96-97 f-body custom intake
by evan talk; intake created by evan talk and more-so by christopher stanaland
well ok, a custom intake on, i think, a 96-97 year model f-body (may work for different years, but i think those are the only two). well, i have a 97 chevrolet camaro and this job, well, it's not too tough i don't guess, but it is just a little bit of trouble. anyway, here's a freakin in-depth instruction page on how to do it yourself; and i've got plenty of pics, so you can follow pretty easily i believe. anyway, here goes nothin...
well first i want to say is this: this intake setup is not a true "cold air intake" because of where the filter will sit; there will be NO "cold air." to clear up many misconceptions of the hypothesis that "cold air" is better for your engine and gives you more power...well, it MAY prove to be true, but think about it first: if you ever touch your factory intake setup, my custom intake setup, or even slp's intake setup, you'll notice how hot the pipes get; the reason they get this hot is because your engine runs really HOT (any intake system is close to the engine, radiator, etc. and all of those parts run at excess of 100 degrees). also, the "cold air" is still going in a 160-180 degree engine, and that's really hot. so, theoretically "cold air" may be better for your engine, but in actuality, common sense tells us that "cold air" or "hot air" makes no difference because your engine is still really hot and any air that enters through the throttle body will eventually heat up. so i come to this conclusion: might as well give your engine the hottest air you can get from the start. call me dumb, but it's simple logic that proves this is the best way.
anyway, to get started. first off, you are going to have to buy the following parts. if you don't want to use these, but would rather spend your money on something much cheaper, like, say pvc pipe...well, don't come running to me if your whole setup sucks ballz :-) anywho, the metal pipe i got at an autozone for about $45 total...ya it's a ricer piece,
but you've got no idea how nicely that ricer piece works on your car. next, you're going to have to get a couple of plumbing rubber couplers (a 4" to a 3" and a 3" to a 3"...your throttle body is approx 3.5" but the 4" fits fine on it) at a lowes or a local hardware store or plumbing store (imagine that, they actually sell plumbing rubber couplers at plumbing stores). also, the ring clamps you'll be needing (4 4" ones), well they will all come with the couplers...or should anyway. you'll also need a pvc grommet (i got mine at a local auto store...i'm sure you'll be able to find one somewhere)--this grommet is what is going to hold your IAT (intake air temperature) sensor whenever you take it out of your old stock intake system. and lastly, you are going to need to buy a filter…any kind will work as long as it has got the dimensions that will fit right where your old airbox sat (the ricer ones at local auto stores are the EXACT dimensions…so go there and take those dimensions down and then you can order either a K & N or something else later). if you buy the rice boyz filter, it will be about $20, the thing about this filter is that it actually works well, but it can’t resist water or it will rust; but you can always pay roughly $50 for a K & N that will give you about the same performance effects, only it’s waterproof. (note: the place where the filter will sit should never get wet, even if you drive your car through a tsunami). so, you’ve got all of your parts, but your going to need a couple of supplies: a hacksaw, a razor, a flat head screwdriver, and a metal-hollowing-out tool like a dremel. now it’s time to get started with the whole project.
first step: take the old intake apart. this is pretty easy. first you've got to uninstall the IAT sensor from the factory intake (note: if you accidentally leave this sensor off and crank your car, your SES light WILL come on. if you are driving your car and notice that light is on and realize that your sensor is unplugged, this is why. pull your car over and plug it back in. once plugged back in, the light WILL NOT go off; you'll have to drive your car around for a day or two until the light turns off, but don't worry, it's no big deal.) so, you've got the sensor unplugged, now you need to pull the airbox out and separate it from the intake piece that is connected to the throttle body. once you have done this, you need to undo the two clips that hold the TB intake piece onto the car.
HOLD ON TO THIS CRAP, IF SOMETHING EVER GOES WRONG WITH YOUR INTAKE CHEVROLET WILL CHARGE YOU $5000 TO REPLACE THESE STOCK PARTS (not really, but a whole crap load of a lot of money). anywho, once you've taken everything from the stock intake out, you are going to need to take the IAT sensor out of the factory piece it now sits in. to do this, you'll need that razor. the sensor is held into the factory intake piece by a pvc grommet and the grommet has got two parts on the factory piece: a top part, and a bottom part (they are both rubber and CANNOT be salvaged--so don't waste your time trying to). you cut the top part off and take it off; then you PUSH the IAT sensor through the factory piece until it comes out the other end (be careful not to break the thermometer caging on the end of the sensor--you break it and you've probably broken the thermometer and once again chevrolet will not only be unhappy you've screwed with their stock parts, but that you've broken probably a $50-$100 sensor and you HAVE to have this sensor). 
then you take that sensor and you cut the bottom part of the grommet off so you've got nothing but the sensor. you can see the pics here as to what all this looks like
second step: after you've screwed with the factory crap and put all of it away and have got the sensor, you'll need to start working on the custom intake portion. first thing i would suggest doing in this procedure is taking the two couplers and cutting about a half inch off of both (the 3" doesn't matter which end you cut but the 4" to 3" make sure you cut the 3" part back, not the 4" part--in the end the only difference it will probably make is a better fit, but just do it this way for simplistic's sake). you can once again look at the pictures so that you don't cut too much off. the reason you are cutting these is because this intake is going to have a VERY tight fit in between the throttle body and the radiator and also a very tight fit between the radiator and the ABS. if you don't cut the couplers, this whole setup will never work. secondly, you're going to need to cut the pipe on both ends. (LOOK AT THE PICTURES BEFORE YOU CUT--IT IS NOT A STRAIGHT CUT; THE PICTURES WILL MERELY GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA THOUGH)
you can see in the pictures a very vague black line, that line is where you cut the piping off. (sorry, my camera sucks) because the fit is so freaking tight, the metal pipe sits around the couplers at pretty strange angles so there will be excess piping there that will stick out in the coupler and will just cause more air restriction. after you finish i would grab a file or some metal sand paper (kind of an oxymoron) and file that part you cut down to a smooth surface. you should fit the metal pipe around the couplers and stick it onto the throttle body and see how much you are going to need to cut...but you can also follow by the pics as well. you need to also get the dremel now and cut out this (not the nitrous...but where the IAT sensor is supposed to go on the pipe) hole quite a bit, until you can force your grommet into it. once you dremel it out enough to where you can FORCE the grommet in, you've done enough; don't persist with the dremel because if you go too much, you'll have ruined your pipe and it won't be a very good seal around the grommet and air will be able to get in. (important note: look at my picture and see where the nitrous and air sensor are relative to the rest of the engine. if you buy the same exact piping as i did, the nitrous hole as well as the sensor hole will be on the same spot on the pipe as mine...if your pipe is slightly different, your just going to have to move your pipe around until it fits perfectly. the reason your nitrous/sensor holes need to be lined up like mine is because this is the ONLY way that this intake will be able to work. and you'll also see how oddly the pipe is going to be attached to the coupler...you can also tell a little by the pictures.) 
after all this, i washed the pipe out to get all the metal from the cutting out and then put the IAT sensor in the grommet.
ok, now comes the part that's very "trial and error" and not so much of this i can help or explain to you. basically though, you're going to need to try and fit your piping and rubber couplers around the throttle body to where it looks like this picture:
the best way to do this (even though whichever way you do it will require a lot of elbow grease) is to put the coupler on the throttle body first and then force the pipe onto the other end of the coupler. then just do your best to tighten these clamps onto the coupler and pipe and make sure the arrangement is steady and that the ring clamps actually grab all sides of the pipe, then you're good. (note: rubber is really strange when it comes to stretching and after every hour or so it will shrink in size a little bit and you could tighten the clamps continuously around both the pipe and the throttle body, but it's really not a big deal YET; because of this however, you'll need to look at your intake every now and then and just make sure it's still snug and isn't loose; it should never get loose once you tighten it the first time, but you will be able to tighten the coupler around the throttle body and the pipes though if you wish to do so; and it will probably be a good idea to do it every now and then.) now if you look at the pictures you'll see that you are going to have to put the 3" to 3" coupler around the other end of the pipe so that the filter can fit on the end of the coupler. once again, trial and error...well actually this is more just "trial" cause it's hard to screw this part up =) 
anyway, put your filter on the end of this mofo, plug your IAT sensor in and your all set. now the last step is absolutely CRUCIAL to this intake working and is a bit complicated. you are going to need some black war paint for this. you need to open all your doors, your trunk, and your hood. get the war paint and put it on your face; sacrifice a chicken's head, and run around the car screaming until the neighbors complain. the first time i did this project i left this step out and my engine overheated and cost me roughly $4.56 to fix =P anywho, you'll notice the nice fit the intake has in between the radiator and the ABS and the throttle body; everything fits tightly and you'll have no problems with it wiggling loose or anything like that. it also SHOULDN'T cause any damage to your radiator hose, but it will sit on it. 
well now you need to fire up your engine and let that puppy roar; it WILL be freakin loud, DO NOT have your ear up to the filter. give it about 5 min after each time you start your car and it will quiet down a little bit (and no, that doesn't mean you have to let it idle for five minutes until you drive it). well that's all there is to a custom intake. hope it works as good for you as it did and still is for me as well as i hope it looks like mine. if you like my "how-to" instructions, you can click here to see my page on how to build your own kansas-size atomic bomb. if you have any questions, "man you are a moron" comments, or anything else, feel absolutely free to email me at tuffluck@mail.utexas.edu or you can email my friend who thought up this whole conspiracy...err, intake scheme at cstanala@ttacs.ttu.edu
