My 100% Carbon Fiber V10 Intake Systems is Complete!

On this episode, I finish up the carbon fiber intake system by building my own 3.5-inch carbon intake runners. Like in episode-31, I 3D printed some 3.5-inch PVA tubes to use as a plug, then laid up some carbon fiber biaxial sleeve. They came out great and wait until you see the complete system fitted to the car. Enjoy!

[@garycmewtowe3065]

....one of the most competent, confident builders with degree of alacrity in most disciplines.....not just fabrication, but that which is outside realm of vehicle construction.....much raw IQ .....showing how amazing Americans are.....good show....

[@datboi8140]

Wow. Great decision on the carbon fiber intakes. Looks incredible, and definitely more like a supercar. Makes me want to make some carbon fiber intercooler piping with your technique shown here. Love the videos, keep up the great content

[@DanDulac]

Thanks for the kind words! For pressurized applications, I’d recommend doubling (or tripling) layers of the carbon sleeve. This will add a TON more strength that will hold up under boost. For my naturally aspirated application, my tubes only need to hold up to the pressure of the atmosphere (at maximum). 👍

[@billywilliams8833]

Awesome Build and an Awesome Guy, I love the way you just tackle every job with Confidence 💖

[@simontvrner]

the end result is spectacular!! The PVA idea is brilliant.

[@DanDulac]

Thank for your kind words Simon! Yeah, now I'm looking to see what other carbon parts I can make using PVA plugs...it works so well.

[@variablenh]

Looking good Dan! Excited to see the progress.

[@DanDulac]

Thanks Dave! Great to hear from you; hope all is well!

[@rafaelsegovia6127]

As always, great job Dan!

[@BlakeMcBride]

Fantastic work!

[@marcopolo6590]

👍from Italy !!!

[@SupercarSeany]

Love the intake tubes and the diy'ness of using 3d printed pva plugs. Surprised to see how easy they came out to be honest...

[@DanDulac]

Hi Sean--yeah me too; the epoxy doesn't stick at all to the PVA. Which makes sense given a liquid form of PVA is used on composite molds to make it easy to separate finished parts. This opens up a world of possibilities combining my 3D printer and Carbon Fiber composite parts. :-)

[@JoelKSLC]

Beautiful work Dan, carbon is always a nice touch.

[@dukie1616]

This build is phenomenal! Your fab work is on point, and that sneak peek of your heat shielded headers looks so good.

[@DanDulac]

Thank you! Yes, I CANT WAIT to see my newly shielded exhaust system. Will look great AND function the best.

[@dave5833]

Great work my friend can’t wait to see you drive your Convertible.

[@DanDulac]

Thanks Dave! Plugging along for sure. In the next vid I’ll share my target completion date. It won’t be long now. 😎

[@dave5833]

@@DanDulac thanks for your can’t wait to see Her Completed

[@Expat_Adventure]

Man you do too notch work 👌

[@billywilliams8833]

I am actually in Leicester about 10 minutes away from Ultima.

[@staffa007]

Spettacolare!!! Very nice result!!! Ciao!!!

[@DanDulac]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@peterbonnez]

Wonderful..

[@damienriggs2691]

Dan you are a magician 🎩

[@DanDulac]

ha ha...I appreciate your kind words.

[@Mariovkessel]

As always Dan, greats moment with your videos, information, dedication and always with a big smile, where do you bought this crimp?. Huge thanks from Europe.

[@DanDulac]

Hi Roma-I bought the hydraulic wire crimper at my local Harbor Freight tool store. You should be able to find a crimper local to you as they are a pretty common tool. Thanks for the comments!

[@Mariovkessel]

@@DanDulac Thanks Dan, I found this model in amazon Europe. Best regards.

[@janudholm]

Fantastic video. Awesome car and work. Where did you get the exhaust heat schielding put on

[@DanDulac]

Hi Jan-I sent the exhaust off to HeaderShield.com. They are based in Illinois. The insulating tests I’ve seen are amazing: 250-degree surface temp with insulated shielding versus 850-degrees without. From what I’ve researched, this method is the best heat shielding you can do for an exhaust.

[@Andrew-vx2ls]

Interesting way of making the parts for the cold air boxes (CAB). I am not sure of all the constraints you have but here are my thoughts for what they are worth: Relative to the exhaust (even fitted with ceramic coating and heatshields), the CAB are "downwind" and the pipes from this to the engine intakes pass over the exhaust (in both cases warming air that should ideally be kept cool). The other issue is that placed here, the CAB also make it more difficult for hot air to escape from the engine bay. Could you possibly find another location for the CAB ? Keep up the great work, it is very useful to watch.

[@DanDulac]

Hi Andrew-great suggestion. I scrutinized the location of the CABs a lot. In the end, there’s just such limited space and options under that clam with this engine package. I do plan on wrapping the sides of the CABs closest to the exhaust with the same DEI firewall material I used before. In the research I’ve done on the insulated exhaust shied I’m having installed, indicates surface temp on the wrap gets only as high as 253-degreesF under sustained high load/RPM conditions on a dyno (which also means low ambient air circulation), versus 835-degreesF without it. This is a HUGE difference. And since there’s 2-3 inches of spacing between the CABs closest to the exhaust, I expect radiant surface temps on the CABs to get around ~150F max sustained (just a guess). Plus, with the top clam mounted NACA ducts feeding cool air directly into the boxes, I’m hoping it’s good enough to keep intake temps down. I’m also planning on adding a couple NACAs on the skid plate I’m planning to make, to draw cool air into the engine bay to promote additional air circulation. I’m going to install some ambient temp probes in the engine bay so I can monitor and prove all this out for future builders. 💪

[@Andrew-vx2ls]

@@DanDulac Thanks for the detailed reply. I'm building up a "65 Lotus Elan with a 180 bhp 1600 cc engine which is "front mid engined". Hot headers next to fiberglass need careful thought (have used US spelling / terms for you). All data on the effectiveness of the heat reducing products is very useful to other builders.

[@brianbohannon8044]

Air boxes turned out sweet! Am I the only one who wished you used red heat shrink on the red cable? Lol. Curious, what’s the purpose of WD40 inside the frame hole right before you install a rivnut? I’ve seen you do that on this and previous videos and didn’t understand. Also, could you share with us where you send the headers off for heat shielding?

[@DanDulac]

Hi Brian! Good eye. The stuff I spray inside the frame is 3M cavity wax. Anytime I drill holes into the frame tubing, it exposes it to moisture and potential rusting over the long term. Since the inner frame is not coated like the outside, I spray the cavity wax to seal and protect the inner tubes. Regarding my exhaust system, I found a place in the states at HeaderShield.com. I can’t wait to see how they turn out and the heat insulation tests look incredibly good!

[@chrisrudling8420]

Great efforts Dan, what made you decide to get the full exhaust system heat insulation wrapped? I was going to just get my system cerakoted when complete, I'm assuming you decided it wasn't efficient enough, or was it so you could remove all the various mats and shields you'd already fitted to acheive a cleaner more dynamic look? Cheers, loving the channel btw

[@DanDulac]

Hi Chris! I have received guidance from other owners that cerakote alone isn’t good enough to keep temps down. I considered wrapping the exhaust with 2” titanium wrap from DEI but I don’t prefer the look of it. Given my engine bay is the “centerpiece” of the car, visual aesthetics and function are high on my list. I searched around for other options and found HeaderShield.com to suit my needs perfectly. It’s pricey but heat management is a place where I don’t want to cut corners and not have to worry about it. And you’re right, I’ll be able to remove the shields I made around the headers to clean up the look. I’ll leave the other shields I made around the x-pipe section.

[@chrisrudling8420]

@@DanDulac Many thanks for thr reply and explanation, makes complete sense to go that route although I see what you mean about not being cheap! Looking forward to seeing them installed.

[@anomamos9095]

Are those intake tubes air tight? If you got a good all over coating of resin they should be, but there’s the possibility of pin holes you should check for. Glad to see you crimped the cables. It’s starting to look better than what comes out of the factory.👍

[@DanDulac]

Yep-they are air tight. I put 4 coats of epoxy on them and the light you see from inside the tube is a result of the 12K twill weave-it’s a big weave so around the bend, the weave opens up a little. But these tubes are nice and rigid. The next time I make tubes, I’ll do a base layer using 3K, then 12K over the top-just an added layer of security.

[@anomamos9095]

@@DanDulac 👍 I have had pin holes open up after sanding and polishing on open weaves like that, sometimes the epoxy doesn’t spread between the fibres to fill the gap unless you vacuum bag it.

[@seanprice8271]

PVA was a great idea! I'm about to start making carbon fiber parts for the first time, is there a reason you didn't use a vacuum bag? I was planning on getting some and using for the first parts I build, not sure if it's better to skip that step for any reason? Great work and thanks for recording it all!.

[@DanDulac]

Hi Sean! I considered vacuum bagging but the PVA tubes I printed were thin enough where the vacuum bag would have deformed the tube. PVA is a pretty delicate filament and will break/crack easily. To overcome this, I could print a more robust PVA plug but it require a lot more PVA filament, much longer print times, more PVA waste, etc. For making carbon tubes that won’t be under pressure in use, the method I used is just fine, imho. But if I were building tubes that would be under positive pressure (like a turbo application), vacuum bagging would insure maximum resin infusion for maximum strength and lightness. Hope this helps!

[@seanprice8271]

@@DanDulac makes total sense, thanks for taking the time to reply!

[@derangd3339]

Well check off carbon fiber skills. System looks better now. It’s cool you take “some” advise from us watchers and some keyboard warriors. Lol. Great job. I wanna see that Supra still.

[@DanDulac]

More minds are better than one. 👍. Thanks for your kind words. Oh, did your happen to see the Supra video on my channel i dropped last summer? I did a little review about it while doing a clutch install with a brief test drive.

[@jony_bo1087]

Hey, quick question Isn’t one layer of the carbon cloth to thin? When you removed the pva pipe you could still see a lot of light shining through… I get that the resin fills a lot of spots but isn’t it kind of bridle still?

[@DanDulac]

The 12K 2x2 twill I used is pretty thick/heavy fabric but the weave isn't as 'tight' around bends...therefore, you can see light through the weave in a couple areas around the bend--it doesn't conform as well as 3K twill. I used 4 coats of epoxy so the tube is very rigid. Off camera I tried using 3K 2x2 twill sleeve and even with 4 coats of epoxy, the tube isn't nearly as rigid as compared to the tube made with 12K twill. Given these tubes will see no air pressure or other physical loading, they should hold up just fine. Heat is my only concern, which hopefully won't be an issue with the a fully shielded/insulated exhaust. Thanks for the question!

[@Bendejo-lm8wo]

I prefer freedom units over imperial just because it sounds English. Great build love it.

[@JoelKSLC]

Dan, just curious. Which battery are you using?

[@DanDulac]

I’m using the AntiGravity ATX-30-HD. I originally had the ATX-20-HD as it’s even smaller but the lower amp-hours was on the the hairy edge for this car.

[@JoelKSLC]

@@DanDulac Thanks, I was thinking about the same battery for my build. Like the weight savings and size vs. a 60 pound Corvette battery. What charger are you using and have you had any experience with the ATG batteries?

[@DanDulac]

@@JoelKSLC i'm using the lithium charger that AntiGravity offers to go with their batteries. You definitely can't use a traditional lead-acid battery charger on these lithium batteries. I have no experience with ATG batteries--sorry can't help there. But the weight savings of Lithium batteries over lead-acid is incredible and way worth it for a car like the Ultima, imho.

[@Pantera-if3fy]

Dan, I’ve decided to put myself up for adoption, so you can get ahold of me asap. Teach me all of this!! Only problem is my wife says I have to be back home before it starts snowing again.

[@DanDulac]

😂. Snow storms are the best time to hibernate in the garage for some fabrication fun. My door is always open!!

[@Chillimanfly]

I've been waiting for this!