FTO AUSTRALIA

Right, thought id get my hands dirty and start to modify the FTO.

Ive noticed an issue with my revs being slightly erratic, and so checked under the bonnet and found my POD filter was just lying there not supported at all and was very hot. So thought id give making a air box a go.

Things needed:

Patience
Some 0.6mm aluminium from bunnings ($15)
Some hard carboard
Lots of insulation tape
More patience

First picture is of the car with the POD filter removed - sorry the car is dirty.



Next is the area in which im putting the air box, notice that the CAI is the original, thinking of something clever for that. I'm going to use the existing bolt hole there to fix the bottom and possibly a bracket for the top.



After hacking apart a bosch drill box, used muchos insulation tape to fabricate a basic shape that i wanted. I can't stress this enough (like everyone else has said) id rather spend two hours cutting cardboard than 2 weeks redoing a welded box!



Standard MAF and pipework which im using for the time being, i will change this but not at the moment.



POD filter bracket, which im thinking of using on both sides of the box, to make removal easier.



Basic template broken down and drawn roughly on the aluminum sheet. Use some sharp scissors to do this, i tried tin snips and it wrecks it. Cut it all out and then bend using a hammer and some wooden blocks, this took ages and really annoyed me.



Prototype cut out and placed into car to check fit, the other image shows the position of the cutout that im going to make for the POD filter brackets.




Last picture shows that ive got the earthing stud and air-con pipes in the way.



Im going to fabricate a 'X' shaped bracket using the existing bolt hole to make clearance for these and so the air box mounts over the top of them, going to place some form of bracket over the existing CAI hole to make changing each separate part of the system easier.
Also adding a lid, by getting the whole box made by a friend in 1-2mm aluminium (prob 2mm) and adding a lip to each side.

I will add more photos as i get further into this job, also gonna keep the templates in case anyone else is interested in the finished product.

nice effort mate..

What you've got there is ok, but I think you would have been better off to have made a couple more cardboard mockups before going on to putting it together in aluminium.. and IMHO it would look tidier if you extended it up to be flush with the bottom of the fusebox cover & extended it to cover the aircon piping near the bottom edge..

There is a trick to using tin snips .. you need to cut about 1 cm away from the outline you've drawn (I find it easiest to use a pointed bit of metal to scratch the outline to work from) & then go back & trim it up .. I use a Dremel rotary tool to tidy up the edges i've cut along, so always leave about an extra 0.5mm of material to sand back

I'm making an intake box & a few other things myself at the moment & have found that the 0.5mm alumium (which looks like what you've used) would be too thin for the box cause it dents too easily etc, I'd say you would need at least 1.5mm & Bunnings doesn't seem to stock it..

BTW - Real Estate For Sale signs etc make an awesome alternative to cardboard for making mock ups

nice start i think i might start one one day mayb out of fiberglass less heat that way

nice diy mate do the trick,,

Looks good man, you gonna make a lid for it to finish it off?

its being modified now, making it from 2mm ally, looks sort of like the UAS box now, with a panel on the bottom which covers everything up to the cold air intake.

Trying to decide wether to go the route of tig welding the box and using thicker ally or staying with 2mm and having to bend it the old fashioned way.

Ill keep you all posted and hopefully have something very soon to show.

good luck with lid you should try old way you say if come's out right will look sweet to de eye,put pics up when done,

remember! if you completely box it with the cold air feed, you must have 2 cold air feeds. i fully boxed my intake system and bought one of those 3" memorex flexible hoses from autobarn and not enough air was getting fed despite it being 3"(same as tb), i think it was because of the ribbed/spirally design which made turbulence and it had about 2-3 bends even with it being the easiest path to the front bumper.

When i cut a second hole for another cold air feed, i noticed the throttle difference straight away. The noise quieted down from the cabin and i just decided to take the lid off to see if i can get the intake growl again, and to my surprise, i felt more power, and i knew.