I already have a JWT POP-charger on but I was planning on putting on a homemade cold air intake on my 95 G20 in a couple of months. I'm sure someone on the forum has a homemade CAI setup so if I could get some tips/advice/recommendations, etc I would be very thankful!:D

You need a 2 1/2in. U-bend, mandrel bent and a few sections of silicone pipe connectors.

http://www.tcnj.edu/~sysant2/CAI.htm

This is how i did it...Serban-style using exhaust piping. I'll be redoing this in a few weeks because I want the TB to MAF to be steel pipe too.

Here is the Serban-HS cai :D :

http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~sgg8661/cai1.JPG

First half is the HS piece, second half was made at a muffler shop for $25.

I don't want to change the subject.. but Fast91, what kind of distrubutor you have on there? Is that the Nology I have heard so much about? I don't recognize it, then again, I dont have an SR20. :( Also, is that a stock MAF? I like the way it looks. I guess it's the ricer in me. ;) j/k

I like what you did for you intake, it looks nice. Did you have to supply the parts for the second half of the intake, or did the muffler shop supply them? Did you notice much more power with the seecond half installed, or did you do both at the same time? Thanks for the info!

Donovan:

1. The distributor is from Pepboys, just an OEM replacement. There is a cover that goes over it, comes like that from the factory. It was getting scratched up, and I painted it black.

2. The MAF is stock. It was looking nasty, so I painted it silver. (I like to paint things if you havent noticed yet :D)

3. The muffler shop made the pipe for me. They used some 3" aluminized pipe. Everything cost me $25 (very good price if you ask me). And it made a noticible difference. A little louder at WOT, and felt more responsive. I like it.

Hope this helps :)

Cool! Thanks for the help... I wonder if any of the muffler shops 'round here in Dallas are any good at doing the second half of the intake. I guess I need to worry about getting the first half, first :D

Did they also supply the silicone connectors? If so, did you have a choice in color?

You will need to find the couplers somewhere. Home Depot will probably have them.

Check this link out (http://www.teamdelsol.com/howto/coldair/diycoldair.htm). The way you do the cuts on the pipe for a B14 is very similar. I made the bottom pipe last weekend and had it welded. The weld looks like crap but I will clean it up. The inside is fine and that is what matters. Don't use JB Weld to hold the emissions tubes. It is too thin and just runs off. I have seen this stuff at some stores that is much thicker. I usually see a golf ball or something stuck in a blob of this stuff on display. It looks invincible.

Does your custom CAI sound like the Place race and hotshot and WOT? identical or alot less louder?

hmmm i just finished making a homemade CAI as a matter of fact,

I have a 3"opening at my air filter, so i used a 3" to 2.5" piping adaptor....I used a rubber air intake hose from some kind of truck that the autshop hooked me up with...flexible...the hardest part was getting a part to fit the MAF....

my solution was to take apart the stock airbox...on the inside...there is a ring...where the MAF bolts to....i took this out and used it to mate with the MAF...i used another piping adaptor,3.125 to 2.5" if i recall right the hole for the MAF is approx 3.125" or somewhere around there, cant remember... the contoured edge of the ring fit perfectly where the transition to 3.125" to 2.5" curved, then i used four 8-9 centimeter bolts to join the MAF and piping adaptor, using the airbox ring...

i had to put silicone where the MAF met the adaptor pipe (adaptor pipe was around 5-6" long)...

stuck the rubber air intake tube on the end of the adaptor with hose clamps....the other end of the tube is self explanatory..

on a side note before i made the complete CAI i used part of the supplies to make a WAI...the WAI sucked and i loss power compared to the stock intake....it felt the same as when you dont close the stock airbox completely, and kick down...

final result: two thumbs and two toes up !!!! it sounds kickass and pulls alot stronger throughout the entire range....total cost $10 not including filter..I'll make one out of metal next, i just wanted to try it this way first before i drop money on some metal piping...that rubber hose sure does resonate,,,be sure to disconnect the resonator box also...

ehhhh i forgot, use a band strap (strap of metal with holes in it) to make a support for the CAI, once you take the airbox out you can use the holes in the body..your gonna have to do some bending of the strap but its not hard....

you can bolt it to the ring that holds the adaptor to the MAF...

and plug up the resonator hole on the first half of the intake tubing...

I'll take pics tommorow and post them, but im old fashioned and still use a film camera...so it might be 2 days instead...

ehhh. had another brain fart....you might be able to scrap the adaptor pipe on the MAF (3.125" to 2.5") and just use the ring inside the stock airbox to connect to the piping, but thats gonna be a big hole....i wish i would have thought about that yesterday... :mad:

Originally posted by Texasbangerz
ehhhh i forgot, use a band strap (strap of metal with holes in it) to make a support for the CAI, once you take the airbox out you can use the holes in the body..your gonna have to do some bending of the strap but its not hard....


I would just get some 1/2 or 3/4 inch aluminum bar stock at Lowes and bend it to fit. I would do this on the HS and the PR also if they don't have a support to hold the MAF up. THey can work their way down and cause a leak.

for a good CAI I would try to use as less bends as possible.

I believe not only is it the cold air that helps HP, but also the velocity of the air being sucked in. Dont slow its path.

I used a 3'' drain pipe that just shoots straight out the T/B and just CURVES gently. NO bends whatsoever. Just a nice flowing curve.

ditto, also resonance of the material used..

What is the best material to use for the piping?

Originally posted by SE-Romeo
What is the best material to use for the piping?

Also, where is the best place to get it? Auto parts stores?

Originally posted by dono200sx


Also, where is the best place to get it? Auto parts stores?

Read the link in my post. JcWhitney. or so a search on the forum for mandral bends.

For anyoen who has done this, do you have any pictures you took while making, along with the finsihed product????? I want to get an idea of the differ ways people have done this. I'm thinking about doing this sometime soon and just want an idea.

I've got picks but have to scan them yet. I used the info on that team del sol website when I did mine. Don't try to use that guy's part number though, that's an old part number from JC Whitney for the mandrel bent exhaust tubing. I liked the mandrel bend in the piping I got. I think my bend looks a lot nicer than other guys homade setups. (no offense) :) I didn't do the MAF to TB piping though, too much work for little gains on a GA16DE. :) If you don't do the TB to MAF then you'll easily have enough to make two CAI's, assuming you make the right cuts the first time and don't have unuseable pieces leftover. I didn't do it for anything near $10 though. I put mine together just like Texasbangerz did and the pipe adapter 4" to 2.5" that I used on the MAF horn was $10 alone. I used a piece of 3" PVC and cut a bit out of it to make a "C" clamp and glued it to the end of the piping and clamped the filter to that. I used high temp black paint, like 2000 degree stuff, and even though I let it dry good, it still sticks to the pipe adapters and comes off, not on the inside though, it stuck well in there. I had a homemade WAI for awhile as well while I was waiting for my piping to get to me and it was loud as hell, I liked it a lot. Had better throttle response as well. Like smooth daddy says, as few bands as possible. In fact, my tubing has a nice gradual radius unlike some of the store bought CAI's I've seen pics of that damn near have a 90 to get around the battery. I had no problems with my battery being to big or needing to move over either. I'll hopefully post pics for you soon.