Well I decided to try making my own heatshield for my JWT intake.

I have the JWT heat shield, but I got this crazy idea one day to remove the air intake duct to widen up the air passage to the intake. Since the JWT heat shield relies on that thing to fasten itself to (it's only real semi-solid connection since you can yank that clamp plate right off) I had to ditch the heat shield.

I've never liked how air can get caught down into the wheel well area and also needed something to kind of subsitute for the lack of the air duct to guide air to the intake.

So I tried taking a sheet of thermowrap cloth and shoved it in there, cutting it to fit and zip tie it down. The thermowrap is layed down in such a way to serve as a new intake duct covering up the metal tubing that goes to the radiator

Went and did some driving. After poping the hood, the heat wrap is warm, but not hot like the JWT or other metal air boxes are. So I think it's working. If I want to, I can probably double the thickness with a 2nd sheet of thermowrap and zip tie it to the first one.

Anyway, it looks kinda lame I suppose - not exactly professional, but if it works, it works. Any comments?

 

more pics

 

r u going to clean up the look?

 

I don't know, not sure what all can be done that'd make it look significantly better. It'd be nice if there was a simple carbon fiber box that you can buy all by itself, but this seemed like the next best thing and I didn't want to go with the stillen or K&N intake cause they're prices are rape especially when I like the JWT just fine

My car isn't exactly a show car and I'll never act as if it's one

 

OT question: how is the Kinetix SSV intake manifold work? feel any different?

 

Hey Sentry...where are you dynoing at now for rwhp??

 

Do you know Ingen has a heat shield that wraps around the filter like you're trying to do. Its about $45 bux.

I have one, but I chose not to use it. Call Injen and ask them.

 

no didn't know that, is it made out of metal or something else?

 

Yes, It's like a metal shroud that goes 3/4's the way around the filter and attatches to the neck of the filter itself with a lip underneath the hose clamp that holds the filter on. If I remember tonight, I find it & post some pics of it.

I was going to use it on my full Injen to block off some of the debris that hits the filter dead on, but it was too bulky to fit within the cavity of the nose so I couldnt use it.

 

off topic but:

sentry I see your Kinetix plenum. So how is it doing?


thanks

 

hmm yeah, well I was trying to avoid using metal cause metal would just heat up after awhile and radiate the heat off of it which I think would contribute to warming up the air going in the intake ever so slightly. I'll take another sheet of the thermo wrap and try thickening up the side closest to the headers/belts.

Mainly the concept was to try to keep the colder air from getting sucked up into all the crevices and be bombarded by the heat coming off of the engine while not soaking up and radiating heat. Also removing the air intake duct allows more air to come in. It might not look pretty, but I really don't care so much if it works. I don't really show off my engine that much.





About the SSV, I really don't have much more to say about it than what I've said here:
https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....&highlight=SSV

do a search guys - lots of info on it





The place I think I will dyno from now on will be dynocomp because they have a load based dyno.

 

How about cutting the rear side of the stock airbox off and lining the inside with thermotec adhesive heat shielding?

I don't have an airbox here to look at, but that might provide you a more solid structure to enclose the filter in.


Oh yeah, and

 

yeah I could think about doing something like that.

what I've done believe it or not is actually pretty stiff - it's not going anywhere cause I have it zip tied down in a million places

 

only way your gonna know if this made an actual impact is to setup an IAT meter, or just standard temp sensor and test before and after.

Just cus its hotter before doesnt mean anything. Friction creates heat, the moving particles created all the heat on your heatshield.

Just cuz the pipe isn't as warm doesnt mean as much, could be the materials werent as conductive to heat or the wind was blowing on the pipe to cool it down.

*** dyno doesnt do ****!

 

Well, it may work....but it is definitely GH to the ET to the TO

 

Man, you can't leave that in there. You spent all that money on an aftermarket radiator, intake manifold, cf tube and pop charger, not to mention things i am not seeing, just to go ghetto for maybe at the most 1/2 to 1 hp. Come on now. Stop listenening to the SRT guys.
Cover the back of the heat shield if you have to.

 

If you are going that far, you might as well use the same material to cover the top so no heat from the top can get to the filter.

If I were to do this type of thing, I would use the thermowrap on the heat shield.

Some used heat insulation sheets that has tape on one side and wrapped it around the Z tube and tapped it to the surface of aluminum popcharger surface. They also did the same to the heat shield.

The project was to get the coolest air possible into the engine. Did it look pretty? not really, but it made sense performance wise.

 

well I was going to cover the top, but it turned out to kinda lay over the filter and thus blocking some of the air. My hood will eventually be a fiberglass hood so it won't retain as much heat as aluminum

yeah I know it looks a little ghetto. It's not as bad in person though as the pics. I'll try messing around with some other ideas later on tonight or tomorrow. I thought it'd be interesting to at least try it and see what results I got. My car is more oriented towards a track car than a show car and so I lean more towards going with whatever gets the job done the best vs something looking pretty. I might see if I can find some plastic tubing to connect the intake to where the air duct is. We'll see.

For some reason I just don't care so much about how the engine bay looks. I don't drive with the hood up. I rarely pop the hood. I don't enter my car in shows, etc

1 hp is 1 hp. I've thought about wrapping my CF tube too.

Have you guys ever looked at the air intake duct?

Have you seen how much wider it is without it?



I knew I'd get a lot of uproar from doing this.

 

No uproar here. I would just go to the extreme if I went as far as you and wrap the Z tube and cover the whole filter, and tape the aluminum part of the popcharger with insulation tape.

 

I have, and I know the duct in the USA spec Z is bigger than the JAP spec Z because performance nissan sells the USA spec air duct.

My question is: Is the air duct simply there so the stock airbox can hook up to it and get air from the bumper or does the airduct help direct air into the intake and is therefore better leaving it in than taking it out. (Same idea as the Popcharger with the venturi surround.....more air flow is good...but directing and speeding up the air flow is better than having a big stagnant mass of air.

Just a thought, because I sure don't know.