I did, without taking the time to fab up a custom box to cram up the engine bay more than it already is. Or leave duct or hoses stranded around looking ghetto.
Now most of you know about unbolting the plate that goes behind the passenger side headlight. While that helps, you still have only a small passage for a very small amount of fresh air to get through. Well, I decided to take it a step further and cut a larger open area, upon a few other measures I will describe in the following article later. This mod will also REALLY come in handy at the track when you take out that passenger side headlight for a straight shot of fresh air to the filter. For those who havent taken the plate off, I will show you the process for that as well (extremely easy).
With my logger in hand, I decided to see how much of a difference this whole process made. I logged temps with the plate on, the plate off, and after the very simple induction mod Im about to show you. All at a stop and go traffic situation, and at cruising speed, both over a period of about 5-10 minutes with the car at full operating temp. It may seem small, but you will be suprised at the difference it makes in your cars performance. Keep in mind the temps vary at the times and days I performed the logs, so the induction-to-ambient temps will vary slightly. Needless to say, the difference was quite obvious.
Affecting performance mods to the test car were an open K&N filter and 3" aluminum intake on the stock 1G MAS in the stock location.
Tools needed:
- 10mm socket w/drive
- 10mm open end wrench
- Phillips screw driver
- Flat head screwdriver
- Dremel or similar rotary tool*
- Dremel reinforced cutoff disks or similar cutting disk *
- Dremel grinding bit or heavy duty sanding bit (or similar attachment)*
* - Only needed if your doing the cut mod
Removing the mystery plate (I call it that because I, nor anyone I've asked, knows why its there):
- Take your phillips screw driver and remove your passenger side corner lens
- Take your 10mm socket and remove the 4 bolts holding your headlight in. Unplug the lights and remove the passenger side headlight completely from the car.
- The plate is exactly behind where the headlight sits (MUCH easier to remove with the headlight out). I believe there are 3 bolts holding that plate on. Remove them and use the flathead screwdriver to pop the plate off if needed.
The basic plate pop-off is done. If your unsatisfied with the still less than necessary area for cool air to creep in, proceed to the next step.
Creating more open area:
- At this point you have decided your not afraid to cut into the frame of your car. Dont worry, the surface you are removing will have little or no difference on the stability of the frame. Look at the filters location, the area itself, and evaluate exactly how much area you want to cut out.
- Take your dremel and slowly cut the area you wish cut. Make nice clean cuts and be careful not to scratch the surrounding paint to make the area look stock or untouched.
- After you are done cutting, take the sanding/grinding bit and go over the cut areas. Grind or sand down the rough areas to make it look nice and to prevent yourself from getting cut in the future if you need to work in that area again.
- Look under the hood near the front. You will see a strip of rubber on each side right above where the headlight sits when the hood is shut. Take the strip on the passenger side out. Believe it or not, this will allow a flow of air to creep under that section. You can opt to take the other rubber seals out as well if desired (4 total), its up to you. I tend to think taking the three front one's out will allow some air in enough to cool down the engine bay quite a bit. However, I only took the one I specified out so far especially for this test.
Results:
Plate on (stock), ambient outside temp at 82F:
- Stop/Go - Between 112F-120F
- 40-45mph cruise - Between 98F-102F
Plate off, ambient outside temp about 80F:
- Stop/Go - Between 98F-116F
- 35-40mph cruise - Between 92F-98F
Plate off, ambient outside temp at 65F:
- Stop/Go - Between 82F-88F
- 35-40mph cruise - Between 74F-80F
After cut mod, ambient outside temp at 76F:
- Stop/Go - Between 82F-90F
- 40mph cruise - Between 78F-83F
After cut mod, ambient outside temp at 56F:
-Stop/Go - Between 68F-75F
- 60mph cruise - Between 54F-60F
As you can see with the cut mod, my temps were damn near close to ambient. With the cool 56F, I actually dipped below ambient 2F at a 60mph so obviously a nice shot of cool air is getting into there. If you have any questions about this mod or my testing, please send me a PM and Ill help out any way I can.
I will post pics soon of the mod on my car, maybe even a few logger shots while on the road so you can get some first hand shots of the temps.
Here are the pics I promised:
A shot of the plate you take out:
Here is the rubber piece off the hood you take out:
Here is where that rubber piece is located:
The area cut:
Like I said, your cut doesnt have to be as extreme as mine. I plan on getting something to go around the cut area to make it look a little cleaner as well.
Roast Beef brought up a good question. What about the possibility of water entering?
I have definitly thought about that possibility and had a rainy day to work with already. I had to drive around for a good hour in some heavy rain, also on the freeway. I got home to my garage and popped the hood, there was very little evidence of water anywhere near the filter. It was a little wet at the hood/headlight point where the air initially meets, but no water near the filter. Besides, it would take a full submerge of the filter in water for a few seconds to suck up and water.
Around 2:30am, about 27F outside, 65mph roll:
Forgive the shitty pic (remember, Im trying to drive on the freeway and snap a pic at the same time):
Goes to show it helps to cut that area around behind the pass. side headlight.
Now most of you know about unbolting the plate that goes behind the passenger side headlight. While that helps, you still have only a small passage for a very small amount of fresh air to get through. Well, I decided to take it a step further and cut a larger open area, upon a few other measures I will describe in the following article later. This mod will also REALLY come in handy at the track when you take out that passenger side headlight for a straight shot of fresh air to the filter. For those who havent taken the plate off, I will show you the process for that as well (extremely easy).
With my logger in hand, I decided to see how much of a difference this whole process made. I logged temps with the plate on, the plate off, and after the very simple induction mod Im about to show you. All at a stop and go traffic situation, and at cruising speed, both over a period of about 5-10 minutes with the car at full operating temp. It may seem small, but you will be suprised at the difference it makes in your cars performance. Keep in mind the temps vary at the times and days I performed the logs, so the induction-to-ambient temps will vary slightly. Needless to say, the difference was quite obvious.
Affecting performance mods to the test car were an open K&N filter and 3" aluminum intake on the stock 1G MAS in the stock location.
Tools needed:
- 10mm socket w/drive
- 10mm open end wrench
- Phillips screw driver
- Flat head screwdriver
- Dremel or similar rotary tool*
- Dremel reinforced cutoff disks or similar cutting disk *
- Dremel grinding bit or heavy duty sanding bit (or similar attachment)*
* - Only needed if your doing the cut mod
Removing the mystery plate (I call it that because I, nor anyone I've asked, knows why its there):
- Take your phillips screw driver and remove your passenger side corner lens
- Take your 10mm socket and remove the 4 bolts holding your headlight in. Unplug the lights and remove the passenger side headlight completely from the car.
- The plate is exactly behind where the headlight sits (MUCH easier to remove with the headlight out). I believe there are 3 bolts holding that plate on. Remove them and use the flathead screwdriver to pop the plate off if needed.
The basic plate pop-off is done. If your unsatisfied with the still less than necessary area for cool air to creep in, proceed to the next step.
Creating more open area:
- At this point you have decided your not afraid to cut into the frame of your car. Dont worry, the surface you are removing will have little or no difference on the stability of the frame. Look at the filters location, the area itself, and evaluate exactly how much area you want to cut out.
- Take your dremel and slowly cut the area you wish cut. Make nice clean cuts and be careful not to scratch the surrounding paint to make the area look stock or untouched.
- After you are done cutting, take the sanding/grinding bit and go over the cut areas. Grind or sand down the rough areas to make it look nice and to prevent yourself from getting cut in the future if you need to work in that area again.
- Look under the hood near the front. You will see a strip of rubber on each side right above where the headlight sits when the hood is shut. Take the strip on the passenger side out. Believe it or not, this will allow a flow of air to creep under that section. You can opt to take the other rubber seals out as well if desired (4 total), its up to you. I tend to think taking the three front one's out will allow some air in enough to cool down the engine bay quite a bit. However, I only took the one I specified out so far especially for this test.
Results:
Plate on (stock), ambient outside temp at 82F:
- Stop/Go - Between 112F-120F
- 40-45mph cruise - Between 98F-102F
Plate off, ambient outside temp about 80F:
- Stop/Go - Between 98F-116F
- 35-40mph cruise - Between 92F-98F
Plate off, ambient outside temp at 65F:
- Stop/Go - Between 82F-88F
- 35-40mph cruise - Between 74F-80F
After cut mod, ambient outside temp at 76F:
- Stop/Go - Between 82F-90F
- 40mph cruise - Between 78F-83F
After cut mod, ambient outside temp at 56F:
-Stop/Go - Between 68F-75F
- 60mph cruise - Between 54F-60F
As you can see with the cut mod, my temps were damn near close to ambient. With the cool 56F, I actually dipped below ambient 2F at a 60mph so obviously a nice shot of cool air is getting into there. If you have any questions about this mod or my testing, please send me a PM and Ill help out any way I can.
I will post pics soon of the mod on my car, maybe even a few logger shots while on the road so you can get some first hand shots of the temps.
Here are the pics I promised:
A shot of the plate you take out:
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Here is the rubber piece off the hood you take out:
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Here is where that rubber piece is located:
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The area cut:
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Like I said, your cut doesnt have to be as extreme as mine. I plan on getting something to go around the cut area to make it look a little cleaner as well.
Roast Beef brought up a good question. What about the possibility of water entering?
I have definitly thought about that possibility and had a rainy day to work with already. I had to drive around for a good hour in some heavy rain, also on the freeway. I got home to my garage and popped the hood, there was very little evidence of water anywhere near the filter. It was a little wet at the hood/headlight point where the air initially meets, but no water near the filter. Besides, it would take a full submerge of the filter in water for a few seconds to suck up and water.
Around 2:30am, about 27F outside, 65mph roll:
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Forgive the shitty pic (remember, Im trying to drive on the freeway and snap a pic at the same time):
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Goes to show it helps to cut that area around behind the pass. side headlight.
