Check out the interactive filter builder at www.sbfilters.com Let's design some air filters for stock and JCW intakes that way we can get exactly what we want. I think this is what RDR did for their intake.

Maybe we can get a group buy up.

 

Woot! Awesome, thanks for the link I was looking for a way to change the flange type on cone filters. My my ultra secret engine sealer project can commence

 

man, this will be amazing as far as HAI's go!


I will be ordering one to optimize the unused room in my Pilo intake soon!!!

 

Just from a quick look at the site, they seem to offer cylinder filters with flanges in 1/2" increments, and diameters of 5-1/2". Unfortunately, the neck on the JCW intake box is 3-3/8", and the maximum diameter that will fit in the JCW is 4-7/8".

You can get a K&N cone or cylindrical filter to fit the JCW with a 3-1/2" flange for under $40. I doubt that you will beat that price for a custom job.

Have a look at the Universal filters pages at www.knfilter.com - RX-4140 (cylinder with filter top) or RU-3130 (cone) are good candidates. Both have a 3-1/2" I.D. flange, and will require increasing the diameter of the neck of the JCW intake box by 1/8", e.g. by wrapping around it with a piece of 3/4" x 1/16" aluminum to make it 3-1/2". A piece to support the end of the filter using the JCW support screw will take about 10 minutes.

I'll be posting pictures of a K&N RU-3130 adapted to the JCW in a couple of days - as soon as FedEx delivers...

 

Just sent off for a quote on a design for my JCW intake to get an idea as to how much they will cost but let's not overwhelm them with requests, until we can nail down a couple of designs. A group buy will probably do better.

Here's what I asked for but I have some uncertainties.

flange I.D. 3.375"

flange Ht. .5" Does it need to be more?

base width 5.75" About all that will fit in the box with any wiggle room.

element Ht. 8" A real unknown here, what's the longest filter that will fit without the end support, of the JCW, in place?

pleat Ht. .625" Had no idea what to choose, seems to me one of the other filter makers said they had 5/8" pleats.

Top O.D. 4" This makes it tapered allowing for a longer filter. May need more taper for max length or angled flange or both to fit the max sized filter.

Flange, Straight, see above but any angle up to 22 deg. is available. Maybe a small angle, like 5-10 deg. would be a good idea to help fitment.

One really nice option they have is the Power Stack end. Instead of a rubber or stainless end cap the end becomes an inverted cone filter, meaning a lot more filter area and possibly a better flow pattern if other filter makers claims are correct. The only problem with that is it limits Top O.D. to 5.25 or 6" so not much room for taper which probably means it would need to be shorter or have an angled flange or both. This (PS) is possibly the best option and it could probably fit in all the intake designs!

Greatbear posted the JCW has a collar length of .5". Overall lenght of filter, 8.1". Length of element 6.8". Air box width of 6.1"

We should probably just send them a complete JCW intake and ask for the best flowing filter they can put in it!!!

 

Looks like you missed the interactive filter builder, go back and take another look and I'm pretty sure the JCW will take a </= 6" diameter if the posted numbers on this site are correct.

 

You can get a foam ITG filter made for the JCW intake from myminiparts.com - 80 bucks or so.

mb

 

Just an FYI. 50 filters minimum + setup charges...

peter
Team M7
562-608-8123

 

thats pretty cool. but im happy with the filters that are out there. well i guess its different for you jcw etc guys

 

Doesn't sound all that bad depending on setup charges. Maybe someone who sells Mini performance parts could step up and help us out and make a few $$ as well.

 

I just worked up an adapter to use a K&N in the JCW air box - took about a half-hour total. The idea is to make a metal ring 1/16" thick that goes between a 3-1/2" ID flange of a K&N filter and the 3-3/8" neck of the airbox.

I got 4 ft. of 3/4"x1/16" aluminum from the hardware store for $4.00. Bent it into a 3-3/8" I.D. ring and filed the ends to be a close fit around the neck of the airbox, then epoxied it in place. Once the epoxy set, I took off the hose clamp that had held it in place for gluing, and it all came apart - the airbox plastic won't stick to epoxy or superglue either - must be polycarbonate. Dang - back to the drawing board...

As I was cleaning the epoxy off the aluminum ring, I realized that trying to glue it in place was a complete waste of time. A hose clamp around the filter flange holds the alum. ring in place just fine, so no glue needed.

A simple bent flat piece of alum. to hold up the other end of the filter using the airbox screw that holds the end of the paper filter and does the same thing, and it's a done deal. Pix of the alum. ring and the filter in place tomorrow.

A couple of tips on making a nice round ring:

- I bent the aluminum around a soup can - about 2-3/4' in diameter. When it springs back into shape, it came out to just about 3-3/8" I.D. A couple of minutes of careful hand-forming, and it fit perfectly.

- Plan to cut off the first inch or so of the ring you are making - it is very difficult to get the bend started near the end. You can cut the alum. easily with tinsnips. Use a hose clamp to hold the ring in place in the airbox, and then mark the end, to fit the two ends butted together.

- To hold the alum. in place while bending, I used a couple of thicknesses of fiber package tape to hold one end of the alum. flat to the soup can, then just rolled the can on my kitchen countertop until it went all the way around plus a couple of inches.

The largest K&N filters that fit the JCW airbox and have a 3-1/2" flange include:

- RX-4140 - cylindrical, 4" O.D., 5-3/4" long, with a flat flower-like filtered end piece - the X-Stream. Kind of pretty, and it has almost as much filter area as the one below.

- RU-3130 - tapered cone, 4-5/8" large end, 3-1/2" small end, 7" long (same as the stock JCW paper filter). I've got this one on-order - $36.

By my calculations, the stock origami filter has about 88 sq. in. of effective filter area, the RX-4140 has 79 sq.in., and the RU-3130 has 84 Sq.in. Either of the K&Ns will be far less restrictive than the paper filter and filter better than foam, and are about as large as you will get into the airbox.

Not much point in a custom filter when you can get a ready-made for $40.

Gowest - you won't get a 5-3/4" OD filter in there - the neck is off-center - 4-7/8" is the largest that will fit unless your flange is off-center too, and you do need some space all around the filter to let the intake air get at it, as one of the CAI vendors points out on their web site - maybe Helix?

You won't get an 8" long filter in there either - you really need to have a JCW airbox open in your hand to see how the stock filter fits - honest, it's about the largest that could possibly go in there.

 

Thanks for your input. I got an e-mail back from SB saying they would have a price for me in a few days and I sent back that my design wouldn't fit and that I/we would need to get them an intake to come up with the best design. They are in Cal.

I really would prefer a friction fit, 3.375" flange, even if I felt the need to also use a clamp. Also, pleat depth is an option, which could greatly increase the filter area, not to mention the Power Stack option. I had looked into the K&N and Green Filters and posted my thoughts on which of those, I then thought might fit, in someone else's post on JCW intakes.

Did you check out their impressive testing procedures?

I really do think this is the best way to go, if the price is right and we can get 50+ filters ordered. Similar filters on their site are < $40.

 

Pictures of the K&N installation posted, in this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?p=866654

 

Thanks for the pictrures, could you please post the again here, in the Performance Mods forum.

I still have a few questions.

#1. Clearly the screw position was the limit on total filter length but if the flange were offset or angled, how much would the end of either the stock JCW filter or the K&N need to be shifted to clear the screw? Looks like very little for the K&N with it's smaller end.

#2. Pretty much the same as #1 but to clear the flap actuator?

#3. How much room to any plastic walls at the base?

#4. I realize paper is much more restrictive than the K&N cotton but it looks like the paper filter has many more pleats. Any chance you could measure pleat depth, count the number of pleats and give us the REAL surface area of both of these filters?

This is to help, all of us, for future filter decisions and thanks for the help!!!

 

If you have a JCW airbox, open up the bonnet and look at it. The upper forward corner of the whole box is cut off at an angle, which determines the cant of the filter. This allows it to clear the actuator can on top, and get past the indent at the top of the back.

The sides of the box are pretty much the same width on the top and bottom half of the box

The paper has a zillion deeper pleats compared to the K&N, but the total area of exposed surface matters little, since the two are totally different in their permeability. Also, half of the pleats on the origami barely have access to airflow at all, as the space between them is almost nil. My estimates of filter area are simply the exposed external surface area, not counting pleats, except that on the origami, I estimated that the average exposed area occurs at half the depth of the pleats, i.e. 1/4" in. BTW, the origami has a perforated metal can stiffener inside that has to be blocking 1/3 of the total area.

If you really want to develop this custom filter idea any further, open up your airbox and measure what you like - you will certainly learn far more that way than by quizzing me second-hand. Instructions at http://www.jwardell.com/mini/jcwintake.html

The difference between the best and worst of the aftermarket CAI boxes is 2-3HP. The difference between this K&N and a more tailored filter in the same box would be on the order of half a horse.

IMHO, Spending further effort on "improving" the JCW by more than replacing the origami with a stock K&N, is a waste of time - way past the point of diminishing returns. If you have to have that last horse, get one of the aftermarket CAI's and let it go at that.