I finnished my homemade CAI tonight, here are the supplies I used:
1-2.5" mandrel u-bend from dynomax(you can order it through Advance Auto Parts, ask to see the dynomax catalog)$15.99
2- 2-2" PCV couplers (rubber)2x$5
1- 2-3" PCV coupler (rubber)$6
1- 3/16" grommet(for the vacume return line)$.39
Ebay Maf adaptor and air filter - $20

Heres some pics of the CAI:


http://members.aol.com/slogypoop/CAI//CAI1.jpg
http://members.aol.com/slogypoop/CAI//CAI2.jpg
http://members.aol.com/slogypoop/CAI//CAI3.jpg

IT SOUNDS FRIGGIN SWEET!! Sounds just like a hotshot and SOTP I can feel the diffrence!

Looks good bro!!

Nicely done dude, the bends look good. Thats about how much me and chris (nismoser) spent on our custom cai's. :)

You know how much I spent for the 2nd gen CAI?

Piping: FREE
Filter and MAF adapter: 25
black rubber couplers: 3 each
Red 3-2" reducer: 10

38 bucks :)

Looks good...custom CAIs are the way to go! Cheap, effective, and even nice looking!

so from the maf to the TB the piping is 2'? and ahead of the maf it's 2.5?

i'm just curious.. i'm wondering if there is any difference at all between performance of 2 or 3 piping..

Andy, I think all his piping is 2.5", he just used a 3'->2" coupler for the MAF, and 2" couplers stretched over a 2.5" pipe for the rest, since you can't buy 2.5" PVC couplers.

Looks good BTW, now get it on a dyno and see if it works!

Josh

Originally posted by MEclassic
Andy, I think all his piping is 2.5", he just used a 3'->2" coupler for the MAF, and 2" couplers stretched over a 2.5" pipe for the rest, since you can't buy 2.5" PVC couplers.

Looks good BTW, now get it on a dyno and see if it works!

Josh

Thanks everyone! I worked hard on it...luckly I have air-tools...so it took me about 2 hours to make this.. it is 2.5" thoughout, it sounds awsome! My butt dyno says it gained 5-10 hp...hehe...I'll be able to tell later this week when I run it at the 1/4 mile track.. :D

Thanks everyone! I worked hard on it...luckly I have air-tools...so it took me about 2 hours to make this.. it is 2.5" thoughout, it sounds awsome! My butt dyno says it gained 5-10 hp...hehe...I'll be able to tell later this week when I run it at the 1/4 mile track..

Air tools? Where did you use air tools during an intake install?? :)

Looks good, I just got finished with mine, I'll post some pics early this week.

Aaron

where do you find the proper size couplers? i went to all the local hardware stores here in hawaii and i cant find anything for my 3 inch pipes! The "3 inch" couplers were all approx 3 1/2 inches inner diameter so nothing would fit.

for 2.5" pipe(like I used), for a straight coupler(2.5" to 2.5") you can go to any hardware store and buy PVC couplers labeled 2". they are made for PVC and will fit just fine. for the coupler from the 3" MAF adapter to the 2.5" pipe, i just went to a local rice shop and bought a blue silicon 3" to 2.5" reducer for 5 bones. took about an hour to make, i can post pics of mine soon, too.

What pipe lengths did you use? I heard that pipe length is probably the singlemost important part. I also thought that SR20 CAI's were supposed to be 3"? At least from the MAF to TB. Can anyone confirm the pipe lengths and diameters of the prefabbed CAI's? When I made one for the XE I used 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust tubing from JC Whitney, cost more than what he got at Advance Auto Parts, so I'd get it from there, plus no shipping. I used 2" connectors and they worked fine. I wouldn't leave it unpainted like that though, it'll start rusting sooner or later. Sooner where the fittings were welded in and the aluminized coating burned off. Clean up that battery terminal man! It's tough once they start to do that to keep them clean. Gotta brush the shit out of them. They've got that battery terminal protectant but that shit sucks. It never dries, might as well use Dielectric grease.

Originally posted by Toolapcfan
What pipe lengths did you use? I heard that pipe length is probably the singlemost important part. I also thought that SR20 CAI's were supposed to be 3"? At least from the MAF to TB. Can anyone confirm the pipe lengths and diameters of the prefabbed CAI's? When I made one for the XE I used 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust tubing from JC Whitney, cost more than what he got at Advance Auto Parts, so I'd get it from there, plus no shipping. I used 2" connectors and they worked fine. I wouldn't leave it unpainted like that though, it'll start rusting sooner or later. Sooner where the fittings were welded in and the aluminized coating burned off. Clean up that battery terminal man! It's tough once they start to do that to keep them clean. Gotta brush the shit out of them. They've got that battery terminal protectant but that shit sucks. It never dries, might as well use Dielectric grease.

i used wheel bearing grease on my battery cables.. hope that works.. yeah i was gonna say i had trouble fitting 2' couplings over 2' pvc.. it was tight so i figured it would be near impossible to get it over 2.5 metal pipe.. but the pvc flairs out on the ends to fit over other pieces so the outside is 2.5..

Originally posted by luminus
Air tools? Where did you use air tools during an intake install?? :)

Looks good, I just got finished with mine, I'll post some pics early this week.

Aaron

I had to cut the 2.5" exhaust tubing and I had to use a hole saw to make the hole down by the battery bigger...:p

hey, where did you get those metal tubes for the vacum hoses? What are they made out of and what is the diameter of each one? I'm having a bit of trouble with my custom cai. BTW, nice job on yours. I wish mine only took about 2 hours to make. :(

Originally posted by eliterit
hey, where did you get those metal tubes for the vacum hoses? What are they made out of and what is the diameter of each one? I'm having a bit of trouble with my custom cai. BTW, nice job on yours. I wish mine only took about 2 hours to make. :(

dude, you can pull the metal pieces for the vacuum return from your stock intake tube and JB weld them into place

really? I heard doing this isn't good or something. I Forgot why. I guess i'll try doing that tomorrow. I'm not familiar with any type of welding at all, so if anyone can i would appreciate any tips if possible. Thanks.

You can go to Home Depot and in the plumbing section, get a 3/8" nipple and a 1/4" nipple, both about 1 1/2" long. Tap a hole into your intake tubing and weld it in.

I'm not familiar with any type of welding at all

You could buy brass threaded nipples that you could thread into a hole in the side of the pipe. If you were worried the threads wouldn't hold, thread some sort of coupling onto the nipple threads on the inside of the tube. JB weld shouldn't hurt anything once it's hardened though, you could still use that.

If you dont go with 3'' piping you might as well say you did a half ass job. From my experience 3'' is the way to go.

And again, these long ass CAI are overrated. :D
A short CAI kicks ass!!!!!