Hey all,
I was looking for an air intake modifications for my 2-month old, 2016 SV, CC, 4L baby. I did not want to shell out a ton of dough on that, because I already spent quite a bit on her. I was contemplating installing this setup: Red Fit 2005 2014 Nissan Frontier Xterra 4 0 4 0L V6 Air Intake Kit | eBay
It seems pretty much the same as those $200-$300 get-ups, but I did not want, for some reason the look, plus I feel the filter element, being that open under the hood would get dirty quickly. So I thought I would just install a free-flowing K&N filter or a clone and call it a day. I took another look at the air filter housing and...Eureka!!! A long time back, I remember a bunch of us used to make a home brewed air intake mod on our bikes where we would install the K&N element and cut a slot or punch a bunch of holes in the filter housing. The results were as good as installing the aftermarket kits like Kuryakyn and such and even required rejetting to the same size as the mentioned above performance kits. The installation of the K&N filter alone would not yelled such performance increase, due to the air intake volume limitation.
So I ordered a clone K&N air filter and started the mod. After it was finished I noticed a definite change in sound of the exhaust and a better, more responsive pull while accelerating. Especial at the lower RPMs. Both of those are the signs of a successful air intake upgrade. By the way, MAK stands for Mad's Air Kit. Mad is me. Figured I will name it after myself, unless the name is already taken ::grin::
So here is what you need:
- Drill
- 1/2" drill bit
- K&N filter part# 33-2286 or Spectre filter part# HPR7440
- Nylon replacement screen for sliding doors, or anything similar. Maybe gauze cloth? You do not really need to have it. I wanted it to prevent small pieces of rubbish to get inside the housing (leaves, grass, etc...).
- Alcohol for prepping the surface for gluing.
- Hot glue, epoxy or super glue (I used super glue).
Total cost of the project - $30 (the price of the filter element). With K&N around $45-55.
I already had the screen from some other project, for which I bought it in the past.
Anyway. Here it goes.
1. Remove the filter housing lid (housing cover).
2. Remove the filter element.
3. Remove the 3 bolts that are holding the lover housing (intake box). Note that the bolt closer to the front of the truck is a PITA to unscrew and affixing it is even worse, at least to me. I should have documented al of this too, but I have not. Sorry.
4. Drill holes with the 1/2" or larger drill bit on both sides of the air filter housing, not the cover. See the pictures below. Clean the holes pretty and don’t forget to remove all the shavings from inside the box.
5. Cut the nylon screen into the pieces that can fit over the holes from inside the housing.
6. Glue the screen pieces to the housing and let dry.
7. Reinstall everything in the reverse order.
8. Enjoy the gained performance on the cheap.
I think at this point, to increase performance more, one needs to install a blower of some sort to gain extra air. By my calculations, the holes that I drilled in the housing increased the opening for air intake by 2. So now it can suck in twice (or 100% more) the amount of air. Of course, it does not mean that the throughput allows for so much air to get inside the old factory. But still, the potential is there.
I hope this was helpful.
Cheers,
Mad
I was looking for an air intake modifications for my 2-month old, 2016 SV, CC, 4L baby. I did not want to shell out a ton of dough on that, because I already spent quite a bit on her. I was contemplating installing this setup: Red Fit 2005 2014 Nissan Frontier Xterra 4 0 4 0L V6 Air Intake Kit | eBay
It seems pretty much the same as those $200-$300 get-ups, but I did not want, for some reason the look, plus I feel the filter element, being that open under the hood would get dirty quickly. So I thought I would just install a free-flowing K&N filter or a clone and call it a day. I took another look at the air filter housing and...Eureka!!! A long time back, I remember a bunch of us used to make a home brewed air intake mod on our bikes where we would install the K&N element and cut a slot or punch a bunch of holes in the filter housing. The results were as good as installing the aftermarket kits like Kuryakyn and such and even required rejetting to the same size as the mentioned above performance kits. The installation of the K&N filter alone would not yelled such performance increase, due to the air intake volume limitation.
So I ordered a clone K&N air filter and started the mod. After it was finished I noticed a definite change in sound of the exhaust and a better, more responsive pull while accelerating. Especial at the lower RPMs. Both of those are the signs of a successful air intake upgrade. By the way, MAK stands for Mad's Air Kit. Mad is me. Figured I will name it after myself, unless the name is already taken ::grin::
So here is what you need:
- Drill
- 1/2" drill bit
- K&N filter part# 33-2286 or Spectre filter part# HPR7440
- Nylon replacement screen for sliding doors, or anything similar. Maybe gauze cloth? You do not really need to have it. I wanted it to prevent small pieces of rubbish to get inside the housing (leaves, grass, etc...).
- Alcohol for prepping the surface for gluing.
- Hot glue, epoxy or super glue (I used super glue).
Total cost of the project - $30 (the price of the filter element). With K&N around $45-55.
I already had the screen from some other project, for which I bought it in the past.
Anyway. Here it goes.
1. Remove the filter housing lid (housing cover).
2. Remove the filter element.
3. Remove the 3 bolts that are holding the lover housing (intake box). Note that the bolt closer to the front of the truck is a PITA to unscrew and affixing it is even worse, at least to me. I should have documented al of this too, but I have not. Sorry.
4. Drill holes with the 1/2" or larger drill bit on both sides of the air filter housing, not the cover. See the pictures below. Clean the holes pretty and don’t forget to remove all the shavings from inside the box.
5. Cut the nylon screen into the pieces that can fit over the holes from inside the housing.
6. Glue the screen pieces to the housing and let dry.
7. Reinstall everything in the reverse order.
8. Enjoy the gained performance on the cheap.
I think at this point, to increase performance more, one needs to install a blower of some sort to gain extra air. By my calculations, the holes that I drilled in the housing increased the opening for air intake by 2. So now it can suck in twice (or 100% more) the amount of air. Of course, it does not mean that the throughput allows for so much air to get inside the old factory. But still, the potential is there.
I hope this was helpful.
Cheers,
Mad