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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 11:57 AM
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Default Vararam Help

Howdy,

I took my vararam off recently to inspect after seeing all of the complaints here on the forum. My "ram air" appears to be clean but my filter is dirty as I had expected. What I am wondering is where to look to find the sealing problems everyone is talking about. My foam/rubber gasket thing looks pitiful but I'm not sure if I need to contact vararam for the supposedly new and improved part. (what is the new part?)

Can anyone direct me to a thread that has pictures of the problem or post some pictures of a messed up one so I know what I'm lookin at. The plastic looks good on mine, Just my foam thing is all bent up.

I tried searching but didn't find anything. Sorry if this post annoys anyone.

Thanks for the help!
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 12:14 PM
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If all of your plastic is fine/maintaining original shape then all you should need is a new rubber/foam gasket.
Call Vararam and they should be able to supply you with one I'm sure.
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 12:44 PM
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My suggestion is that you throw the whole unit away. The problem is the back and front of the top piece will bow out. Thats why the seal falls out and gets all nasty.
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 03:23 PM
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Originally Posted by leadfoot88
Howdy,

I took my vararam off recently to inspect after seeing all of the complaints here on the forum. My "ram air" appears to be clean but my filter is dirty as I had expected. What I am wondering is where to look to find the sealing problems everyone is talking about. My foam/rubber gasket thing looks pitiful but I'm not sure if I need to contact vararam for the supposedly new and improved part. (what is the new part?)

Can anyone direct me to a thread that has pictures of the problem or post some pictures of a messed up one so I know what I'm lookin at. The plastic looks good on mine, Just my foam thing is all bent up.

I tried searching but didn't find anything. Sorry if this post annoys anyone.

Thanks for the help!
CContact us at 866-507-2648 and we will help you!!!
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 04:33 PM
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Thanks for the great customer service! It goes a long way these days.
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 07:32 PM
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Originally Posted by c6 batmobile
My suggestion is that you throw the whole unit away. The problem is the back and front of the top piece will bow out. Thats why the seal falls out and gets all nasty.
The new units don't bow. I used epoxy on the seals. If you don't, they will slide around. If you want a inexpensive bolt on that will give you 0.3 sec in the quarter then this is it.
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by c6 batmobile
My suggestion is that you throw the whole unit away. The problem is the back and front of the top piece will bow out. Thats why the seal falls out and gets all nasty.
yes good idea, that way i can stay number 1 bolt/on c6
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 11:45 PM
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Originally Posted by dennis50nj
yes good idea, that way i can stay number 1 bolt/on c6
I dont even care about that. My motors longevity is far more important to me than a 1/4 mile time. Ive only posted a few slips in the section and Ive never requested to be added to the list. Theres a lot more to this car than a drag strip.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 08:54 AM
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Originally Posted by c6 batmobile
I dont even care about that. My motors longevity is far more important to me than a 1/4 mile time. Ive only posted a few slips in the section and Ive never requested to be added to the list. Theres a lot more to this car than a drag strip.
yes there is! and i have 32,295 fast miles with a very clean properly installed by me, Vararam cold air intake its funny how i had one of the first units that i installed and never had a problem, i wanted the new green filter and Vararam sent me a whole unit, so i put the whole unit on as it should be as a unit, and gave LS1LT1 my old and first unit, he has had no problems as Cartek properly installed it, and look were hes running now
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by dennis50nj
yes there is! and i have 32,295 fast miles with a very clean properly installed by me, Vararam cold air intake its funny how i had one of the first units that i installed and never had a problem, i wanted the new green filter and Vararam sent me a whole unit, so i put the whole unit on as it should be as a unit, and gave LS1LT1 my old and first unit, he has had no problems as Cartek properly installed it, and look were hes running now
I have to agree that the Vararam really works! With Boltons I was almost hitting 124mph and I still had a couple of boltons to go!!
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by c6 batmobile
My suggestion is that you throw the whole unit away. The problem is the back and front of the top piece will bow out. Thats why the seal falls out and gets all nasty.
Was going to buy one but not after hearing this--thx for the info
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by bobby777
Was going to buy one but not after hearing this--thx for the info
Same here. Going with the Honker.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by bobby777
Was going to buy one but not after hearing this--thx for the info
Originally Posted by DSOMZ06
Same here. Going with the Honker.
Good choice. A lot of guys will defend this thing to the death. If attempted to reinstall it several different times. I took the seals out put new ones in and attempted to epoxy them in place. They still fell out. I removed my intake again a not too long ago after glueing all the seals in place and they still fell out. Im not sure what else could possibly be done differently to make this unit funtion correctly. Mine only solution was to put duct tape around where the top and bottom pieces come together to hold them in place.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 09:00 PM
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Nothing sums up a Vajunk better then THIS THREAD.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 09:15 PM
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QUOTE=Griffee;1571834540]Nothing sums up a Vajunk better then THIS THREAD.[/QUOTE]

like i said before Vararam is king, you cant blame it if you cant install it right,
THIS VIDEO SAYS IT ALL AND ALL THE CARS IN THE TOP SPOTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmisWFoprDk
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 09:42 PM
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Originally Posted by dennis50nj
QUOTE=Griffee;1571834540]Nothing sums up a Vajunk better then THIS THREAD.
like i said before Vararam is king, you cant blame it if you cant install it right,
THIS VIDEO SAYS IT ALL AND ALL THE CARS IN THE TOP SPOTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmisWFoprDk[/QUOTE]

read my above post. I cant possibly figure another way to put the thing in the car. Everything Ive tried doesnt work.

Do you see anything in my post that you have done to your unit that I havent done to mine to get it to seal?
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 10:26 PM
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Originally Posted by c6 batmobile
like i said before Vararam is king, you cant blame it if you cant install it right,
THIS VIDEO SAYS IT ALL AND ALL THE CARS IN THE TOP SPOTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmisWFoprDk
read my above post. I cant possibly figure another way to put the thing in the car. Everything Ive tried doesnt work.

Do you see anything in my post that you have done to your unit that I havent done to mine to get it to seal?[/QUOTE]

nope my seals haven't moved, i put it together and put it in together and mad sure the clips Tab locked into the grill bolted the bar in and had the couplers on in position, double checked it. every few thousand miles or when I'm going to the track i remove it and check for seal and if any dirt leaves or bags got in, its always clean except for dirt, i clean the filter and reassemble, my first one i liked better beacause it only had the one seal and i never had a problem, i could check the filter just by pu;;ing the straps and lifting the top and put it back to gether, the new one the recess is to deep and to many seals
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 11:27 PM
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It seems as though the vararam is second to none hp gain wise but it comes with more "baggage". I personally was about to order one l until I started reading these threads.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted by dennis50nj
yes there is! and i have 32,295 fast miles with a very clean properly installed by me, Vararam cold air intake its funny how i had one of the first units that i installed and never had a problem, i wanted the new green filter and Vararam sent me a whole unit, so i put the whole unit on as it should be as a unit, and gave LS1LT1 my old and first unit, he has had no problems as Cartek properly installed it, and look were hes running now
I had Cartek (Roy) do the instalation...the installed a Vararam & Tune.. my car went from 12.56 110 mph to 12.08 @ 115 mph..

I too tried to clean my filter and am having the same problem as the OP... I was going to go back to Cartek but they are so busy I didn't think it fair to take their time to fix or replace the intake..

I am 100% satisfied with it, but its all buckled in the center ... If Vararam sees this post I'll call and maybe you can get me on the right track to getting it fixed...

Should I ask Cartek for a new one or if Vararam will send me the parts, I can do the fix... ? I will contact Vararam tomorrow.. hopefully I can get the new stiffer part that is updated...

Mark if you see this let me know do you think an air leak can have any effect on my performance... I have 4 more races in the next month... Maybe I can get it fixed and see the 11's
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Old Oct 16, 2009 | 12:07 AM
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Originally Posted by dennis50nj
so i put the whole unit on as it should be as a unit, and gave LS1LT1 my old and first unit, he has had no problems as Cartek properly installed it, and look were hes running now
Still using Dennis's old 'circa 2005' version Vararam and it fits and obviously performs very well for me.
I would use NO OTHER cold air system on this car.





Originally Posted by jpee
Mark if you see this let me know do you think an air leak can have any effect on my performance... I have 4 more races in the next month... Maybe I can get it fixed and see the 11's
It definitely can have an effect but sometimes what appears to be a gap or a leak is just some minor bowing and the filter is still perfectly sealed. If you take the unit out in one piece (relatively simple procedure) and inspect the areas both before and after the filter then you can tell.
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