Hot Air Intakes..

[cfg83]

Chris -

I *finally* got around to it. Here is the side view :

Removed "Side" view :


The notation in the above picture will not make sense until you see the installation. Why the circuitous route? It is exploiting a hole in the intake box that was used for a "sound deadener" box thingy.

Top View as seen when looking into engine bay :


Top view into engine bay :


In all three pictures, you can cross-reference the Zip Tie.

Hope this makes sense,

CarloSW2

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[LUVMY02CREW]

Those are some good looking set-ups ya'll have

Couple of quick questions:

tasdrouille - what is your intake connected to? Looks like its attached to something close to your manifold cover maybe???? And that is made out of aluminum dryer vent elbows, correct?

cfg83 - does your intake sit directly on the manifold? Is the end a piece of metal dryer vent also? What exactly is that size reducer? it looks like some type of plumbing thingy????

[cfg83]

LUVMY02CREW -

Originally Posted by LUVMY02CREW

Those are some good looking set-ups ya'll have

Couple of quick questions:

tasdrouille - what is your intake connected to? Looks like its attached to something close to your manifold cover maybe???? And that is made out of aluminum dryer vent elbows, correct?

cfg83 - does your intake sit directly on the manifold? Is the end a piece of metal dryer vent also? What exactly is that size reducer? it looks like some type of plumbing thingy????

The intake dryer vent touches the top of the manifold. All the non-dryer parts are plumbing parts. It is supported in two places :

1 - Using the rectangular piece of metal in the engine picture + a Zip Tie

2 - The white plastic plumbing part "screws" onto it's reciprocal part *inside* the Air Intake. I put rubber washers on the inside and outside to finish the seal.



This setup is probably more robust than it has to be, but there is a reason. At one time I was experimenting with an "active" hot air intake. I installed an inline marine bilge blower fan to "pull" more hot air into the intake. It looked something like this :

INLINE MARINE BILGE BLOWERS 3 INCH


The rectangular metal part was *originally* to support the bilge blower.

It was a failure for a lot of reasons. First, it wasn't really needed. Closing up the engine bay could get you sufficient HAI temps. Second, because it was made of plastic, at super hot temps it was prone to melting!!!! I caught it before it got ruined, but it made it silly to keep on. I kept testing until an interior screw came off and it lost it's balance. I fixed that but didn't bother to reinstall it. I think that it was not designed for the "bumpiness" of a car ride.

CarloSW2

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[LUVMY02CREW]

CarloSW2...thanks for the response and explanation. I'll have to look under my hood to see what options I have.

Chris D...thanks for posting up the pictures. I like seeing your projects-very ingenious...keep up the great work on the taco

[BamZipPow]

I'm sure it's been brought up before...but if it hasn't...

In the advancement of HAI technology...why not use a spare heater core with a spare heater/variable valve that's plumbed into the original heater hose circuit with a "T" connector? That way you could actively control how much consistent heat you git through yer intake at any point instead of relying on the heat build up under the hood...

I guess one could argue that yer pulling the heat buildup out under the hood with the intake as well instead of using the heater core...

[Nels]

I'm joining in late here. I had posted this on the SaturnFans forums, but cfg83 asked me to post it here. I just installed this on my 96 Saturn SL:





The bit closest to the exhaust manifold will soon be replaced by an aluminum tube extension. The PVC at the very end gets a bit squishy after a few miles of driving. I moved the IAT sensor to the new intake tube, and blocked off the original air intake opening in the airbox. This is the quick & dirty version. A better effect could be gained by removing the original airbox and tube to the throttle body, and replacing it with a short ram and cone filter near the manifold. This version only cost me a couple of bucks and a half hour of time though. Too early to post results, but the drivability does not seem to be affected.

[Nels]

One more thing --
The tube is 1-1/2" PVC pipe, which seems pretty small. I used this because the existing (resonator) port on the side of the airbox accepted this size pipe with only minor modification. I stuck the pipe in the lathe and turned down 0.030" off the O.D. to make a snug fit, then extended it inside about 4" and anchored it with a bolt and spacer to the bottom of the box. Very solid. I reasoned that the intake tube size is not a whole lot smaller than the throttle body I.D., and the tube size would only come into play at WOT, which is a rare occurrence.

This did bring to mind a question -- This car has no MAF sensor, so it does not sense air flow directly. How does the ECU interpret a restricted air intake? For instance, if (heaven forbid) I mash the pedal to the floor, the throttle position sensor goes wide open, but the intake tube, being slightly smaller than the TB opening, is not allowing quite as much flow as would normally occur under stock conditions. Does the ECU take into account engine vacuum and other factors to compensate for the reduced air flow? This will never come into play in normal driving on this car, but I was curious about it.

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by Nels

I'm joining in late here. I had posted this on the SaturnFans forums, but cfg83 asked me to post it here. I just installed this on my 96 Saturn SL:





The bit closest to the exhaust manifold will soon be replaced by an aluminum tube extension. The PVC at the very end gets a bit squishy after a few miles of driving. I moved the IAT sensor to the new intake tube, and blocked off the original air intake opening in the airbox. This is the quick & dirty version. A better effect could be gained by removing the original airbox and tube to the throttle body, and replacing it with a short ram and cone filter near the manifold. This version only cost me a couple of bucks and a half hour of time though. Too early to post results, but the drivability does not seem to be affected.

Thats not going to do a whole lot, enclose the exhaust manifold and run the pipe into that, this way the comming through the radiator isn't killing your higher temps..

[Nels]

Originally Posted by Chris D.

Thats not going to do a whole lot, enclose the exhaust manifold and run the pipe into that, this way the comming through the radiator isn't killing your higher temps..

Well it's hot enough to have melted the end of the PVC, and get the pipe uncomfortably warm 4 " from the open end. I am replacing it with an aluminum tube this weekend. I think it is as warm as it needs to be to max out the sensor. I should borrow a scan tool to read the IAT. That would tell me more.

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by Nels

Well it's hot enough to have melted the end of the PVC, and get the pipe uncomfortably warm 4 " from the open end. I am replacing it with an aluminum tube this weekend. I think it is as warm as it needs to be to max out the sensor. I should borrow a scan tool to read the IAT. That would tell me more.

hmmmm lets see the melted piping... bad motor mount?