TBI Cold Air Intake how to

This will show you how to make your own Cold Air Intake like mine. Now remember this was all done on my '92 4.3 TBI; your truck may have some minor changes if its not the same year or engine.

Heres the list of parts you'll need to complete this swap.

1. THROTTLE BODY HAT W/ FLEXIBLE END & HOLD DOWN STUD from an 80s cadillac with the 4.5 or 4.9 tbi V8s ( from my experience the 4.9 hat has less openings for vacuum lines and such)

2. PVC or METAL PIPE approximately 14" long and 3" or 3.5" outside diameter. Since pvc is thicker i used 3.5" O.D and it has a 3" I.D.

3. K&N FILTER of your choice. Mine is # R0 - 46A6 (i think it may be discontinued because i cant find it listed on K&Ns site.) If you use 3" O.D. tubing # RE - 0810 is probably your best bet. Use this site to find which one is right for you

4. 7" OF RUBBER HOSE (ill get the size ASAP)

Possible needs to make the project better/easier

1. EXTRA PVC TUBE ASSEMBLY (you will need to cut this piece so i got an extra from a junkyard so i could keep my stock one)

2. A HOME MADE BRACKET to hold the filter end of the tube in place

3. you may need to RELOCATE YOUR HORN depending on the length of filter you use (i found a nice spot on the drivers side fender)

if you dont know what a part looks like, scroll down and i'll have pics with my desriptions.

*WARNING* I have had members tell me that the throttle body hat doesnt fit properly on their trucks and also that the caddy stud doesn't fit their throttle body either. This all worked fine on my truck and a couple other trucks as well. Just figured I would warn you that because of year/engine/options this may not fit perfectly without some fiddling, but dont be discouraged from trying it because i feel it was worth it.

well this is what you should be lookin at.... all nice and stock, but not for long

remove the stock air cleaner assembly, stock intake tube, and the flex hose (which runs from the exhaust manifold to the air cleaner, you will no longer need this and leaving the hole in the heat shield open will not hurt anything) and the stock hold down stud

now you should be lookin at this......

Remove the PVC tube from the valve cover and carefully slide the air cleaner extension up over the throttle body (you may need to spin it a little for it to come off) THIS IS IMPORTANT: the reason this must be removed is for hood clearance. The new TB hat is too tall when combined with this piece and your hood will not close! however there is still enough room to use an aftermarket TB spacer and still have your hood close.

here's a close up pic of that assembly

you should now have all these parts removed from the truck

Here is where you need to modify the PVC tube and why i got a second one. I cut the tube 2.5" up from the bottom, here you can also see the 7" of rubber hose you'll need, doing this is needed to replace the stock pcv setup which is no longer used.

this shows your old setup next to the new design

Install the stud from the cadillac. Compare it to your stock s10 one and you will see it is much shorter and has the correct bends

Here you can see all the parts you need, ready to be put together and installed. Your pipe, filter and large hose clamp up top, your stud to the left and your throttle body hat w/ flexible end, and the rubber hose and pcv pipe on the bottom.

now you can install the 14" pipe in both the filter and TB hat. I inserted the pipe into the filter 2.25" and 1.5" into the TB hat leaving 10.25" exposed this seemed to be a good overall length. You can now install the rubber hose onto the closest opening on the TB hat in relation to the opening on the valve cover.

it should look like this.

Now its time to place the CAI setup into the engine bay. Place the TB hat carefully down over the throttle body and make sure it sits flush like this because you dont want any air leaks from that area.

Now insert the PVC hose back into the valve cover (like in the pic) and position the whole assembly to your liking and tighten it down.

This is optional depending on your filter selection, but my horn was getting in the way so i moved it from the core support down to an unused hole on the drivers side fender.

Again, this is optional: Make some type of a bracket to hold the tube from flopping around. You dont need to do this.... but i recommend it. All I did was find a 3 sided bracket, drill a hole in one side and through the inner fender. Then i hooked the bracket through the hose clamp and tightened it. I put a bolt through the bracket (and spacer) and inner fender and tightened it. This works good except the top portion comes out. This is why i used the zip tie, so be sure to make a better bracket then i have.

Make sure everythings tight and go see what kinda gains you get from this. I picked up 2mpg and it definitely has more power then before.
This isnt a hard swap at all. Infact, it's so easy that i decided to time myself taking it from this form back to stock for the pictures.... well without rushing myself i did it in 4 minutes and 10 seconds, so you guys should have no problem doing this.

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