Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches New England if you build it, it will go

thats what I did

I built my own intake pipe last night.

Similar to the BAT intake pipe, except mine is made out of steel.

Its made from exhaust pipe adapters welded together to get the proper length and OD.

Then I drilled holes in the respective locations for the various tubes to hook up to it.

Then over the holes I welded iron NPT pipe coupling adapters and threaded brass barbed hose connectors into them.

I made the rubber connectors to attach it to the MAF and the TB out of, you'll never believe it when I tell you, but I made the one for the pipe to the MAF out of a 3" x 3" Fernco and the one for the pipe to the TB out of a 2" x 2" Fernco. The one for the MAF to the pipe I had to cut in half becasue it was too long. For those of you who don't know, a fernco is a rubber coupling for making a flexible connections between plastic sewage and drain lines. When I get around to it I'll buy the more normal slilicone rubber connectors but until then these will work fine.

It works good so far, I haven't driven it yet other than up and down my driveway a few times.

So far I noticed the induction sound, even at idle is alot louder. Throttle response is improved incredibly. And becasue I had to drill the holes for the hoses to connect to I decided to drill a fairly small hole for the hose that feds the IAC valve. I drilled a 5/16 hole for the IAC valve and the others I drilled to 1/4. With the small hole it reduced the throttle hang.

Today I plan to take it out and see how it works during actual diving.

my only concern though is steel = rust. although I painted the outside I did not paint the inside becasue I was afraid of paint flaking off. The adapters I used to make the pipe are aluminized steel so they should be ok for a while while I search for an alternative treatment.

as for protecting the steel...powdercoat!!

You can also use Jet Hot coat, I think about $10/ft.

whats the difference between jet hot coating and powder coating

good question

i think jet hot is a ceramic caoting of sorts.

Yeah, Jet Hot coating is a ceramic coating applied to both in and outside of the material. I had my headers coated by them and they are almost cool enough to touch when the car has been driven for hours. Well worth the money, IMHO. Check here for more information.

so I guess anyting I want to have coated needs to be sent to Jet Hot for coating, its not as wide spread as powder coating, but seems to be more versitile than powder coating, but I'm sure it also has a nice price tag too.

powder coating will cover inside and out if you ask them to. and unfortunately like everything else in the manufacturing world, most coaters have a min. charge. Its usually around $75. so if youwant it P-coated i recomend bringing a few little things you want the came color to the shop at the same time.
for example when i did my OMP, it cost $75 for that and the Rod ends for my rear bar. but if i had the center section for the rear bar, the prie wouldn't have gone up. but now when i bring the center section it wil cost me another $75.

Well, to get my headers coated, Rousch kit from Team Contour, it cost me $200. For my y-pipe, when I finally get around to it, will be $10/ft to get coated, and the CAT will be an additional $50, if I want that to get coated as well.

any perks for gel coating vs ceramic coating.