ZHPizza's red car

[ZHPizza]

How did you fit all that stuff in the red car? Did you strip the interior before hand and sit on a stack of old newspapers for the first 7 hours??

awesome trip - that must've been great! but.... sad to see no pics of the red car trying to be a Touring. where's the All Loaded Up pics?

(and why didn't you take the Touring? )

I just really wanted to drive the red car so I made it work. That pic was actually at mile 700ish with the full load!

I pulled the passenger seat and rear bench/back/bolsters before the trip, so I drove up with just the driver's seat. Installed the new passenger seat and rear seat parts in place, driver's seat on the rear bench, three door panels in the trunk, one door panel behind the front seats, and the headliner...man...I did not have a plan for the headliner...I set it up on the rear deck (headrests removed) and shoved it all the way to the back glass, sunroof cutout fitting around the driver's seat laid in the back, and the rest softly bent down behind my driver's seat with the back leaned all the way forward. Very upright position for the drive home, but it wasn't bad.

Here's the driver's seat strapped in with a child-locked seatbelt:



And the headliner bent into place:

Impressive and entertaining as always.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Should have mentioned the part that you'll appreciate: The fatigue finally hit me at hour 15 when it got to full dark out, so I had to bust out the big guns to stay awake until I made it home: singing along to the entire Greatest Showman sound track. I'm talking that high note hitting sore throat type of work.

Wow, that's a heckuva parts run.

I'd definitely do it again, but make sure that I got back before dark.

Stop at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville next time.....

I 40 over the mountains is always a fun drive.

It was a great drive all the way through Tennessee, but no time for tourism. 16 hours was enough for one day.

Tbh I thought Kentucky was a pretty state. But I was on backroads the whole time.

I-75 is all potholes, deer carcasses, and Christian theme parks. I also ran into a Walmart to pee so got to see the real Kentucky.

[704sw]

The real Kentucky? Shit, brother, I stopped for gas in Harlan County and I swear to god it was like I stepped onto the set of Justified. It was very clear my presence was unwelcome.

[slater]

I just really wanted to drive the red car so I made it work. That pic was actually at mile 700ish with the full load!

I pulled the passenger seat and rear bench/back/bolsters before the trip, so I drove up with just the driver's seat. Installed the new passenger seat and rear seat parts in place, driver's seat on the rear bench, three door panels in the trunk, one door panel behind the front seats, and the headliner...man...I did not have a plan for the headliner...I set it up on the rear deck (headrests removed) and shoved it all the way to the back glass, sunroof cutout fitting around the driver's seat laid in the back, and the rest softly bent down behind my driver's seat with the back leaned all the way forward. Very upright position for the drive home, but it wasn't bad.

YES! that's how ya do it. but i guess i should've expected that! beers on me next time you're up this way.

also - yeah, your headliner is in sad, sorry shape... it's an easy swap.

Should have mentioned the part that you'll appreciate: The fatigue finally hit me at hour 15 when it got to full dark out, so I had to bust out the big guns to stay awake until I made it home: singing along to the entire Greatest Showman sound track. I'm talking that high note hitting sore throat type of work.

haha... man, too bad The Slater Family wasn't along for the ride! that soundtrack gets heavy rotation around our house. it's pretty good. that and the hamilton soundtrack... which is a masterpiece.

[Johnmadd]

You guys are too much

[PetesZ]

This just confirms my theory about red car owners.

It is so they can hide the blood.

Fear the walking dead my ass. The guy in the red car did it. 4 out of 3 times

[BMWCurves]

Should have mentioned the part that you'll appreciate: The fatigue finally hit me at hour 15 when it got to full dark out, so I had to bust out the big guns to stay awake until I made it home: singing along to the entire Greatest Showman sound track. I'm talking that high note hitting sore throat type of work.

A man after my own heart. Heading across western Texas at 2 AM still an hour away from our destination, my driving buddy was PTFO, so I was blaring "Stayin' Alive" and belting along just to stay awake.

[holyc0w]

The real Kentucky? Shit, brother, I stopped for gas in Harlan County and I swear to god it was like I stepped onto the set of Justified. It was very clear my presence was unwelcome.

Did you stop for some apple pie?

[Sockethead]

Ugh, many a trip between Columbus OH and South Jersey... the whole family including dogs asleep... me driving with the window down slapping my face and singing along to something like disturbed to stay awake... good times!

[Yelkos]

C’mon Yelkos, no one gets the paper anymore...well, at least not the Charlotte Observer. He sat on magazines.

must have been all those MODERN BRIDE magazines

[ZHPizza]

So a few months ago I bought a bigass filter w/ velocity stack, some aluminum pipe, and a few 45deg silicone sleeves and made a functional prototype for a long tube CAI.

When I first mocked it up, I went in guns blazing. Soldering guns blazing lol



Just making room for the giant ass filter to fit in there...



There we go.



There were two major roadblocks with the prototype, though.

1. The headlight won't fit back in with the xenon ballast hitting that bigass pipe (you can see on the left where I need another inch or so):



2. That bigass filter is going to get wrecked by rocks/bugs/water/Cthulhu/etc:



I took it on a test drive sans ballast to see how it worked, but didn't immediately feel any better than stock. Hm. I glued the ambient temp sensor back in place, buttoned everything up with the OE airbox, and tabled the project until I could sort out the issues.

I kept researching intake theory and everything pointed to the long tube being the most beneficial for power through the rev range and [obviously] getting the coldest available air. I continued to casually look for solutions and eventually found someone that was able to relocate the ballast (here) and, after wearing out the amazon return policy, found a pre-filter that fit perfectly on the giant cone (here). The pieces were in place and I jumped back into it last weekend.

HERE. WE. GO.

One of the flaws I suspected with the initial test was that, with the brake duct removed, the hot air coming through the radiator was being pushed right into the intake. So I did what any engineer worth his salt would do: I taped that shit up.





Then came modifying the brake duct so I could use it to direct flow to both the brakes and intake.



^Note that by now I've upgraded my soldering gun plastic cutting station with a powerful fume hood (I worked beside the A/C condenser and let it pull the fumes away and blow them up to the sky).





oh yeah dat fitment



Fitted up with light on it:



and without:



Bumper back on, shining a light into the brake duct:



and out in the daylight:



stealthy

Next step was making the headlight fit. It took A LOT of work to get the little ballast plug moved around to the back, but I managed and man...it just barely reaches. Not a great solution by any means...



Then had to cut an inch off the old ballast tray seen here:



AND in good reduce/reuse/recycle form, used the pieces that I had cut off to (1) seal up the cutout where the ballast connector used to be:





and (2) provide a catch for the clip on the ballast connector (it's under a lot of tape):



Final shot of the new ballast location:



^It's not pretty...and I really wasn't sure if it would be functional, but it held up find for my 1k mile trip the next day. I still have some work to do as far as securing the ballast itself and maybe some more waterproofing.

Oh and a final shot from the engine bay. I'll replace the zip ties with hose clamps...maybe...




Thoughts after 1k miles:

Sound is awesome. I can only really hear it when I jump on it above 3500rpm with the windows down, but it's a good, clean intake sound. No whistling at any rpm.

Power is definitely improved. My butt dyno is not nearly as sensitive as my NVH...dyno?..but there is definitely a power bump. I'm also reading intake temperatures about 10F lower than the OE airbox in all driving situations, so that's confirmed power right there.

Fuel mileage is also improved, without a doubt. My balls-out trip to Cincy should not have netted anywhere near 30mpg.

Overall I am very happy with the end result. It is exactly what I wanted in an intake because I built it myself.

Planned revisions: hose clamps, a block off plate from the engine bay, and some heat shielding for the HFM