Thread: Cold Air intake and heatshield build

Right after i bought my grand prix i realized that after a small trip on the highway it felt like the engine bay was on fire. This made my aftermarket cold air intake completely obsolete seeing it was just cycling hot air into the intake making the engine heat up even faster. I figured a heat shield and cold air ram would be a great solution to the problem. I also didnt like the fact that the stock air box held the pcm so that when you install an aftermarket cai it would have to float freely in the engine bay unless you pay zzp $40 for a pcm tray.

step 1: tear out and keep all parts from the stock air box and cai.


note that the hole in fender-well will be used for the cold air ram


step 2: cut airbox down to use as cold air ram using stock hole


Step 3: measure the open area and use a cardboard pop or beer case to mock up the area needed to fill, then transfer those measurements on to a sheet of sheet metal. cut and bend into desired shape.



check fitment before installing the rest of the parts into the box


i made the height too short so that the pcm didnt fit with wires inside box. solution comes later.


Step 4: cut hole and install cold air ram into the box.



step 5: cut out a chunk or the stock intake rubber hose  and a hole in opposite side of box to use a a seal for the stainless pipe into the box.


i found out later that trying to get everything into the box before installing it was nearly impossible, so i cut the top off of the box. make sure to cut high enough towards the top as to not compromise the shape/ structure of the box. (i didnt cut high enough and cut part of the side out on accident. made the install a little more difficult but still worked.


Step 6: use a piece of plexiglass to cover the top of the box. also cut a hole in the top of the plexiglass to fit wire onto the pcm. I did this so that monitoring the condition of the filter was easier then tearing everything apart just to check it.


Step 7: install all parts and step back to admire the final product.



thanks for checking out my build.

Nice DIY dude.

Seemed like your engine bay was on fire, and you made an intake?

Sounds like something I would have looked into a bit further personally...

Good write-up though.

Looks clean. Nice job

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

Seemed like your engine bay was on fire, and you made an intake?

Sounds like something I would have looked into a bit further personally...

Good write-up though.

I did haha. Bought a 180* t-stat. But the point was that it made me realize that I was cycling hot air in the first place.

looks dam good but to be honest im that artistic for the sheetmetal part.. ill cut my hands slap the f up

Nice write up and good finished product....but you made a metal box.....its gonna heat up just the same, and having said that the hot air really wasent hurting ya much. Having said that, it looks great.

Originally Posted by GTPSHAWTY

looks dam good but to be honest im that artistic for the sheetmetal part.. ill cut my hands slap the f up

haha thanks and if you look at the picture of the pcm fitment check, you'll notice i have a band-aid on my finger. i did cut my hand the f*** up haha.

Originally Posted by boostedcompg

Nice write up and good finished product....but you made a metal box.....its gonna heat up just the same, and having said that the hot air really wasent hurting ya much. Having said that, it looks great.

sorry i forgot to add the solution to the box heating up. i added heat resistant insulating material to the inside of the box. same stuff you put in your home heating ducts.

what filter is that... and it looks dam good... i wont be doing it tho lol

it started as a full weapon-r kit but was then upgraded to fit using spectre tubing.

You could spend 13 and get the zzp.pcm tray from your gm dealer

Kindle Fire: 58 pixels were harmed or maimed in the making of this post. Congratulations on becoming an accessory.

$20 for aluminum sheet. $5 for insulation materials. plexiglass was a leftover from another project- about $5-10 worth. you could build the filter and piping straight from spectre products for about $30-40. i used a $100 weapon-r system and then redid it for use in the box.

Looks like you cut the airflow back down to stock though...

meh.. he still had the heat trap on his engine anyway

All that work and no blower?

Personally, I would have rather just put the stock air box back...

However, I do like the idea, and the plexi is trick.