3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002) 1993-2002 Discussion including performance modifications and Technical Support Sections.
Sponsored by:

Custom cold air NACA duct project

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 11-24-08, 02:30 PM
  #1  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Lightbulb Custom cold air NACA duct project

So, I came upon this carbon fiber/fiberglass hood on craigslist, $100 picked up. I thought it wasn't a bad deal, and heck, it actually fits very good. But what I really wanted was to modify in a duct to draw cold air into the airbox. I have seen some other mods for this, but I had a vision of this ducting and so it began...

This is an actual pic of the hood with my final renderings of the duct and vents on there.


Then, I laid out my design on the hood itself.




From the back, you can see where the duct pokes thru, but to align with the inlet it will need a "box" built up around it with a hole in the bottom to meet up with the inlet.


This is the inlet tract on the stock airbox with the stock ducting removed. It feeds air below the flat panel K&N.


And I cut...


Initially, I had planned for the duct to swoop right into the inlet, but after some changes this would not be feasible. However, I did make that duct, here is the plug I started from foam. It was eventually covered with filler, sanded, glassed, and subsequently thrown away.

Last edited by TimeMachine; 11-24-08 at 02:36 PM.
Old 11-24-08, 02:35 PM
  #2  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What I ended up doing to make the duct was to stretch nylon (pantyhose) over the bottom of the cutout (no pic). Then, I fixed a rectangle shaped piece of cardboard at the back of the duct with the nylon stretched over top. I wet that out with poly resin and let harden.


Then I layed it up with a few layers of fiberglass CSM.


Here is a view from the top side of the hood...


Old 11-24-08, 02:35 PM
  #3  
Spooling

iTrader: (7)
 
Nateness's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SoCal
Posts: 375
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Very neat project! Looks like some decent fab work as well. I am curious about why you have chosen to duct from that location instead of pursuing a intake air path lower to the ground?
Old 11-24-08, 02:41 PM
  #4  
Moderator

iTrader: (3)
 
diabolical1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 10,809
Received 305 Likes on 266 Posts
yes, it looks like some very good and fairly intuitive work - scratch that - it IS very good work! however, i was sort of wondering why you didn't choose a different path as well.
Old 11-24-08, 02:42 PM
  #5  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ok, for the inlet duct, I had to make a sleeve that would fit over the stock opening and connect to the duct.

First I made a mold of the shape of the inlet. Then I wrapped it in tape and then aluminum tape for a release agent (no pic).






Then I simply layed up the CSM around the plug building up about an 1/8" of fiberglass, or 4 layers of 1.5oz CSM. I used a sharpie to mark the plug inside for cutting guide later.




I pulled out the plug, it came out in one piece, surprisingly, could reuse if need be. The "loop" of fiberglass that remained is very strong.




Old 11-24-08, 02:46 PM
  #6  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Fortunately, the collar fits perfectly!




Now I'm at the point where I will fab up a "box" stuck to the underside of the hood fed by the NACA duct. The bottom of this box have a cutout aligned with the new extension on the inlet of the airbox. When the hood closes, the two will align and be sealed by weatherstripping.

More pics to come as this project wraps up!
Old 11-24-08, 02:50 PM
  #7  
Put it in her butt
iTrader: (1)
 
Azcamel's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Tucson
Posts: 848
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
wow nice work.
Old 11-24-08, 02:51 PM
  #8  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Nateness
Very neat project! Looks like some decent fab work as well. I am curious about why you have chosen to duct from that location instead of pursuing a intake air path lower to the ground?
Originally Posted by diabolical1
yes, it looks like some very good and fairly intuitive work - scratch that - it IS very good work! however, i was sort of wondering why you didn't choose a different path as well.
Thanks, guys! I was initially going to duct straight into the flat panel on the front of the top of the airbox. However, this would have required using conical filter elements and a host of other mods because the panel filter would have been below the opening. In the end, this is similar to how muscle cars use cowl induction hoods to feed cold air to the carb, and I thought some of those design elements would work well here, too.

P.S. The large cutouts in the middle of the hood sit directly over the intercooler. They will be covered with powdercoated hex perf metal and hopefully the exit of the intercooler can be directly ducted to them.

Last edited by TimeMachine; 11-24-08 at 02:54 PM.
Old 11-24-08, 07:48 PM
  #9  
Senior Member

iTrader: (2)
 
88SE_HI's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 331
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
This would be good for the fabrication forum.
Old 11-24-08, 08:03 PM
  #10  
needs more track time

iTrader: (16)
 
gracer7-rx7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Bay Area CA
Posts: 9,182
Received 507 Likes on 349 Posts
what did you use to cut the hood?

good work!
Old 11-24-08, 08:28 PM
  #11  
Brappable.

iTrader: (6)
 
RLaoFD's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 1,384
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
Originally Posted by gracer7-rx7
what did you use to cut the hood?

good work!
+1 inquiring minds would like to know
Old 11-24-08, 08:47 PM
  #12  
Please somebody help!!!

iTrader: (1)
 
NissanConvert's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Woodridge, IL
Posts: 1,442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I've been thinking about something very, very similar to this.
Old 11-25-08, 11:31 AM
  #13  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by RLaoFD
+1 inquiring minds would like to know
I made the rough cuts using a Dremel with a reinforced cutoff wheel, and then I went back and cleaned it up with a sanding drum bit and then sanded by hand.
Old 11-25-08, 12:02 PM
  #14  
Torqueless Wonder

iTrader: (1)
 
cptpain's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,020
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
this looks very promising!!! very nice work
Old 11-25-08, 05:36 PM
  #15  
In the Garage

iTrader: (2)
 
oo7arkman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Central FL
Posts: 1,406
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
This looks very good! I like how clean the design is. Great work! Keep the pics coming I am interested to see what this looks like when it is all finished.
Old 11-25-08, 06:33 PM
  #16  
Full Member

iTrader: (9)
 
bzwigart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Pittsburgh
Posts: 178
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Great work. Keep us posted through the process!!
Old 11-25-08, 06:35 PM
  #17  
T3DoW

iTrader: (10)
 
TpCpLaYa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Chicago - NW Burbs
Posts: 3,754
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
sweet job man! what does NACA mean btw?
Old 11-25-08, 06:54 PM
  #18  
Lets Go Hokies!

iTrader: (5)
 
afterburn27's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 1,727
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
Originally Posted by TpCpLaYa
sweet job man! what does NACA mean btw?
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

The predecessor to NASA.
Old 11-25-08, 07:11 PM
  #19  
Rotary Enthusiast

iTrader: (1)
 
tiger18's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 899
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Im keen to see air temprature results, take some temprature checks maybe with and without the duct sealed. I was gonna do exactly the same thing but im gonna go a letterbox in the front bumper and make a tube exactly the same to the air filters.
Old 11-25-08, 07:16 PM
  #20  
Not the company

 
RE-Amemiya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5,040
Received 9 Likes on 8 Posts
Nice work!
Old 11-25-08, 08:52 PM
  #21  
Rotary Freak

iTrader: (8)
 
M104-AMG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: FL
Posts: 2,857
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Did you use the NACA duct calculator ( http://sports.racer.net/tech_info/ae...calculator.xls ), or a pre-formed NACA duct from a race shop ?

:-) neil
Old 11-26-08, 02:40 PM
  #22  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks, guys and token girls! I didn't use that calculator, but I used info from this page to calculate the width/height/angle ratios of the duct. I pulled it off the hood to finish it, more pics to come soon...
Old 12-04-08, 02:45 PM
  #23  
Bosozoomku
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
TimeMachine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I made the plug for the box last night, I used aluminum tape for the release agent. It doesn't need to be pretty, and aluminum is an easy, efficient answer. Also, CA glue ftw!



The impression of an "arch" seen in the aluminum is where that edge of the box straddles the curvature of the bottom of the duct.


The back of the box and top are flat.


After this is layed up and cured, I will fit this and the duct to the hood for realz...
Old 12-04-08, 11:01 PM
  #24  
Please somebody help!!!

iTrader: (1)
 
NissanConvert's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Woodridge, IL
Posts: 1,442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Do you have a general idea of your IATs? Power? Anything like that so we can compare before and after on something other than the butt dyno?
Old 12-04-08, 11:26 PM
  #25  
Full Member

iTrader: (9)
 
Rdodds033's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 239
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
nice job dude i cant wait to see what this looks like on your car. keep up the good work


Quick Reply: Custom cold air NACA duct project



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:46 PM.