Airbox mods

Sinooch

New member
i havent personally done it myself. but as far as i can tell there isnt. i plan on doing the airbox mod soon but i just wanna flash my ecu before i do anything cause i dont want to screw around with the air/fuel ratio too much. it might not be necessary to wait lol, im just waiting until i get it flashed because i also have a catless exhaust and the O2 sensor shaved off. But i dont think there is any repercussions to this. you just be a little heavy on the air thats it.
 
D

Deleted member 3631

Guest
I actually just did the Lars Airbox Mod (from the Fz1 owners) out of the ones ive seen i thought that one was the cleanest in my opinion.
 

Blackfin

New member
I'm going to try a variation of this mod. Instead of just cutting a gaping hole in the bottom of the box I'm going to (attempt to) retain the spirit of the OE design but make it larger. The idea is to preserve the smooth airflow into the box as well as the "funnel" design to help maintain velocity. I have no idea if it will be of any benefit or even fit.

I've worked up a 3D model of a new funnel I think should work okay. I'd cut out the OE funnel and enlarge the opening just enough for this piece:



It's about as wide as the OE funnel but twice the length longitudinally. The three bosses around the outside are intended to allow 6-20 thread-cutting screws to retain the funnel from the inside of the airbox. They'll be on the "atmosphere" side of the air filter so if one does come loose there'd be no risk of it getting into the engine.

Going to look into getting it 3D printed tomorrow. I've got a new aix cleaner case bottom to work with. Will post pics of my progress (assuming it fits...) with this if any are interested.
 

Blackfin

New member
I'll see how the proto turns out and how the fitment is. The proto for fitment checking will be made with PLA which is not particularly robust from a temperature perspective. If it works, I'd then look at getting it made with something more suited to the temperatures seen in that area of the bike. HTM140, perhaps? Having it made with metal and sintered is not an option from a cost perspective.

Will keep you informed as to progress.
 

Blackfin

New member
First 3D-printed prototype hot off the printer. Needs a little clean-up with sandpaper but is otherwise just as I'd envisioned:

 

Blackfin

New member
A couple of shots showing a comparison between the OE funnel and my prototype:





Hopefully this weekend I can make some progress on sanding the proto smooth, finishing it a bit and doing some cutting on the box to trial fit it.
 

LimitedEdition

New member
Looks clean. Curious, what type of 3D printer did you use and what's the material? Would love to see how this turns out and if there's any engineers in the house, a CFD analysis of the CAD file. I am unfortunately stuck in the spot between knowing what those are why they are important, but not smart enough to do them...
 
D

Deleted member 3631

Guest
Im very curious to see your process! looks very interesting! :)
 

Blackfin

New member
Looks clean. Curious, what type of 3D printer did you use and what's the material?

The prototype/proof of concept was made on a MakerBot out of PLA. A "real" version that I would install on the bike for real -- subject to high temperatures, vibration etc -- will need to be a different material, as yet undecided.

Would love to see how this turns out and if there's any engineers in the house, a CFD analysis of the CAD file. I am unfortunately stuck in the spot between knowing what those are why they are important, but not smart enough to do them...

I've talked to a mechanical-engineer colleague of mine (I'm an electrical engineer) about doing flow sims on the model but we're pretty busy here at work and he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

Sadly, it's as cold as hell here (-10oC right now) which isn't conducive to me getting out into my unheated, uninsulated garage to hack away on this. I'll try to get some stuff done indoors but it will likely be with the onset of warmer weather that I see real progress.
 

LimitedEdition

New member
Cool, keep us posted. I may be wrong, but I think you can use ABS material with MakerBots. That should suffice if I'm right. If the MakerBot can't, I'm sure there are plenty prototyping shops around that you would be able to produce it at.
 

Blackfin

New member
So I finally made a little progress: Got the old funnel cut out and the new one installed in a new airbox. Unfortunately, even though it's March it's still far too cold to actually mount it on the bike.

Old funnel cut out, next to the new one:



Cut-out in the airbox. Surface looks rough thanks to file work to level things:



New funnel mounted, bottom side:



New funnel mounted, from the inside. Three screws retain it. They're on the "outside" of the box so if they back out, they won't get past the air filter into the engine:



Hopefully we'll get some warmer temps soon so I can get this, the PC5, the Akra headers and some other goodies installed and I can ride it :)
 

Blackfin

New member
Everything (headers, PCV, modded airbox, K&N) is installed and I've been running the combo for a while. Runs really well, sounds great. I've tried a few different tunes on the PCV but I haven't had a chance to have it properly dyno tuned (am hoping to find a chance to do that some time this summer.)

Comparison of the inlets to the box:



Spiffy Akra headers:

 

Smurfbud

New member
I lurve those akra pipes ...... gotta get me some of them ...... UK supplier required ...???

Might go get the dremmel on my airbox whilst the summer weather is crap and do the SAI block off too whilst I am in there ...

What PCV map are you running? I am fitting a PCV next week, closely followed by some dyno time and would like to have a decent starting map to work from. I will happily share my resultant tuned map
 
Top