2001 Honda S2000 Comptech Sport Cold-Air Intake

Readying an S2000 for display at the '04 International Auto Salon, we send our project to Harv's Performance to get the last bit of bolt-on, a Comptech intake, bolted on. Then Editor Bob swings the car by Autowave again for a final dyno evaluation before it becomes Best Motoring's show belle for the weekend.

	The last chapter in our S2000 saga finds us back at Harv's Performance in Whittier, Calif., just hours before the Auto Salon for the installation of a Comptech Sport cold-air intake. It takes technician Scott Fox roughly an hour to install the thing, which begins by unsnapping the lid on the O.E. air box.	With the lid gone, Fox pulls out the old filter (obviously an aftermarket purchase).
Fox then disconnects the vacuum lines, crankcase vent tube and air injection hose (pictured here) from the air box assembly.	The clamp holding the inlet piping to the throttle body is loosened and the piping is disconnected.	To protect the MAP sensor lead on top of the throttle body during installation, Fox unplugs it and puts it aside.
Fox goes after the stock air box's mounting bolts next. Three of them secure the box to the engine compartment.	At this point the box is free enough to remove, which Fox does, leaving this gaping space for the Comptech setup.	Before completely tossing the O.E. air box, Fox scavenges this air control solenoid valve from it. Comptech says the valve will be relocated and used with the new box.
The vacuum, coolant and crankcase vent hoses that Fox unplugged from the air box assembly earlier all run to this cluster of hard line that Comptech says to eliminate.	A length of 5/16-inch hose that came with the kit is run between the coolant fittings on the intake manifold and the throttle body. When the old line is removed some coolant does leak out, so Fox stands by with a shop towel.	The air control solenoid valve that Fox rescued earlier from the factory box assembly is now mounted upside down to the vacuum tank, which we find under the old box and mounted to the cross member in the engine compartment. Fox uses the provided spacer and 5mm bolt to fasten the valve; then takes the supplied 5-inch section of vacuum hose to connect the vacuum tank to the top fitting on the valve.
A supplied 22-inch section of vacuum hose runs from the lower vacuum fitting on the valve to the lower vacuum fitting under the fuel rail.	Finally, Fox uses the included length of 26-inch vacuum line to link up the check valve to the upper vacuum line under the rail.	Comptech says the air box mounts to the passenger side of the engine compartment and uses the stock rear mounting tab. The front mounting tab, however, needs to be removed for clearance, so Fox makes it happen.
At this point instructions say to position the air box in place and align the hole on the fender side of the box with the hole in the inner fender. Fox then locates this aluminum backing plate through the fender well (done by finagling the plate into a larger hole in the inner fender) and inside the fender to be used as an anchor for one of the box's mounting bolts.	With the backing plate lined up in the inner fender, Fox starts the supplied bolt but doesn't tighten it all the way just yet.	The rear mounting bolt on the bottom of the box is also started. Once both bolts are in and ready for torquing, Fox pushes down on the bottom of the box while he's tightening down the fasteners. This is done to crush the foam around the A/C lines under the box; fail to do this and the carbon-fiber lid may stick up too far and rub against the hood.
Fox connects the air injection hose to a bung on the Comptech inlet tubing.	He then uses a short piece of silicone hose and a pair of hose clamps (more kit hardware) to secure the main inlet piping to the throttle body. It should be noted, however, that Fox leaves the clamps loose until all the piping is in place.	The other short piece of silicone hose that came from Comptech, a flexible bellow adaptor, is attached to the end of the air box funnel with a hose clamp. The funnel is then placed in position on the side of the box.
Fox treats the filter element with the included spray-on oil. It should be applied evenly across all surfaces.	A locating pin is attached to the front of the filter.	That pin will be pushed into this rubber grommet on the bottom of the box. It is recommended that a small amount of lube be applied to the pin to prevent the grommet from getting pressed out.
With most of the pieces coming together, Fox begins to slowly tighten the hose clamps along the assembly, making sure all sections are seated correctly: throttle body to inlet pipe, inlet pipe to funnel, and funnel to filter.	One final piece of provided 1/2-inch hose connects the crankcase vent to a bung on the side of the inlet tubing.	And lest we forget, Comptech says the square corners on the plastic end of the prop rod need to be ground down in order to fit into the box lid, which Fox takes care of.
	The finished product--not too shabby. Kudos to Harv's for the beautiful work.