im fabricating my own IC duct for my upgraded stock mount. im making it out of fiberglass. ive got it most of the way done, but my question is this.. when I put everything back together there is a gap in a few spots between the duct and IC. in some places it is about 1/2", so the two (right now) don't mate up tight against eachother. will it hurt to drive the car this way with that 1/2" gap in a few spots? I haven't driven the car in a few weeks and im anxious to drive it. I want to drive it to work tonight but I don't want to if that is going to hurt something.

thanks

 

It's not going to hurt anything per se, but it means the duct isn't doing as much as it really should. Lots of air will leak through those gaps vs. go through the IC.

Why did you need to fab a duct? Didn't it come with one or didn't one of the existing ducts for sale work?

I would get some bulb sealer to seal up the gaps:

McMaster-Carr

 

The IC I bought from a forum member and didn't come with the duct. I know the gaps will cause the cooler air to leak out or the hot air from the engine bay to leak in. I don't drive the car hard. But I just didn't wanna drive it at all if it would harm anything. I'm actually going to add a little more fiberglass in the FEw spots that need it. But I'll start on that maybe tomorrow

 

It isn't going to hurt anything having a gap on the duct, it just not going to be 100% efficient.

 

2 things you can do...buy some weatherstripping from like autozone and attach it around the edges of the duct so it seals to the IC. The same can be done with foam which can usually be found at home depot, ACE, ect.



doesn't have to be fancy....just has to work. You're trying to mimic the above

 

I'm probably gonna do thy after I get it where I want it. Right now the gap is just too big for that to work.