reamo04

Alright, being a high-school student, i am about the most bang-for-the-buck. Next thing I need is a CAI. Instead of spending the 150+ for a aftermarket kit, would it be okay to just build my own? I know it wont look the same, but it should perform the same.

I was thinking just using 3" pvc painted flat black, and black-rubber connectors and a 3" k&n filter. Does this sound alright?

oneslowz28

it can work but will look like *** imo. If your looking to go cheap just buy a 20 buck one off of ebay and replace the crappy filter with a k&n. with the right rubber adapter from home depot or lowes you can fit a conical one on your stock intake tubing. and just remove the stock air box and place the filter there.

SS RRR

if you paint it using some sort of textured black paint i don't think it'd look that bad.

RestoRoc89

It's really not worth the effort to try and make your own. Some of those intakes are actually very precisely engineered to get a specific air flow. So is the stock air box and ducting. If you just slap some tubing together, you're apt to have a worse air intake than you have now. Moreover, I think it's hilarious when people put in a 'cold air intake' that's ducted right down to the bumper, drive through a puddle and then wonder why their motor mysteriously quit on them. There are probably many much more effective mods you could do before you actually need to consider a new air intake . If you do want to install one, I would suggest buying a well-designed kit that also includes some shielding for the filter so it won't pick up water. Just my opinion, but $200+ for MAYBE a few extra horsepower (that likely won't even be apparent during street use) is very expensive and a do-it-yourself intake is not even worth the bother.

ev95355

I did the K&N kit however I'm sure I bought $250 worth of 30 dollars of material. I have a cold air and a comp 305 cam with no tune, stock otherwise and i run 13.2 @106 on 255 street tires. If ur not a hack build it, it's an easy piece.

Red96Lt1

I think you should buy a K&N kit. I did notice gains from mine.

reamo04

I know my friend has a buick grand-national t-type, and the intake on that is homemade and works fine. I think i'll just look for a used one tho.

Severous01

that'll work but it looks really ghetto...specially when the thing moves and scratches the paint off...and the filter is what's costing you the majority of the money. JC whitney has pipes for sale in stainless or galvanized. if you get the stainless you can polish it to a beutiful luster almost chrome type finish and that would look really good...you could also weld bracketry to it and fit it properly.

spend another 50 bucks and buy used. they're on the forum all the time and i bought my K&N for 75 and shipping with a new filter. i saw the tube work for a K&N go on ebay for 25 bucks...and another 45 for a filter...not too much.

2000GTP

Check out the classifieds section, there are fellow board members selling their name brand intakes all the time for under a hundred bucks.

Bud M

You could make it even cheaper. Use an old sock stretched over the end of the pipe instead of a fancy store bought filter.

SS RRR

LMAO... have you ever seen the SLP LT1 CAI? It looks like two ~ 2 1/2" black PCV pipes. Yeah it's an engineering marvel.
Velocity is not a concern in a CAI. A CAI's purpose is to make clean, readily available air w/ as little restriction as possible.

Severous01

dude...the slp unit flows more than any other unit. it is 2 2.5" pipes but they are bent so that they actually fit in the stock location. it's not just 2 pipes bent into a 90 degree angle and welded itno a y pipe...there is engineering going on there...and a lot of pipe bending. i'd rather have the slp on my car than any other unit other than the fact taht i'd have to either cut my MAF or cut down the elbow.

oh, and they are made of steel...not pvc...powdered steel.

also...tell me velocity isnt a factor in incoming air and i;ll tell you you're nuts. anyone knows that a raised runner head will produce more potential than a stock head...all due to what...velocity of incoming air. the faster and easier air gets from outside the engine to the combustion chamber the more power the engine will make.

SS RRR

Proof please...
Like I said... velocity IS NOT a factor until air begins at the intake runner.
Exactly right.. which is why I stated a CAI makes clean air more readily available. Velocity does not become a factor until an air charge is travelling through the intake runners into the cylinder heads where VE is measured.

1995greenTA

Id just pick up a nice one from lingenfelter. Thats what i did when i was a highschool student a few years ago. I cut out the plastic underneath the filter to get some some "real" cold air in the there, but the car was never drove in the rain. The kid that i sold it to drives it every day, rain, snow, or shine, with the filter still exposed. The car still runs surpsingly. As for whoever stated that a cold air intake is a waste of money? I dont see to many people agreeing with you on that one. If its a waste, then whats worth spending money on? a tornada, electric supercharger, or how about the new "show purge" kit from jegs?

MyShibbyZ28

If anyone cares, someone measure how much their K&N flows and it was around 950 cfm or so. I did some math with the dimensions on my SLP unit and found it flows up to 1100-1200 cfm. Personally, those are so close and already over the top of what is needed. It comes down to the filter's restriction, and in which case does not matter since all units use K&N, or an equal to it.