Fab'ed heat shield for Cold Air Intake for KKM

loveLSE said:
Hey, GWL.
you just need to bring in fresh air by ducting it from the front grill to the hole. Now, your insulation should work much better bringing in colder air from the front and TOTAL blocking of hot air. NICE! why didnt I think of that?
Your temp result should be better than mine.
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Yes, you may be right. I looked at the way the LSE front end is set up and it appears that a small flat deflector even with the bottom edge of the car may be enough. There appears to be very little room on the LSE to route the ducting, so for now I am going to rely on the positive pressure in the area under the hole in the bottom and the hole in the upper inner fender to bring in the cooler air.

:Beer
 
question? will water go into the intake with the tubing going all the way down to the bottom grill? do u make holes some where do drain it?
 
NO water.
It rains quite a bit in seattle and everytime it rains I would check to see if there's any water. so far, no water has entered my heat shield box.
 
BIG CELO said:
Welcome back loveLSE, Are you going to make these heat shields, if you are let me know


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Does anyone know if these dimensions will fit the 2000 LS V6 as well as the LS V8? I'm a newbe ...
 
BatMobile said:
Does anyone know if these dimensions will fit the 2000 LS V6 as well as the LS V8? I'm a newbe ...
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Yes it will fit.
 
01lssport said:
I don't know about that. There are e few hoses that run behind the head light that caused a problem for me. For the V6 anyways.
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Below is a picture of the stainless steel tube and KKM kit on a V6. There shouldn't be any additional "tubing" unless it's aftermarket. When we were making the stainless tube for the V6 we didn't see any hoses or tubes that would get in the way. The box dimensions should work for any LS.

CAIV68.jpg
 
GrayGhost1 said:
Below is a picture of the stainless steel tube and KKM kit on a V6. There shouldn't be any additional "tubing" unless it's aftermarket. When we were making the stainless tube for the V6 we didn't see any hoses or tubes that would get in the way. The box dimensions should work for any LS.

CAIV68.jpg
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I just made that box about a month ago. The heat shield slides under the radiator support a little. The hose in this pic that is on the left of the MAF continues down in front of the radiator support on my car causing a clearance issue (not allowing the heat shield to slide under the radiator support all the way). Now maybe my car is messed up because I have found evidence that it might have been wrecked in the front. I will take a picture to show this area.
 
GrayGhost1 said:
George,

That looks very industrious! Is the insulation rigid or soft? The reason I ask is that will it cave in once the intake starts sucking in air.
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OK It has been long enough to come to some conclusions on this mod. Around town mileage has increased an average of 1 mile/gal. The material has held up to all day freeway runs without distortion. Highway mileage has not changed significantly as it is up only an average of .1 Mile/gal. I am attributing the 1mi/gal increase around town to the lower intake air temp at slow stop & go driving in town and the virtual no change in freeway mileage to enough cool air at speed getting to the intake with or without the airbox mod. Just my guess though.:rolleyes:

:Beer
 
My brother-in-law has a nice machine shop where he builds towable trench diggers, I'll see if he can fab something for us. Can we use a lightweight aluminum that can be bent and cut by machine and then insulated? Let me know if anyone wants me to pursue this. maybe we can tweak the design enough that we can mass market these babies. I have the business savvy; I have a manufacturer; do I have assistance from any members with the design and the R&D?
 
My brother-in-law has a nice machine shop where he builds towable trench diggers, I'll see if he can fab something for us. Can we use a lightweight aluminum that can be bent and cut by machine and then insulated? Let me know if anyone wants me to pursue this. maybe we can tweak the design enough that we can mass market these babies. I have the business savvy; I have a manufacturer; do I have assistance from any members with the design and the R&D?
 
paulownian said:
My brother-in-law has a nice machine shop where he builds towable trench diggers, I'll see if he can fab something for us. Can we use a lightweight aluminum that can be bent and cut by machine and then insulated? Let me know if anyone wants me to pursue this. maybe we can tweak the design enough that we can mass market these babies. I have the business savvy; I have a manufacturer; do I have assistance from any members with the design and the R&D?
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Well I would be interested in a box as you have described. Insulation should not be a problem. I think a simple version of the open bottom shield like I made out of insulation material would work just fine. There are air sources at the bottom and from the driver side fender as well as a little from next to the radiator. I am not convinced that ducting with an air hose is necessary as on the LSE it will be difficult to route the hose properly.
 
Plastic Type

What grade of plastic are you guys using for this sheild? I went to the plastics shop and they're trying to convince me to use corrugated plastic which is pretty much cardboard with a thin plastic lining.
 
I have also thought of trying the plexiglass. There isn't any reason why plexy shouldn't be able to handle the temps.

I think in the long run, the aluminum style is going to be best, though. As far as the air flow, my research has shown that the air flow goes top to bottom. We should maintain the same style of air flow that was used in the stock box - from the top front, which would flow over the filter and down to the hole in the bottom left and out the hole in the wheel. I also believe there should be a top to the unit to maintain the correct pressure. I have cut out a template based loosely on the drawing in previous posts and will create an R&D model over the weekend. If this works out as well as I believe it will with these little improvements, we can go to manufacture fairly fast. Thoughts? Comments?
 
paulownian said:
I have also thought of trying the plexiglass. There isn't any reason why plexy shouldn't be able to handle the temps.

I think in the long run, the aluminum style is going to be best, though. As far as the air flow, my research has shown that the air flow goes top to bottom. We should maintain the same style of air flow that was used in the stock box - from the top front, which would flow over the filter and down to the hole in the bottom left and out the hole in the wheel. I also believe there should be a top to the unit to maintain the correct pressure. I have cut out a template based loosely on the drawing in previous posts and will create an R&D model over the weekend. If this works out as well as I believe it will with these little improvements, we can go to manufacture fairly fast. Thoughts? Comments?
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You are very correct about the airflow. I was commenting on this in another post. The LS has a specific route that the airflow takes thru the grill and out the engine compartment. One of the first stops this airflow makes is past the airbox. So with this in mind, at any speed over lets say 10 mph then your "heat shield" is actually blocking the cooler air coming from the grill. With the speed and pressure that is most likely created while driving the "hot" engine air is blown backwards away from the air intake. Your really using a cooler air hotrod type principle on a very well engineered car. Not necessary or practical.
 
I would like to keep the same type of air scoop that is used on the stock box and leave it in the same place. Most efficient. Basically, we are just recreating the wheel here. Of course, we are making it look better than the stock box, but the principles are the same and the opportunity exists to make improvements over the stock because we have no constraints, such as noise, etc.
 
GrayGhost1 said:
George,

That looks very industrious! Is the insulation rigid or soft? The reason I ask is that will it cave in once the intake starts sucking in air.
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That is the first thing I looked at when I bought my windsheild screen for 4 bucks LMAO!! It doesn't fold in at all. I have hammered it 9-10 times since mine has been on and it's still in the same spot. Of cousre I also pushed mine through the small nubs for the old airbox. As far as the other side goes, it doesnt mve at all because of the way it fits around the airbox.
 
paulownian said:
My brother-in-law has a nice machine shop where he builds towable trench diggers, I'll see if he can fab something for us. Can we use a lightweight aluminum that can be bent and cut by machine and then insulated? Let me know if anyone wants me to pursue this. maybe we can tweak the design enough that we can mass market these babies. I have the business savvy; I have a manufacturer; do I have assistance from any members with the design and the R&D?
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Well I dont think I can help you bulid one but so long as there priced right I'll take one
 
One last question

About what size thickness are you guys using to contruct these heatshields in the plastic or fiberglass?
 
paulownian said:
My brother-in-law has a nice machine shop where he builds towable trench diggers, I'll see if he can fab something for us. Can we use a lightweight aluminum that can be bent and cut by machine and then insulated? Let me know if anyone wants me to pursue this. maybe we can tweak the design enough that we can mass market these babies. I have the business savvy; I have a manufacturer; do I have assistance from any members with the design and the R&D?
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I am interested.

Here is my current setup. I can really tell the heat is a problem after sitting at a stoplight:
kkm.jpg
 
sold. I will buy one if you want to sell me one
 
I'm confused, removing the stock filter from the box and then reinstalling a different kind in a box. The whole reason to go to the conical open element kind filter is to not limit the amount of air that the motor can pull. The conical filter has more surface area than the flat filter so therefore can flow more air. Sticking it back in a box completely goes against the design. The design show in this thread looks way to small to allow that filter to breath. The scoop is only going to work so well since as the car speeds up, air starts flowing perhaps past it. Not to mention it only has the 3" tube to breath again. The design is little better than the factory set-up. The thing we're trying to accomplish is keeping the filter from pulling motor heat, sealing the filter from the engine heat is the idea, but reboxing it, is going backwards. I started working on a sheild that will seperate filter from engine and will allow the filter to breath well throu all those large holes around it, but pulling air from the motors warmth will not be an option. It will allow the KKM filter to pull all the air it wants with out restricting.
 
02LSE96LSC91SE84TC said:
I'm confused, removing the stock filter from the box and then reinstalling a different kind in a box. The whole reason to go to the conical open element kind filter is to not limit the amount of air that the motor can pull. The conical filter has more surface area than the flat filter so therefore can flow more air. Sticking it back in a box completely goes against the design. The design show in this thread looks way to small to allow that filter to breath. The scoop is only going to work so well since as the car speeds up, air starts flowing perhaps past it. Not to mention it only has the 3" tube to breath again. The design is little better than the factory set-up. The thing we're trying to accomplish is keeping the filter from pulling motor heat, sealing the filter from the engine heat is the idea, but reboxing it, is going backwards. I started working on a sheild that will seperate filter from engine and will allow the filter to breath well throu all those large holes around it, but pulling air from the motors warmth will not be an option. It will allow the KKM filter to pull all the air it wants with out restricting.
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I'm going to agree...So how about just making an aluminum double-sided wall away from the engine? The air the intake breathes comes from the bottom of the car already, the box isn't going to do much but smother the intake if you surround it. I just thought about that.
 
We aren't pulling air from the hot engine compartment. We block heat from the engine while allowing the air flow to come from the front of the vehicle.
 
J3FF said:
I'm going to agree...So how about just making an aluminum double-sided wall away from the engine? The air the intake breathes comes from the bottom of the car already, the box isn't going to do much but smother the intake if you surround it. I just thought about that.
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I'm not going to double wall mine as the air circulation under the hood is pretty good. I double walled the MarkVIII one I made because it frickin hot under thet hood and it needed all the help it could get to keep the heat from the filter. I couldn't even hold the filter it would be so dang hot. I've checked the filter on the LSE several times and it never gets that hot, although it hasn't gotten that hot around here yet. I may put an extra sheild that would catch some of the heat and position it to direct air from the front across the aluminum to cool it, rather than completely fabbing a double wall set-up.

I actually think the intake is grabbing air from the grill area, at least when the car is moving. Either way with the way I'm doing it, it won't obstruct any of it.
 
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