Well after seeing Markiii elbow inlet on mr2roc and ChrisGB’s elbow tubing replacement, I though I should try it out since everyone likes better airflow and I had been thinking about getting a CAI eventually, I figure this is just as good (if not better for the price) as a CAI since neither really gives that much of a performance gain and if I went with the shortram design then that would have been more detremental than helpful (according to whats been said in the past). Anyways; I went to the local Autozone and picked up a flexible air intake tube and two Tbar fastener/clamp things for $30 with tax. I went home waited for the engine bay to cool off a little and then went to work.
Easy to do, very straight forward, but here’s a step by step that should be doable by someone with no mechanical ability whatsoever keeping in mind I have very little myself.
Step 1: D/c battery
Step 2: Take off left tail light (you’ll need a phillips head screwdriver) (make sure you unplug the wires on the taillight before attempting to fully take it away from the car)
Step 3: Remove the screw holding the inlet elbow to the car (should be under/next to the engine coolant… which I think I need to fill soon) This one annoyed me and I eventually got frustrated and used a chisel to angle it up and then a set of pliers to just pull it out, for what I used it doesn’t need to be reused so I didn’t care to much.
Step 3: Remove the screw holding the inlet (not the elbow) to the car (towards you) this was easy came right out, and I didn’t want to be too aggresive because I knew I’d need to reuse it. (I don’t know if this step is neccesary but it makes pulling the old elbow and putting in the new one much easier.
Step 4: Pull out the inlet elbow, there shouldn’t be anything holding it down at this point it just takes some pulling and maneuvering to get it out.
Step 5: Open the packages and remove the tubing and clamps, inside the tube should be an odd looking rubber thing, pull that out, it’s used to put on the end of the tube (one end already has one on it)
Step 6: I removed the link thing from the side that already had it attached and put a clamp around the small end. do this, without tightening the clamp, and attach it to the air box inlet then tighten it down with a ratchet (I used a ratcheting screwdriver with a socket attachment I got for Christmas, it worked wonderfully for this application.) so that it fits snugly on and wont come off.
Step 7: Put the tube into the link thing on the airbox end and put the other link thing on the free end.
Step 8: put the other clamp on the free end and maneuver it so that you can get it over the intake tube that comes from the vent, once you’re sure that its all on there, tighten down this clamp the same as the one on the airbox side.
Step 9: Make sure everything is in its place and tightened down.
Step 10: Replug in the taillight wireing and reattach the taillight.
Step 11: Put tools away and go for a drive
Now that my step by step instructions have more than likely made this seem like more trouble than it’s worth, It only took 30 minutes start to finish and here are Pictures to show this is much simpler than my typing describes.
Before
Stock Inlet Elbow, you can see where the screw is i just pulled with pliers is here.
Screw Removed from inlet and air pipe thing
Old Inlet and New tubeing
New Tubeing installed
And here is how constrictive the stock elbow is.
This documentation in no way replaces the Toyota MR2 Repair Manuals. The purpose of this content is only to provide supplementary information to fellow MR2 enthusiasts. Midship Runabout and its contributing authors will not be held responsible for any injury or damages that may occur as the result of practicing any of the methods or procedures described within this website. Article and photo submissions are property of the contributing author.
