by VetJunior » Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:25 pm
Yeah I certainly appreciate having that system on there. One thing I forgot to mention when Installing. Some of the kits come with what they call a "neo-seal". In my opinion, the "neo-seal" should be removed from the kit and kindly set off to the side of your workbench far from reach. I was curious to know if the problems I had anticipated would actually crop up. They did.
First and foremost the very thin retainer plate that rests on the back of the boot is, as I said, very thin. The gasket they provide is approximately 1/8" thick and will be sandwiched between the Loudmouth intake and the air boot; both of which are very smooth surfaces. You see where I am going here? After my initial test install I was pretty bummed out to see that the gasket was beginning to squish out from between the two surfaces.This began to happen prior to having the mounting bolts anywhere near tight enough to what may have provided a working seal between the parts. My other opinion on this is without the gasket, there is only one possible entry point for debris to get by, the single seal between the airboot and the loudmouth intake. With the gasket installed you now have two seal points that may or may not seal adequately.
Anyway, to end a rather long and boring post I will sum it up. Set the gasket aside, apply a reasonable layer of Three Bond/Honda Bond/Yamabond or something similar to both surfaces to be sealed (loudmouth intake and airboot. Let it sit for a minute or so and then place them together. Insert the supplied bolts and lock nuts and tighten them up. Don't go crazy because that thin sealing ring will begin to deform if you go overboard. Personally I went and got a piece of 3mm plate aluminum, traced out the pattern of that wimpy sealing ring and cut to fit. Looks almost factory and allows a greater torque spec for an even better seal. A bit overkill I'm sure, but my OCD was kicking in.