FIPK + throttle body installed....correctly

FIPK + throttle body spacer installed....correctly?

Hey everyone-
I am kinda a noob to all this so be patient..=)

I seemed to so have solved the FIPK, throttle body spacer problem by trimming the neck of the FIPK so that the hood of my 98 XJ Sport would close. Took me about two days to get it just right and even then the FIPK still presses up against the hood. From the outside looking at the hood it is virtually undetectable of any rises in the hood from where the FIPK is pressing. My question is, I wonder if this will pose a problem on the hood in the future? I can always trim more but that will be another two days. Any input would be really helpful.

Joey B

ps. I will try to get pics up soon so everyone can take a look.

'98 XJ Sport
Dynomax Super Turbo Exhaust
K&N FIPK II
Jet-Stage II Chip - not installed yet
HiFlo Cat - not installed yet
TB Spacer

If you are looking for a rocketship, you bought the wrong car.
Bolt ons are OK, but until you go with a cam, bore, stroke, or etc, you are merely putting lipstick on a pig.
It is still a pig, with the heart of a tractor.
A FIPK is fine, but with a bored out spacer and a carved out stock airbox/K&N I think I get just as much air, but without the whistles and other strange noises.
The factory air intake hose is 'corrugated' for a reason.
The intake of a Jeep is louder than most due to the sensor placement in the TB.
While it does cause some air disturbance, it is a small price to pay for the sound difference.
Had you looked here first, you would have found that the spacer does not work well with any of the big 'boom tube' intake systems.
Clearance, Clarence.
Good luck with the Hypertech Snake Oil Chip.
I mean no harm by this, just getting you up to speed on your first post.
eace:

Yea I wish I did look here first, did not occur to me so I guess I'm an idiot for that, but hey, no harm done I hope or I'll rip it out of my car, just wanted to know if there was an having the air tube "firmly" against the hood is a problem, thats all..

Joey B

I was considering the same setup, but just couldn't justify the price of the K&N right now as well as the spacer. I did a little research on here and found out how to make a home brew system that'll work even better. There were a few posts where people had the same problem that you had and just shaved a little off the tube and were able to clear it. I personally don't think you'd have any problems with it touching the hood, If it was going to do any damage dent wise to the hood it probably would have done it the first few times you opened and closed it. JMO.

bgcntry72 said:

If you are looking for a rocketship, you bought the wrong car.
Bolt ons are OK, but until you go with a cam, bore, stroke, or etc, you are merely putting lipstick on a pig.
It is still a pig, with the heart of a tractor.

Click to expand...

Pigs look good with lipstick and if you give the tractor heart a stroker transplant, your pig will have big time grunt to go with the bigger heart.
_______________________________________________________
1992 XJ Laredo 4-dr - 4.6L I6 HO Stroker - 175k miles - AX15, NP231, D35c, D30
Estimated 261hp/322lbft, best 1/4 mile [email protected] before stroker install
Websites - Jeep 4.0 Performance, 4.6L Stroker Build-Up, Dino's Jeep Tricks

joey99jb said:

wanted to know if there was an having the air tube "firmly" against the hood is a problem

Click to expand...

Well, when you rev the engine, it will torque over on the motor mounts a bit, possibly pushing the FIPK up against the hood with more force than it sees just from closing the hood on it. This will become especially true as your motor mounts age. This could lead to a noticeable outward dent in the hood, damage to the throttle body, etc. You'd be better off living without the spacer and swapping in a '99+ intake manifold.

Wouldn't the hood just flex and then go back to its original form? Since there is no dent in the hood now then how can there be a dent simply from revving the engine? The FIPK is against the hood firmly but inspection of the hood location (when the hood is closed) shows no indication of any "dents"... I guess I better modify more just to make sure

the hood is braced underneath, and you will be pushing against the sheetmetal with a throttle body. It's going to take a lot of pressure to deform the hood enough to dent it, and I bet it will take less pressure to bend/break your throttle body and new toys.

Lawn Cher' said:

Well, when you rev the engine, it will torque over on the motor mounts a bit, possibly pushing the FIPK up against the hood with more force than it sees just from closing the hood on it. This will become especially true as your motor mounts age. This could lead to a noticeable outward dent in the hood, damage to the throttle body, etc.

Click to expand...

It's far more likely that if the plastic FIPK tube is pressing against the hood, it'll eventually crack and leak than cause a dent in the hood. If there's insulation inside the hood, it'll rub against it until it wears a hole in it.

Well after much consideration and advice taking I decided to correct my previous FIPK throttle body spacer setup so that the FIPK unit does not touch the hood at all. This alot more hours of measuring and all that but thankfully I finally got it to fit under the hood with decent clearence. Pretty much if you want to do this setup you will have to cut off most of the neck that the FIPK comes with, I would not recommend this to anyone, just go for a cheaper intake unit that is described in other threads in this forum. The only reason I did this is because I got this FIPK unit for free and I already had my throttle body spacer installed. Moreover, I pounded on the hood where the unit used to be pressing against and the hood is not longer "firm" in that area. I appreciate all advice that you guys (& girls?) gave me and hopefully you can help me in my quest to have a nasty nasty XJ. Thanks!

Or just Bore out your throttle body and get rid of your Spacer