just snapped a couple pics of my experimentation of the same old products. Intake is salvaged from a mitsu cai witch is larger in dia. then the k&n. Diverter is 5052 sheet aluminum that i extended the front to allow the removal of the hood mounted diverter, and the catch can is a piece of exaust pipe and brass fittings from home depot. Also the strut bar was made from mild steel and is totally functional. I tried to make it as stealth as possible. Everthing in their is in its rawest form. hope you like!

 

Very nice

Ain’t it great to fabricate stuff yourself.

 

I think you should sell you diverter

 

Great work guy.

 

That is very nice work:smile: I like it very much

 

That Front Strut bar looks a bit "weak" .... Is it strong ???

Did you make it ??

Nice diverter

 

Very professional looking.


BTW, recommend you fab what ever you can to get the lid back on your ECU.

 

Your fabwork looks outstanding.
Am interested in your diverter. Did you plumb it? The black nubs look like sprayers.
I think the strut bar is in tension when cornering. So your bar may be just fine. Check out this analysis:

http://e30m3performance.com/myths/St...bar_theory.htm

A tour of the site will show Gustave is an excellent engineer and explainer.

 

Thanx, Im glad people like this hardware. First off the strut bar is of heavy wall 7/8 diameter mild steel tubing, and I am able to pre-tension the bar. The intercooler is all 5052 aluminium sheet, riveted together. It uses two spray nozzles off of a evo viii front mounted intercooler, from the factory. I plumbed it into the rear washer bottle, and disconnected the harness for the wiper. I never used it anyway, and I plan on removing the wiper assembly when I finish the boot paint work to match my bonnet.

 

Good read, thanks ...

 

as a long time DIY guy, i have to say that is some very nice work! I am going to have to make some "lambspeed" catch cans myself! Did you stuff it full of Stainless steel wool or anything to help catch the oil mist?

thanks!

-jac

 

very clean looking setup. I like the dual spray nozzles!

 

fishbulb, I welded a piece of sheet metal between the two fittings before I welded the top on the can. it extends about a inch or so. The can works as it should. plus no flimsy silicon hose to break down,leak, or collapse under vacuum

 

Very nice work indeed! I can never imagine myself doing something like that. I do have a question regarding the diverter for anybody that bothers to answer. Why does it has to be "closed" at the back. Would it be better if air from outside can flow across the intercooler, in from the front and out through the back? How about making a flexible rubbler flap at the back of the diverter that normally closes to seal off heat but can be "pushed" open when there is enough air velocity coming into the scoop. Just a thought

 

Idea is to force the air through the intercooler, not just across it.

 

Air flows DOWN through the IC, not front to back.

 

OK thanks...that was a stupid question and idea

 

That's exactly why I fabbed these aluminum pieces to serve as a diverter for the GRS IC. I noticed that the top or rear of the IC was somewhat cooler than the font, lower portion. I surmised that the majority of the ambient air was just going through the rear of the unit. And since the stock and Alta ones have provisions to divy-up the incoming air, it just made even more sense to do so...

All of the aluminum I had as scrap, but the materials would have cost about 5 bucks anyways. And while I didn't need adhesive (nice, snug fit), I used some aluminized high temp (400 degree F) silicone on the the two slotted pieces that slide over and straddle the IC passage ways...

When I was data-logging with BiM-Com software, I was shocked to see that the stock IC was giving me consistently lower IATs than the GRS. This was with the stock scoop, and the larger M7 one...

This mod will help trap some air further up, and with the added pressure, direct it down and through the IC there, not just in the back portion. I now don't detect a heat delta from front to rear of the GRS IC...

 

So you are saying that the stock IC is surprisingly efficient?

ARLY

 

very nice work! Is it a PITA to get to the 10MM on the bottom? Would this be a good sport for a petcock? OR would that run the risk of an unexpected opening?

also.....where can i get my lambspeed stickers?

-jac

 

I don't see any kind of air box for the intake. Don't you want a CAI rather than a HAI?

Neil
05 MCS - regular old intake
96 M3 - CAI and one or two other things

 

See this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=25654

Nice work, lambspeed!

 

Arly, I think you are referring to my language above where I stated:

"When I was data-logging with BiM-Com software, I was shocked to see that the stock IC was giving me consistently lower IATs than the GRS. This was with the stock scoop, and the larger M7 one..."

For quite some time, many of us have believed the stock IC to be very efficient. I was not saying that I felt otherwise. Many people go with larger ICs to lower their IATs even more. And because of the larger volume, they often expect to see some type of pressure loss, hopefully only minimal, if none at all. Well, my logging revealed the opposite. The GRS didn't get me lower IATs when compared to stock, but got me slightly more boost.

Dyoning an IC is certainly not the best method for trying to discern its abilities as the hood is open, allowing for heat to escape (heat soak much less of an issue), and flow through the IC is not being replicated as it would with the hood closed (scoop & diverter not being put to the test). Data-logging, on the road, under real conditions is much more telling...

In trying to help the GRS cool the charged air better, I added the above diverter to direct some of the air to the front portion of the IC that is noticably hotter than the back. I now can no longer detect a difference in heat from front to rear. The diverter that I added is allowing more of the GRS surface area to be used in the cooling process, and I expect further data-logging to confirm the improved efficiency...

 

i too read an earlier thread on this subject and thought that u were sayin' that the larger IC did not cut it as far as koolin' compared to the stock IC

but as far as "more boost" ???? thats interestin'!!

....as far as ur Air diverter goes, why did u pick this spot to mount it on? why not further back

 

You know, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have purchased the larger IC. Results on a dyno are not tantamount to what we can expect under real conditions. Now that I have the unit, I'm just trying to make it better where I can...

As DrObnxs explained to me, there are two critical factors: pressure (boost) and temp (IAT). Together, they make for molecular density, if I learned correctly. The GRS makes for a slightly better molecular density than stock, but he figured that it was on the order of about 2 or so hp. If I can improve its ability to cool, that number will go up, and that's why I did this...

I chose that spot to put the diverter simply because that's about where Alta put theirs, and from my hand-touch experimentation when hot, it seemed like the appropriate place to build some pressure...