DIY Ultimate Greddy Turbo CAI for AP owners
 

I got inspired from the pictures of the intake mysql posted, made by Jeff and decided that instead of waiting for somebody to make me one, I'd have the fun and convenience of not having to wait and making it myself from off-the-shelf components from a local auto parts store a few blocks away from my house. I might have overpaid for a few of these items but it still works out to be a decent deal, and what I liked about it most, was that I could walk in and get everything the same day and walk out. The only pith is going to have to make an extra trip to get a piece of scrap aluminum welded on and three holes drilled to hold the maf. I will update with pics and procedures along the way and just wanted to post how easy this was and it might be an optimal setup for those who have the greddy turbo kit and the accessport.

Basically what you need are four t-bolt clamps, 3 x ~3", 1 x ~3.5", which I was quoted 3 bucks / piece for SS at lordco (a local auto superstore, analogous to home depot). A 3" long 3" to 3" silicone coupler, a 3" long 3" to 3.5" silicone coupler, ten bucks each for vibrant, and two 90 degree pre-fabbed elbows, mandrel bent, polished aluminum 3" OD pipe from vibrant, and an 18" long 3.5" OD pipe from vibrant. A hacksaw to cut the aluminum to the needed lengths is also needed. A 40$ K&N universal cone type filter will also be used, with a 3" rubber flange.

part numbers:
Vib 2892 37 bucks canadian: straight pipe
vib 2176 28 bucks canadian: elbows
couplers 10 bucks and 12 bucks
tbolt clamps about 3 bucks each, and K&n filter about 40 bucks
aluminum welding ??

It cost a little more than SS for some reason, but I chose aluminum because it matched my radiator and other pipes and will be easier on my hacksaw :) but a bit more difficult to weld. it's lighter too and you can insulate the maf tube later if you want. I think magnaflow has a lot of pre-fabbed ss pieces that might be much cheaper

I'll get the part number for air filter and the cut lengths tomorrow or the next day after the welding. I just wanted to post how easy this is for people to do - and fun! I think the total cost will be about 185$ or so, plus or minus 25$ depending on the welding. I wanted to build an ABS one from home depot parts, it would have been MUCH cheaper and easier with no welding needed, but I would have had to go 3" ID tubing. If someone wants to do this, the maf can easily be mounted by cutting a piece of coupler, sliding it down to the middle of the maf tube, solvent welding it with plumbing glue, then scraping it on some smooth concrete until you have a 2" squared flat spot to drill three holes for the maf. More to come later, I hope this helps some people out as it seemed to make mysql's car run much much better!

Very sweet!!!

If I knew it was that easy I would have done the same thing. lol

Keep us updated with pics. :)

I wasn't going to do it until you told me how easy it was to pull the bumper off, lol! I will get a ton more pics tomorrow. This was WAY too easy, except I can't weld.

Thats funny.

I am taking my front bumper off tomorrow to replace all my silicone couplers.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Your list of products is getting pretty long :)

Yeah, sorry, i forgot to mention that, had I lived in the USA and didn't have to worry about customs, I would have got all my parts from Charles!!! That would have saved me a two block drive to the store, lol

Vibrant.. Good stuff.

Or, as an alternative, you could go to AutoZone, and pick up a bunch of their pieces of "Sectional" intake components, along with the MAF adapter. (Yep they have that too) and just using a screwdriver peice it together. it will be nice, clean and very very shiny, and for probably less :)

if you're talking about the spectre modular intake stuff, that's useless. It was worse than the greddy maf housing and i couldn't even accelerate.

Really? I use the maf adapter section on my boost side, to hold the maf. But whatever. It was just a suggestion.

you're using the int-x. Your car wouldn't care. I ran with them on my car with the int-x without issue too.

But when you start using your MAF, it matters, a lot.

The maf housing is 2 5/8" wide btw, smaller than stock.

I need to go buy a step-drill bit that can drill a hole in this aluminum that is 1.25" diameter then should be done the CAI. Be back with pics.

very interested in seeing some more pictures....so the greddy maf housing stinks?

Yeah, it stinks bad. With the Cobb AccessPORT, the MAF sensor readings are very important and we need to insure for optimal performance that the readings are precise. To help with this, I think we need to minimize turbulence around the sensor. You can see by looking at the greddy maf housing, there are a lot of things there that are going to hinder laminar flow. within just a few inches of the sensor the 3.5" pipe couples to a 3" pipe, and if you look at it, it's not even a nice couple, it has a tube sticking out and a big rim on the inside. On the other side of the MAF sensor, within an inch, there is another taper to less than 3". There is also no screen.

If you look at the stock intake, the maf housing tube is much longer, with TWO screens before the maf, and a nice perfect 3.5" diameter long length before and after the sensor. I don't know why greddy didn't just stick to this stock intake and make some kind of adjustment so that this could have been used.

With this new CAI, like some others here are running, there will be 6" length of 3.5" diameter cylinder on both sides of the sensor, and prior to the sensor there will be a screen, and before the screen will be two mandrel bent 3" diameter elbows going to a K&N filter. The other side of the sensor will have a good 6" also. MAF sensor readings will be much more precise so the amount of fuel you get per unit of air will be bang on.

I will post many pics of exactly how the CAI is put together and it will be just as nice as any aftermarket CAI. It's going to be even easier than I thought and will not even require welding. The most difficult parts are just drilling a hole and using a hacksaw to make one cut to shorten my 18" straight pipe to 12".

cant wait to see pictures so i can start on mine...lol

almost ready but rainin outside
 

Looks fantastic!!!

Top secret part eh? :lol:

How are you planning on mounting the MAF? Are you just going to have two stand-offs welded to the pipe, or is there going to be some kind of raised section to help seal around the MAF as well?

I need to do this as well, so I am contemplating exactly how to do it.

I guess one way would be to weld a 1.5" x 1.5" scrap piece of flat 2mm thick aluminum to it and drill the three holes, but I have about three or four other ideas that do not involve any welding so I like these better. I'll see if I can post the pics this weekend. I think I have a very simple and perfectly effective solution.

the maf bung is the only difficult part of this process. worse case, you can get a standard maf housing from the likes of racing beat and attach two tubes to either side to extend it's length.

I believe the long polished stainless steel maf housing on my intake came from SFR.

I apologize for the wait. I wanted to post the finished pics today but it's still pouring rain. That's Vancouver for you. I will post the finished pics of the MAF sensor mount tomorrow, probably inside my house again and suggest a lot of different ways you can try it out. The SFR one mysql's talking about sounds like a great option too!

Lookin' good. Can't wait for the full DIY.

something like this piece from atpturbo.com would work rite?
http://www.atpturbo.com/Merchant2/gr...LS-077_450.jpg
im sure there are much less inexpensive alternatives i cant wait to see

it's not long enough. you'd need to extend the tubing further. Best if it's one solid pipe that doesn't have ridges and anything else that will disrupt the airflow when possible.

That is a fantastic idea. I dont see why he would object.

It has my "Stamp 'o Approval"!
I just don't have the excess manufacturing capacity at the moment.

I will post the pics of the finished product tonight, and hopefully have it installed by Tuesday night with pics also!

I’ve tried to build one of my own in this past weekend however it was failed attempt. I am just not great building this kind of stuff.. :(
So CRH if you price it reasonably. I am all in already

Sweet - I'll buy one from you Ray.

some more pics here and some important comments. I assume everyone who wants one of these things have their stock airbox sitting in their garage on a shelf. IF NOT, that is ok too, as I will explain many variants and options.

Pictured here in order, is the hacksawed off (takes about ten seconds) plastic ABS maf tube from the stock airbox. There are also two metal mesh screens that were part of the stock airbox. You can choose to use this screen and this plastic tube for the mount. (next post I will list other ways you can do it, this is just one super fast 30 second way).

more steps:
1. hacksaw off stock maf cylindrical part (10 seconds), and also obtain a stock screen, which is already there, it just comes off.

2. Place cyclindrical tube with hole facing upwards and hacksaw the thing in half as shown.

as you can now see, you have TWO maf sensor mounts now so you can give one to your friend. The backside of the thing you just cut in half, has a flat spot with what looks like a 1.25" knock-out hole. With the hole-saw blade used earlier, you can knock this hole out and have two mounts.

using plastic or metal straps or t-bolt clamps, align the hole with the hole in the aluminum tube and strap it on. this is ready for use now.

COMMENTS:
1. if you think this is ugly, it's because i spent in total about 3 minutes on the whole process. you can use some household tools on the plastic and make it looking really pretty and fast. get a file or dremel and have a party. put your name on it or the word FAST. I think mine looks badass like the terminator

2. the 3.5" OD aluminum cylinder i used is exactly 1.5 mm thick. This will result in the maf sensor 1.5mm offset from the center of the tube. Looking at it inside the stock tube, and inside the greddy maf tube, it is not exactly in the center anyways, maybe it should be? I hope Chamberlain or Jeff can comment on this There is an EASY FIX anyways, if you don't like this. Simply take a piece of sandpaper, wrap it around a small rectangular block and sand down the flat surface of where the maf is and the two pegs where the screws go in by 1.5 mm or more. you can now completely adjust where you want the maf sensor to be. i just assume it doesn't matter because of looking at other configurations.

3. I tried putting the maf sensor (more pics later) directly into the aluminum hole i drilled. There is an o-ring around the maf sensor where it touches the hole. the hole is 1.25" in the aluminum and is PERFECT. there is literally not even a fraction of a mm gap around the maf sensor and there is literally zero air-gap. You can get a 1.25" ID rubber washer or another o-ring and put it on the maf sensor, and directly stick the sensor into the aluminum hole. MOUNTING this can be done in several ways also. You can just strap the sensor in with a strap, or drill two holes in the aluminum tube where the screws go, and use long tiny computer screws from the inside of the tube, facing out, and thru the holes on your maf sensor and use little cute nuts to bolt it on

4. However you choose to do it, it should be very secure. But don't worry about it needing to be super secure. Being located in an area so close to the open atmosphere (the air filter), there is not going to be a significant pressure or vacuum differential where the maf sensor is. It's not going to pop out or get sucked in by air. But it needs to be secure because like all the other parts in your car, it's going to vibrate and you don't want this thing fallin out while driving, i suppose

5. I just remembered, so yeeah, if you don't wanna chop up your stock maf housing and don't wanna mount directly (which I think would work very well with a nice solid 1.25" OD rubber washer), you can just find something else to strap on and make a flat spot and drill the hole where the maf is. Plastic would be the easiest. Or wood, lol

summary: there are more than a few cool ways to mount this thing without the use of any welding and it will look just as nice, if you spend more than my 30 seconds on it, and work just as good. i will post pics and instructions of the other methods also

Here are some more pics of the finished maf mount setup. I will post more pics of options, the completed setup, and the installation.

note that the stock plastic maf housing is about 1/3 mm larger in diameter so after fitting it onto the aluminum pipe, it was a PERFECT fit. You have two of these now and can make two, and you have two screens also

Unfortunately the stock screen didn't fit as shown in the prior post picture. I will post pics of just simply putting this screen (unless you wanna use a different screen) on a piece of wood and just cutting out the exterior ring. then it will fit perfectly.

Also, I heard a rumor that Charles R. Hill might be throwing together a complete parts kit for this setup. This setup has some unique advantages over any other setup on the market:

1. Maximixed length of maf sensor housing, being a full 12" long right out to your bumper, with NO bends or interruptions in the tube before or after the sensor which is right in the middle of this tube

2. 3.5" outer diameter tube is larger so you will not max out your maf setup as fast as you would in a 3" tube

3. the 90 degree bends, since coupled with a silicone coupler and t-bolt clamps, can be fully adjusted. So if you are going to upgrade your intercooler, or change the position of it, or anything else under your bumper, you don't have to hack up a brand new shiny CAI that you bought. You can simply twist the position of the tubes to where you want your air filter to be, and you can disconnect these 90 degree elbows, take a hacksaw and do a 30 second cut to adjust the new height of where you want your air filter to be.

4. it's lightweight aluminum and matches your intercooler and other pipes that came with your greddy kit

5. it doesn't really take any extra time to go this route since if you buy another aftermarket CAI, you still have to pull your bumper off and install it anyways, so with all the legwork done, all you need to do is make a trip, buy your parts and have a hacksaw and drill ready and you're done.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas to help make this thing even cooler - literally (like by coating the 3.5" tube with an insulator).

Just FYI, if anyone would prefer a pre-built C.A.I. for your Greddy kit we have them at Mazsport.net!

Now back to the DIY!

now i gotta make me one of these! thanks for the DIY

Looks amzing and very simple to accomplish.

When do you plan to have it installed?

I am dying to find out if the intake will solve your rich condition @ WOT.

any updates grouch?
did it work?
I tried to make my own however it ran like crap so I am back to the greddy one and saving some money and maybe have a shop make it for me

cant wait to see what to look foward to...im placing the mazsport cai on hold

Sweet - to lazy to build my own; and Ray saves the day.

Can we buy only the 3.5 and the MAF mount? I started the DIY and have all the other parts...

I haven't had the time for updates since the weather was pretty crappy but today I managed to be able to take a quick peek at how much room I had after I pulled the bumper off. I've now decided on which filter to go with, and for sure, you can choose any filter you want, providing it is approximately this size:

http://www.knfilters.com/search/prod...x?Prod=RU-5111

PART NUMBER: RU-5111

I should be able to show pics of everything installed tomorrow.

UPDATE: I used K&N part number RE-0930 and it fit perfectly (it's what I could get same day in-stock)

UPDATE: Intercooler will need to be relocated no matter what CAI you use with the GReddy T-kit, but it's easy but probably took me an extra 30 min. at least and cost an extra 10 bucks for that holy angle bar from home depot to make a bracket for each side. All you need is a good pair of metal snips and pliers to bend the thing and a hacksaw to cut it.

UPDATE: One of the 90 degree elbows needs to be cut. From the outside measure 2 and 3/4" and mark it and on the inside measure 2 and 3/8" and mark it, cut with hacksaw, extra ten seconds of work.

Check out all the pics! Twelve more in total! It's totally done now.

in these pics it shows the left and right side brackets, the front view of the installed air filter and the top view of the elbows

Here's a pic of the side view of the air filter and how it's perfectly parallel to the intercooler. what a perfect choice and it's not super small either! also there's pics of the front of the relocated intercooler, and when you put your front bumper on, the intercooler is now visible. no more sleeper.

I bought 2 of these from home depot, and bent them into a Z shape to hold the intercooler in that position. Then just drilled holes so they fit. It's not pretty, but you can't see it unless the front bumper is off. They're very thick, maybe 18 gauge?

The nice thing about the intercooler relocation is that the top 1" or so of the intercooler that was useless behind the low impact bumper is now getting airflow. I just don't know if the flow is as good at the 35 degree angle as it was before, but I haven't had any issues.

Great pictures.

You really need to let us know if this mod improved the crazy rich fuel at WOT with the AccessPort!!! :)

"Crazy rich" WOT is just wrong, whatever the reason.
I still need good data for your condition.
It is likely you do not have a calibration that handles your MAF tube correctly.

My wbo2 display's 10.0 when I start to get into boost and the engine stumbles because it’s literally choking on fuel.

I realise you are busy and on the road so when you get back I would love to try a different map.

I might even have my Mazsport CAI before then.

Which calibration are you running right now?

he's running with the greddy maf housing. It will get rich in boost. That's just how it reacts.

I've got several days under my belt with the 5.0 map, and I still have 0 LTFT. It's spot on except for my stumbling issue at high load and high boost.

btw, Jeff, are you getting my SMS messages?! heh.

MM 2005 MT TURBO v1b_1b