Custom 172 Air Box

[Flying Scotsman]

Well, I said I would do it a while back when I discussed it online with BenR and have now Ive lived up to my words. Finished the install last night. Did some temp tests today when the ambient was about 24 degs (which is pretty hot for Scotland!). Put the temp sensor next to the door mirror sensor to calibrate against the car temp guage first then put the sensor inside the airbox. Did about a 20 mile run with a mix of 30mph and motorway 80mph ish and recorded average differential of about 2 degs against ambient. In stop-start traffic the differential was about 3 or 4 degs. Overall the engine feels much more responsive and has quitened down the induction roar .... can now hear my Magnex properly now!!

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The air box is made from sections of 1mm mild steel braised together. The outside of the box is covered in self-adhesive heatshield material. The beading on the edges is the same as the strip that runs along the front of the bonnet, butting up against the underside of the bonnet, semi-sealing the air box. The air intake is part of a Pipercross 75mm ramair kit feeding directly from the lower grill to the air box (butterfly air valve removed for clearance). The box is held in place by two 10mm bolts so the whole lot can be removed in about 10 minutes if required. The wire you see on top of the box is my temporary temp sensor.

Next thing on the list now is the Unichip to get the fuelling sorted out.

 

[Rasclart]

Hi ya mate

That looks top!!

Want to do a silmilar thing with my Valver but space is a bit limited!!

Very good. Trying to think of a way to use the standard airbox as well!!

 

[pete172]

a job well done

just bought a 57i today and ordered some heat shield sheeting. i am going to make a enclosed air box but without the rubber strips. i am going to make it totally enclosed. at least your pics will give me some guidence.

nice one mate

 

[BenR]

paul16V........take note

 

[Paul16V]

already done it mate hehe. looks kinda similar to my 16v one i did weeks ago hehe.

 

[BenR]

quality issues with te original though?

does that rubber bead seal against the foam padding on the bonnet? or did u take that off?

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Thats the theory Ben. I bent a thick welding rod into the same profile as the bonnet underside (back to front) and laid that across the engine bay when I did my original cardboard template to get the profile right on the box. With the bonnet closed and the car idling I can feel the air getting sucked in through the intake on the grill. So must be "sealed" to some extent. But then the temperature tests tend to prove it is working. The most expensive part of the project was the sticky backed heatshield material ..... £62 for a 4ft x 21" sheet! New stuff from DT which has about .5mm aluminium on top of 3-4mm of fibreglass felt. Manuafacturer claims it reflects more than 85% of radiated heat. When you stop after a run the inside of the air box is very cool compared to the outside, so this material is also working quite well.

 

[Turkish]

looks good mate tidy bit of DIY there

 

[Flying Scotsman]

cheers, was worth all the blood sweat and tears (cut and burnt me fingers a few times bazing it all together!!)

Cheers for everyone elses kind comments too

 

[Turkish]

always happens when i work on my car managed to take a chunk out of my knuckle fitting my coilovers yesterday but like you say the end result is always worth it

 

[Flying Scotsman]

For those that may be contemplating a similar mod you will probably have to ditch the air standard valve to allow space for an air duct down behind the NS headlamp.

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Its a hard lettle fecker to remove. There is a bracket fixed to the car body with one bolt and a location hook that locates the two horns and the air valve. Took myself and Gibbo the best bit of an hour to get the assembly out. If I was doing it again I would remove the wheel and part of the arch liner to get in there with a socket and extension. Once removed I cut the vacuum pipe and blocked it off with a Gardena irrigation stop-end but left the solenoid assembly plugged into the loom to ensure the ECU is happy. Tie-wrapped the bits out of the road. Then put the horn assembly backin place. A few scraped knucles later the jobs a good un! (To tell the truth it was Gibbos knuckle that was scrapped .... he he).

BTW, has anyone managed to find out what the purpose of this valve is. Perhaps an RTE can lay light on the subject. Everything seems to work fine without it!

 

[SHORTY]

mate you should stick a copyright on it and start making them
look well good i dont think there are many airboxes like that about
seen one on a integra type-r


shorty

 

[BenR]

yea, that reflective adheisive stuff is far too expensive, was contemplating getting rid of my exhaust heat shields as they rattled, but cant be arsed, so expensive.

Its very tidy work mate, take the solenoid plug off the assembly then plug it back in and leave it there.....so the comp dont know anything is missing.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Cheers for your comments mate. From you .... a compliment!!

Actually contemplated ditching my heat shields for that sheeting too but would cost a bloody fortune! Ive given up trying to adjust my heatshields since I put the Magnex on. Even had the wife gunning the engine while I was underneath in the pit trying to adjust the shields!! Trouble is when the engines under load on the road, theres loads more noise/vibration from the exhaust.

BTW I did leave the solenoid plugged in as you said just in case the ECU started storing errors and flashing lights at me on the dash.