Finishing a smoothed airbox

jetsetjimbo · Jun 28, 2006

Having bought a TT airbox I set about trying to smooth it.

I've finished removing the mould lines / blades that run across the airbox. As you can see resut is somewhat less than smooth.

It is in fairness difficult to completely smooth it without spending an age sanding though. A few of us at Inters were discussing painting the inside with some sort of paint to completely smooth the rough edges.

Anybody got any ideas? Halfords do a vinyl paint which might do the trick?

cordobabrendy · Jun 28, 2006

sandpaper not do the job? id say a little roughness wont be a big issue to airflow.

jetsetjimbo · Jun 28, 2006

Sand paper will go so smooth but some of it is well below surface level.

Just looking to tidy it up a bit as well I suppose.

WeeJase · Jun 28, 2006

hot knife

jetsetjimbo · Jun 28, 2006

jason said:
hot knife

That's an idea but it'll have to be bloody hot! Knowing me I can se myself getting seriously burnt.

EddyH · Jun 28, 2006

I cut all the reinforcement ridges off with a knife then used a dremmel type tool to get it all smooth.

Looks like I'll be doing it again soon as I've just changed from the standard airbox to a TT one to accomodate a larger MAF.

J@mes · Jun 28, 2006

jimbo...

a pic of my smoothed airbox...

it took me 3 hours to smooth the lower half of the box! (i was hung over too! :lol:

)

once i had got to ur stage i used a dremel and then i managed to get 3/4 of my eletric sander into the bottom of it (which saved me a good 1hour sanding!) and then i did the rest by hand! :blink:

was worth it tho!

ps. u have a screw in on of ur holes... dont loose it!

Feel · Jun 29, 2006

Looking at the pics, I managed to get mine a little smoother than that with the knife, then just left it :shrug:

CupraTgirl · Jun 29, 2006

I have been looking to do this to mine but am unsure of a few things:-

What sort of noise does it produce? Does it make it any louder?

Is it possible to get a new decent CAI to put on an Ibiza Cupra as i know there isnt much room with the standard box there between the airbox and the arch lining

What tools will i need?

Also mine is drilled so will that make any difference?

jetsetjimbo · Jun 29, 2006

EddyH said:
I cut all the reinforcement ridges off with a knife then used a dremmel type tool to get it all smooth.

Looks like I'll be doing it again soon as I've just changed from the standard airbox to a TT one to accomodate a larger MAF.

What's the difference between the LCR one and that on the TT apart from the extra hole? I was hoping to replace the LCR one directly with this TT one as I had been advised they were the same?

James said:
it took me 3 hours to smooth the lower half of the box! (i was hung over too! )

once i had got to ur stage i used a dremel and then i managed to get 3/4 of my eletric sander into the bottom of it (which saved me a good 1hour sanding!) and then i did the rest by hand!

was worth it tho!

ps. u have a screw in on of ur holes... dont loose it!

Looks like a good job there mate! I'll give it a go with my sanding equipment...

J@mes · Jun 29, 2006

Feel said:
Looking at the pics, I managed to get mine a little smoother than that with the knife, then just left it

i gope u dont mean my pics phil?! :lol:

my airbox is very smooth! :yes:

EddyH · Jun 29, 2006

jetsetjimbo said:
What's the difference between the LCR one and that on the TT apart from the extra hole? I was hoping to replace the LCR one directly with this TT one as I had been advised they were the same?

I haven't got an LCR my standard MAF is smaller than that of a TT/LCR. I have a larger MAF as part of my big turbo setup and wanted to use an OEM airbox so I needed one from a TT.

LCR and TT should be a direct swap.

J@mes · Jun 29, 2006

CupraTgirl said:
I have been looking to do this to mine but am unsure of a few things:-

What sort of noise does it produce? Does it make it any louder?

Is it possible to get a new decent CAI to put on an Ibiza Cupra as i know there isnt much room with the standard box there between the airbox and the arch lining

What tools will i need?

Also mine is drilled so will that make any difference?

u know wat mine sounds llike alex! :yes:

my DV is louder now as iv fixed my boost leaks, but stil VERY subtle, no where near as loud as an open cone filter!

but the sound of my BF makes up for it! :dance:

and u need to move ur battery over to get a decent cold air feed!

speak to phil (feel) for battery relocation brackets (not sure if he does them for ibiza tho!)

heres a pic of mine...

james

CupraTgirl · Jun 29, 2006

Thanks J

I think i need to get a different kit then to make mine 'tsshh' louder, dont i?

J@mes · Jun 29, 2006

CupraTgirl said:
Thanks J

I think i need to get a different kit then to make mine 'tsshh' louder, dont i?

for me there are only two ways to go....

1) modified airbox
2) BMC CDA

jetsetjimbo · Jun 29, 2006

EddyH said:
I haven't got an LCR my standard MAF is smaller than that of a TT/LCR. I have a larger MAF as part of my big turbo setup and wanted to use an OEM airbox so I needed one from a TT.

LCR and TT should be a direct swap.

Cheers - They are pretty much the same, at least all the dimensions are the same. There's an extra outlet on the MAF side of the TT one which'll have to be blocked up.

J@mes said:
ps. u have a screw in on of ur holes... dont loose it!

You got me worried there... there is actually screws in both holes but I started to think that I'd already lost one...

Ruddmeister · Jun 29, 2006

jetsetjimbo said:
Looks like a good job there mate! I'll give it a go with my sanding equipment...

Or what about using filler, key the base of the airbox then a layer of filler, sand it back and voila super smooooooth

CupraTgirl · Jun 29, 2006

J@mes said:
for me there are only two ways to go....

1) modified airbox
2) BMC CDA

I dont think they do a BMC for the Ibiza do they? Where can you get them from as i was looking at that route?

jetsetjimbo · Jun 29, 2006

Ruddmeister said:
Or what about using filler, key the base of the airbox then a layer of filler, sand it back and voila super smooooooth

Not a bad plan at all! Thanks

J@mes · Jun 29, 2006

Ruddmeister said:
Or what about using filler, key the base of the airbox then a layer of filler, sand it back and voila super smooooooth

would rather sand it smooth, because id always have in the back of my mind... i wonder if is starting to crack and fall apart?! :shrug:

Finishing a smoothed airbox

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