Check out what just showed up on my doorstep!



Its a 6" U-Build-It Air intake kit from Airaid intakes! Its made from a roto-molded composite, and has a super smooth inside finish. You cut it for whatever angles you need. Its great for insulating engine bay heat away from the incoming air... My old aluminum tube would burn my hand after long drives!!

That filter has a 6" inlet, and flows nearly 4000 CFM!!

My compressor housing is out getting polished today, so I should be able to mock something up tomorrow!

They have these in 3, 3.5, 4, 5, & 6" tube sizes, with filters and couplers to match!




P.S. --- It would be kinda cool for someone to make the intercooler tubing out of this stuff. All the ends have a "bead roll" so the silicone wont slip off. The only issue I could see is finding a way to mount the BOV, but you could add a small piece of alum tube for that. Has anyone ever done something similar? I'm also wondering if those "plastic welders" you can get at harbor freight could allow you to "weld" the pieces together instead of using couplers...?

 

The only thing with a plastic welder is the weld would never be strong enough to handle any boost. There good for fixing streetbike fairings and stuff like that. I might have to pick me up one of those airaid kits though. It looks pretty nice

 

well I know people use them on PVC and water lines, surely if it can hold a couple PSI of water, it should work for air? I have no idea how much water pressure is in a household system...

and yeah they are super nice quality. unlike the other brand filters that I've had, these are made from urethane, not rubber, and they have an additional synthetic layer to keep the oil from wicking down the intake tube

 

what kind of turbo setup do u have that has boost in the inlet of the turbo?

 

no boost in the intake.

we were theorizing about making an entire cold-side out of this stuff. Wondering if welding it together would be cleaner and more leak free? Or to just stick with couplers...

 

Certainly nothing wrong using that on the intake plumbing.

I would not be using it for any boost plumbing.

 

well maybe not with welding, but I see no problem using the couplers... The tubing is significantly stronger than my aluminum tube...

Im not planning on doing so btw, i would just be neat to see it on a street car. it would be no different than buying aluminum pieces and using couplers to make the cold side...

 

It all depends on the base resin that the tubing is made out of....

I am a plastics/mechanical engineer and deal with this all the time.
Only some resins/plastics can be reheated and bonded without degrading the material itself.
Normally, high pressure (1,000-10,000) is needed to "pack" the plastic to make the bonds strong and hold up to pressures.
Just using a plastic welder to reheat the base material is not going to be strong and you will not get a homogenous bond of the two pieces.

Think of plastic welding as gluing two steel pips together...not very strong...

 

ah gotcha, that makes sense. Well there goes that idea haha.

anyways... im excited to get this thing mocked up. with 4000cfm i dont think I'll ever need a bigger filter! LOL.

the filter actually has a stainless steel threaded insert in the top so you can support if from both sides. I thought that was kinda cool. I might weld a tab near the fender area that it can also bolt to.

 

post a pic of ur setup, i have no room for a filter, im assuming u either dirched the battery or fuse boxes?

 

this was the old setup

fuse boxes were moved. Its extremely easy... You unclip the fuseboxes from the frame and move them out of the way. Then you cut out the "floor" that was underneath the fuses. Then you can just push the fuses toward your foglight, and now you have room! I dont know why everyone needs to extend the harness to do it... ??

 

I'll see if i can make a new thread with a writeup on how to do that.... I'll go out and take some pictures for ya

 

I think its going to be pretty badass, i thought some of the first few post were pretty funny,what was the damage for the kit,keep us posted on what ya do with it

 

tube is about $100 for the 6" version, and the huge filter is about $70, obviosly depending on where u buy it.

You can buy Airaid in pretty much any speed shop or truck/offroad shop, or from summit, jegs, etc

 

Looks nice! Interested in the finished product!

 

Dont underestimate glue! i have seen people that have donded Carbon to carbon (un-fished suface) and the carbon broke before the glue did!

 

Seems like a good idea to me! i have seen carbon fiber used to make intake pipes (post turbo). Very nice as you can change the shape of the pipe.

Be intresting to see this tested. How much dose it weigh compeared to ally pipe?

Chris.

 

Your old filter looks bigger than the new one ?

And whilst plastic might appear strong....try tightening a T-Bolt clamp onto it and placing it in a hot engine bay....I suspect the plastic wont be that great.
T-bolts can even squash and deform aluminium pipe ( as you've already experienced )

 

I was talking about plastic welding intercooler piping. The intake would be fine.

 

Nice setup you have there.