No, its not the dryer tubing one, sorry.
COST:
aluminium:$20
Rivet Gun+Rivets:$10
18" Brake sheet metal bender: $40.
Patience....
Have yet to make a good seal for it...Ill work on it.

 

Very cool! Congrats!

 

how much u selling it for

 

How much do you think people would pay? There's also not a single bolt holding it in...its just really tight up against the ac and radiator shroud

 

How much did you have to cut the aluminum? Did you get it from Home depot or anything?

 

I was just thinking about making one of these again =P

Are you going to make a tray where the filter sits so you can bolt it in that way?
I know its in there tight but I probably would just in case.

 

Yeah the aluminum is basically 2 squares bent at 20 and 10 degrees, and the 2 boot looking things that they are riveted to, yes home depot I think it was 24x36 inches for $20 and everything was cut from that.and yes I'm going to make a tray so I can 1. Bolt it down, and 2. To get a good seal. I cut it with a shitty jigsaw and it looked..mediocre

 

Call it mediocre if you want... I'll stand by the fact that a item just as efficient as a $200 item for a tenth of the cost is well worth it.

Sure, T-304 Stainless is nice, (I'll say I'm a big fan. I'm not a chrome person. I find stainless far superior and nicer looking as well.) but the weight difference is always helpful as well. Sure, it won't be extravagantly lighter, but it'll be lighter none the less. Once you perfect the seal, it'll be great.

Easy enough for the novice to make, easy enough for a weight freak to accept.

I will say, once you get it perfect to do some dyno testing with it. Or, if you have a friend with one, test it out now and later as you enhance it.

I think I may just run to Lowe's tomorrow to try it out.

Now, I'll ask just as to other ways to design it... Would there be any issues with the rivets disrupting the flow of the air? I'm sure if it is, it's miniscule.

Perhaps epoxy will work as well?

 

I doubt theres any disruption from rivets...of course theres some disruption...but I don't know if epoxy will give the same non slip support.i do want to try to make one with a wider mouth...like as big as the entire shroud, with it shrinking towards the lid..that would be a **** ton of air lol. This ones only like 12 inches all the way through.
Also I used a brake i got from harbor freight, its only 18 inches wide..which is why it was $40

 

I think if you were to do that, you just mayyyy have an overheating issue.

 

Yeah I thought about that and I'm trying to think of anything else besides a 160° tstat that would assist in cooling

 

Having experience with the SLP CAI,I'm no fan of stainless
for cold air ducting. Not when it's up against the radiator.
Aluminum will reflect heat better and have less thermal
mass.

If I were working from scratch I'd skip metal entirely,
get some 1/8" ABS sheet and "L" extrusions and some
Weldon #16 cement and go to town. You can also
thermo-form it with a heat gun if need be.

For cooling you don't want the thermostat, it does
nothing when you need it most. You want to clean
the radiator and condenser, upgrade to a LT1 or
aftermarket rad (LT1 rad, new, I got off eBay for
less than thermostat retail) and run the fans more
aggressively.

 

I did mine in ABS the first time, it broke after like a month.

I won't be using that material again, but good idea though.



When you meant seal, are you going to block off the front of the airbox too?

 

Isn't a LT1 radiator smaller than a LS1 radiator?

 

well i was thinking about that, but of course i already have a block off plate for the rain, so if i seal the FRONT of the box will it just be choking the air out completely?
i just wanted to seal it at the bottom and around the shroud with like...duct tape.

 

No, same height & width, same mounting, about twice as
thick a core which equals fin surface area. Only hassle is
plugging a couple of unused coolant nipples.

There are, I've heard, two versions of LT1 rad, one being
no different in thickness than the LS1. But the one I got
has the chubby core. Tell the parts selector it's for one
of the earlier LT1 years and you should be fine.

 

^ Good to know, Thx.

 

You might want to look up the thermal properties of aluminum and stainless.

Either way it shouldn't matter what material it's made of as long as the fans are on or you are moving.

 

I don't feel a need to look them up. Lay a sheet of each in
the Florida sun for a while and see which one you want to
hold in your hand.

 

JohnS- Nice job man, looks pretty good!

I've been on the fence between ordering the Chris1313 kit and just designing and building one myself. This maybe the motivation I needed to get off my *** and get one built....after I'm done remodeling my master bathroom of course

Nice build man, looks solid!