Homemade air intake.... done!
Brent Franker
I just want to say thanks to the guys who gave me advice on a homemade ram
air/intake (for a 4th gen. Z28) a few weeks ago. I went ahead and made an
intake *similiar* to the K&N FPIK but haven't made the ram air yet. I'm
not sure if I will do the ram air part of it because the cold air intake by
itself has made a noticeable seat-of-the-pants difference! If I do decide
to do the ram air, I will take down all the sheetmetal measurements and
post them in case someone else would like to try it.
For those of you with the 4th gen Z28 (with the MAF) I will give you a
little rundown of what I did. This setup cost me around $50. The
aftermarket cold air intakes cost around $200 I believe. So, if you are on
a limited budget, this mod would be excellent for you.
(This is pretty much what is described in the f-body FAQ but more detailed)
Here are the parts you will need:
9" long conical K&N air filter - Part No. RE-0810
4-1/8" x 36" Mighty Flow air intake hose - Part No. 96074
Breather Filter - AB3151, BF404 work good
4" hose clamp
12" x 12" plexiglass
This is EXTREMELY detailed so those of you who are not so mechanically
inclined might even give this a shot! :)
(You regulars are going to get bored with this, might want to exit this
message now, har har)
Remove the stock air filter and box. Remove the plastic intake piece that
is connected to the MAF and was connected to the air filter box (you will
have to disconnect the air pump hose). Take the rubber gasket off the
factory intake that was near the MAF and put it over the MAF. Remove the
plastic piece under the car that is in front of the drivers side
fenderwell. You will need to do this because the K&N air filter is too big
to drop in from the top. Take the piece of plexiglass and cut it to fit on
the ledge where your air filter box was sitting. You will probably have to
keep recutting to get the plexiglass to fit just right, I know I did :).
Take the K&N air filter and put the neck up through the hole (inserted from
where you removed the plastic piece under the car) in the ledge where the
stock air filter came through to get an idea where the filter will fit
best. Cut a hole in the plexiglass the size of the K&N filter neck at the
location where you want the filter to be. Cut this hole so it is snug on
the filter neck as this is going to hold the filter up. Put the piece of
cut plexiglass in the car and put the neck of the filter up through the
hole in the plexiglass. Now go find that factory intake piece again and
take the other rubber gasket off and place it over the filter neck. (All
these rubber gaskets are being used for is to make a better fit for the air
intake hose). Take your Mighty Flow air intake hose and use ITS plastic
clamp to attach it to the MAF. Take the other end of the air intake hose
and cut off its plastic clamp. Use your 4" hose clamp to clamp this end
onto the neck of the K&N filter. (The plastic clamp on the intake hose
isn't tight enough here) You will have to "massage" the air intake hose
partially into the space between the ABS and the radiator. Take your
breather filter and connect it to the air pump hose you removed from the
factory intake in the beginning. Put the plastic piece back on under the
car. There you go! This is "supposed" to give you 15 to 20 hp. It just
might because "I think I feel a difference". (No strip around here for me
to test it though)
Sheesh, I hope this helps somebody, my fingers are tired :)
See ya,
Brent
94Z