i installed the cheap bastard intake mod with a k&n filter and i could not be happier. the fitment was great and there was increased throttle response aswell as more power. i did a pull with a guy who has the same mods that i have (full exhaust, pfc, intake, boost controller) except he had an m2 airbox and upgraded smic. we were dead even from about 60-130 when we shut down. thanks adam c (^_^)b

Thats great that your car runs so much better. If you're happy, I'm happy :D

I have been telling people for quite a while that the modded box is as good, or better, than the M2. Thats cool that you stayed even with him, even though he had an upgraded intercooler.

I wonder if the big square stock replacement K&N filter flows better than the two small filters that come with the M2. Does anyone have any info on that?

Adam's intake gets a thumbs up for me. :D Easy install, clear instructions, noticeable gain.

Sonny

I spent Saturday afternoon working on my FD. I installed Adam's intake, added a can of R134 to my AC, and did a full claybar/polish/wax job. Now my car is faster, cooler, and looks better! :D

The intake install was very easy. The most time consuming part was cutting out the hole in the bottom of the box. I took my time and filed all the edges for a nice clean opening in the bottom of the box.

Knowing that this mod had potential to raise my boost I turned it down about 1psi before testing. When I went out and tested it, I had gained back the 1psi. The spool up was reduced and there was a little increase in the top-end pull. IMO, it was well worth the few dollars and couple hours I spent on it.

Sonny, glad you liked the results. Please make a post after your dyno comparison. My offer is still good :)

Dan, You got it installed before Spurvo:) I hope you got to compare the two before installation. Did you notice the small differences?

I didn't have a chance to get a side-by-side comparison. The only difference that I noticed (from remembering what the older one looked like) was the rolled edges where it goes aroung the radiator hose. I made some small "tweaks" of my own to get it to fit to my PERFECTIONISTIC standards.

What did you do? Maybe it is something I can incorporate into future shields.

Not really much. The main thing was that I rolled the edges on "tab B" because my coolant overflow hose ran right by it and I didn't want it rubbing through. I also bent the front part of the shield toward the radiator a little so it fit a bit tighter (there was a small gap). These may be just fitment issues that I had since I have a PWR radiator which took some modifications to the brackets to get to fit. It (and its radiator hose) may not be sitting exactly where the stock radiator and hose were...

yeah, Spurvo = teh slow!!! :p:

I WILL get there. Just as SOON as my car stops dying in gear with the lights on. AND stops dropping coolant (hose issue, pretty sure. Newer hose clamps too big, not compressing older hoses with old hose clamp pattern EMBEDDED in after only six months)

end of poor excuses :)

Dan, that sounds like a good idea on tab "b". I'll have to take a look at that. One of the main reasons that I don't "pre-bend" tab "a" is because some people have aftermarket radiators, and they don't all fit exactly the same. I'm glad it fit almost to your specs :)

Spurvo..........................
What can I say......................
I just hope to live long enough to see my kit installed in your car ;) Just kidding!! I'm sure it will get done some day:)

I'm a new Cheap Bastard
 

Well just wanted to add my experiences to the list. I finally installed my kit after first installing a Pettit ECU. Now I have a modded cat-back, downpipe, ECU, and intake.

Here are some pics:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/495051/4

All I can say is "WOW!" The car really feels alive now. I don't even know what to do with first gear now....

My only "concern" is now my boost goes up to around 12-12.5 psi (used to be 11). Doesn't really spike but gets there fast. I'm kinda afraid to really step on it now. Is that safe? I plan to do the home depot mod next.

Thanks adam!

You're welcome. Thanks for the nice post. Welcome to the Cheap Bastard Club :D

I think you are OK with your boost the way it is. That's what the Pettit ECU is made for. Keep an eye on it. If it goes much higher, I would put in the boost controller. For now, just have fun with it :)

The pics are nice. The ones of your car look very good. The front lip looks great.

I got the cheap bastard mod a couple of days ago and finished the install. I LOVE it!! Here are a few personal observations:

- The car does indeed feel much more "alive" and "perky" now, it seems like it's always anxious to go and go fast! :)
- Spool-up is definately much faster.
- There is some noticable difference at WOT on the primary turbo, but when the secondary kicks in, oh man, that FD gets ANGRY. :D
- I have a PFC, and so I wanted to find out about intake temp differences. Well here is some data for you all - There is an average temp difference of about 5-10 degrees C cooler with the cheap bastard mod installed. I also removed the cap covering my passenger-side intake duct (where the 2nd oil cooler would get it's air from if I had one) so I don't know how much can be attributed to that (if anything at all). It takes longer for the intake temps to heat up sitting at idle and it cools down more quickly when driving than before the mod. I hope this helps anyone who was wondering about intake temps!

Other than that, a couple other observations:

- The "mooing" sound that people describe is nowhere to be found. There is a bit of a growl below 2000 rpm (especially when first starting the car), and there is a constant humming sound at idle that I couldn't hear before the mod (maybe it's the turbos) but it sounds cool!
- I can hear the activity associated with the fine inner workings of the turbo system now, including the stock BOV!! You hear a varying pitch WHOOSH from the BOV depending how much you were boosting before removing your foot from the gas pedal. It is VERY cool. I can hear the BOV clear as day.

Since a guy like me is all thumbs, I give Adam TEN thumbs up for the mod. :D

Now I don't have to worry about dumping cash on an aftermarket CAI until I save up for my ASP Medium IC. Thanks again, Adam!

I''m glad I'm not the only one that hears the stock BOV after this mod. I thought I was dreaming. :D

Thanks for the nice post Ed. Thats some good info. There are a couple of others that are doing some testing with intake temps, and I hope a dyno test will be coming soon.

I'm glad you are happy with the results :D

Adam

BTW, I have a Blitz SMIC on my car. It fits very nicely with the stock airbox.

http://home.earthlink.net/~maxpesce/...x-Instaled.jpg

Don't u think that all of these grids would cause turbulence and have an adverse effect on intake velocities and CFMs?

http://home.earthlink.net/~maxpesce/.../ductfront.jpg

The duct is a good idea, but the duct is ribbed and may contribute to undue turbulence as well.

How about just pulling in air from the bottom like M2's design?

YES YES YES, I realize that this is an old thread.

I was just bored and surfing.

Batman,

James Paventi tried the modded box with the multiple small holes. He was concerned about the structural integrity of the box. We talked about it, and decided that the box was very sturdy, and the ridges were not necessary. He cut out the ridges, and felt a gain in performance. So, you are right, it is better with one large opening.

I wanted a clean design/install for my mod, so I didn't do any ducting.

Well, finally got to performance test this mod after tracking down a REALLY annoying boost leak. First off, intake temps are down according to the PFC Commander by a couple of degrees at least (even more on a run).
I tried the mod with the original intake both covered and uncovered. There wasn't much difference in temps but it definitely feels livelier with the original intake open too.
I love the noise of the stock BOV too. Much more subtle than the stupidly loud aftermarket ones and so infinitely cooler!
The car now pulls like a train too. Boost comes on harder and faster than it did previously.
All in all I'm happy to recommend this mod to anyone. It's so much better than spending a few hundred pounds on something that will just suck hot air into your engine.
thanks again Adam for a first class product.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing your results. I believe that you are the first person to do a comparison with the stock intake tubing connected, and then blocked off. I have always advised people to retain the stock intake, as it provides a second source of cool air. A few people decided to block it off. Its nice to know that it is worth keeping. If you can feel the difference, that is significant. Glad to hear that your car is running good, and thanks again for posting :)

Adam

Hey Adam,

Do you know if anybody has tried using the Racing Beat duct in combination with your intake? I was just wondering since it is essentially the same as the stock duct but with a lot better flow. Eventually you will get to a point where the lowered restriction will not benefit you anymore, but I am not sure that is reached with the hole in the bottom plus the stock duct. Anyway, just a thought...

-Dan

Hi Dan,

I hate the RB duct.

It's a pain in the ass, especially when you want to remove the airbox ....... which you have to do virtually every time you do anything to the car. With my mod, and the stock intake, you have a very free flowing cold air intake. With my mod, there isn't anything extra attached to the box, that gets in the way when removing it. If you want more air, condsider enlarging the opening on the bottom of the box. When doing this, be sure that you do not open it in a manner that will allow any hot air to come in. I opened mine a little more than my instructions call for, but not much.

Adam

When cutting the hole on the box are you suppose to leave the grids? You still put back on the intake and intercooler duct right?

So I finally got the hell around to doing all this, been running it for about two months. To start, I left the support bracing (i.e. the "grids") in place and only cleared the holes. I removed the cross-box that feeds air from the IC duct to the front of the intake box, and sealed the IC duct and intake snorkle with race tape. Initial impressions were that the intake temps as measured right in front of the primary turbo inlet using a thermocouple and Fluke meter showed roughly the same temps as were found before the mod during regular cruising, as well as the same temperature rises when the fans were turned on to cool the engine. HOWEVER, the temp drop when going from a stoplight with the fans on to regular cruising was much quicker, and the temps actually dropped, rather than simply ratcheting higher as one drives, as was the case with the stock set up. What really was nce to see was the drop in temps at the intake elbow, again via thermocouple and Fluke meter, plumbed into the AWS intake pipe. Here, the temps were found to run ~5 C cooler on average, but the real nice thing was how quickly the intake temps get back down from any rise they incur, either through turbo usage or fans blowing on stock IC. This is of course due to the fact that the air duct is now forcing all the air through the IC, with none slipping by into the intake. Note also that I've removed the battery from the engine bay and blocked off the cooling duct for that as well. So all air goes through the IC.

I still see intake temps running between 25-30C on the freeway, with jumps to 45-50 with turbo usage. But they drop RIGHT back down again as soon as the heat load is removed. Driving with the fans on (really not needed on the freeway, just wanted to see...) gives ~35C or so, no real shift from normal cruising. Sitting and idling with the fans on still raises the intake temps to ~55C or so after a while, but they will cool down to the 35C or so when driving again. It now only requires a sustained 35mph or so to get this to happen, whereas it needed 40-45 mph before.

So I had to tear the turbos off due to doolant leak on the coolant return line (note to 'yall: replace the sealing copper washers EVERY time you loosen a banjo connection. They will NOT reseal with the old washer...), and decided to take adams advice and pull the bracing. It wasn't doing much anyway (box is shit for strong!).

I will tell you there is a MAJOR difference between leaving the bracings in and removing them. Whether this is turbulence related or just raw cross sectional intake area, there is DEFINATELY more power and faster spool with them removed.

So. Pull the grids, remove the cross pipe, and seal the IC duct and intake snorkle. I will also mention that I am running NO restrictions in my WG and TPCT lines (i.e. pills removed, though mine were actually restrictors drilled). I get 8.5psi on the primary to 4500, then 9psi to ~6000, then a slight fall off. Plenty for Seattle area traffic and COPS (thick these days...), and I can delay that turbo rebuild for a while longer...

Good product, and mine is especially good as it still retains the "inspected by" sticker.. a real "kick" ;)

Hi Spurvo,

Thats really good info. Thanks for taking the time to do all of that. It s good to know that the intake temps dropped with the mod, and the ducting removed. "Efinitse" checked some intake temps with, and without, the stock ducting connected. He didn't see much difference in temps, but did notice a performance gain with the mod, and the stock ducting in place. I was wondering if you would be willing to do your test with the ducting :)

My thought is that my mod allows the engine to pull most of its air thru the "new" opening in the airbox, and that the stock ducting is like a secondary supply. When the car is moving at over 40 mph, there is a pretty good amount of cool air that is coming thru the nose of the car, and being forced into the intake. It seems like that would be a good secondary supply of cool intake air.

What do you think?

cheap is good =)

In this case, its very good :D

Here's my dyno with Adam's intake:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/great-results-m2-stage-3-ecu-362737/

Very substantial gains from 5k up. This has to be one of the cheapest worthwhile mods that you can do to your car. :)

Sonny

Sonny, that looks pretty good. Would you mind posting the pic of the dyno on this thread with a brief explanation of what you did?

Thank you, Adam

Adam,

No problem. Here is a closeup that better shows the area in question:

http://www.rotormafia.com/dyno/closeup.jpg

The gains start as low as 5500 and go from there. They vary between ~5whp to ~13whp.

On the final run where I disabled your mod, I opened the airbox and laid a piece of duct tape over the opening in the airbox. Then, inside the nose, I stuffed 3 small towels into the inlet duct so that no air could get in.

If you look at money spent vs power gained, this is one of the most cost effictive mods you can do. I'm happy with it! :)

Sonny

Sonny,

Just to make it clear, the blue line was the first pull with the modded box, and the green line is the pull with the mod disabled.

Your dyno test shows a nice difference between stock with K&N, and modded with K&N. I wonder how much difference there would be comparing completely stock (OEM filter) to my mod with K&N. I would bet that the K&N is worth 3-5hp at your power level. Looks like my mod with K&N is worth more than 15 hp over a "completely" stock airbox.

Thanks again for posting your results. Its nice to see some real HP numbers :)

Adam

A lot of time and thought went into his design and the installation and fitment went very well. I did a lot of research before making a decision and I am glad that I went with the CBI. The price is right, keeping stock look is nice in CA, and it certainly makes more scense than sucking hot air in like most aftermarket intakes. Everyone spends tons of money on upgraded intercoolers, why not start with the coolest intake air possible to maximize the stock or any intercoolers potential.

On a side note, I made another modification that may be of some help for some of you out there. The 3 plastic clips on the passenger side of my airbox were broken by a previous owner and I had nice looking ghetto zip ties straped around the airbox. While I had everything apart for the intake install I made a quick fix that may be of some benefit to others out there. Sorry, no pics, but this is what I did. I drilled 6small holes in the bottom portion of the airbox. One to the right and one to the left of where each clip should be. I then fed a zip tie through the holes and made a loop. You could also use wire, but I didnt have any. I now have 3 homemade plastic loops where the stock ones used to be. I then drilled a screw through each of the 3 plastic nipples on the top half of the airbox that is designed to sip into the plastic clips. I left about 1/2" of the screw head hanging out. The plasic is very thick and supports teh screw nicely. I now tightened down my zipties over the screws to make a nice, tight clamp to hold the box halves together. And you really dont even notice the modification unless you look for it since its down o the side of the box. Just an easy successful fix that I figured may help others with broken clips as it seems to be a fairly common problem. Best of luck to everyone and take it easy.

-Hank West

Hank,

Thanks for posting with your thoughts. I'm glad you are pleased with the setup :)

I think many of us have broken tabs/slots on our stock airboxes. On mine, I think one of the slots that the tabs go into, is broken. Your idea of drilling a couple of holes for a zip tie sounds like a good one. The zip tie could be used to hold the tab in place. I have not had the box off in a while, so please refresh my memory. The slot is on the bottom section, and the tab is on top right???

I just installed my Greddy SMIC and did the stock air box cold air mod.

My PFC temps in 65 degree weather reads an average of 41 degrees C with my fans running.

Is this good for this setup?

Glad things went well with the installation. Please let us know how you do against the M3 that barely beat you before the mod. I think you will beat him now :D

This should be a good supplement to Adam C's mod.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=371072

Sorry Penguin, I recommend keeping the stock inlet open. It provides an excellent secondary source of cool air, especially at higher speeds when air is forced in thru the pressurized area in the nose. If someone insists on removing the stock inlet, it looks like your product would be ideal.

If it's open won't it draw hot air?

Steve tested the the mod with the entire stock intake tract, and with the stock inlet blocked. He found that with the the stock inlet open, the car felt "livelier". The car performed better. Although the stock intake tract is restrictive, it still allows an FD around 220 rwhp when completely stock, and thats pretty fast :)

It is possible to draw warm air thru the intercooler with the stock intake tract, but that would only be at very low speeds, or when stopped.

adam's mod is great :) easy to install, stock looking, functional and cost-effective! good job "cheap bastard" :)

Shinchrono,

I'm happy to hear that things went well with the install. Good luck with the rest of your project :)

Adam

Installed this intake on the weekend - it seems to perform very well. I ran full throttle tests with my RE Amemiya open intake immediately before installation and ran the same test with this intake (and K&N drop in) after installation about two hours later. Temperatures were about the same for both sets of runs. I got the same maxumum 10 p.s.i each time, which would indicate (semi scientifically) that both intakes have pretty similar flow rates. (I am not using a boost controller so it would not have adjusted - I use a pill in the wastegate line, which I did not change between runs).

I suspect that this setup gets significantly more cold air too - the inlet to the ducting is in direct front airflow next to the radiator. Both intakes seem to add about the same butt dyno horsepower and responsiveness over stock. (The REA intake was on for only a week so I still remember stock pretty well.) The noise with setup is very marginally more than stock at lower speeds and seems to be the same at higher speeds or at idle. With the open intake, the noise was preposterous - it sounded as if a pregnant cow was having labour difficulties under the hood.

Thanks for posting your results. This is the first time that anyone has posted any kind of comparison to an open intake. It's nice to know that the "butt dyno" feels an equal level of performance between the two.

I'm also glad that you like the noise reduction compared to the RE Amemiya. As you mentioned, some of the open intakes sound awful.

Got my C.B.M. intake mod installed! Thanks Adam. The car "feels" like it pulls a lot harder (especially on a cool night) (one eye on the road, and one on the A/F gauge :ret: ) I gained ~1 p.s.i. of boost :bigthumb: Thanks for the suggestion on the zip-ties.

I'm glad you like it :)

The zip ties sounded like a good idea, but I can't take credit for it. Someone earlier in this thread told me about it. He is now a lifetime member of the Cheap Bastard Club :D

Air box
 

Do i have to send my airbox to you?

Then i have a problem, i dont got anny airbox.... :p: :eek:

Attachment 699955
Attachment 699956

I hope you didn't have to punch yourself too hard :D
I didn't design the kit to be pretty, since it can't be seen when installed. Making it simple and functional was my goal. It's good that you are happy with the performance.

Thanks, Adam

lets not forget the issue of smog testing in California!. this mod looks just like a stock box when you pop the hood. also when you get stopped for traffic violations the airbox and exhaust are the first things officers will look for.
Jeff

That's right. It can't be seen by cops or smog techs.

Thanks Jeff :)

No problem Adam! Great mod

i like adam's airbox mod so much im posting in both his threads lol. GREAT mod. :naughty: