Creating a new Airbox for the Firebird.

looking good. what is the square cover on the side for?
 
looking good. what is the square cover on the side for?
That will house the MAF sensor.
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The original MAF sensor is side on. where my design will be 90+ degrees. Reason I went for 90+ degrees is that the will be next to no structure in the sensor once its cut up. There are 3 wires from this block to the sensor part in the air flow. Encasing it in a box gives it support, made some grooves for ventalation as the sensor block has holes on it.

The air flow measuring part of the sensor, 3 wires from the sensor. I need to extend these for the new oval shape.
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Whipped up a little short video. I'll make a longer one later on.
 
video had 14views and 2 likes ,

Come on fellow SR support a fellow SR member with loads of likes on video lol (y):p
 
Slight mods on the underside and the bit that holds the radiator it's time to pop on through gasket.
Fits really well.
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Bonnet closes. The seal follows the contours in the bonnet very well. I have a camera on a wire, so I plan to do some testing with a light in the box and see if light escapes.

Really pleased with the development.
 
Modified the model a bit from the findings in the test print. Started printing it out in that high temperature stuff. Really happy with the finish
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Printing still going good. One final peice to print now, and then printing of the parts to join it together.
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Wording came out really well. This will be visible even when the air filters are in place. I'll be posting a video on you tube of the air box creation, so thought I'd add my YouTube chanel name.
 
upto 48 views still only 2 likes
 
Ready to bolt together now.
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Printed and bolted together. In the boot of the car for now.
Plan is to do go to a show in Sunday and club night Tuesday, then swap out the intake manifold. Adjust water lines, fit the air box, make final measurement for the pipe that holds the MAF sensor, finalise the MAF fitting. Then print that final pipe and join it all together.
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MAF sensor going from 3 inch to 5inch, so readings will need tuning. I can do that. I'll mock up something on the desk too with a scope.
 
any idea how much more power this will make
 
any idea how much more power this will make
Good question. The main aim for this modification is to enable me to fit the new intake manifold. What ever I added I didn't want it to be a restriction in the system and for the throttle body to be the smallest diameter part.
Looking at the Volant system, has smaller air filters and joining pipe, they reckon it adds 18hp/40ft lbs.
It seals to bonnet so extra performance is made when driving as air gets forced in. However this can't be measured in that dyno as the car isn't moving and usually bonnet is up
Intake manifold adds a bit too, but how much is unknown, it will help the stroker kit breathe. The intake helping thr stroker kit mod, and the air intake box I printed is helping the intake change.

So basically I do t have a clue how much it will make, but it should help.
 
Needed to work on the temperature sensor fixing I. Preparation for the final printed part later on this week.
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So drew up the hole. Just stuck the hole in a cylinder for a test fit added 2 o-rings to the sensor.
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After 4 attempts, it fits perfect, very snug, it's a job to pull out which is what I wanted.
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Some more additions to the pipe work. Parts to hold the MAF wires in place. Also a keyway at the bottom I can pop out when the pipe isn't mounted and can insert the vertical part of the original sensor. It will make more sence when I take some photos when fitting the sensor to the pipe.
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Need to get this printed, its an over night thing. Need to get the car drivable tomorrow for a show on Saturday.
New injectors, new throttle body, new sensors, its going to take tuning just to get it to tick over.
 
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Final pipe is still printing, should be ready around 11am. Before thenI'll be cutting up the MAF sensor ready for soldering extention wires. I'll get photos of this later.

The current MAF sensor is in a hole that is 78mm diameter. Its going to go into a hole that is oval, but quivalent to a 154mm round hole. This means less air needs to flow to product the same volume

78mm is 4778mm2
154mm is 18626mm2
This means our pipe has actually increased by 3.89x. The reading of the MAF sensor will be way out. However this is tunable in the ECU.
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I need to increase this table in the ECU by 3.89x across the whole table.

I will be running the car without the MAF plugged in. Tune it in over a few days, then plug in the MAF and start tuning the MAF in. Having the MAF means it compensates for weather, density of the air better and forward predicts the air. Without it it can use the Manifold Air Pressure. So not essential to get the MAF perfect just yet, but I do need to get it in the pipe as to get to it the pipe would need to come off. So woul be good to get it in, test it and leave it.

I did test the sensor as it is
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Creased an funnel with aur from a fan, this is a 14cm fan.
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The MAF gave a reading of 1.9khz
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This equates to around 4grammes per second of air.
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With the new piping and the same fan I expected to see a far lower frequency. I'm right near the lowest end. the table starts at 1.5khz so the fan not realy pushing enough air. This is a good test though, as I'm proving the sensor works before I cut it up. Also can test it works after re-assembling it.
 
With the table increase it does shift our operating frequency which is to be expected.
Half the amount of frequency steps, good job the ECU interpolates between values.
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Printing is coming along well. Car show tomorrow, only time for a single print, and getting low on material. Fingers crossed.
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You may ask why so thick, well I did have some issues with the temprature sensor getting heat soaked from being above the radiator, parking up an then getting back to the car while still warm, sensor saying air was hot. Well the temprature sensor has moved into this pipe. Having thickness to the walls is a bit of insulation, has a honey comes pattern since with air pockets. May not may a bit of difference, it wasnt really a problem before, just was something extra to do for the fun of it.
 
Nice reflection of the TA in the glass of the printer, printing the pipe for the car.
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Getting there. New program zapped in.

Primed the fuel pressure to check for leaks, one of the injectors l/o-ring is leaking. Looking into that now, luckily it's a front one.
 
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