I was thinking about dumping my voolant CAI for the FTRA set-up, since I now know these cars are "bottom breathers".

Just wondering how difficult the installation is for the FTRA. I have the instructions, so I know the basic breakdown. Just wondering what issues came up during installation, if any.

Pretty much wondering if this is a job I can do myself or with the assistance of a friend. Or, if I should just look into having it installed for me.

This is a DD and my only car, so downtime would be something I want to avoid. I would hopefully be able to do it over the weekend, but if there are any major issues that arise, I would like to be prepared.

Any thoughts/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

I did mine years ago, by myself in just an hour or two (can't remember exactly). Installation is both easy and fast. Just make sure you get a lid and a k&n (or other high flow filter) to go with it.

 

Only took me a couple hours installing it myself, had previously done the FRA mod so didn't need to cut much on the lower box. No issues, some of the parts had sharp edges - but no cuts even without gloves. Don't know if it'll be different with the Volant already installed but you should be able to do it yourself just fine, or invite a friend to help anyway. Car ran a little hotter in 95 degree temp sitting at lights (AC off/T-tops removed) since it blocks part of the radiator and I'm in Florida, but never overheated. Before resetting my fans I had an SLP fan switch and just turned them on high if it climbed towards 210 on the stock gauge.

 

^^^I'm in FL also. The overheating was one of my concerns. That and the terential downpours we seem to get on an everyday basis...

Voolant will come off, obviously, and I'll have to get my stock intake set-up outta hiding and get it back in there.

I guess I'm just worried about something going wrong with the install and being stuck with no car. I guess besides the cutting, everything else is pretty straight forward.

Anyone else with an opinion on this?

 

Should've seen you're in south Florida, sorry. Water intrusion hasn't been a problem for me and installed it years ago - you can always remove the front seal and carry the block off plate under the seat just in case, but I've never bothered and been caught in many frog stranglers.

 

Good to know.

What did everyone use to do their "cutting"? What would be easiest? Also, any pointers on steps that may be troublesome, if any?

Thanks again everyone...

 

ive had mine for about 6 or 7 months. live in TN so i dont see ALOT of rain but i have been through some pretty bad storms. and no water being "sucked" up lol, personally i think its damn near impossible to get water up there other than spraying a direct hose up into the CAI...

it took me around 2-3 hours by myself (having a friend would really help you) my problem was the radiator support you have to unbolt and pull away from the car and slide the sheet metal in was a PITA! once you get it in and pulled all the way down the rest was cake. just bolt it on.

and dont hit any curbs lol.

 

oh and definitely get one... i love mine and my car responds quicker and is quicker top end. also no overheating or extra heat and its been 90+ degrees around here

 

I've got a home made ram air kit that me an another member will be installing tonight.

Do not forget to seal your lower air box and lid too!

 

What did you do to seal your lower air box and lid?

 

The thing that will take the most time is cutting the lower air box and air defector. It probably took me an hour or so to cut out the pieces and make it look nice. All I had was a hacksaw blade and snippers though.

Everything is easy.

 

I already cut the lower air box last night. Jigsaw and about 5 min if that...

Anyone run into issue with the A/C condensor or radiator?

 

Just installed mine last nite.. What a PITA!!!! You said it brother condensor and radiator was sort of the problem. One piece of advice that will help save your condensor fins is use cardboard when putting the ram air in. Put the cardboard in front of the condensor. Our hang up was the ram air was hitting the fron lip of the hood latch area. nothing a hammer and flat head did not fix. But it was a PITA to get the lower air box to line back up.

I sealed my lid with weather stripping foam tape. the lower air box is sealed to the radiaot support, the lid itself is sealed, now all i need to do is seal the opening under the lower air box

 

Reading through their instructions make it seem like those steps may be a PITA. I guess they are, lol. I ordered mine yesterday and have been doing a few prep steps. Since my stock air box isn't currently being used on my car, I did the cutting steps. Also pulled the plastic deflector thing out (also kind of a PITA) and cut that too. However, when putting it back in, I can't seem to get the "supports" on the lower legs to go over those pins. Anyone have a good way of getting it to sit on the pins? I didn't try going under the car and pulling it down yet, which may be the way to go.

 

Yeah, it's pretty easy to get those clips to line back up from under the car.

I actually just started installing mine yesterday. I have about an hour and a half into it so far, I plan on finishing it up this morning.

It's not too hard, but they're not lying when they say it helps to have a helper! When removing and then reinstalling the lower airbox piece, I was under the car, then back up, then back down, then back up trying to work it out. I found I had to work it a little bit from underneath, then pull it a little from up top. At one point it was hanging up somewhere I couldn't see, and it was driving me crazy. Turns out the pass side of it had a bend that was hanging up on the radiator support.

To cut the plastic, I used a small hacksaw and a utility knife with a brand new blade. The lower airbox cut like butter with just the utility knife, the upper box I needed to use the hacksaw also, the plastic is thicker.

I haven't put th ram air into place yet, I started to, then realized I didn't cut the lower airbox enough, so I had to repeat that whole procedure. It came out/went back in much easier the 2nd time though.

Just from the test fit though, I can tell the ram air is going to be a tight fit, and I'm going to doing alot of crawling in/out from under the car today.

I figure it should take no more than an hour, so all in all I'll have 2.5, 3 hours MAX in the install. That's not too bad, considering I work relatively slow, and had to repeat a step.

I wouldn't hesitate to do this myself if I were you, just start it on a sat in the off chance you don't finish for whatever reason.

 

^^^Yeah, that's my plan. Start on Friday after work, or Saturday morning.

Let me know how it turns out, and if there are any issues you ran into and how you overcame them. Thanks...

 

Yes make sure you have a helper. You have no idea how many times my buddy was undoing those 3 bolts that hold onto the front bumper... Man it is a PITA....


Good luck trying to line up the 4 holes for the lower air box. Like i said we took a flat head and a hammer to the radiator support to make it work!

 

Yeah, I think it even mentions in the instruction that due to production tolerances you may need to elongate some of the bolt holes to get everything to line back up.

Yeah, I'll post an update with any hints I can think of later on today. I think everyone else here has it pretty much covered though, you just need to be careful and patient.

 

I finished the install a little while ago. Not bad, I didn't really run into any issues with the rest of it.

I used a piece of cardboard over the A/C condenser, which was a big help, the FTRA slides much easer over that. I had to work it from the top and bottom, so I was up and down a lot, but it wasn't bad.

One thing I found was that it was easier to slide the lower piece of the FTRA under the air dam, so it's sandwiched between the metal and the plastic air dam. It was easier to line the holes up that way. I didn't have to undo all the airdam bolts either, I did the middle 3, and then one more on the drivers side and I was able to pull it away so the FTRA dropped right in behind it. I had tried it the other way first, but I was having a hard time getting the holes to line up. Once I switch the positioning of it to behind the airdam, they slipped right in.

When you put the bolts back in, don't tighten them down yet, leave them a little loose in case you need to shift anything around.

As far as the two nuts and bolts with big washers that go inside the airbox and through the factory air deflector, those were easy too. It says you can put them in place and tape them, but what I did was take a piece of my cardboard and fold it up a few times. I stuck it in the airbox behind the bolts, and the cardboard acted like a sping and kept a little pressure on them so I was able to get the nuts on w/out the bolts falling back through.

One thing I forgot was to buy some foam seal. I bought my kit used, so all it came with was the piece of rubber that goes in the stock airbox opening. So right now I have everything together, but nothing is sealed except the original intake. I'm probably goiing to hit home depot tomorrow and pick some up, so I can seal it the right way.

All in all it was a pretty easy project, it was actually much easier than I had expected.

Just take your time, and have a little patience. It really does help to have a buddy with you, but by all means you can do it by yourself....you just get a little workout from climbing out from under the car so much.

 

Yes do not forget to seal under your lower air box, i put weather stripping on top opening of the ram air then put the lower air box on top of that and fill where necessary to get it sealed. Also do not forget to seal your lid too!

I doubt you have any troubles re-aligning the 4 bolts on the lower air box that sits on top of the radiator support. B/C you have a FTRA it is thin coming up to the top, mine being home made was thicker. and what a PITA to ther the lower air box lined up with the 4 bolt holes