is a vaccum tube that goes in there as well that leads to a T connector if you follow it. You can unplug that but dont forget to cap it. You will know if you have a vacuum leak b/c you will experience a surging idle.

 

What would I use to cap it securely?

 

I didn't have to cut anything putting in the same intake you got. All I did is bend the hole with pliers to make it slightly bigger

If you don't have plugs for the hoses, just use tape, works good enough.