Aluminum CAI vs Plastic CAI
- Thread starter IxL4
- Start date
Plastic. It will stay cooler longer. I have a mixed breed. I used the JLT RAI kit, and the K&N FIPK together. I have heard the blower whine with both units by themselves, but for some reason this set up seems louder (good thing), and maybe due to resonance in the JLT tubing it has a deeper groan to it as well. I love it. I just wish it was not raining today so I could take it back out and watch the looks on people faces when my Cobra screams past them.
Hey Brad, What did you use to polish it? Real nice man! :thumbsup:
I-CAN-STANG said:
Thanks, it's a whole process to polish. You need to start by sanding 100-400, then wet-sand 600-1500. After that you need to mod a bench grinder or buy a buffing machine and use various types of buffing wheels using various polishing compouds in the correct order. Some people polish using a drill, but for the most part you get better results with a buffing machine. I run my own polishing service if you want more info PM me.
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Tucker
Active Member
Once it's painted you can't tell what material it is.Brad said:
I'd rather have plastic than metal anyhow. I have made heat shields myself from everything. Stainless, aluminum, and I have even had them ceramic coated. Non of them seem to stay as cool as the JLT that I have on there now. It seamed that no matter what the metal shields were coated with, they still radiated a lot of heat to the filter.
Tucker said:
That's true, but I still would take a highly polished custom peice over some plastic POS with a coat of paint on it. Polished just looks better when you pop the hood. And anyone who knows what's involved in the process respects the sh|t out of it.
HISSMAN said:
The main point of the heat sheild is just to force the filter to draw air from another source, which is from the fender, which is cooler air. I'm sure you know all that, but a metal heat shield isn't going to get hot enough to increase your intake temps.
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Tucker
Active Member
Brad said:
Damb, dude. I don't think anyone put down your polishing or the look you got. It looks great, but to say my intake is a POS because it's plastic is un called for.
If you knew the work involved in me making one of my full length CAI's you would respect the sh1t out of it too.
Tucker said:
Damn dude, sorry.. I didn't even realize I said that.. haha. No disrespect intended. For some reason I've been throwing, "POS," alot, don't know why. I can see from your sig it looks like you laid out some nice flames on there and really took your time, looks awesome.
JLT CAI is what I run, made from plastic.
Greg
Greg
Brad said:
I'm sure your car is fast, probably faster than mine, but for some reason...your comment makes me think of the saying, "All show, no go".
Most guys that choose plastic do so for function. Plastic conducts heat less than metal. Therefore, a plastic shield will radiate LESS heat on the filter than a metal shield. Plain and simple. If you are more into the "looks" of your shield, then by all means....get what you want. But to say that plastic is a "pos"...etc..etc, is just plain ignorant. That "pos" plastic piece does more for HP than any metal piece.
StngStr said:
It hardly makes a difference, except the metal piece aesthetically looks better, which was my point. I said I was messing around about calling it a POS, but honestly, if you think a plastic shield is going to do anything for you over a metal one you’ve got something else coming to you. Air is not sitting idle behind that shield, all the shield does is forces the filter to draw air from the fender wall over drawing from the whole engine compartment. Air is not in there long enough to be affected by a plastic sheild or a metal sheild. Believe it or not, I've tested this. Used a digital thermometer next to the filter to record temps in front of the filter, clearly the densecharger held the lowest temp, but the temp I recorded with the steeda, vs the stock plastic cover was the exact same. Those CAI with the 90 degree elbow into the fender, then the other 90 degree elbow down to the filter are plastic, and they do disperse heat, but you’ve just added two completely unnecessary 90 degree turns to your intake track, congrats! The most functional CAI I’ve seen are those plastic ones that box the whole filter out and leave only the fender wall as the air source, those seem pretty good, but then again, I’m sure they’re not making that huge a difference seeing the steeda unit still forces the filter to draw most of its air from the fender wall, plus I think they just look like hell, no paint is going to fix that eye sore. I could see your point if motor temps superheated the metal on the heat sheild, but that's not the case, as a matter of fact I was beating my car today, got home, decided to wax some of my polished parts, and the heat sheild was cool to the touch! I've had several CAIs on my car, and byfar the steeda is the best one I've used. You said a plastic sheild does more for HP, how do you know?
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- Joined
- Aug 22, 2002
- Messages
- 296
Our new underhood setup uses a Carbon fiber shield.
Our regular setups use the 1/4" thick ABS plastic.
Nothing metal or plastic looks as good as a REAL CARBON FIBER custom molded shield. It's more expensive but if you're going for aesthetics it's a 'work of art'.
It's simple science 101: metal conducts heat & condensates.
plastic insulates & no condensation or corrosion.
In any intake tract the 'heat' variable is critical.
Our carbon fiber shield surrounds the whole filter to offer the best of both worlds: much less heat absorption and the filter is not exposed as in some simple plastic shields.
www.TunableInduction.com
toll free 866-509-7453
Our regular setups use the 1/4" thick ABS plastic.
Nothing metal or plastic looks as good as a REAL CARBON FIBER custom molded shield. It's more expensive but if you're going for aesthetics it's a 'work of art'.
It's simple science 101: metal conducts heat & condensates.
plastic insulates & no condensation or corrosion.
In any intake tract the 'heat' variable is critical.
Our carbon fiber shield surrounds the whole filter to offer the best of both worlds: much less heat absorption and the filter is not exposed as in some simple plastic shields.
www.TunableInduction.com
toll free 866-509-7453
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