Hi all,
I wouldn't say this is going to be a build thread as the previous owners have already modified the car with brilliant taste and there is nothing really that I would change with it!
I have recently fitted a down pipe and I plan on going for a stage 2 map at R-tech at some point next year, other than that the car stands as I bought it.
I have a set of refurbed S3 brakes with braided lines to go on at some point, will be running standard pads until I get my map done then will be looking at new pads (suggestions would be great!)
Recently I have been looking at cold air induction kits but it seems a bit silly spending the money on one when the one Jake made is halfway there so I decided to start bit of a project and make my own cold airbox/heatsheild. I have access to sheet metal facilities at work so I have been wolfing my lunch down and working on this!
This is how the engine bay looked before I started this.
So basically with nothing really to work from I just gave the engine bay a good coat of looking at and started roughly measuring up for the idea that I had in my head and sketching it out. It made sense to keep as much hot air in the bay away from the filter and give it as much cold air as possible.
I then got some sheets of cardboard and made a model of the plan which I could then modify to give me a more precise set of measurements.
Once I had the templates cut out I taped them together and sat the model into place to give me an idea of size and what modifications I needed to make to the design, I had to trim it slightly but it fit pretty well.
Once I was happy with the model I took some more precise measurements and set to on the drawing board and drew up a proper design I could work from, don't get me wrong I know measuring from cardboard isn't the most professional way of doing it but its all I could work from and i'm no professional!
Once I had the finished drawings I found a decent sized piece of scrap sheet Aluminium at work and brought it home to mark out.
Once I had marked the plan out I also cut the hole out with a 92mm hole saw (the hole is 105mm so I had a bit of filing to do!)
Another lunch time at work later and I had cut out the plans, I did most of this on the guillotine however for some areas I used a power cropper and again a lot of filing.
The next day I bent the components using the box&pan folder and a small manual press brake. This was when i had my first problem, due to the metal being scrap from the stretch forming process where I work it had work hardened slightly and the small tabs snapped of when I bent them up, this was bit of a pain but I will find away around it when it comes to fitting it. Here is a pic of the two components sat in place in the engine bay.
I will update this when I have time, I don't really know how its going to turn out but there is no harm in trying and it will be good to have something of my own on the car.
Feedback and advice would be great
Cheers
Sam