cold air box

[glenn]

Hello all ! I thought I try my hand at fabricating a cold air box for my '90. Question is : what materials to use ? I thought I 'd use stainless [cannot find heat rated plastics] for box but am open to suggestions. Also I need some kind of heat resistant weather stripping or insulation to make a seal with the hood. I've been to local auto parts and hardware stores . No one at these places can even begin to suggest what to use. ANY HELP ? Thanks much --glenn

[88pathoffroad]

Define "cold air box". The stock filter box pulls air from the fender, I don't see how making a box under the hood is going to help it suck any cooler air. That and it won't make any difference in power, it's been done before and people are usually disappointed with the results.

[glenn]

well , I have a cone air filter and already have cut a hole in grill to better allow fresh air to be "rammed " into engine compartment. I thought I would put a box around the backside of filter to keep hot air from engine away and funnel in incoming cold air under some pressure [ie whatever pressure that could be generated by foward movement of car]. Will denser cold air help ? Will this senario be enough to make a difference ? If I can get the materials I think I'll try it out and report back---glenn

[Harbinger]

Dense cold air can help for sure, but I highly doubt you'll see any "ram" effects.

[TheInstaller]

You won't notice the ram effect, even though the faster you go the more air pressure there will be. The big bonus will be blocking the hot air from being sucked into the filter.

[Earth1]

Hey man I used some sheet galvinized, 22 gauge I think. I started with a cardboard temp. I have some thin rubber c-channel I'll be gluing around the sides and bottom. I'm experimenting with foam backer rod and/or garage door weatherseal strip for a seal at the top. I'm using some tie brackets bent to the fender shape to mount it. My first design has a hole for the intake that would go around the rubber lip of the intake, protected with a strip of that c-channel around the hole.

 

If I were to make another I would design it to bolt in between the maf adapter and the mating plate. It sounds janky, but it's actually looking pretty good. I'll get some pics up when I get it in. You might be able to just buy one from AC or somewhere, but if you like little projects it's a quick deal. Hope that gives you some ideas.

 

Even if the performance is marginal, we still need a way to mount a cone filter, so it's not pointless.

[glenn]

E1, how is the rubber/weather stripping holding up under the engine heat? Do you or anyone else know what kind and where to get heat resistant stripping ?Thanks --glenn

[Earth1]

I haven't actually put it in yet. I'm woking on putting a new engine in and I'll start using it when the new engine is ready. The glue is probably more important than the actual material. I'm using some glue I found at Home Depot that was for higher heat purposes, can't remember the name. The heat in that area isn't terrible, even at its hottest. I suppose it would take some pretty decent heat to damage the rubber and the foam I'm using. I looked all over for some high temp seal with no luck. Let us know if you come up with anything but if you don't I'd bet whatever you use will work OK.