Ram-Style, Cold Air Box

[NewTurboTuner]

I've got a DNP Tubular Exhaust Mani installed on my car. Honestly I think the quality is fine, and the performance is good too... BUT... the damn thing gets UNGodly HOT! Its a creation of Satan this thing is! It makes everything under my hood hot! I've never seen under hood temps as bad as what I have with this thing.

Today It was about 77 degrees outside. I was cruising around with air intake temps at about 82'. I made one 3rd gear pull and my Log showed AIT steadily climb from 82' to 103' at the end of that one pull! Thats Horrible!

Seeing as how I have a race this coming weekend... I decided to do something about it ...build the most functional/efficient Cold Air Box I possibly could.

$20 for a 24"x36" sheet of Aluminum from Lowe's, and 5hrs later this is what I came up with.

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This is only for the Drag Strip, but I figured if Im going to do something like remove the headlight for airflow I might as well go the extra mile. Its made in 3 sections, the Main Box, Headlight Scoop, & Box Lid. I used cardboard to find the right shape for each piece. Each section is made from 1 solid piece of sheet metal. After cutting the pieces, I bent them to shape, and then I fasten the sides together with rivets. I use screws to attach the Scoop to the Main Box, and the lid simply fits onto the top (like a shoebox lid). I'll might add a couple screws into the Lid to keep it tight on the Box, but I dont think it would come loose without them. When the hood is shut it can't come off.

Anyways thats my Track Fix for hot under hood temps.
I think I'll make a similar cold air box for the street using the side mount intercooler hole.


EDIT: I'll get some better pictures in the sunlight tomorrow

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Very Nice. What the gauge thickness of the alloy, metal, aluminum sheet????

 

[dsmcurse]

that thing is sick man! me and my best friend actually had a idea of something very simalar to this. this is exactly what i was picturing in my head even befor i saw this post. looks awsome man. i run 97 head lights in my 95 so i have a extra head light to do this. wanna ram air my hx40. DAMN! yours looks great!

 

[Boostdriven]

That's bad ass man, looks very nice.

 

[dsmcurse]

did you ever kick around the idea of using a spare head light and gutting it and using the frame work of a spare head light to make a ram? ive seen the nice ass supras on the cover of the magazines and they have one headlight thats been special modded to ram air the turbo but the light is still functional. id really like to do somethin like that. bit i dont see how im gonna perfect holesaw the headlight cover and have a ram air and still have half a light thats gonna be weather tight.

im more on the idea of having a set up like this. its a slap it in on race day kinda ram air to kick some ass. thats awsome man

 

[Imback]

The headlight ram has been done a few times and each has there own style to it. This is gasstrokers ram which i might add came out really nice. I'll probably make one for my self this spring.

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[AngelOfPassion]

I've got a DNP Tubular Exhaust Mani installed on my car. Honestly I think the quality is fine, and the performance is good too... BUT... the damn thing gets UNGodly HOT! Its a creation of Satan this thing is!

This made me laugh pretty hard . Nice job on the box though. It's pretty sweet.

 

[NewTurboTuner]

Thanks guys

I used a 24"x36" sheet of Aluminum (.025 thickness I think. I'll have to check the sticker). Its sturdy enough to be rigid once its shaped, and pliable enough to bend with your hands. I cut it with metal snips & bent it my hands over the edge of a rack (any sharp/clean edge like on a counter top could be used).


Before yesterday I had the idea to make a intake using a spare headlight. The idea is to only cut out the large light in the headlight, so that it will have a blinker, and small headlight to remain street legal. I may work on this at a later date. I wouldnt want to use a hole saw on it. I'd use a dremel to precisely cut out a section of the light with a cutting wheel.


I've seen a pic of gasstroker's intake before. Its nice but It appears that setup doesnt use a filter. Even at the track I wouldnt want to run my car without a filter (got too many bugs in my area).

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

If you want to help keep them temps lower then put dei gold refletive tape on the out side to keep it from soaking the aluminum as that will still get warm

 

[Gamble97]

I don't see a maf, so I'm assuming you are on speed density. So my opinion is get a better FMIC and possibly some heat reflective tape wouldn't hurt either. The gold stuff.

 

[NewTurboTuner]

Put Gold reflective tape on the outside of what?

I've considered wrapping the manifold in heat wrap, but I havent had alot of success with the stuff in the past. Doesnt seem to get the heat contained very well.

My IC should be fine. Its a Race FMIC thats 3.5" thick.

That dang Exh Mani radiates so much heat is makes everything under the hood warm. After my 1st full pass at the track I made the mistake of leaving my hood closed while I watched some races. I came back 30mins later and the heat from the Exh Mani had warmed everything including the IC. It took another 30mins to cool everything off and even then things werent totally down to ambient temps.

Im going to have FFWD Connection do a Triple Coat job on the DNP Manifold this winter. If that doesnt make a serious difference in temps ...im getting rid of it. Temps in my area are 75-80's right now. Theres no way I can have this thing in my engine bay next summer when it gets to be 100-deg outside

 

[Gamble97]

Tape on the intake pipe so it doesn't catch the heat off the manifold.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

Put Gold reflective tape on the outside of what?

I've considered wrapping the manifold in heat wrap, but I havent had alot of success with the stuff in the past. Doesnt seem to get the heat contained very well.

My IC should be fine. Its a Race FMIC thats 3.5" thick.

That dang Exh Mani radiates so much heat is makes everything under the hood warm. After my 1st full pass at the track I made the mistake of leaving my hood closed while I watched some races. I came back 30mins later and the heat from the Exh Mani had warmed everything including the IC. It took another 30mins to cool everything off and even then things werent totally down to ambient temps.

Im going to have FFWD Connection do a Triple Coat job on the DNP Manifold this winter. If that doesnt make a serious difference in temps ...im getting rid of it. Temps in my area are 75-80's right now. Theres no way I can have this thing in my engine bay next summer when it gets to be 100-deg outside

Gold tape on the outer facing part of the box you just made! That way the heat will be pushed back in the bay and not into the filter box you spent time making.

 

[lowell]

Nice work on the duct! I like the fact that it keeps the air filter, as I've seen too many dinged up compressor wheels.

Header wrap the manifold, and use a turbine blanket if you don't already have one. That cut my engine bay heat down considerably. Good idea to wrap the DP as well past the steering rack.

 

[NeMiZiS]

Looks good.

 

[NewTurboTuner]

Thx Fellas

Updated my original post with better Hi-Rex Pic's

I guess I'll give header wrap another chance. I Havent tried it on this car yet, but I didnt have good success with in on my last one. I'll see if I can get ahold of some higher quality wrap this time around. And a Turbine Blanket too.

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Here's a sneak peak at another one of my keep cool sheet metal mods.

Intercooler Shroud.

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notice all the bug guts ...this is why a "Filtered" Cold Air Box Set-up was a MUST!

 

[Killa_dsm]

I'm definitely digging your headlight box you made. I'm bet that will keep your IAT down quite a bit compared to not having it.

 

[black92_tsi_awd]

Looks good. Made a similiar setup on my 1G.

 

[GSTurbo1]

Put Gold reflective tape on the outside of what?

I've considered wrapping the manifold in heat wrap, but I havent had alot of success with the stuff in the past. Doesnt seem to get the heat contained very well.

My IC should be fine. Its a Race FMIC thats 3.5" thick.

That dang Exh Mani radiates so much heat is makes everything under the hood warm. After my 1st full pass at the track I made the mistake of leaving my hood closed while I watched some races. I came back 30mins later and the heat from the Exh Mani had warmed everything including the IC. It took another 30mins to cool everything off and even then things werent totally down to ambient temps.

Im going to have FFWD Connection do a Triple Coat job on the DNP Manifold this winter. If that doesnt make a serious difference in temps ...im getting rid of it. Temps in my area are 75-80's right now. Theres no way I can have this thing in my engine bay next summer when it gets to be 100-deg outside

sounds like it's not getting that hot in there