i think your cai needs to be two pieces in order to use a bypass thing.

 

I bet if you hit that with a laser thermometer after you drove for awhile you would see some seriously high temps, and with that filter being 360 degrees its pulling air from all around it, including the air coming and swirling by those exhaust manifold tubes. There does appear to be some space which is good, but I would still bet you aren't getting the full benefit of cold air, especially if you sit still, you don't have moving air, and I bet that tube gets heat soaked really easily as well as everything else around the filter. Only a dyno would say for sure, but even then I don't forsee this approach to be very beneficial over modifying the stock airbox or boxing in your setup now with something that won't absorb heat, or getting a true air pick up point which is outside of the engine bay and away from its hot air.

 

I found a low mileage engine (less than 10k). I've got the Helms manual which says the engine comes out under the car. Not an easy task for the home garage. Does anyone know If the engine will come out the top? I'll post some pics of the trashed engine when I get it out.

 

Josh, or gd3kamiwanaB username, pulled his motor after he did some pretty good damage running boost. He swapped another L15A in, and if I remember the pictures showed the process with an engine hoist and removing the old/installing the new from the top side.

yep, here's the link

 

Front Wheel drive engines are always easier to drop out attached to the whole front subassebly, with the wheels and all. This is how they are put in. In a home garage thsi is abit of a challange due to lifting capabilities and height restrictions. I looked at mine just now and it looks like with some careful planning you should be able to remove the half shafts, at the transmition and then suspend the engine, remove the motor mounts and then raise the passanger side first and slip it out.

 

Just so everyone knows, K&N makes a product known as "Outerwears" for their ATV intake applications. It is essentially a cover that slips over the cone of the intake and is designed to allow the same amount of air in without allowing dirt, water, mud etc. to enter the manifold.

When I had a K&N CAI on my Chevy Colorado ZQ8 I used one of these and it worked great. Hope this helps anyone with concerns...

 

Thanks for the link to the engine installation pictures. Looks like he put in in from the top. That's what I'm going to do. Any suggestions on things to do to the motor before it goes in?

 

cai i wish water log in florida damn hurricans

 

I've had similar experiences when I owned a Civic back in the day. Right now, I just stuck to k&n filters in all my cars and so far so good.