Hi guys,

I've got a Group A K&N Pod Filter on its way over from the U.K and I'm in the process of removing the Air Box from my 2WD Sapphire.
I've disconnected all the hoses from the air box and i'm at the nuts n bolts removal stage.
I see there's 2 fixing points on the engine side of the airbox and now that I've taken the panel filter out I can see a square bolt on the bottom of the airbox.
I'm guessing this has to be un-done from the under side of the wheel arch.
I was about to start yanking the driver side plastic wheel arch gaurd off but i'm a little nervous as I dont want to brake anything.
Is there a secret to getting the wheel arch plastic off? ,do I need to remove the wheel to gain access to the last bolt on the airbox?.

One last thing whilst I'm asking
Now that i'm removing my airbox what happens to the the hose that runs off the Amal valve and into the airbox?.

Cheers in advance,

Ollie.

 

Hi Ollie,the hose you just discard,as for the nut and bolt i managed to take mine off with the wheel in place pretty easy really.



Kev.

 

Cheers Kev mate, so you just end up with one of hosetails on the amal valve sticking out and venting right there mate?
So whats the best way to remove the plastic on the wheel arch then pal?
I'm just a little nervous and dont want to crack it, I see the little clips that hold it on, do they just pop off with some pliers or something?.

 

No probs Ollie,Spot on with the pipe from the airbox to the amal valve

As for the nut holding the airbox if you remove the wheel you'll get easier access,just unscrew the clips gently then prise the wheelarch liner away from the inner wing enough till you can get to the nut,then bob's your uncle m8.

 

if you pull away the plastic inner..it wont brake....but you have to take the wheel of...

there is just enough room to unscrew the bolt....

good luck...

the hose which connect the amalvalve and the airbox...you dont need it anymore...

 

Cheers Wim and Kev,
So the clips actually unscrew as opposed to 'popping' off, I was wondering why I was having such a hard time just tugging on the plastic but to no avail

 

Well mine were phillips headed screws anyway Would imagine 2wd saphs would be the same.

 

the liner is held in several places.

it's fixed to the inner wing with large plastic screws that turn 90 degrees and the come out. these are sort of behind the strut in the middle where the two halves join up, if that makes sense.

it's also fixed to the wheelarch area of the wing. those clips are a bit more of a shit to get undone intact. they are like a split square plastic thing, and the a torx head screw is put into them to split open the square and hold in place. but the scres don't really have a proper thread on, they're more or less just pushed in, so they don't just screw out.

you might find that the square headed bolt coming down from the airbox is rusted up. a pair of grips on the head should sort it, but it will probably shear off rather than undo.

hope that helps, and have fun.

 

Cheers lads.
Well I had a shit of a day today getting that last bolt out.
Getting the 10mm nut off the bolt was piss easy, I managed to squeeze a 10mm gear wrench up under the plastic wheel arch liner, without having to remove the liner completely.
Took me so long to un-do the little plastic srews around the wheel arch though.
Some twat had rounded off all the threads so they were all a f@#ker to undo.
Would of made life alot easier if I had of jacked the car up and removed the wheel, but before I realised that I'd alreay pulled my boost hoses off and taken out my filter etc.

Got there in the end though.

Cheers for all the top advice as usual chaps, it's always good to have some hints and tips before you dive in

 

Ohh, one more question chaps

Now that I've removed the airbox and as I look into the new space that the pod will fit into.....
I can't help but think that my windscreen washer reservoir "filler neck" will get in the way once I fit the pod.
Is this common with large K&N pod filters to remove the washer bottle neck and put a bung into it (where the reservoiir meets the wheel arch)?.
I'm sure in my time of looking at pictures of Sapphires with Pod Filters on here I've not once seen one with the washer bottle neck now that I come to think of it.

Can anyone shead some light on this?

 

Mine just touches the filler neck ollie,nothing to worry about though.