94-97 CAI How-To

[2drSE-i]

I'm gonna call this my contribution to the board

94-97 Accord CAI how-to

bought mine for 10 dollars. 35 shipped, came with decent filter, and couplings all the way around

First, take all of your stock BS off, est time = 20 mins
you will notice all of the ridiculously unneccessary bends in it as you take it off. The first few pieces are really easy to get off, ill share some info on the stuff that was not so easy.
The air filter box. Two bolts that are screwed into the throttle bottle, seeminly easy yes, but to get out? not so much, heres what you do. Go at it like your changing your air filter, pop out all the clamps, and pull your stock air filter out, as well as the back piece. Then it is really easy to get the whole box off.

The air box, sits in the corner of the passengers side, heres what you do.
remove the kick panel in that corner, and you will immediately see it, its the big black box with a pipe on it. 3 bolts total, two easy to see, one not so much. i spent 5 minutes tugging on it thinking i had all the bolts out :uh: when you get it out, leave the kick panel off, you will be needing it off until you are completely done.


After all the stock pieces are off remove your battery and your tray. the tray has several bolts in it. and by several i mean close to 10

once you have that off, your ready to fly

first thing you'll notice: the stock hole for the cai pipe is not NEARLY big enough. Bobafett says dremel tool is easiest way to widen the hole, i wasnt quite confident enough in my ability with my friends dremel tool, so i used metal shears and pliers to widen this hole, and flatten the sharp edges.

next = TEST FITTING!!!!! ok its not that exciting. attach your filter to the end of the pipe that extends to the bumper, and slide it UP through the newly widened hole. Bobafett says he only had to cut an inch off of his CAI, i had to cut closer to six.....not sure why we got different number but we did lol. heres the tricky part.

what i did, was attach the first pipe to the throttle body, and test fit the whole system. first i saw that the second pipe's curve was too long, so i cut about an inch off of that, it fit fine. i fit it up, connected everything, and saw that the filter was about a quarter inch off the ground. well, i wanted to put my kickpanel back on, so i cut 5 more inches off of it. now, it wud have fit fine, but it didnt. my buddy pointed out that if we widened the hole more, i could angle the second pipe, and it would fit perfectly. was he right? DEAD ON. it worked like a dream. so i took the pipe back off, dremeled down the edges of the pipe that i had cut (they were a lil uneven, we cut with a hack saw) then i made damn sure that the edges were sanded down as well as i possibly could. then i washed out the inside and outside of both pipes, always a good idea. ran a towel through both pipes (be sure to take the towel, force it to where you can grab it, and pull it through the other side)

so of course i was immediately ready to start my baby up. i put the cai back together, hooked my battery up (just set it in there) and started it up. lets just say, a 3g with a CAI sounds like a car with balls. i shut her down, pulled the battery back out. here was the fun part

the battery tray
after widening that hole, the battery tray no longer fits. well it does, but not the way its supposed to. Heres what i SHOULD have done, but didnt.

the battery tray, as i said, has several bolts where it goes in, but none of them line up with the new cai in place, so naturally, you should trim it. only about half an inch, its really not that big of a deal. Well, my friend set it in there, and it was a pretty tight fit, and it wasnt going anywhere. well, for now, my battery is in there without any tie down, sitting on top of the battery tray. i cudnt move it for the life of me, i could pull it out, but it was a damn tight fit.


Note: Be sure to get your kick panel back on right.....i didnt bolt it back down, and the wind blew it into my tire and the ground, so now i need to run to the junkyard and try to find one.

Sounds great, Accellerates harder in every gear, i am pleased. Will update with pics later :)

EDIT
overall time: 3 hours

[snoopyloopy]

great. i was just about to buy one off of ebay and try to install it. oh, by the way, do you or anyone else know if the 90-93 accord or integ one is any easier or different to put on?

[b8er]

my solution to the battery problem: if you reach under the try there are 3 bolts that hold the tray to the side of the front frame piece, take off the 3 bolts and either cut some small pipe or use some washers and then put the tray back on, doing so will space the battery tray more into the middle of the car then up close to the side, i forget the exact spacing but i belive around and inch or inch and a half should do

[mkymonkey]

wow dude, that sounds like a lot of work! lol, my cai is an AEM from a 91 civic hatch. i had to cut like in three places to get it to angle right and widen the hole to make it fit. but never had to move the battery tray. come to think of it i should, because the cai pipe rubs againts the fuse box, lol......oh well

great write up though....and lets see some pics!

[2drSE-i]

its really not alot of work if you follow my directions. i pretty much went in there blind. all i did was make two cuts and turn my battery around backwards (my battery has side terminal taps, and wont fit the other way) pretty much every CAI you have to open up the hole that it feeds thru. If i can do it, anyone can, seriously lol

from what im to understand, the teg one you absolutely have to move the battery. i dunno tho

[b8er]

im actually not sure which CAI i used, i tottaly forgot what it was when i bought it, im pretty sure its the teg one, but in any case all it was was a couple cuts, slide the tray over and bam, rocking the CAI, about to take mine of though, winters coming

[Deadhead]

so is it a good idea to take off the CAI when it starts to snow or rain?

is there a way to make it so that you can have it on year round? that seems like a lot of work just to undo it when winter rolls around....

[gfrg88]

if you have a bypass for the intake you can drive with the intake on if not dont do it TRUST ME, i learned the hardway....

[bobafett]

cool man... im glad to see the project was a success for you.

fyi im not sure where i typed that i cut 1" off that end pipe, but i must have mis typed, because i did in fact cut off more like 5", just to clarify...

its a great bang for you buck, and as long as you have simple hand tools, you can pull the project off. :)

[b8er]

well yea i dont have a bypass filter, want one but just havent gotten around to it and i want the car to warm up semi fast in winter, spend alot of time at the ski hills so, meh , well see what happenes

[2drSE-i]

yea my underlining WAS in good condition, i took the bolt out of that panel and screwed it back in half way so i wudnt lose it. when we were finished, i was so ready to jump into the car i just pushed it back into place (totally forgot). so i went to work, went to mcdonalds for my break, and driving back i suddenly hear this horrible rubbing sound. Chewed a 5 inch hole in the SOB cuz i didnt get it back on right. JY probably tomorrow.

[2drSE-i]

im sure u can find a decent one in a JY, its hard to bottom out that part of the underlining

[white ricer]

i used a 90-93 honda accord short ram and the short ram that came with my car to make mine. bought a coupler at home depot and had to cut a bend pipe off the new s/r and it fit fine. cost me five bucks.

[2drSE-i]

well nobody else got free parts :-P

[mkymonkey]

I DID!

i got my intake from a 91 civic hatch that we towed and nobody picked up. hehehe

[Busted_Blue]

i used a 90-93 two piece INTEGRA ebay CAI. IT was 2.25" opening so it fit thru the hole near the battery. I just had to cut the 2nd piece that connects to the part that bolts to the throttlebody. I removed maybe 3-5inches off.

It took me all of 1hour to do.

[2drSE-i]

someone needs to update his vehicle information

[snoopyloopy]

so the teg cai means you just have to cut the cai, not the hole whereas the accord cai means you do have to cut the hole in addition to the cai?

[NXRacer]

no matter what intake you use, you'll have to cut the hole in the fender to make it a true CAI.

94-97 accord CAI = 90-93 accord CAI. They're all the same and will fit both cars so they'll both fit the 3G.

[2drSE-i]

the stock piping is tiny, like 1.75 maybe. if u want to make a cai that small, go for it lol. at least u wudnt have to move the battery

its really not that much work

if i can find my camera over the weekend ill do a shoot.

[crazykamper]

wait, on the teggy one u dont have to cut the whole?? i thought u did?? scince the stock pipe is that small, im guessin you would have too, im trying to figure out which one requires least amount of work... (lazyness, another side effect of hunger.)

[gfrg88]

it depends on the size of the intake tube. there both easy, one needs to be cut at the bottom(accord cai) and the other one(teg cai) needs to be modded a little at the bend where it goes down into the bumper. it just depends on the one youre using, theyre both really easy to put on :cheers:

[LiTtLe xOx BitT]

I have the 90-93 teg CAI, it wasnt too hard, just takes a lot of thinking.

[crazykamper]

so should i just go with the accord one then? lol. cause i sure as hell cant think alot. lol.

also, is there a how to to take off the front bumper?? or is that not needed to install the inake?

[2drSE-i]

no you dont have to. just the plastic cover for the stock air box, you can pull out one nut and fold it back and work there.

[crazykamper]

oh, i see. when i get my car, i will take a good look at it!
what size diamater cai do you think would be best??? so far my car is COMPLETELY stock, i may probably do ignition on it later {just to smooth out the revs....}, (MAYBE MAYBE header and exhaust....)

[2drSE-i]

what size is best? ive had trouble locating one this size but 2.5 and 2.75" are probably the best. mine is 3 and its kinda a bitch to fit, but from what im to understand it is the optimal size for airflow.

[LiTtLe xOx BitT]

The integra one is 2.25" or 2.5" which fit through the hole to the bumper with no problem. Just spend the $45 on a CAI and see what you can do.

[reanimator420]

you can buy a 3" saw drill bit and drill a perfect hole and sand down the edges to make it smooth