Chris was able to get me one of his intakes before I left for CA on a mini-vacation. Thanks dude!!! I installed it this morning before I left and only scuffed a couple knuckles. I also drilled a 1" hole in the CF intake tube and used a rubber grommet/plastic PCV barb so that I could retain semi-factory 1/2" PCV hose coming off of the oil filler. All-in-all it looks great. I do hope I don't hit a lot of rain as that air filter sits kind of close to the ground! Next stop: SVS in Sacramento for a dyno and a new rear end.
Actual time on the car was about an hour. I wanted to make sure I had the orientation of the air filter correct, but it appears it will only fit one way down in that corner. I spent probably another hour just checking things for fitment and doing test installs...I wanted to have everything straight. I finally found one single good reason for the Grip front end...the gap left underneath in the front of the belly pan makes it easy to gain access to the area where the air filter will sit without taking the whole plastic pan off. I was also a little nervous about drilling a 1" hole in the CF tube but in the end, I just got after it and voila, done.
Yea, I've wondered about that a few times... Chris? Chris? any words from the CF expert? What about drilling CF? or hacksawing it for that matter. Can it be brittle? Will it melt? or burn? or discolor? Should you do something like tape first? ...?
jon - nice work!!! looks great in your engine bay!! i got your filter wrap in today and will be in the mail monday. as long as you do not submerge the front end, you will be fine!!! lol you have also given me an idea for my v6 kits and their oil vent set ups..... dave - cutting CF is not hard, just understand you get the best results from VERY sharp cutting tools and once you cut, the tool will not longer be sharp!! i utilize a paddle style bit for cutting holes. tape the area to be cut to keep fraying to a min. I use a chop saw to cut the tube ends sqaure. I utilze a carbide masonary style disc to cut with. You could use a hack saw, but it would be a bit messy. cf will not melt, burn, etc. it will fray, but using a sharp tool will keep it to a min.
not really. again, use sharp cutting/sanding tools..... after i cut the ends, i bevel the edges at a 45 with 100 grit paper and then wet sand all of my tubes with 320...... that is why my cut ends will always be smoother than any other cf you see!!!! i actually take the time to massage things by hand...... let keep the dirty minds out of this!!! lol
Lol. Quick, I actually screwed up at first and the CF was very forgiving when I drilled it. What I did was use a 1/2" hole bit with it's own pilot as a precursor to the 1" bit. Well, after successfully drilling the 1/2" hole, I had no place for the 1" pilot to center on...oooops. I just pressed harder The grommet I used was the most common one available in the world...that one used on small block chevy valve covers with one flat edge and an angled face. I then popped in a 90 degree plastic PCV fitting designed for 1/2" hose. Then I rotated the CF tube so I had a slightly hidden connection. Works great Other than a weird smell I had no problems at all drilling the CF tube...it acted about how you would expect...slight frayed ends but I think I could almost prevent that if I had to do it again. I drove 3 hours into Utah today in a friggin' rain storm. Loooooovely. 10 hours to Sacramento tomorrow then SVS on Monday for my Wavetrac/3.23 gears, SLP line lock and as long as some of the console is apart I'll do my pink shifter thingy/billet replacement...heck, I've had it for a year. LOL Thanks again Chris!
you are very welcome jon!!!! glad to heat things are going smoothly!! btw - that smell when you were cutting the hole in the cf.... that was the resin!!! lol
dick. I know...that bugs the crap outta me but I can't find anything I like better that looks stock. When you coming back anyway?
