When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Just followed this thread, and it was an easy DIY. Though I don't feel any difference in power (yes, a debatable topic), the motor's sound is crisper and she seems to be able to breath better. Thanks.
Pardon the idiot question (it's late, I've had two pints of Guinness, blah blah blah), but exactly WHERE is the unit drawing air FROM? From the cavity between the engine bay and the actual firewall? Does the R53 scoop feed into that somehow?
Playing with an R50 and trying to understand if this is totally different....
The R53 draws air from up front by the radiator support and a little from the area below the cowl vent in front of the windshield. This mod adds a second opening to the cowl area which is a lot larger, like having a de-flapped JCW airbox. The hood scoop is for the intercooler.
In the pics you can see the inlet pipe coming front the front of the car under the pipe going to the intake manifold. You can also see the original small grometted opening in the bottom half of the airbox leading to the cowl area.
Anyone got any idea where to find a similar intake ? check local stores and most of the air filter seem too big. smallest one i found was 6.**" long and 4.* width...
Just did this. Great and cost effective mod. Couple tips that enable drilling holes in back panel w/o removing it.
1. Prep the top of the airbox by removing the ribs on the outside that are in the way.
2. Locate the center point of where you want the 2" hole in the top of the Airbox. Drill this hole with a forstner bit that is slightly smaller than the center bit in the hole saw.
3. Take that forstner bit out of the drill and push it into the hole you just drilled so that it protrudes out of the airbox.
4. Reassemble the airbox.
5. Pull the bit forward until it hits the plastic wall behind the airbox. Push it into that wall to mark the spot it hits. Remove the top of,the airbox.
6. Put a 6"L x 4"W piece of 1/4" pegboard immediately behind the plastic wall where the marked point is. Use the same forstner bit to gently drill a guide hole through the back wall.
7. Keeping the pegboard in place and orienting on the guide hole, use the 2.5" hole saw to gently drill through the back wall.
8. Use the 2" hole saw on the airbox.
There's a great guy on eBay ido3dprints_dot_com that sells a 3D printed adapter that makes for a very clean installation using a K&N RU-3190 filter- fits perfectly. I'm not real big on K&N, but was unable to find the proper size filter in an Amsoil Nano- if you can find one, please post up.
I bought a used airbox so I could easily revert- of course one only needs the lid for this operation. I didn't even remove the lower part of the airbox. I used the pilot drill bit method as BruceJ mentioned above to locate the spot on the plastic firewall thingy. The center hole was not near the brakelines, so I just drilled using the holesaw VERY CAREFULLY without difficulty. With plastic I find it useful to, once the centering bit is through the material, use the holesaw in reverse at a fairly low speed. It's easily controllable and avoids grabbing the material by the very aggressive teeth, especially if it's a new blade. Then switch to clockwise for the final coup d'etat if necessary.
No danger to the brakelines. Vacuum out the airbox bottom and you're good to go. I did cannibalize the paper airfilter for use as a gasket.
No, the car's probably not faster. Yes, it sounds better.
Not to crack on FakeName in post 32 above, but the company wants nearly $20 for the 3d print adapter. You can get a usable one that fits from Lowes/Home Depot/Amazon for about $2. So I'm not sure why you would do that. A,
U58062 2 SPGXH 45 STREET ELBOW ABS
plumbing adapter fits the airbox and the RU3190 . The 45 degree angle keeps it away from the top of the box, so no interference there. If you don't want to go to Lowes Copy/paste the link below for a amazon list i put together. https://a.co/afQ0TxU
Whatever you choose its a good mod.
Bruce
... I'm not real big on K&N, but was unable to find the proper size filter in an Amsoil Nano- if you can find one, please post up.
Not a big fan of oiled filters either, and I’m kicking myself for constantly putting off ordering a spare over the last 2-3 years.
The EaAU3570 was perfect, but it looks like the EaAU3555 might be an option, just 1.5” shorter. If the formula I found on the internet and my calculations are correct for a supercharged engine, the shorter filter should still provide more than enough filtration for the engine size.
I didn’t realize the 3D printed adapter diameter was smaller. The Amsoil EaAU3555 is a possible replacement for the discontinued EaAU3570 which was the recommended nano filter for the JCW airbox.
Injen has a 2.75” ID flange dry nano filter that looks close in specs to the K&N, but the flange is not angled. They are often advertised as Injen/Amsoil so they might be made for them by Amsoil, but I haven’t seen anything official on Injen’s or Amsoil’s websites.
The big issue that might limit you to the K&N is the angled flange. The 3D printed adapter looks straight, and the hole in the airbox also looks offset to one side. The Amsoil or Injen dry filters might not fit as I’ve only seen them listed with straight flanges.
I'm posting a small bit of advice on this old thread for anyone who comes here looking to do this. When using the hole saw run it very slow with very little pressure. And liberally apply wd40 to the saw. This will prevent the saw from jamming/grabbing in the hole as you saw through either the firewall or the air box.
Seems like a great option. I would have gladly spent the $44 for this kit over piecing stuff together from home depot and ace. That and all the guesswork.
Last edited by cosmoKenney; Jul 28, 2022 at 03:31 PM.
You assume correctly regarding the female end. As for the OD of the male end, I don't have it, unfortunately. I think it's 2 3/8", but it could be as much as 2 1/2". I do know that to measure it all you'll have to do is pull the intake tube: no need to disassemble the whole airbox, because the inlet (to the throttle body) is a constant diameter from the inside of the box to the flange that connects to the inlet tube. (Disassembling the airbox for me is a royal pain, because my ultra-high-street-cred stress bar needs to come off first.)
The first filter I bought had a 3" ID, because I thought for sure that I'd be able to find an angled plumbing fitting that would go from the ID of the inlet tube (again, I think 2 3/8", but be sure to verify) to a 3" OD that would fit inside this big-mouthed filter. No dice, unfortunately: you're limited to the standard wall thicknesses of standard plumbing fittings (because this wall thickness dictates ODs - the only dimension, really that we're concerned with here). So I bought the most appropriate fitting I could find, and ordered a filter to fit.
I have the day off and probably have a few things I could do on the car, if you want me to measure the airbox inlet tube. Otherwise, good luck and happy DIY'ing!
Originally Posted by mooser
Nice Job !
thanks! this is actually the re-do. the original box gave out several years ago, and I gad a CAI for a few years, then found a site selling the original plastics for a reasonable cost, and ditched the CAI because measured IATs inside the airbox were pretty high after a fast food drive thru line even after insulating the CAI box. Plastic should transfer heat slower than aluminum naturally. May do some work to the outside of the box to insulate it from engine bay heat a bit more on the side of the box facing the header....
