Cold Air Intake--NOT a "fifteen minute install"

[KDMatt]

Oh, now this is the closest thing I've got to a Z-car story...

Today (yesterday) UPS brought me my brand new 'cold air intake' with a BOMZ Racing filter... now I say cold-air in quotes just because... well, it's one of those cheapo ones where it's just an aluminum pipe that sticks into where the airbox used to be, though admittedly, the stock location is pretty nice if it's cold air you're after...

Anyway, I set to work on it right of way. I unbolted the stock box but... for whatever reason... the tension screw keeping the box and the rubber attached would not come loose, so I tried some WD-40 (the only penetrating oil I had)... and when that (plus several different kinds of Phillips screwdrivers) didn't work, I decided to call in the cavalry... I phoned up my Dremel-tool equipped buddy.

Well, I went over to his house, and we again tried a lot of different tactics... different screw drivers, chisels, hammers... a super-power penetrating oil... and nothing worked... Our last resort had come: The Dremel Tool.

It was funny, because we almost attempted to Dremel the screw with it still sitting inside of the car before I (Mr. Genius) thought that maybe the other tension screw for the rubber connector wasn't stuck... and voila, it wasn't, and I was, thus, able to remove the rubber piece so that we could cut into the screw without worrying about damaging anything else...

That was a big ordeal too, because we could only Dremel in so far without damaging the rubber hoses for the air filter, so the rest had to be done with a hammer and chisel... that was painstaking, but that took care of most of it, then the almost split screw was put into a vice where the pressure managed to make it break and let go its stronghold in one of the holes... As for the other?

We clamped the screw itself in the vice, and untwisted the metal thing it was screwed through using a pair of pliers (that sucker was stuck on there good!)... and we were thus left with another problem in need of solving: a busted screw.

We hopped in his Taurus and went to the closest hardware store. We made it with 50 minutes 'til closing time... and, we were lucky to find the right sized metric screw for the job.

$ .80 spent, and we went back to his garage where we started fitting the screw to the tension clamp, ah, but alas, another challenge needed to solved, the washer that allows the 'device' to operate the way it does had somehow gone missing during all of this, so we needed to find a replacement one...

... and, with our luck, there weren't any that were of proper size, so, we found one that was a hair too small... and drilled through it to make it bigger to fit the screw...

We thought for sure the clamp was good to go now... but... no... the washer fit too well around it and did nothing but thread the screw, which made the clamp not work... So again, we turned the Dremel, noting another 'stock' screw's appearance, and ground out the threads near the bottom so that the washer wouldn't thread... and... yeah, it still did... So we threaded a nut on there too to keep the washer from randomly moving up...

After that, and with further finessing, that clamp worked almost perfectly again... and ya know... after the three hours or so we spent getting it off/apart, taking off the old screw and fabricating the stock setup from un-stock parts... working less than perfectly was to be desired...

I twisted it relatively tightly as a test, and it was all a-ok... so I fit the rubber back into the car, and after it was resecured, I realized that I couldn't reach the newly fixed screw with my screwdriver (it was screwed on slightly rotated), so I again, removed the rubber 'hose,' and readjusted the clamp so I could actually get to it...

I thought for sure we'd be home free now, so we put the rubber piece back into the car, and I grabbed the cone/pipe that I'd already assembled earlier in the day... and, once again... another challenge... That pipe was meant to fit in there incredibly snug (much more snugly than even I anticipated), so there was no way I could get it on there with the rubber in the car... so again I removed the rubber piece and then went to affix it to the cone/pipe... After another 15 minutes I finally had it... and clamped it on.

So NOW I thought for sure there was no more room for stuff to go wrong... and AGAIN I thought wrong... with the air filter on there I could not get the rubber to get into the engine compartment fully, I needed to twist it in a way it was not going to go, so I grudingly removed the new cone filter, and with a little more 'finessing' got the rubber in as far as it was going to go (which still wasn't all the way mind you, but far enough where it'd make a good seal with where it met with the other part of the engine intake assembly before.

So, I twisted the clamp on again... but, somehow, the stupid washer managed to fall through on THAT one... ugh... so quickly, I grabbed another washer that was close and just used that... and that worked too... so the rubber was clamped, the air filter was clamped... it was all good after that... and the "instructions" provided no detail as to how the metal things they gave me are supposed to keep the air filter from moving around... so yeah...

A $30 cool-air set up... you get what you pay for...

Maybe it's a 15-30 minute install on a little Civic... but on my Z is was more involved than even rewiring my speakers was... 5 hours I'd bet was spent on this project, but I'll say, the results "feel" worth it ... VROOM!

The moral of the story? .... Make sure you have good screws!!

[Hrududu]

Mine took about 45 min to install. Removing the box was much easier for me, but getting the new tube into that rubber pipe was very difficult for me too. I found the new tube was larger than the original one on the box. That combined with the fact the rubber had shrunk over time made it nearly impossible to get onto the car. lots of sweat and 2 broken fingernails later i fiallay got it. It does work though, I'll give it that. And the people I ordered it from are using my submitted pic for their ad. Go figure. Pics of the ad and my intake are in my cardomain link below

[zman525]

Did you have trouble with the clamp on the rubber boots? if so just cut the old original one off and go to the hardware store and pic up an adjustable clamp for like 50 cents... i was kinda like zoned out when i was reading if im wrong correct me =P I was thinkin about gettin a K&N cold air intake... how much do those go for?

[sblake01]

Mine took about 45 min to install. Removing the box was much easier for me, but getting the new tube into that rubber pipe was very difficult for me too. I found the new tube was larger than the original one on the box. That combined with the fact the rubber had shrunk over time made it nearly impossible to get onto the car. lots of sweat and 2 broken fingernails later i fiallay got it. It does work though, I'll give it that. And the people I ordered it from are using my submitted pic for their ad. Go figure. Pics of the ad and my intake are in my cardomain link below

The angle that your intake sits at seems odd. Most of the ones I've seen come out of the boot at a 90 degree angle and go straight across in front of the radiator support with the filter in the center of the car. Also, you muffler should be a center inlet/offset outlet, mounted vertically instead of horizontally. It would fit better.

[TomoHawk]

Could you all please give the details about the brand/model of intake you arereferring to? there are too many kinds on eBay of other places.

thx.

[sblake01]

The one that MSA sells, although pricey, is one of the better ones around but basically, all you need is a 90 degree elbow tube 2.75" (60mm) in diameter, cut to the right lengths a filter and some type of bracket. Anything to keep from pulling the air from under the hood like the stock 75-77 air box does.

[TomoHawk]

I would add to what Steven said, you want to make sure the elbow has enough length ( straight section) on both ends to reach the AFM (injected cars) and to reach far enough across so you can point it down from the hood to where the fresh air is (grill area).

I have one of the 'simple elbow' things, but I can't use it because it doesn't even reach the boot/bellows/hose that goes into the AFM!

thx

[zman525]

im using the stock air box for my 280z would i really even notice a difference if i went for a top of the line cold air intake? from what ive heard they dont do much or not enough so u cant notice a difference

[TomoHawk]

Don't forget if you improve the amount of air that can get into the egine, you'll need to be able to get that much air back out. That's one reason why some people don't see any improvement- the exhaust system is more restictive than the intake. But I thin the Z engine (L28) has the intake box& exhaust pretty well matched.

I saw a way to figure out the backpressure on TV once- one of those Sunday morning mechanic shows on Spike TV (with Sam & Dave).

[KDMatt]

Hey folks, I'm back after a nice, restful vacation... and I think I have some stuff to respond to o.o

Tomohawk: I believe the company that sold it to me was "intake pro" ... I've been watching them and this other C/A intake seller have a bit of a price war on ebay, so I moved and snagged theirs when I saw that it was less than 28 dollars (the lowest price I'd ever found one for) ... I think it turned out to be like 27.70 in total? ... anyway, I'm not sure if I'm going to be leaving them postive feedback or not... just because the instructions were so vague...

Personally, I feel a difference. It seems like the car is idling nicer, and is providing more power at low RPM's ... the difference isn't massive, and I'm sure it's not the 10 to 15 horsepower that advertisers tell you you'll get, but it is more powerful nonetheless...

... I can't wait to see what happens after I end up bolting on that MONZA exhaust...

Hey, actually, I have a question too, in terms of horsepower and performance. I was reading in the history of the Z-car, that in 1977, quote, "engine modifications raised engine horsepower to 170" ... what modifications were those? ... I have a '76 and can't help but feel a little cheated after reading that...

[TomoHawk]

I remember Mr. intakepro. His stuff is marginal at best. The thing he sent to me is NOT what I'd call a proper intaketube. Just an elbow and afilter on the end. When I tried to hook iot up, it was short, andhe just said I needed to buy his coupler tube, which would've been too short according to the dimension he told me.

There are other vendors on eBay for cAI tubes, and you just have to try your luck on something not as mainstream as a Z.

thx

[Hrududu]

The angle that your intake sits at seems odd. Most of the ones I've seen come out of the boot at a 90 degree angle and go straight across in front of the radiator support with the filter in the center of the car. Also, you muffler should be a center inlet/offset outlet, mounted vertically instead of horizontally. It would fit better.

My muffler fits just fine as is. If you had seen what my old one looked like, you would understand. I know the vertical placement is more popular, but i think it would look stupid with the flowmaster muffler. As far as the intake goes, I believe it was made for a ZX, so thats why it sits at the funny angle. That tube is just too short.