Alright, so, my arrival date on my Injen intake is tomorrow, and I'm planning on installing it Saturday, but, I keep reading people talking about having to take off the front bumper. If anyone has actually installed the Injen, I would love to know exactly how much time I should expect to be spending of my day off to install this b*stard, and if the bumper thing is just rumor, or if it is in fact necessary.

 

You dont need to take off the bumper at all....I removed the 2 or 3 pieces of splashguard on the front left side behind the bumper...you will most likely bust a couple of the fasteners but I plan to go to dealer and get a handfull anyway....I also removed the little fake plastic grill that blocks the air coming in to filter....just be careful removing that airbox from the MAF.....you'll see what I mean...besides that, piece of cake...mostly use 10mm and 12mm nuts...

 

i have installed two injens so far (one on my car and one on a friends). the first time i did it took about 3 hours, the second time took about 2 hours. and thats with taking the bumper off both times. You CAN do it without taking the bumper off but once you have the bumper off its alot easier. Two reasons i took the bumper both times.

1. to remove the plastic piece that covers the air dam in front of the filter
2. to replace all the factory plastic down there with custom painted wire mesh. (i can show you photos if you'd like)

But there is something you should know about the bumper. there are two plastic screw like pieces unders the top portion of the bumper, that are are such a bad angle/spot they are extremely hard to get at. i just came from under the car and cut them out. they aren't important to holding the bumper on. to take the bumper off, no you dont need to remove the fron tires, and no you dont need to lift the front end. just turn the wheels in one direction so that you can get at the one nut and two plastic screws on each side. hope that helps.

PS it seems to me that people who have been putting on there injen CAI without taking the bumper off, are cutting away more plastic than needed. anyone have a picture of there splash gaurds?

 

hehe. it took me less than an hour to instal the injen intake...and i did not remove the bumper. removed the tire. moved the wheel well cover and **** out of the way even took the fake grill insert out to give air to the filter...less then an hour...and im a girl.

3 hours.....hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe....

 

Ok then.. under an hour without taking the bumper off... lets see you do it all again with the bumper off. im telling you, that bumper is a ***** to take off. it took me 30 minutes just to figure out how to get to those two little screws, then about another 30 minutes to tear them out.

 

K, ez, you're saying you took off the bumper to do something other than just the injen. My main question is whether or not to take the bumper off is easier, or harder than just doing it without removing the bumper.

 

i just took of the splash guards off underneeth, took me 1 hr. ......i didnt take out the fake grill though because i did not purchase the by-pass valve incase the filter got wet........i am afriad of getting it wet, does n e one else have the fake grill off and no by-pass valve? and has ur filter gotten wet?

 

get to know your car, take the bumper off!!! she looks good naked

 

 

I installed my injen CAI without removing the bumper. i just had a friend go under my car, move the splashguards, and basically hold it in place so i could fasten it. i also removed the front grille, only the side with the intake and since then i have seen a lot of rain with no problems at all. I also went through the hand car wash without the grille and again had no problems. definately the hardest part of the entire process was getting the MAF off of the stock airbox. you WILL have to break the plastic that holds the two together cuz the screws used to hold them together are just retarted screws that were never meant to be taken off. hehe. It shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 hours to install and the directions that come with the intake a very sufficient. hope i helped. good luck

 

Link, like to know one thing... it looked like you were using a short ram, why take off the bumper?

Another thing, just my humble opinion, if it isn't necessary to take off the bumper, I'm not gonna do it. Simply because the more unnecessary things you do to accomplish a mod, the more chances their is for random, expensive, difficult crap screw-ups to happen. I say, keep it short and sweet. Now, I'm not planning on taking off the lower grill sections until I get some fog lights simply because that will be more air flow that the current plastic, but not quite as much water into the intake area, which, again, I have to say I think is kind of an unnecessary worry for all those who are pro short ram just for the water induction reason.

To which I add, in order to make the short ram effective, you need to add that vent. Now, how on earth do you plan to keep out water with something designed to INDUCE outside elements on the TOP of your hood that sweeps anything (air, water, birdcrap, you name it) directly ONTO your filter? Just a thought for all those worried about water ingestion, and thinking that short ram at it's peak is safer. But, that's only because I'm pro CAI, and ready to admit it.

 

uhh..

huh? <conan obriens impersonation of Bush>

 

I think the summary is:

He likes CAI's. Some people don't because they fear water ingestion. He claims the only way to have an effective short ram is to add a hood duct/vent which will increase the likelyhood of water ingestion.

That is all.

I left my bumper on, cut out half the splash guard to ease install and increase adjustability for when I fastened everything, and it took me 4 hours with throttle body install, a buncha Dr Pepper breaks, and breaks to spray my strut tower bar. The 4 hours was from the time I popped my hood to the time I closed it with strut bar (done last), bored throttle body, slightly adjusted throttle line, and intake all done. Cutting was tedious and I admittedly cut a lot, but it was intentional and I have no regrets (except not having taken pictures for you all).

If you DO cut your splash guards without removing the bumped then do yourself the favor of removing your coolant tank. I'm sure almost everyone did, but it's worth mentioning for those who haven't yet.

 

i only posted that pic cuz everyone wants pics of the bumper off
plus i was meshing my front end, so i just thought it would be hella easer to take it off


Link

 

Thanks for the translation Hobie. Been tired, and have a tendancy to ramble (as you might well know) when tired. Got the intake today, and was pleasantly suprised by the size of the piping and the filter. Anyway, hoping to have it installed by tonight, and parts review coming soon. Thanks to everybody for their help.