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Home made cold air intake for the Alpha!

jmoffatt

Swamprat
Messages
121
Location
Shreveport, La.
I made my own CAI for my Alpha for under $70.00, most parts were obtained from here,
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/index.php?osCsid=e347b2ab7041cf

parts were as follows
1' x3.5" aluminum pipe
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/product_info.php?cPath=19&products_id=279&osCsid=e347b2ab7041cf

4" to 3.5" silicone reducer
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=539&osCsid=e347b2ab7041cf

4"to 3.5" silicone 90 deg reducer
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=958&osCsid=e347b2ab7041cf

2ea 3.0" t bolt clamps
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=958&osCsid=e347b2ab7041cf

2ea 4.0" tbolt clamps
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=310&osCsid=e347b2ab7041cf

and a vacumn adapter kit from autozone which includes the holesaw , grommets and adapters for the cranckcase breather line , and about 8" of 3/8 rubber hose.

I had to cut the aluminum pipe down by about 2" and the 90deg elbow is about 1.75" long on the 4" side I cut that down by .75" for fan clearance measure where you want the breather line drill install grommet and adapter.
The worst part is getting fan clearance I finally had to snip off a 1/4" of the fan tips at a 45deg angle now I have about 3/8" clearance between the fan and the intake.

Picture148.jpg
 
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Kinson33

Active Member
Messages
36
Location
TX
Sorry to dig up this bad boy, but is anyone who did this still around? I ordered the parts listed and the 90deg silicon elbow wasn’t even close to clearing the fan blades on my Alpha!
 

Sennin

Well-Known Member
Messages
453
Location
South Africa
Sorry to dig up this bad boy, but is anyone who did this still around? I ordered the parts listed and the 90deg silicon elbow wasn’t even close to clearing the fan blades on my Alpha!
Post some pics. But i had to wiggle mine a little. Almost at the point where i wanted to cut the leg of the bend shorter when I got it to fit. Could be that you have a longer leg on the bend and need to trim it a bit

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

jmoffatt

Swamprat
Messages
121
Location
Shreveport, La.
It's my thread if you read it says and I quote " 90deg elbow is about 1.75" long on the 4" side I cut that down by .75" for fan clearance" I cut it down on the side that attaches to the throttle body to allow for fan clearance.
 

Kinson33

Active Member
Messages
36
Location
TX
I humbly admit my oversight and thank you for your response. Thanks for not roasting me, I may not have been as nice when people don’t read all the way...
 
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amrg

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,317
Location
Qatar
Trim trim trim until it clears
The stock plastic elbow has an indent in it to increase fan clearance

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Kinson33

Active Member
Messages
36
Location
TX
Not sure how this is possible, but again shame on me for my oversight and not measuring before ordering parts.

I had ASSumed it would be straight forward but it turns out my airbox outlet is 3.5", which is very strange considering we both have 2008 alpha's @jmoffatt !

Luckily 3.5" rubber/silicon couplers are very common at the parts stores
 

amrg

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,317
Location
Qatar
Im guessing from this you are using a 4" aluminum tubing instead of 3.5"?
Yes the intake outlet is 3.5" while the tb inlet is 4"

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Kinson33

Active Member
Messages
36
Location
TX
no, 3.5" tubing. OP listed he used a 4 to 3.5" reducer which i dont understand if the tubing and the box are both 3.5"

I'll get photos when I am home this evening. I might be coming across as pretty ignorant but I promise this is not my first rodeo in toying with upgrades :gaah:

The more I talk, the greener I am coming across. I'll just post photos when I'm done:sigh:
 
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amrg

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,317
Location
Qatar
The straight 4" to 3.5" reducer isnt needed if you already have the 90* bend 4" to 3.5" reducer. All you need are 3.5" couplers after that.
I have the same setup and checked everything but for some reason I keep getting a MAF related code (usually for air leaks) and I checked the thing several times but nothing.

Anyway, good luck with everything and let us know how it turns out!


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Hunner

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,334
Location
Arkansas
Some might recall my project in 2010 for comparison.


I ended up with 1/2 inch clearance at the fan using a 3 inch pipe. More clearance for offroad and looked safer to have that margin of error.


DAH_3908_resize.jpg

Looks like I did not get the boot on the box shoved on all the way for this image. Still some images on old hardrives somewhere. I had to dig up this image as Photopucket will not let me copy and past anymore. I have been running these for many miles, about 80,000.
 

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