Hi All,
Here's a great DIY project. I wanted a pre-filter on my intake (might upgrade to a particle separator at a later date) because I've ruined 2 air filters in less than 800 miles. I found my air filter was also getting wet with the stock intake setup, creating a nice mud caked mess of a filter. I haven't found a snorkel kit yet that suited my needs, so I used some idea's I saw here on Hondasxs and came up with this project.
Total cost: <$40 and a few hours of time
Materials:
2.5" Thinwall PVC (Also known as SDR 26 and was $1.99 ft)
Spectre Air Filter (any Auto Parts store $30)
Tools:
Drill
3" Hole Saw
Heat Gun
Tape
The challenge was finding the correct PVC for the job, as your standard Schedule 40 will restrict airflow too much. 2 1/2" SDR 26 PVC is the same O.D. and I.D. as the stock pipe, so if you get your bends right, you won't restrict air flow at all. I've included the caliper readings in the pictures. Home Depot / Lowe's / Menard's doesn't carry SDR 26 PVC, but I did find it locally at my ACE Hardware. They stocked 20ft sections and sold it by the foot for $1.99 a foot. I bought two 3 foot sections in case I messed up bending the first one. 3 foot sections are too long, all you need is a 2 footer and you'll just trim a little off the end when done.
I chose to drill my hole in the painted plastic, I've seen other guys on the forum drill through the black plastic. I just found that it was going to be easier to go through the painted area. I drilled a pilot hole from the bottom, then drilled the 3" hole from the top as to not damage the painted area.
As I've never heat bent PVC this large before, you can see I have aluminum tape on the on the end of the PVC I'm bending. This is because I found it's almost impossible to bend without kinking, so I was filling the tubes up with sand. It seemed to work alright. The pictures below are not my final product, they are my first test run that I was doing solo. I'll need a second pair of hands to try and make the bends with the least amount of kinks in it for the final product, but I've got enough info here for anyone that wants to try the project themselves. The final picture below is through the side vent, showing the fender well clearance after the new intake was mocked up, as you can see, no issue with putting the inner fenders back on. I was using a $9.00 Harbor Freight heat gun to heat the PVC.
The air filter is a little loose fitting on the PVC, but just tighten it down really good and it seals up just fine. This is due to the pipe only being 2.875" O.D. and the Air filter is designed for 3" O.D. pipe. I don't have any concern over this, it sealed up nice and tight. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do to cover the air filter for rain / water yet, but plan on making some type of permanent fixture over it.
I'd recommend buying at least 2 (2ft) sections of PVC, mock up with the first one, work out any mistakes, and make your final product with the 2nd piece.
