I put my battery in the trunk a while ago, so when I decided to add an aftermarket intake, there was plenty of space to put it on the right side of the engine bay closer to the throttle body.

Nobody seems to make a pipe for this, so I decided to put together my own intake.

Materials/Parts:

A'PEXi Power Intake Kit for SR20DET



I wanted to get the A'PEXi filter since it's been shown to provide better filtration and airflow compared to other filters (K&N, HKS, Blitz, etc.). However, they don't seem to make a kit for the S13 KA24DE (although they do make one for the S14). Since the MAF sensor housing outlets are the same for the S13 KA and SR, I got the SR kit.

JWT Breather Filter

eBay Breather Filter

eBay 2.5-inch 90-degree Aluminum Elbow

eBay 2.5-inch Couplers and Clamps

I only needed one, but getting three was a better value.

eBay 2.75-inch to 2.5-inch Reducer Coupler

Pipe with 8mm outer diameter and elbow with 14mm outer diameter

Instructions:

1. Remove the stock intake and resonators.

2. Cut the 2.5-inch pipe about halfway through the bend as shown. It must be twisted at this cut to get it to go under the upper radiator hose properly.



3. Insert the reducer coupler onto the throttle body, and mock up the pipe on the right side of the engine bay to make sure you didn't screw up yet.



4. Cut off a few inches of the straight side of the pipe that will connect to the throttle body so it's not sitting too close to the throttle body.



5. Cut off a few inches of the straight side of the pipe that will connect to the MAF sensor. Attach the filter to the MAF sensor adapter and the MAF sensor adapter to the MAF sensor. Test fit often with the filter in the desired location, and keep cutting until its perfect.



6. Mark the pipe pieces to show how they should be twisted relative to each other.



7. The A'PEXi filter adapter has a hole that you don't need, so cut off the tube that protrudes from it. Then, cut out a small round piece of sheet metal to place in the hole and use Liquid Metal Filler to fill any gaps. Let it dry overnight, and then sand the inside smooth.





8. To make sure there were no gaps, I applied JB Weld to the hole over the metal filler. It flows a lot better than the metal filler. I let it dry overnight and sanded the inside to smooth it out.



10. Sand the surfaces of the two pipe pieces, and join them using JB Weld in the position that you marked earlier. Let it dry overnight.



11. Mock up the pipe for the last time after the joint has dried.



12. There are two vacuum hoses that must connect to the intake. I got two copper pipes from Lowe's, then marked and cut the holes in the pipe with a dremel and attached the copper pieces with JB Weld. The last picture shows the position in which they should be attached.









13. Clean the pipe (I used acetone), and apply two coats of primer.



14. Apply two coats of paint.



15. Use a wire wheel brush and sandpaper to remove rust and paint from the battery tray area. (I already cut out the tray a while back.)



16. Mask off the surrounding areas with newspaper.



17. Apply two coats of primer.



18. Apply two coats of paint, let dry, and remove masking.



19. Use the two supports that came with the A'PEXi kit to bolt the MAF sensor to the battery tray area so that the intake does not vibrate. I bent the supports using a vice and hammer to get them to mount properly to the battery area. Then, I drilled two holes and bolted them down. One of the supports in the A'PEXi kit was too short, so I had to use another strip of metal to bolt to the support and finally to the battery tray area.



20. Now split the insulation for the bundle of wires that goes over the fan shroud. Separate the MAF sensor wires from the rest, and run the MAF sensor connector to the right side of the engine bay. Connect it to the MAF sensor.



21. Wrap the wires in electrical tape.

22. Connect the two vacuum hoses to the intake pipe. The thicker hose needs to have a few inches cut off the end of it to fit properly.



23. The last thing to do is to attach the two breather filters to the valve cover breather and the PAIR valve air intake. I only used the JWT filter on the PAIR valve since I realized it wouldn't fit on the valve cover after buying it. The valve cover breather needs to be smaller to clear the hood, and the opening should be 12mm.





Enjoy your newfound engine bay space.



I hope this helps people looking to do some basic mods to their KA. Let me know if you guys have any questions or suggestions.

Nice write up. If you wanted to get fancy you could even take a hole saw or a sawzall and duct cold air in from the front air dam. Just go right through the battery tray

awesome writeup, very descriptive I'm definately gona try this

Dam man... verry nice.... im try this out on mine....

ok, that is seriously one of the most ghetto things i have ever seen

yokota180sx wrote:ok, that is seriously one of the most ghetto things i have ever seen

yokota180sx wrote:ok, that is seriously one of the most ghetto things i have ever seen

haha, but it works.

I don't think it looks too bad.

no, really.

JB weld?

why not just use superglue?or better yet, just use one of hte couplers you have extra?i mean, JB weld?

is that smog legal?

call me stupid but what do those little breather filters do?

for the love of nissans do not use jb weld on anything under your hood please its weak and breaks and will come apart like paper. you could have hade just *** much power by puting the filter on the tb. or cuting the plastic tubing

you guys are trippin, I used jb weld on some of my vacuum ports on my cold pipe exactly like he did and I'm boosted. JB weld works fine.

to the OP, looks good man I would get some sheet aluminum and make some ducting for the cold air intake.

spooled240 wrote:
to the OP, looks good man I would get some sheet aluminum and make some ducting for the cold air intake.

+1

Also put Some Heat wrap around your upper water hose..or the hot water will heat soak your "Intake"...

Also If Any KA-T Users See this You Must Heat Wrap your Upper water hose b/c the hot water will make your IC USELESS..

Nice Write UP !!!

Regards,

Ali

yokota180sx wrote:no, really.

JB weld?

why not just use superglue?or better yet, just use one of hte couplers you have extra?i mean, JB weld?

The tube that comes off the A'PEXi MAF sensor adapter is... wait what... joined with JB Weld (or some similar epoxy)! You'll probably say the people at A'PEXi are complete idiots, but if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

But seriously, if you can mix properly and prepare a clean mating surface, JB Weld is pretty damn strong. If you try to use it on a greasy dirty surface and then give it two seconds to dry before testing its strength, then it'll break.

i dont care what they use. they most likely use a special compound...not jbweld.

that ****s ghetto. real ghetto

SketchyRollin564 wrote:call me stupid but what do those little breather filters do?

You need ventilation for the valve cover and an air intake for the PAIR valve, so the filters just keep any dust/debris out of those.

As for the strength of JB Weld, I have some leftover pieces of pipe. So I'm going to join them with JB Weld and then test the strength of the joint. Let's get some suggestions on how to test it. Obviously, the first test is whacking it with a hammer.

SketchyRollin564 wrote:call me stupid but what do those little breather filters do?

the one by the plastic black box on the driver side: that's just to cap off the AIV Valve... a reed valve designed to introduce oxygen into the exhaust stream to help the CAT converter heat up faster

if the AIV Valve gets to be defective (it's a reed valve), it'll spit out some water/ carbon crap from that opening... so I isolated it from my main air filter to prevent that from happening

http://nissaninfiniticlub.net/...t/500

as for the other breather valve off the valve cover... that's just to prevent carbon crap from going back into the intake area; if the PCV valve backfires, from lack of maintenance (change or remove-spray carb cleaner-shake-put back in)... the excess will go out that way

back on topic: nice job! i 2nd on heat-wrapping the pipe & cutting a hole below that filter to introduce some cold air to it
Modified by ricebike at 9:57 AM 7/17/2008

mirochuki13 wrote:
You need ventilation for the valve cover and an air intake for the PAIR valve, so the filters just keep any dust/debris out of those.

As for the strength of JB Weld, I have some leftover pieces of pipe. So I'm going to join them with JB Weld and then test the strength of the joint. Let's get some suggestions on how to test it. Obviously, the first test is whacking it with a hammer.

you can test it in a vice, then insert a pipe and hang small children from it till she snaps

jb weld when used properly can do magic, I have found something better though(4 minute perma bond) and less mess

I like this it looks nice man.And about the jb weld i think it's perfectly fine what he did. I used jb weld on my auto tranny where the people before me look like they broke off a sensor out of the tranny in order to drain the fluid. And when i got it and went to put it in i didn't notice until all the trans fluid laked out. So i jb welded the ***** back on and it holds up just fine and i haven't had any problems. So if i used jb on my trans to keep fluid from dripping i'm sure he'll be just fine with his jb on his intake.

Great write up!

very nice...i want to do the same to my sohc ka...whered you get the kit?

Thanks. I got the A'PEXi kit from phase2motortrend.com, small pipes from Lowe's, everything else from eBay.

I'll heat wrap the upper radiator hose as soon as I find some material to do it with.

I was hesitant about cutting through the battery tray to make a cold air duct due to the possibility of running into a really large puddle. I guess even if the filter was splashed with water, it's unlikely that water will get to the engine. Also, I wanted to stay legal in my autocross class, which doesn't allow that kind of modification.

hey miro that came out pretty good, i know a guy local to me whom stocks the heat insulation **** if u want hit me up

Ali 556 wrote:
+1

Also put Some Heat wrap around your upper water hose..or the hot water will heat soak your "Intake"...

Also If Any KA-T Users See this You Must Heat Wrap your Upper water hose b/c the hot water will make your IC USELESS..

Nice Write UP !!!

Regards,

Ali

Yeah my radiator hose is on the cold pipe, I wonder how many horsies it's depriving me

Now that's my idea of a good homebrew solution!!

Although your work is well thought out and executed nicely, I fail to see the point. If you really want extra engine compartment room, you could s tart with all the crazy emissions stuff, or you could do a wire tuck or perhaps even a standalone engine management system.

Any of these would have a positive impact on the cars looks or function, and I believe yours will not improve on any design.

I've seen this intake setup at club loose and it looks really good, the pictures don't do it justice. BTW MicroChuki I think I sat in you're car at the June 25th c-class only event.

The power of JB Weld... makes me wonder what else can be done hehe... Nice write up and work

Dattebayo wrote:Although your work is well thought out and executed nicely, I fail to see the point. If you really want extra engine compartment room, you could s tart with all the crazy emissions stuff, or you could do a wire tuck or perhaps even a standalone engine management system.

Any of these would have a positive impact on the cars looks or function, and I believe yours will not improve on any design.

I just wanted to put an intake on it for slightly more power, and I figured why not do it on the right side since its empty. The extra room is just a bonus. Anyway, such are autocross rules for STS. You can do whatever you want to the intake (before throttle body) and exhaust, but nothing else can be modified (including emissions).

I basically chose to run in this class because I had no money at the beginning of the year, and the class is relatively friendly to those with no money while still allowing some modifications. Now that I actually have something in the bank, I will start building a real car with the purpose of drifting and racking up lots of FTDs in my autocross region.

thefro526 wrote:I've seen this intake setup at club loose and it looks really good, the pictures don't do it justice. BTW MicroChuki I think I sat in you're car at the June 25th c-class only event.

Yes. I remember you and your friend being seduced by the Sparco seat. Are you going to drive on the 30th? I'm in B group now... way too cool for C group events... lol. But I'm pretty sure I'll come out to watch and take pictures.

lol can you make me one of those pipes