Xtra

Considering it says 104 in the shade on my patio I accomplished a lot. Here is the prototype latch that will hold down the V3 top half to the adaptor. It will take two of these riveted to the adaptor to do that. This is first of the items I would like to be CNC milled, even if they are easy to cutout by hand. Considering that they are hardly visible when installed it matters little but little things mater.

I talked about this a couple of pages back. If you have by following you may remember. I was warned by the plastic shop that prices were going up after I did the last batch. And today they gave me the new price with a 8 unit minimum order. The ABS V2 intakes are now going to be $125 . That’s $ 7 bucks more than before. When they first told me about the price increase after the last batch they said it could be as much as $10 bucks. Though I don’t want any increase in price, 7 is better than 10 . It still sucks as I do my best , but it seems like everything is going up these days and I don’t have any control over it . Thanks to everyone for your support.

Once some parts are vacuum formed and fitted, I will have a better idea on what design is better and most cost effective. The adapter should have some aluminum parts CNC to give it a professional look. The aluminum parts on the first couple adapters will be done by hand to perfect the design and for testing. Once that is done I will look into having them CNC. Each of its four sides needs a different aluminum part machined to latch it together. All the CNC work may bring the cost similar to the bottom half I have now. We will have to see what half is the better half.

I have been working on another mold.. As I said in the beginning things may change, and I am posting as I am doing, so you will see my wins and losses. Now that the custom bottom half mold is complete, I have been working in another direction. What I have done is create an adaptor that will attach the V3 top half to the stock OEM bottom half. I hope. The bottom half I have now does work and has been road tested, the adaptor has not. I have almost finished the adaptor mold, and it needs some sanding around the anchors, and vacuum slots cut into it. Only the wood base still needs to be fabricated so it is getting very close to completion. Here you can see the mounting bolt holes it still need some work before it's finish. After that it will be ready to mount to the wood base. This is the top of the adaptor mold with the vacuum holes drilled, polished, and ready to go. Upon completion I will take the two molds I made to the plastic shop and have some test parts made.

I have to apologize for the delay I contacted the CF vendor this morning (Monday) and they made the material, but it was the wrong thickness it was 1/16 inch and it needs to be double that 1/8 inch thick. This is just another reason that yours will most likely will be among the last of the V2s made in CF. The material is beautiful, but the vendor is flaky

I have started the refreshing of the mold so it will be ready when needed. I am getting ready to do another run of the ABS and Carbon Fiber V2s so now is the time to place orders. PM me.

Hello MichaelTM, Thanks, glad you like the way it looks. What you are seeing on the right side of the photo is the auxiliary air input. It provides supplementary or additional air to the Air Box from a secondary source. By secondary source I mean another source of air besides the OEM snorkel. For the majority of cars it will be unnecessary as the V3 will supply all the air a stock car could need. The auxiliary air input is for use with tuned cars, or cars that have custom turbos or other high performance mods. Even for tuned cars it is unnecessary, but would not hurt. The Aux air input works with the snorkel to supply large amounts of air to the air box thus allowing a modded engine to breath with as little restriction as possible. Gasoline engines are basically air pumps. Air comes in, fuel is burned creating more air that moves the piston, then the used air exits out the tail pipe. Thus an air pump. This is why intake and exhaust modifications are so popular. Moving air into and out of an engine with as little restriction as possible is a great recipe for Horse Power. *The aux air will be an option and it is on there in this test fitting so I know the hood will close.

The blue tape on the air box lid is to protect it. It has taken a lot of abuse and even with the tape in place it is starting to show some wear and tear. There are scratches, bits of glue and fiberglass stuck to it, tool marks, dust and dirt, and a sawed off corner. But even with those flaws it is absolutely perfect for development work.

This is a mock-up with the new base mold in place and the lid just resting on it. I needed to see if the hood would close with the aux air hose installed because it sits a little higher than the other/ first base. The aux air hose is just resting there and not going anywhere. Also needed to check if there was any interference anyplace else . After checking the new bottom half mold and finding no problems with interference, progress can continue.

Here I am checking the new base mold for clearance with the fuse block. ( I think it is the fuse block ) And it clears just fine after a lot of work and several tries that is.. .

Here I am test fitting the new base / bottom half of the V3 to the top half. At first in order to clear the headlight I had to trim the air box lid corner. After some adjustments it now clears and no mods to the lid will be necessary no matter which base I end up with.

The bottom half is still a work in progress, and I have not posted much about that. I have one bottom half already working and the mold made for it, but it is very labor intensive, and the cost is high just for the parts alone. I am working on a second bottom half, that if I can get it working, will save money and labor costs. One of the big problems I ran into was how to attach the halves together. I was thinking of bolting them together with threaded U nuts, but that was not good enough for me. Last night I had an epiphany on how to do it using sock OEM Air Box latches. This was a major breakthrough and why I am posting this info now. This first idea that is out. Requires tools and machine screws that can come loose. New idea requires no tools, no screws to tighten or fall out.

The V3 Air Box top half is finished, the design is locked in. There will be option boxes to be checked for the top half : 1. Wet oiled, washable, reusable Air Filter. 2. Dry media Air Filter, non washable, when it gets dirty it will need replacing. 3. Filter Sock, fits both wet and dry filters. Best for use in dry dusty conditions, like Australia's Outback. 4. Stock Black Finish 5. Real Carbon Fiber 3K tow with 2x2 weave and high gloss gel coat. 6. Auxiliary Air input with adaptor and hose. 7. ????? TBD

Thanks so much . It means a lot, and gives me incentive to press on.

lol, I have had some personal things going on, and that is why I have not posted for awhile with updates. I should be back on track in a few more days.

I just realized that I have not tested the fit of the air box with the engine cover on. It is a little oversight that could set things back on this project. I need to check that soon before I go any further down the rabbit hole. I want it to work with the engine cover on, It may fit, I just have not tried yet.

This is my shop. One small bench, an air compressor, belt sander, auger press, drill press, a vice, and an assortment of hand tools. Everything is made here with these tools. .

Let the refurbishment begin. It needs some TLC to get her back into shape.... and fiberglass and sanding and polishing. It has to be ready when the CF arrives to stay on track. I will have a couple CF intakes available in this next run and I will also make a few ABS ones so they will both be in stock..

Here are some of the sensor mounts all cleaned up with their new shape. I ran out of tubing so I have ordered more to finish up.

The mold for the V3 bottom half is complete. No more fiberglass work. well for awhile anyway. It still needs to be tested to see if it makes the part I need fits. But I have high hopes as I have been down this road before. It will have to wait until another batch of V2s are made and I can get those CF units shipped. I don't want to pay for setup fees going back and forth between the molds. I found out today that the CF has been made and is ready to ship, so I better get on to refurbishing the V2 mold... OMG it was a much shorter time away from fiberglass work than I thought. lol. ?

Hello and welcome . Check out this page for performance mods and where to get them. Everything is listed from air cleaners to the wildest big turbos to Big Brake Kits. Window tints, lighting and interior bling mods as well. Check it out. https://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/24317-the-ultimate-27tt-aftermarket-parts-thread/

Decided to see how much time I am investing into each part of the air box. Because the sensor mount design is finalized, I started with them . The tubes are press fit with a one ton arbor press, though I may add a tack weld just to be sure. Each one of these little buggers averaged 20 minutes to fabricate. I made 12 of them and cleaned them up some beyond this photo. .

Good news. The Carbon Fiber material has been made ! It still has to be shipped and that can take awhile, but progress id being made. I will have the Plastic shop make some ABS ones to fill the order up to the minimum required to get the discount. That way those of you that have ordered the CF V2 don't have to wait. I better get busy on refurbishing the V2 mold.

Completed the wood base part, and just waiting for the finish to dry. At that point it will be ready for final assembly.