SEOUL TRAIN'S

HOMEMADE

COLD AIR INTAKE

Disclaimer: I hold no responsibility for any problem, mechanical, electrical or otherwise, that could happen to anyone's car as a result of installing such homemade Cold Air Intake. I hold no responsibility for anyone's vehicle warranty being voided because of the installation of such homemade Cold Air Intake. This Cold Air Intake is intended as an experimental project and it is provided with no warranties whatsoever, expressed or implied. All problems caused by the installation of such homemade Cold Air Intake is the sole responsibility of the person installing it on any car.

Now that the legal stuff is out of the way, let the fun begin...

Installing a homemade cold air intake is a breeze...  All you need is the following: one large zip tie, one zip tie anchor (picture below), a 3" diameter flexible aluminum tube (picture below), a large automotive hose clamp (large enough to go over the 3"diameter hose), and a few minutes on your car.

Keep going down to see some pictures of the supplies, or click HERE to skip to the installation instructions.

Here are pictures of some of the supplies:

This zip tie anchor has an adhesive backing so you can stick it to a flat surface. I recommend you clean the surface you're gonna stick it to with some alcohol, especially if your car is a grease bunny, otherwise the anchor will just fall out after your cold air intake starts shaking. Click on the picture for a picture of the packaging, which costs around $2.

This is half of the aluminum tube after I cut it. I forgot to take a picture of it before cutting it! Anyway, it has a 3" diameter, it is flexible and extendable, and it cost me less than $5. Click on the picture for a picture of the label.

Anchor

The first thing you gotta do when to install the cold air intake is open the hood (duh) and look at the intake resonator/snorkel. If you don't know what part I'm talking about, don't attempt this installation. Instead, click here. Ok, now that the boys are separated from the men, here's a picture of the engine with the resonator on (just in case you're still confused):

The resonator is the big black piece left of the battery!

Grab a 10mm wrench and remove the two bolts that hold the resonator to the front crossmember. Now your resonator is free, so slide it forward and up, removing it from the engine. Don't toss it in the garbage bin! You will need it later when you wanna take your car to the dealership! Notice the hole in the airbox where the resonator was attached! That's the hole you will connect the aluminum hose to.

Voila! The resonator is gone!

Now, using your skills, cut the flexible aluminum hose in the middle (not lengthwise, dummy!). Better, cut it in half. You should have two equal length hoses now. How clean you cut the hose is up to you. I suggest you bend the edges outward where you cut it. You don't want any pieces of aluminum flying into your intake after you're done.

Now that you got the half long hose, slide it into your engine compartment, first edging it between the radiator and the front crossmember, then flex it up and around to the left of the battery (right side of the car) and to the hole in the intake airbox where the resonator went. You now have the basic shape of your Cold Air Intake. Now, grabbing a zip tie anchor, remove the piece of paper that covers the adhesive backing, glue it to the cross member (remember to clean where you're attaching it to), directly where your aluminum hose will be. Get a long zip tie, loop it THROUGH the zip tie anchor and start the zip tie (don't go all the way yet, just start maybe 1/2"). Slide the radiator end of your aluminum tube through the zip tie, now tighten the zip tie just ENOUGH to hold the tube in place, being careful not to crush it! If you do crush it, you have another aluminum tube just as long waiting for you...

This is what it should look like if you followed the direction on the last paragraph... The radiator is the black piece on the upper left corner, the crossmember is the silver piece on the right. You can see the zip tie anchor where the zip tie goes through, and the zip tie around the tube. Be careful not to cut that electrical harness with your aluminum tube, the edges are sharp!

This is what it should look like... from higher up. You can see the battery, the radiator, the hose, the zip tie, zip tie anchor... well, everything.

Ok, the hard part is over, you can relax now. You got it attached on the radiator end, let's take care of the airbox end. Grab that large automotive clamp and slide it over the airbox end of the hose. Now slide the end of the hose over the 1/2" lip on the airbox hole (yes, that hole that the resonator attached to). Using a flattip screwdriver, tighten the clamp till you can't pull the tube out of the airbox (again, just tight enough, you don't wanna break anything here).  You're done! You're now the proud owner of a DIY Cold Air Intake for a 2000 Hyundai Accent!

This is what the finished product looks like, when viewed from the top, notice how the tube attaches to the airbox.

This is what it should look like from the passenger side, unless you bought your car in England or Australia, where this should be the driver's side (they're funny like that, they drive on the wrong side of the road, and have their steering wheels where the glovebox should be!)

Now, go in front of your car (the front should be in the same place even if you're in England or Australia), and squat, looking through the bumper, where you hose goes. You should see this:

Notice the radiator end of the aluminum tube on the corner of the radiator? It's not exactly on the airflow, but I bet there's a lot of air going through that place! Maybe a fiberglass scoop in front of it should help with the fresh air... hmmmm.... maybe a project for later???

There's your hose again! Right next to the radiator, sucking air from the front of the car, not from the engine bay!

What's next? I plan on doing a "scientifical" experiment to check if the homemade Col Air Intake actually works... I will buy three mercury  thermometers, tape one inside the airbox so it can measure the air temperature as it enters the airbox, one outside the airbox so it can measure the air temperature under the hood,  and one in the front bumper so it can measure air temperature before entering the engine bay. I will drive identical circuits, at identical speeds, for an identical amount of time, trying to do it when the ambient temperature is constant, and check the thermometers after each drive. I will do it first with the factory resonator on, then with no resonator or homemade Cold Air Intake on, then with the homemade Cold Air Intake on. The temperatures will be recorded and "scientifically analysed" by me (damn I feel like Einstein)  and posted here. The truth will be unveiled!!

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