"Performance" Airbox

[EllowViper]

When Damn Yankee posted his illustrated upgrade regarding the PBJ Performance Airbox and the $$$ for it out of the box, like many of you, it got my creative juices flowing over the holidays...so here is my Home Grown version at a considerable less expense. Layed out/fabricated of fiberglass and fabricated/painted my own aluminum intake tubes, etc. You get the idea. So far, pretty functional. For whatever reason, I can really hear the whine of the ROE a bit more...

 

[BOTTLEFED]

Very nice!
I like the fiberglass idea
sorry, but the filters look a little ricy
who made the hard pipes?

 

[EllowViper]

Hey, at $10 per..I'd wod-up a roll of TP and find a way to make a filter out of them!!LOL. Actually, all this is just a bunch of messing around. WAYYY more effort than most would put into it and at the end of the day, I'd probably just buy the PBJ set-up....but what "fun" is that? I'm not entering any car shows and the kids get a kick out of my tinkering and are actually learning alot with all their questions. I fabricated the tubes from some 3" aluminum "turbo" tubing I had, brazed the joints, sanded/primed/painted/clear coated, etc. No big deal. Never used aluminum brazing rods before. Pretty slick for this sort of thing and simple to do with a torch.

 

[Camfab]

Nice job, I love to see guys working on their own cars and getting creative. Hot Rodding at its best!

 

[dave6666]

First thing I thought was not rice for sure. Looks nice. But I do question air boxes that do not seal from the engine compartment, pulling in hot air. That one looks like it has a few ungasketed spaces around the tubes.

Very nice however like I said. I too appreciate people that build cool stuff for their cars.

 

[BOTTLEFED]

Hey, at $10 per..I'd wod-up a roll of TP and find a way to make a filter out of them!!LOL. Actually, all this is just a bunch of messing around. WAYYY more effort than most would put into it and at the end of the day, I'd probably just buy the PBJ set-up....but what "fun" is that? I'm not entering any car shows and the kids get a kick out of my tinkering and are actually learning alot with all their questions. I fabricated the tubes from some 3" aluminum "turbo" tubing I had, brazed the joints, sanded/primed/painted/clear coated, etc. No big deal. Never used aluminum brazing rods before. Pretty slick for this sort of thing and simple to do with a torch.

Cool!
I love making stuff myself for my car - I seem to have more time on my hands than money anyways

the aluminum brazing trick sounds interesting, I'll have to try it

 

[georgethedog]

Cool!
I love making stuff myself for my car - I seem to have more time on my hands than money anyways

the aluminum brazing trick sounds interesting, I'll have to try it

Nice job. If I tried something like that it would turn out looking like a part from a Yugo, or at best an early 60's one barrel carb air cleaner...

 

[EllowViper]

Obviously not a "production" model...the filters actually press up against the back of the cut-outs which admittedly I cut too large. But for this attempt, lots of things learned. I may try to fabricate one out of aluminum and actually make the intake tubes part of the housing. Lots of options when you think about it.

 

[ViperTony]

Ellow, very cool. I commend you for taking the time to built it. I was thinking about doing one out of aluminum, I think you just inspired me. Where did end up mounting the IAT sensor?

 

[EllowViper]

Funny about the IAT. I thought it was simply tied-up under the cross member so I had put a fitting on the left hand side of the airbox since I had more room by the filter. When I got into the wiring loom, it was wrapped within the harness so I didn't have as much to work with as originally planned. Instead of putting a new fitting in the airbox, I simply put a fitting in the yellow tube below the Idle Air Controller grommet. Not what I had intended and in retrospect, I could have put it on the right hand side of the airbox afterall. Live and learn.

 

[Vic]

Very crafty. I hate you.

 

[RobZilla]

Thats just sweet !!!!


I want one...

 

[Canyon707]

Looks to me that it can still pull hot air off the motor. I had an Archer racing intake and K&N Filters and it laid in the bottom of the air filter box with no top covering it. It really looked great but, heated air was aboundant under the hood. The more I looked at this the more I realized that this was not the best for performance even though I was told it increased HP. ( heard that before) After I changed my TB to the new Xmetal TB ( Gary this is a work of art, perfect install instructions). I again realized that the outlet on the archer unit had just two tubes, one to each side of the stock TB. Since the new TB had just one opening I realized that this was no longer the way to go. I invested in a K&N unit which had a full opening to the TB and also let me put the top of the air box back on the car. Also both hoses going into the filter I blocked them off and used seperate filters for each one and mounted them to the frame. Long story short Colder air, Quicker Rev's, Have yet to dyno it but hopefully I will see the increase when I get it done. Any thoughts ???

 

[DAMN YANKEE]

Very Nice! Get 'R Done....

Drill a hole between that just barely allows the IAT sensor...hold it in by using an undersized O ring from the front.

Did you also allow for air to enter infront of the radiator?

 

[EllowViper]

DY, My first design "attempted" to direct the air in front of the radiator into the airbox by removing the baffle as your install shows. I did a crappy job figuring the angles, etc and it ended up being wrong. I just cut that section off and repaired the rough edges. I just ordered some 6061 aluminum plate (1/16 in) so I think I'll take another crack at a new design that encloses the top and matches up to the NACA duct snugly. Probably a removable plate on the top so I can get at the filters when needed. More to follow in the coming weeks.