The definitive home depot CAI topic

[beastlx]

ive never heard of anyone using pvc for the bend but i heard that somone used a inch 90 degree rubber bend. cut one side off it fits over the tb. leave the other side alone and it fits over the vaf.
Hope this helps.8-)

[chogan]

Make sure your clamps are tight, you don`t want the home made tubing to fall off while flying your Probe down the highway.

[probewarrior]

atx

so it seem that atx has smaller space on the engine bay.....
so what size of piping does atx cars need?
ive read above somebody used a 2" pipe.
did u use 2" pipe all the way?

thank

NaD

[NOS97PGT]

Re: atx

Originally posted by probewarrior
so it seem that atx has smaller space on the engine bay.....
so what size of piping does atx cars need?
ive read above somebody used a 2" pipe.
did u use 2" pipe all the way?

thank

NaD

2" Works good in ATX's

The procedure highlights how to use 2" as well.
Another option would be to use a 3"<2" Slicer/Connector thing. (Yes, that is a technical term ) I saw a very cool Aluminum/Rubber one the other day.

[95sleeperGT]

Home Depot CAI (Version 2.0)

I know as well as everyone, this subject has been beaten to death, brought back to life, and beaten to death again.

BUT WAIT!!!!!!! Just when you thought it was gone forever, I went and fingered out how to do this the easy way (as if there was EVER a hard way.) This process is for the 93-97 PGT w/ MTX. You will retain all sensors, hoses, breather tubes, MAF (or is it VAF?) housing, and throttle body elbow. The elbow off the throttle body is hollow, so no need to change it as high amounts of air already flow thru it's almost 3" diameter.

Parts:
Metric Sockets w/ 6" (or longer) Extension
Flat Tip Screwdriver
Strong Epoxy for Rubber/Plastic
1 - 6" Long Piece of 3" Diameter PVC
1 - 90 Deg Elbow - 1 Male Inlet/1 Female Inlet
1 - 45 Deg Elbow - 1 Male Inlet/1 Female Inlet
2 - 3" to 3" Rubber Couplers. (these come with band clamps on them)
1 - Cone Filter Of Your Choice (must be able to fit inside the rubber coupler <it will be loose, but we'll fix that>)

Building the CAI...
1: Get the 45 deg elbow, 1 coupler, the 6" piece of PVC, and the filter.
2: Put some epoxy on the inside of one end of the coupler.
3: insert the skinny (male) end of 45 into the coupler. tighten band clamp.
5: put some epoxy on the inside of the wide (female) end of the 45 deg elbow and take the 6" piece of PVC and insert it.
6: put some epoxy on the outside of the rubber piece on the filter. let it get a little tacky and then insert into the open end of coupler. do not tighten the band clamp yet, as it will cause the filter to poop out of it.
7: let the assembly sit with filter up in the air for about 10 minutes so the epoxy can harden.

- while the epoxy on the filter/coupler is setting, grab your 90 deg elbow and the outher coupler.

8: put some epoxy on the inside edge of the 2nd coupler, take the 90 deg elbow, and insert the skinny (male) end into the coupler. tighten the band clamp.
9: Now you should go and tighten the band clamp that holds the filter/coupler.

Take the two assemblies out to your cooled off car.

Removal of stock air intake.....
1: Make sure your engine is cool. burnt knuckles suck.
2: remove air inlet from front/top of radiator. 3 nuts.
3: unclamp airbox lid and slide out the stock filter.
4: undo the electrical plug on fender side of airbox.
5: unbolt the metal thingy that goes into the airbox. 2 bolts.
6: take your flat tip screwdriver and gently pry apart the metal thingy from the airbox. (dont worry, it won't break unless you're using a crowbar.)
7: throw airbox lid aside.
8: unbolt bottom of airbox, and throw aside. 2 nuts/1 bolt.

Keep all bolts/nuts/plastic items in a closet in case you need to revert to stock.)

9: Jack up the driver side of the car using stock or floor jack positioned behind front wheel on drivers side. make sure you pull the e-brake.

Installing the CAI....
Off the throttle body, you should still have a stock elbow, and a metal thingy that has a center thing that moves in when you push it. this should still be attached to your car.

1: take the 90 deg elbow, and get some spit on your fingers and rub it on the inside of the open end of the coupler.
2: wiggle this end over the MAF/VAF thingy. do not tighten the clamp as you will need to twist it a little to align with second piece.
3: take the assembly with the filter and crawl under your car. insert the PVC end up into the hole on the drivers side under where the the airbox used to be. not hard to figure out. just prop it up so it stays in place and the filter end is touching the ground.
4: reach down from under the hood and grab the end of the PVC. gently manuever the assembly until the filter is above the water/debris shield, and is pointed kind of towards both the fender and the drivers door. The elbow should be resting between the radiator hose, and a metal line thingy. The PVC end should be touching the 90 deg elbow off the MAF/VAF.
5: Manuever the 90 deg elbow so it will match up with the PVC. If you have done this correctly, the PVC ought to slide into the wide (female) end of the 90 deg elbow.

I chose not to epoxy this joint together so if i need to take it out for some reason, it will just pull out. It will still be tight enough to hold the lower assemly to the upper assembly.

Tighten all band clamps, and make sure the entire assembly is snug. you should have no problem with it falling off or anything.

I did this "how-to" because i found that this was easier than the ones posted previously. It may sound hard, but if you have any mechanical aptitude, this is a no brainer.

look below for more....

[95sleeperGT]

I went and ran it out on the hwy after 3 hours of total set time for all joints to harden completely. i gained a considerable amount of throttle response thru the low ends of 1st and 2nd gears. i had noticed a bit of lag before the CAI. LAG NO MORE!!!!

I also noticed that the car racked up the rpms considerably faster than before on 1st thru 4th under heavy acceleration throughout the entire gear.

I did not notice a whole lot of gained intake noise, which is fine by me since it's a sleeper and do not want everyone knowing i have a CAI cuz they can hear it sucking up air. I think the PVC along with the rubber couplers absorbed alot of it.

SO. if this has helped anyone, great. If it hasn't, sorry. I just hope this thread doesnt get closed because it's about the Home Depot CAI. post replies if you think this is well written and informative. THANKS!!!!

[pgtfreak]

Great, now I'll move it to the sticky topic where ALL CAI threads are suppose to go.

[Drummerboyevil]

As in the instructions above, I really don't want to epoxt the filter to the pcv.. don't most filters fit OVER 3 inch PVC in the first place??

[probewarrior]

anybody here know what's the part # of a 2.50" inlet air filter is?
coz im an atx so yeah... i heard 3" wont fit.... thanks

[Mr. MX6]

I made up my own one from drain pipe and I used a rubber insert (a bit of fat rubber tube) in side the elbow to make up the difference in diameter…
I found that keeping the length of the intake short gave me better power.
I used a large duct to direct cold air to the pod filter from below the splashguard…
And yes that is a nos sprayer….
http://users.bigpond.com/gallahs/elbow.jpg
http://users.bigpond.com/gallahs/elbow1.jpg
http://users.bigpond.com/gallahs/motor.jpg
Hey! why dosnt IMG YADA YADA /IMG work on ere?

[NOS97PGT]

Originally posted by Mr. MX6
http://users.bigpond.com/gallahs/elbow.jpg
http://users.bigpond.com/gallahs/elbow1.jpg
http://users.bigpond.com/gallahs/motor.jpg
Hey! why dosnt IMG YADA YADA /IMG work on ere?

Read the faq. And don't use CAPS.

[95sleeperGT]

Originally posted by Drummerboyevil
As in the instructions above, I really don't want to epoxt the filter to the pcv.. don't most filters fit OVER 3 inch PVC in the first place??

the one i got didnt fit over it. the rubber surround for mounting was too stiff/thick to be worked over the pvc like i wanted it to do.

if ya want, just tap some screws thru the pvc into the rubber end of the filter, then you can just remove the screws for cleaning or replacing the filter.

[slimdog23]

well i tried to make one for my atx today with 3 in pvc....aint no damn way that will ever fit tried to slide past radiator tube without pincing it. didnt work. I really hope 2.5in will work alot beter

[NOS97PGT]

Originally posted by slimdog23
well i tried to make one for my atx today with 3 in pvc....aint no damn way that will ever fit tried to slide past radiator tube without pincing it. didnt work. I really hope 2.5in will work alot beter

If you read the original how-to on the first page, that wouldn't even have been a problem, b/c you'd have known it wouldn't work.

[slimdog23]

haha i read it thats how i knew what to get.....but i wanted to attempt 3 in cuz i figured i might get it if i worked at it....oh well my own fault...so 2.5 works pretty wel right?