Intake, MP3 Engine Cover and 1/4 mile run

Ahhh, I gather the postings can be seen.

The MP3 engine cover was $118. All I used were backstraps to the valve cover and it mounted just fine. No reason to spend the $200 for the MP3 valve cover.

Intake is home made, not bad eh? Used 2 1/2 manderal bent piping, AEM bypass and K & N filter. I was reading on another site that there are problems with the Injen wearing the AC line. Kinda glad I didn't spend that $300 for it.

Mike http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5
 
First question. Where did you get the intake made? Mufler shop? Looks great!

Second. How much did it cost?

Third. What exactly is mandrel bent? Is it heated and bent or cold.

I also don't want to spend 300 on an Injen or MHP. But I want a CAI soon. That red would look good on my engine. Here are the pics of it. http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/big_ben2121/vwp?.dir=/My+Engine+in+Progress&.src=ph&.dnm=After.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/big_ben2121/lst%3f%26.dir=/My%2bEngine%2bin %2bProgress%26.src=ph%26.view=t
:eek:
 
Ben,

I know I've seen your photos before but I forget where....

I built the intake totally on my own with one friend.

Cost was just for the parts of about $130-$150. My friend wants to sell them for $220. That price was on the whole thing, but I'm having no parts of the selling, all him.

Manderal bent tubing is tubing that is straight inside and out, keeping the inter-diameter the same throughout the pipe. Most piping is made cheap and if you look on the outside of it, it has ripples. These ripples are inside and out, making the ID not as large as it is supposted to be.

Mike http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5

wait a second, I thought all MP3's had yellow bars under the hood, not red. Care to elaborate?
 
not dissing you or your friend but if he wants 220 to sell em..wouldnt we be better off by buying a brand name aem for 185 US or Injen for 230 US? these are dyno proven and tested i assume...
 
Yeah, it came in yellow, but I thought it would look better in red against the yellow car. I just took it off and sanded it and repainted it. I also painted the raised letters on the engine cover. It was pretty easy. Just put masking tape over them then cut out around the letters, then tape of the rest. It looks pretty sharp. Thanks for the info though. If he's charging that much I'll probably just buy the Injen for $235. Thanks for the offer though. :)
 
I know it's kinda high but from what I've already heard about the Injen I would have never bought it. I've heard that it starts to wear out the AC line that goes infront of the hole for CAI. Also with out the water by-pass valve you would have to pay me to install it (I live in the NE and H2O is a problem, since I drive to Vermont in the winter to snowboard). I would be more inclined to buy the AEM if I was to purchase the intake.

I go from the feeling of the car, not what the tests prove. I remember when K & N stated you could get 10hp by putting in thier filter.

Ben, also looking over your car. You would easily make one for about what I paid for it. Just think about it for awhile and you can see it's only 4 90 degree bends. It was alot easier that the upwards of $200 you would pay for an intake. Try it before you even think about spending the money.

Mike http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5
 
Can you get the pipes bent like that at any mufler shop. And did you say it is 2.5 inch diameter? I will look into making one. Can you take pics of each separate piece? Thanks if you can.
 
Ben,

You can buy the pipes at a speed shop also.

You really don't need any pictures of mine to make it though, I just made some rough cuts on the pipe to plumb the piping in. One cut here, one cut there. I went alittle furture when I had welding done but it was rather easy. Yes it's 2 1/2 diameter. I went nuts with the painting also so the cost went up (4 cans of paint and 1 of primer).

The second intake we made didn't look at all like mine, just how you feel the piping fits well in the car. That's it, just remember to put the air temp in line with the piping, also the vacuum line in line also. Try it and you'll save alot of money.

Mike http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5
 
sorry..i'm a dumb ****...where can you get the engine cover and the valve covers from?
 
Ok, Mike, I got the pipes on the way in the mail. I got them from JC Whittney. All together it was about $63 including the shipping. Not bad. But I have a couple more questions for you before I start on it. I got one tight radius bend for where it comes out of the throttle body. But as for the others they were a little bit larger radius. I think it was 5 or 6 inch radius. From your pic, it looks like you did the same. Is this right? Also, did you angle the pipe forward that goes down into the wheel well so that it doesn't rub against the wheel shroud? Next, where did you get the connecting rubber pieces that connect the MAF to the pipe and the pipe to the throttle body? By the way, thanks for all the info, I gave you five stars for it. :D
 
Ben,

First thing to remember about the intake is that it is your imagination you can do it anyway you want to on yours, but here is the whole deal on mine.

The pipe from the intake to the MAF is actually 2 90 degree bends, welded together, but you don't have to have them welded if you don't want.

The second part is 2 to 3 inches of straight pipe from the end of the one of the 90's.

The third is another 90 into the fender.

The fourth is a bend in the fender to bring the filter further up into the fender, so it wasn't straight down.

The pipe clamps ius a secret. ;) All it is is pipe clamps from home depot $2.99 with the plastic and clamps. Cheaper than just the clamps from auto zone or pep boys.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm not seeing many people around working to make thier car better. After talking to a guy at the speed shop I used to go to with my older cars (pre 80's) he said people have gotten to the point of just paying for the pieces, not building them like the old days (Man I must be getting old).

Mike http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5
 
Thanks Mike.

That clears a lot up. I'm getting the pipes in the mail in a few days. My wife doesn't know or whe would be pissed. I guess I can explain it in one of their ways. They say they saved you money when they buy stuff on sale that they didn't need, I guess this is the same.hahaha. Oh well, she'll get over it. Thanks for the tip. ;)
 
ok? u say u have an MP3 cover... tahts stock on ur car.. u have an mp3 so i dont see y u have to install racing beat springs cuz that is stock as well? and that intake is not more than 100 bucks to make trust me.
i can mandrel bend pipes for dirt cheap and piping is cheap.. i can get stainless steel and chrome it up. and buy a ractive heat sheild intake for 20 bucks... then the tubing is 3-1/2 like all other intakes
 
Concept,

I gather you didn't read the whole posting.

#1 the MP3 valve cover does not come stock on my P5. I just was explaining to everyone that it can be done without spending the extra $200 dollars on the MP3 valve cover.

#2 is stated that the piping on my car is 2 1/2 inches not 3 1/2 like you were stating. If you do manderal bending of pipes, good for you but I was trying to enlighten everyone on the site that you don't have to pay upwards of $300 for an intake, you can make it for a lot cheaper. The reason why I didn't go with 3 1/2 inch piping was that I have seen 3 1/2 inch piping rub on the master cyclinder (#1), also you do need some back pressure in the piping which the 3 1/2 would not give you.

#3 As I stated before I have a P5 so the Racing Beat springs are not stock on my car.

Again I will state that I want people to save money on the products they buy, not just spend money wisely. I have talked to plenty of shops about parts for our car and I am just trying to help out. As you can see from my postings I'm not trying to sell anybody anything, just trying to help out.

If you are going to try to slanderize me, why not check the pictures out as well, I never in my life saw a silver MP3 at the track racing.

Mike http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5
 
first off. how much did u pay for the springs?
and i was looking at the pics. that pic is of a mp3 that is the reason y i stated that s***.
second of all in an intake u dont lose backpressure. on exhaust u do. the only oversize u should go on any exhaust is 1/4 inch more than stock or else u are losing. and 1/2 inch for turbo motors
and intake is 3-1/2 inch. i realize what u are trying to tell ppl but i beleive that what u paid for things is way too much. and urs is only a short ram which is useless in the scheme of performance. and trust me i will know alot more about anything on any car than u would
 
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