I got inspired from the pictures of the intake mysql posted, made by Jeff and decided that instead of waiting for somebody to make me one, I'd have the fun and convenience of not having to wait and making it myself from off-the-shelf components from a local auto parts store a few blocks away from my house. I might have overpaid for a few of these items but it still works out to be a decent deal, and what I liked about it most, was that I could walk in and get everything the same day and walk out. The only pith is going to have to make an extra trip to get a piece of scrap aluminum welded on and three holes drilled to hold the maf. I will update with pics and procedures along the way and just wanted to post how easy this was and it might be an optimal setup for those who have the greddy turbo kit and the accessport.

Basically what you need are four t-bolt clamps, 3 x ~3", 1 x ~3.5", which I was quoted 3 bucks / piece for SS at lordco (a local auto superstore, analogous to home depot). A 3" long 3" to 3" silicone coupler, a 3" long 3" to 3.5" silicone coupler, ten bucks each for vibrant, and two 90 degree pre-fabbed elbows, mandrel bent, polished aluminum 3" OD pipe from vibrant, and an 18" long 3.5" OD pipe from vibrant. A hacksaw to cut the aluminum to the needed lengths is also needed. A 40$ K&N universal cone type filter will also be used, with a 3" rubber flange.

part numbers:
Vib 2892 37 bucks canadian: straight pipe
vib 2176 28 bucks canadian: elbows
couplers 10 bucks and 12 bucks
tbolt clamps about 3 bucks each, and K&n filter about 40 bucks
aluminum welding ??

It cost a little more than SS for some reason, but I chose aluminum because it matched my radiator and other pipes and will be easier on my hacksaw but a bit more difficult to weld. it's lighter too and you can insulate the maf tube later if you want. I think magnaflow has a lot of pre-fabbed ss pieces that might be much cheaper

I'll get the part number for air filter and the cut lengths tomorrow or the next day after the welding. I just wanted to post how easy this is for people to do - and fun! I think the total cost will be about 185$ or so, plus or minus 25$ depending on the welding. I wanted to build an ABS one from home depot parts, it would have been MUCH cheaper and easier with no welding needed, but I would have had to go 3" ID tubing. If someone wants to do this, the maf can easily be mounted by cutting a piece of coupler, sliding it down to the middle of the maf tube, solvent welding it with plumbing glue, then scraping it on some smooth concrete until you have a 2" squared flat spot to drill three holes for the maf. More to come later, I hope this helps some people out as it seemed to make mysql's car run much much better!

 

Very sweet!!!

If I knew it was that easy I would have done the same thing. lol

Keep us updated with pics.

 

I wasn't going to do it until you told me how easy it was to pull the bumper off, lol! I will get a ton more pics tomorrow. This was WAY too easy, except I can't weld.

 

Thats funny.

I am taking my front bumper off tomorrow to replace all my silicone couplers.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

 

Your list of products is getting pretty long

 

Yeah, sorry, i forgot to mention that, had I lived in the USA and didn't have to worry about customs, I would have got all my parts from Charles!!! That would have saved me a two block drive to the store, lol

 

Vibrant.. Good stuff.

 

Or, as an alternative, you could go to AutoZone, and pick up a bunch of their pieces of "Sectional" intake components, along with the MAF adapter. (Yep they have that too) and just using a screwdriver peice it together. it will be nice, clean and very very shiny, and for probably less

 

if you're talking about the spectre modular intake stuff, that's useless. It was worse than the greddy maf housing and i couldn't even accelerate.

 

Really? I use the maf adapter section on my boost side, to hold the maf. But whatever. It was just a suggestion.

 

you're using the int-x. Your car wouldn't care. I ran with them on my car with the int-x without issue too.

But when you start using your MAF, it matters, a lot.

The maf housing is 2 5/8" wide btw, smaller than stock.

 

I need to go buy a step-drill bit that can drill a hole in this aluminum that is 1.25" diameter then should be done the CAI. Be back with pics.

 

very interested in seeing some more pictures....so the greddy maf housing stinks?

 

Yeah, it stinks bad. With the Cobb AccessPORT, the MAF sensor readings are very important and we need to insure for optimal performance that the readings are precise. To help with this, I think we need to minimize turbulence around the sensor. You can see by looking at the greddy maf housing, there are a lot of things there that are going to hinder laminar flow. within just a few inches of the sensor the 3.5" pipe couples to a 3" pipe, and if you look at it, it's not even a nice couple, it has a tube sticking out and a big rim on the inside. On the other side of the MAF sensor, within an inch, there is another taper to less than 3". There is also no screen.

If you look at the stock intake, the maf housing tube is much longer, with TWO screens before the maf, and a nice perfect 3.5" diameter long length before and after the sensor. I don't know why greddy didn't just stick to this stock intake and make some kind of adjustment so that this could have been used.

With this new CAI, like some others here are running, there will be 6" length of 3.5" diameter cylinder on both sides of the sensor, and prior to the sensor there will be a screen, and before the screen will be two mandrel bent 3" diameter elbows going to a K&N filter. The other side of the sensor will have a good 6" also. MAF sensor readings will be much more precise so the amount of fuel you get per unit of air will be bang on.

I will post many pics of exactly how the CAI is put together and it will be just as nice as any aftermarket CAI. It's going to be even easier than I thought and will not even require welding. The most difficult parts are just drilling a hole and using a hacksaw to make one cut to shorten my 18" straight pipe to 12".

 

cant wait to see pictures so i can start on mine...lol

 

k, had to buy two tools, a metal cutting hole saw, 1.25", and an arbour to hold this, total cost about 20 somethin bucks.

here are some pics, they are self explanatory

1. buy tools to drill hole

2. measure six inches from end of 3.5" diameter, 18" long aluminum pipe and mark with ink marker

3. measure 12" from the end of same pipe and mark again

4. drill small pilot hole at 6" marking

 

5. take 30 seconds to rig up a few pieces of scrap wood and newspaper to hold the pipe

6. use hacksaw and cut the pipe at the 12" mark

7. use a drill and drill the 1.25" hole at the 6" mark

The last part is my top secret part on how to easily mount the maf sensor. I'll do this on the weekend. It's raining outside and I don't feel like taking off my bumper in the dark, wet, and cold stormy night.

The last pics are how it will be assembled, and I will take more pics of the screen and filter to use. I'm not sure how it will be configured yet, because it will depend on how big a filter I use and the room I have behind the radiator.

As you can see this will be just as good if not better than any CAI you can buy and be a fraction of the price and in the time it takes you to order one, you can make your own

 

Looks fantastic!!!

Top secret part eh?

 

How are you planning on mounting the MAF? Are you just going to have two stand-offs welded to the pipe, or is there going to be some kind of raised section to help seal around the MAF as well?

I need to do this as well, so I am contemplating exactly how to do it.

 

I guess one way would be to weld a 1.5" x 1.5" scrap piece of flat 2mm thick aluminum to it and drill the three holes, but I have about three or four other ideas that do not involve any welding so I like these better. I'll see if I can post the pics this weekend. I think I have a very simple and perfectly effective solution.

 

the maf bung is the only difficult part of this process. worse case, you can get a standard maf housing from the likes of racing beat and attach two tubes to either side to extend it's length.

I believe the long polished stainless steel maf housing on my intake came from SFR.

 

I apologize for the wait. I wanted to post the finished pics today but it's still pouring rain. That's Vancouver for you. I will post the finished pics of the MAF sensor mount tomorrow, probably inside my house again and suggest a lot of different ways you can try it out. The SFR one mysql's talking about sounds like a great option too!

 

Lookin' good. Can't wait for the full DIY.

 

something like this piece from atpturbo.com would work rite?

im sure there are much less inexpensive alternatives i cant wait to see

 

it's not long enough. you'd need to extend the tubing further. Best if it's one solid pipe that doesn't have ridges and anything else that will disrupt the airflow when possible.