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Hey guys, i am waiting for my aem to come in the mail today and i plan to install it tonight, i know the intructionns call for removing the spashguard covers under the front of the car , yet i have seen and hearnd of people installing it with removing the spashguard, just chopping one of the towers on it off while it still is on the car, this in my oppoinion would be much easier, i know those snaps are a pita in take off. Is this way possible, would it have any negative effects? also i know im gonna do some plastic cutting, i dont have my dremel with me so what is the prefered tool of choice...... thankzzz
You will need to cut a fair piece of the innerwing to get the tube through to the front, as for the splashguard underneath the engine you will need to remove it unless you want to scratch your new pipes while installing them. And I think that to install the rubber mounting you need to have access which you don't have unless the splashguard is removed.
The passenger side innerwing / front splashguard also needs to be loosend so that you can install the pipe and filter.
If you can, buy the 7 plastic pins that hold the splashguard and are bound to break when you remove them.
Also note that the AEM CAI rubber mounting needed some modification to fit as the metal ring was a little to big to fit from the bottom side.
Last minute adition: I had to modify the AEM upper pipe's air-solenoid mounting bracket because the solenoid would not fit otherwise. I remove the mounting bracket on the solenoid so that I didn't need to use a bolt&nut to mount it on the AEM CAI. But in doing so I needed to make a small caveat in the CAI's mounting bracket so that the solenoid's tooth would fit flush with the CAI's mounting bracket.
When I did my AEM CAI install, nothing had to be removed except the front left wheel and the right side rad fan.
Jack up the front of the car so you can access the space where the filter resides. Remove only the bolts that hold that underside splash shield and carefully bend it back so you can access that space. With the wheel off, you will have plenty of room to do your cutting. If you do not have a dremel, then a "keyhole" saw will also work.
Here's a thread by Rick Hesel regarding how to gain access to that filter area for cleaning. This is the same method used for installation. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...4&highlight=AEM
Some people have been known to remove the whole front bumper to this install. In my mind, the less you remove and undo, the easier it is to put back together.
Here's a couple of (bad) pics of my old AEM pipe running behind the rad.
silverstone2003: Quick question, on the opening of the upper intake pipe (the one that connects to the throttle body), is it bent out of shape or is it perfectly cirular? When i got mine from my Honda awhile back, mine was bent. I'm assuming it got damaged during the shipping. Then my friend wonders if it's suppose to be like that. If yours is not like mine, i'll head to my uncles machine shop tomorow and get it fixed.
aem install option???
And I think that to install the rubber mounting you need to have access which you don't have unless the splashguard is removed.
