[L78toLT1]

Have any fellow Maggie guys figured out a trick for coupling a Roto-Fab CAI to a Maggie equipped SS? I recently installed my Maggie kit and discovered that the supplied elbow does not align exactly right with the Roto-Fab MAF tube. As you can see in the first photo, the inner bend in the elbow is wadded up and somewhat restricted due to this misalignment. Ted J and Roto-fab weighed in that this restriction should not be a problem as the cross-sectional area in the restricted area is still greater than the x-sect of my throttle body. I accept that this is probably true, and I plan on sticking with the Roto-Fab but if there is another solution to eliminate this restriction and achieve a better fit, I would be interested. Looking down the barrel of the tube on my car, the reduction in area is very apparent, it is at least a 10% reduction; it is also not very smooth which would make for a more turbulent flow.
The 2nd pic was posted by a guy in the ZL1 section with the username TDS (hope u don’t mind me using your pic, TDS) it shows his Roto-Fab equipped ZL1 with what looks like a hard plastic elbow with a fairly compliant looking rubber sleeve between his tube and elbow. I am not sure about the throttle body location on the LT4 vs. a Maggie equipped LT1, but it certainly looks like this combination would be more forgiving and result in a better fit than what I currently have. The ZL1 looks to have a similar misalignment but it appears to be much better dealt with by the sleeve than by the rubber Magnuson supplied elbow.
Does anyone have any experience with this combination of parts on a Maggie equipped LT1? It may not work worth a crap, but it sure looks like it would be an improvement. I wonder if the elbow and sleeve on TDS’s car are GM or Roto-Fab parts? If no one knows, I’ll shoot him a PM. For what it’s worth, the misalignment on my car looks worse than any others I have seen on the forums. I suppose the mfg tolerances on all affected parts are probably working against me.
I should point out that this post is in no way a dig against Magnuson or Roto-Fab. The Magnuson elbow fit perfectly with the factory CAI. Roto-Fab was up front about their product not aligning perfectly in this application.

[Jhunsberger]

Roto-fab has a specific kit for the maggie/eforce/whipple SC.

[L78toLT1]

Their kit is a standard roto-fab kit minus the elbow. Mike McLain from Roto -Fab verified that my setup is what they use on their cars and that the parts do
Misalign. If u search around on the forums there are pics of the white magnuson car with this setup. It seems to fit in theirs and every other car better than on mine.

[asthmamax11]

You're really betting the elbow is going to make a big difference ?

[laynlo15]

Mine makes about 703 with the Rotofab so I don't thinks it restricting too much. Mine seems to fit fine although its a tight fit

[L78toLT1]

Originally Posted by asthmamax11

You're really betting the elbow is going to make a big difference ?

The purpose of switching to an aftermarket CAI is obviously for improved air flow. There is no question that the Roto-Fab flows better than the stock air box on NA applications. The elbow is not a factor here as it aligns perfectly. I don’t think it can be debated that the kink in the elbow results in the Roto-Fab ‘giving back’ some of its gains when used on a Magnuson equipped car due to the restriction in the elbow. Have a look at the pic shot looking down the tube to see what this looks like to the incoming air. If the flow improvement from porting the stock throttle body results in improved performance, certainly getting rid of the restriction in the elbow would have to be worth something. Please excuse all the pine pollen in the tube, this resulted from my car sitting without the filter installed, INSIDE the garage but with the garage door open - I did clean this out!

[L78toLT1]

Originally Posted by laynlo15

Mine makes about 703 with the Rotofab so I don't thinks it restricting too much. Mine seems to fit fine although its a tight fit

Take a look at your car or the white Magnuson car and you will probably find that the misalignment and resulting elbow kinking is not as bad as on my car. Check the pic I found in another thread of the white car and compare it to my original pic. You have to admit that mine is worse.

[ShizzySupra]

I have the ZL1 full roto fab setup on my Maggie SS and it fits great. The hard elbow is useful for methanol/nitrous install as well.

[L78toLT1]

Originally Posted by ShizzySupra

I have the ZL1 full roto fab setup on my Maggie SS and it fits great. The hard elbow is useful for methanol/nitrous install as well.

Is your Roto Fab setup the same as the one on the car in my original post?

[oneredry]

mine seems to fit good

[L78toLT1]

Originally Posted by oneredry

mine seems to fit good

It sure does! Blow up my first pic and you can see how much more kinked my hose is. Mine is so tight that you can't force it on with the box mounts plugged in, you have to connect it in the free state the wrestle with the box to snap it into the three mounting grommets

[L78toLT1]

Church out the relationship between the adjacent raised ribs at the inside radius on my elbow compared to yours or the white car. Mine are much closer together

[Drsagacity]

Here is a picture of my install.