Cold Air Intake Edge ST & Sport 2.7EB

[Xtra]

Did some math and the V3 filter has over twice the surface area than stock. It worked out to 2.1 to 2.3 times the surface area of the stock flat filter. To accommodate this I am considering a second source of air . Though I am sure that the V3 alone will be much  better than stock. 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Xtra

[CrackedDSM]

39 minutes ago, Xtra said:

Did some math and the V3 filter has over twice the surface area than stock. It worked out to 2.1 to 2.3 times the surface area of the stock flat filter. To accommodate this I am considering a second source of air . Though I am sure that the V3 alone will be much  better than stock. 

 

 

Pop the gray center of the "foglight" out, and just have the customer mount a tube running from there, to the box.  Would work great, and the "foglight"(if you can call a strip of LEDs a foglight..) will still be perfectly functional, and it'll be sneaky too! 

 

That's what I'd do.  Just include a capped off section of the air box, that the customer can then DIY some stuff.  Or if you want to do all the extra legwork, pop out that cover, make a mold of it, and then have a mold made that just pops right in and is already modified.  Include some accordion drainage hose...done! ? That's my shade tree recommendation at least.

[Xtra]

I have 4 different areas to draw the air from that I am considering,  you just guessed one of them.  The V3 is starting to look modular and could be configured in different ways.  All this is just thinking out loud and in the design phase. Nothing is locked in at this time regarding the possibility of a secondary source of air.  I do like the idea, but It has to be fit for everyday use in places that have weather like rain and snow.  It also has to be super easy to install. I don't want something that requires taking the car to a shop, that is unless that is what the owner wants to. 

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

Cut the elbow reducer parts to size, and ended up using one 35 and one 45 degree elbow..

 

 

 

Mandrel bent elbow reducers ready for welding

Edited May 8, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

Test fit the reducers before welding them. Once they are welded, the top half of the V3 will be almost complete. The V3 may look complete in these photos, but there is a ton of work to do on the bottom half.  I have to make another vacuum mold for the bottom half and thats just for starters. But this gives a good idea of what the finished air box will look like. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

When installing elbow reducers for the test fit I realized that I have used every bit of valuable real estate under the hood. I thought it would be a tight fit from the start, but OMG this is ridicules, waste not, want not. lol   

[bryantgbell]

On 5/6/2021 at 2:31 PM, CrackedDSM said:

 

 

How much does he charge for the upper intercooler pipe, and do you think he'd be interested in making hard intake pipes for the turbos to go along with Xtra's hard work?  Our intercooler piping situation is in need of some quality, sub-$1000 set of intercooler and intake pipes.  

 

 

Honestly I think with a quality turbo-back exhaust, hard intercooler and intake pipes(maybe with some heat wrap too), an intercooler, and a really good tune on E these cars could be even faster.  I dream of a future with Xtra's intake box and cowl, hard intercooler/intake pipes, and a complete turbo-back exhaust for everyone.  

 

I can 100% reach out to him about the hard piping. I'm sure if we get enough interest, he'll get them fabbed up for us! I'll be the test subject and help since I'm around the corner from him. 

 

I believe the charge pipe is $275 or so. 

[Xtra]

Started casting the buck for the bottom half of the V3.  Once this is cast I can then transform it into a vacuum form mold. I hope that the casting works works the first time.... unlike the V2 that took three tries to get it close enough to work with LOL. I went to Home Depot to buy the wood for the base and was shocked and unprepared for how much the cost of wood has gone up in the last couple months. With any luck i will finish casting tomorrow and get the elbow reducers welded up as well. At least that is the plan. I am excited about this Air Box project and can't get er' done fast enough . 

 

[Duece McCracken]

4 hours ago, Xtra said:

Started casting the buck for the bottom half of the V3.  Once this is cast I can then transform it into a vacuum form mold. I hope that the casting works works the first time.... unlike the V2 that took three tries to get it close enough to work with LOL. I went to Home Depot to buy the wood for the base and was shocked and unprepared for how much the cost of wood has gone up in the last couple months. With any luck i will finish casting tomorrow and get the elbow reducers welded up as well. At least that is the plan. I am excited about this Air Box project and can't get er' done fast enough . 

 

 

Yeah man, you are churning this bad boy out for sure!!

 

 

[Xtra]

Was able to get the elbow reducers welded up today. These are the most expensive, but necessary component of the V3.  

 

Custom made to fit and flow.

 

 

Perfect fit . The larger adaptor ring was trimmed in length to free up some space.  If you go back a few posts you can see the difference . 

 

 

Large ID, thin wall, smooth curved tubes.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

The blue line is to mark how deep to install the elbow reducers into the accordion tubes on the car for best airflow 

 

                                                                                         

Edited May 11, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

These are the two different rubber trims that I am considering to seal the snorkel to the air box preventing any hot engine compartment air from entering the V3.  

 

OK time for a rant....Several different CAI manufactures leave the top of their air box open allowing for hot under hood air to get into the system. Some use a short pipe connected to a filter with a heat shield on one side relying completely upon hot engine compartment air to feed the system  Some try to seal their air box to the underside of the hood in an attempt to have a closed system, this is  nothing more than a band-aid for a weak design IMO, and can still let copious amounts of hot air into the system.  The V3 is a completely sealed system with a gasket  between the top and bottom half of the Air Box.  Gaskets are also located at both ends of the snorkel. (Even Ford only uses one gasket at the top of the snorkel.)  The V3 filter is sealed and bolted to the air box in such a way as to block any under hood  hot air from entering the system. And the filter to the cars accordion pipes are sealed with custom made 6061 aluminum elbow reducers with stainless steel clamps. . When the V3 Air Box is combined with the V2 Intake a completely sealed high performance CAI system will be in place. Something that no other manufacture has done for the Edge 2.7EB.

 

Thanks, I needed to get that off my chest..LOL

 

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Xtra

[onyxbfly]

4 hours ago, Xtra said:

The blue line is to mark how deep to install the elbow reducers into the accordion tubes on the car for best airflow 

 

                                                                                         

 

That's what she said......

[handfiler]

1 hour ago, Xtra said:

These are the two different rubber trims that I am considering to seal the snorkel to the air box preventing any hot engine compartment air from entering the V3.  

 

OK time for a rant....Several different CAI manufactures leave the top of their air box open allowing for hot under hood air to get into the system. Some use a short pipe connected to a filter with a heat shield on one side relying completely upon hot engine compartment air to feed the system  Some try to seal their air box to the underside of the hood in an attempt to have a closed system, this is  nothing more than a band-aid for a weak design IMO, and can still let copious amounts of hot air into the system.  The V3 is a completely sealed system with a gasket  between the top and bottom half of the Air Box.  Gaskets are also located at both ends of the snorkel. (Even Ford only uses one gasket at the top of the snorkel.)  The V3 filter is sealed and bolted to the air box in such a way as to block any under hood  hot air from entering the system. And the filter to the cars accordion pipes are sealed with custom made 6061 aluminum elbow reducers with stainless steel clamps. . When the V3 Air Box is combined with the V2 Intake a completely sealed high performance CAI system will be in place. Something that no other manufacture has done for the Edge 2.7EB.

 

Thanks, I need to get that off my chest..LOL

 

I'm not sure why they don't design them to be a true cold air system. In the case of my other car I think it's due to a lack of real estate. It's also not that big of an issue because the supercharger super heats the  incoming air, hence the need for a liquid cooled heat exchanger under the supercharger. I monitor IAT2 temps and it has  never exceeded120 F (under boost) In fact my IAT2 temps at times are lower than my IAT1 temps.

 

 

[Xtra]

The Edge has an air to air intercooler so it is important to keep the hot under hood air out of the intake system . Liking that Mustang of yours a lot , If you could get a true CAI it would help some, but that liquid cooled intercooler of yours is doing a great job, and Roush know what's up. 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

It is not much to look at, but the fiberglass plug is cast for the bottom half. It still needs to be finished and converted into a vacuum mold. This came out much better than the V2 did at this same stage of development, so I know it will work and won't have to cast it again. 

 

 

                                                            

Edited May 14, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

I know that some of you are looking at that plug and thinking  " Is that what the bottom half of the V3 looks like? "  The short answer to that question is no, it looks nothing like the bottom half. This is to mold a part for the bottom half of the V3. Here is a cardboard copy that is similar to what the real part will look like when made in ABS.  

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

This is the part of the plug that makes the part, the rest is cut away after molding. I made the cardboard part by pressing and gluing cardboard around the plug . This way I can tell if the part will fit. 

 

 

                          

Edited May 12, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

Here is the first look at the bottom half of the V3 with the cardboard part installed. It fits and looks great,  and I did it on the first try  . I learned so much working on the  V2..   After cleaning up the plug it will be ready to transform into a vacuum mold that is compatible with the Vacuum Form Machine. And thats the next step.  It was so strange making this part, I had to visualize it to make the plug, and I have no cad 3D program to build it in first.  The part uses its backside on the inside of the air box and it is molded from the frontside upside down.  I also had to accommodate for the thickness of the ABS in order for the inside of the outside of the part to fit on the outside of the air box.  Confusing isn't it?  I also had to accommodate the draft angle or taper that exists on a vertical sidewall.   It's near-impossible to form plastic over a completely vertical tool and remove the part without issue. ... As the depth or height of the tool increases, the greater the draft angle needs to be. When designing this part I had to insure that there were no negative draft angles and that the positive draft angles are correct in order for the mold to work properly. I could not get around the negative draft angles on my first design and thats why it was abandoned. I like this set up way better anyway. 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Xtra

[Xtra]

Started the job of refining the plug, setting the draft angles and fine tuning the fit. There is a lot of messy, dusty, smelly fiberglass work to do before this part of the project is done.  .  

But wait, there's more !!  After the vacuum mold is completed for this part, I have to address the snorkel adaptor. But that is another story and will have to wait .

 

 

                                                                           

Edited May 14, 2021 by Xtra

[MSCOSC]

Extremely impressed by the progress! 

[MichaelTM]

This is incredible. I'm so glad I stumbled across this forum. I have been trying to Dream up a better intake for my 2.7eb and have been slowly collecting parts to try and make something happen. Nothing I could have done even compares with this stuff. Wow.

[Xtra]

51 minutes ago, MichaelTM said:

This is incredible. I'm so glad I stumbled across this forum. I have been trying to Dream up a better intake for my 2.7eb and have been slowly collecting parts to try and make something happen. Nothing I could have done even compares with this stuff. Wow.

Thank you so much MichaelTM, and welcome to the forum. When the air box is finished and tested I will make it available to forum members. Keep checking in as I am updating frequently . There is a ton of great info here for the Ford Edge, here is a thread with a list of mods and links to suppliers that you might be interested in.

.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Xtra

[hyperc32]

So when is this air box going on sale? and any idea on the cost?

[Xtra]

4 hours ago, hyperc32 said:

So when is this air box going on sale? and any idea on the cost?

Thanks for your interest. I have a lot of work to do before the V3 is ready, and I can't even begin to estimate a cost as it is still in development. I have been working 6 days a week on it. All I can say for sure is keep checking in on this thread for the latest update and as soon as it is ready for production I will post it here. 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Xtra