My custom CAI Heatshield

[ModMaster]

I've been driving around for months with a CAI w/o a heatshield and everytime i touched that filter it burned my hand, so i decided to make my own heatshield since after market ones are overpriced.
Well i can't say i made it i just showed my friend ( who has a shop for seats and soft tops etc ) what to do and he did everything, it took an hour and cost me a dinner

The steps:

1. Removing the air box and making a cardboard template.



2. Cutting and shaping a piece of thin sheet metal while testing if the hood closes freely and make sure the metal doesn't scrape with anything ( wires etc ). Of course u have to cut a 3" circle for the intake tube and notice the bend around the plastic water container, it allows the cold air to enter freely and it also helps steady the shield.



3. Cutting insulation sponge and gluing it on the metal, this is a sponge that has closed cells for insulation ( at least that's what he told me lol ) . I found this, maybe it will help someone : http://acehose.com/closed-cell-sponge-rubber.htm



4. Spray paint everything black for looks and insulation purposes



5. Weatherstripping - lower



5. Weatherstripping - upper



6. Placing the shield in place and testing again if the hood closes to make sure u don't need any further changes. The shield will sit in place very well without a need to zip tie or screw anything.



7. final product:





To me it looks fine ( ill find a proper 45 degrees intake boot ) but most importantly i drove it hard for 30 mins and when i opened the hood the filter was very cool only the left side of the heatshield was a tiny bit warm from the inside i think because the shield from the oustside is touching the alternator and that's transferring some heat, but the filter stays cool, im convinced it will behave the same in the summer.

I should say the intake sounds deeper with the heatshield for some reason, i felt the difference in sound immediately, and more importantly and im not dreaming the car pulls a little better down low it feels like it has more torque in lower rpms, i never thought a heatshield would make a such a difference.

I hope this will be helpfull, i know there r lots of DIY's with effective and more good lookin' CAIs but still i wanted to share.

[ThaiRacer]

U should start distributing. I'll buy one if its cheaper then the ebay ones.

[kevinqjhps]

VERY clean job, and I am a perfectionist!

[SethuM]

looks good!!

[dfreshx00]

good job. looks quite clean. easy for someone to follow too

[CLPreston]

I should say the intake sounds deeper with the heatshield for some reason, i felt the difference in sound immediately, and more importantly and im not dreaming the car pulls a little better down low it feels like it has more torque in lower rpms, i never thought a heatshield would make a such a difference.

Was it just me that noticed this? I think the heat shield looks awesome, but proof read first please.

[E36Bimmer93]

Very nice! I need to get around to building one of these ASAP. I'm gonna try to model it after yours as close as possible

[z25is]

I'm about to do this exact same project my self, I've been driving for over a month now without a heatshield around the intake.

Unless if you want to make another, how much would you want for a shield?

[NegativeCamber]

nice work. looks just as good as the $400 intake kits. has anyone really questioned why those kits are so ridiculously priced? lol.

[drummerboi]

looks awesome...as good as K&N and other top CAI heatshields... I think you have business opportunity...haha...how much did it really cost you to make???

[328 Power 04]

This is quite nice. I was expecting some bad DIY job but this is great! Real nice job!

No cruise control? Radiator expansion tank on the LEFT? Weird...

[tlamm]

How much and where did you get the filter and piping. I would like to do this.

[Meatball546]

Great job, man! I bet that sounds awesome.

[peelsbimmer]

U should start distributing. I'll buy one if its cheaper then the ebay ones.

+1

[ponchiz318]

Well of course it looks good. He's the mod master as his SC states.......

[Go3Go]

Was it just me that noticed this? I think the heat shield looks awesome, but proof read first please.

grammar Nazi

op, heat shield looks really well done!

[BMWMPow3r]

nice job. waiting to go 3.5" maf to do the same thing.

[ModMaster]

Thanks a lot guys for the nice comments, it gives me great satisfaction.

I had two 30 min trips today home-work-home, at the end of each trip i opened the hood to check the filter, it was cold the upper (chrome) part of the filter was cold !! u couldn't touch that thing b4 the shield. but the weather is very cold now, can't wait to test it in hot weather.

How much and where did you get the filter and piping. I would like to do this.

Filter was bought locally, not a brand name but i paid 80$, those r not cheap here, the blue intake tube is from e-bay (15$ shipped), but i bought the 90 degree elbow by mistake, so i got a 3" plastic sewer pipe (lol) as the extension until i get a proper 45 degree intake elbow.

looks awesome...as good as K&N and other top CAI heatshields... I think you have business opportunity...haha...how much did it really cost you to make???

I really don't know, i mean its only sheet metal, insulation sponge, weatherstrip etc not expensive materials but all that stuff was already in his shop and he really didn't take money, he's a good friend of mine, he did it as a challenge he likes this stuff, i just showed him pics and explained the idea to him and he came up with it in an hour.

Great job, man! I bet that sounds awesome.

The sound is awesome, i'll post a vid soon. I'm actually gettin' the cam specific software soon, i can't imagine the sound @7000rmps

As for the distribution idea, i'm not sure it will work cus of shipping charges but i will check it and consult my friend to see if we can work something out, he actually told me he can do a better job with the finish.

[iXguy]

Well dude hats off that's a hell of a DIY job. Very impressed.

Put together a kit with the shield and the piping (so that the hole lines up perfectly), let people add their own filter, and you'd sell lots of 'em on here.

But you may want to look under some other hoods, my expansion tank isn't there either and there might be an issue with that front bit becuase of that.

[Bris328is]

very nice--great sheet metal skills and use of other materials--wish more people would use their brains instead of buying substandard ebay crap.

you are the man

[TRF78]

I've been driving around for months with a CAI w/o a heatshield and everytime i touched that filter it burned my hand, so i decided to make my own heatshield since after market ones are overpriced.
Well i can't say i made it i just showed my friend ( who has a shop for seats and soft tops etc ) what to do and he did everything, it took an hour and cost me a dinner

The steps:

1. Removing the air box and making a cardboard template.



2. Cutting and shaping a piece of thin sheet metal while testing if the hood closes freely and make sure the metal doesn't scrape with anything ( wires etc ). Of course u have to cut a 3" circle for the intake tube and notice the bend around the plastic water container, it allows the cold air to enter freely and it also helps steady the shield.



3. Cutting insulation sponge and gluing it on the metal, this is a sponge that has closed cells for insulation ( at least that's what he told me lol ) . I found this, maybe it will help someone : http://acehose.com/closed-cell-sponge-rubber.htm



4. Spray paint everything black for looks and insulation purposes



5. Weatherstripping - lower



5. Weatherstripping - upper



6. Placing the shield in place and testing again if the hood closes to make sure u don't need any further changes. The shield will sit in place very well without a need to zip tie or screw anything.



7. final product:





To me it looks fine ( ill find a proper 45 degrees intake boot ) but most importantly i drove it hard for 30 mins and when i opened the hood the filter was very cool only the left side of the heatshield was a tiny bit warm from the inside i think because the shield from the oustside is touching the alternator and that's transferring some heat, but the filter stays cool, im convinced it will behave the same in the summer.

I should say the intake sounds deeper with the heatshield for some reason, i felt the difference in sound immediately, and more importantly and im not dreaming the car pulls a little better down low it feels like it has more torque in lower rpms, i never thought a heatshield would make a such a difference.

I hope this will be helpfull, i know there r lots of DIY's with effective and more good lookin' CAIs but still i wanted to share.

The photos for this post have disappeared. Any chance you can post them again??

[Deus Ex Machina]

The photos for this post have disappeared. Any chance you can post them again??

Since this thread is 9 years old and the guys post count is still only 103 I am doubting he is still active. But I could be wrong.