DIY Experiment - Dual Cone Filters in Custom Colors

[chadillac2000]

A few weeks ago, I was reading through a thread looking at some beautiful engine bays when I was inspired to try and clean my own up a bit. My BMS dual cone filters were looking a bit dirty these days and ever since installing my amber halos, I'd thought of doing some type of amber/orange filters to break up the all black.

Here are the supplies I started with:

• Brand new set of BMS white dual cone filters
• RIT Liquid Dye (I chose Tangerine)
• Green Filter Cleaner
• Green Filter Orange Oil

I used a stainless steel sink, so I wouldn't have to worry about making a permanent mess. I also watched the video published by RIT on how to use their liquid dye, and they suggest adding a bit of salt in the hot water when dying cotton and similar materials.



After dissolving the salt in hot water, add a bit of dishwashing liquid to the mix.



Add the liquid dye. I used about half the bottle and then stirred everything up.



Slowly submerge the filters into the water and dye mixture until they're sitting on the bottom.



Do the same for the second.



Keep checking in on the color of the filters and remove once you get to a desired shade. After letting all of the dye/water mixture drip off as possible, I transferred the two filters to the other side of the sink. To ensure no staining, and to stay on good terms with my girlfriend, I gave the sink a good scrubbing with a soap pad.



Rinse thoroughly. This may take a while before you see the bleeding colors stop dripping. Eventually the water will run clear though.



I then added a bit of dishwashing liquid to the sink, refilled with fresh water, and gave the filters a good cleaning, just as I would with a dirty set.



Place on a towel you don't care about and let dry. I sat mine outside on a hot summer day to speed up the process.







From there I applied the Green Filter orange oil so I wouldn't compromise the intended color of the filters.



Add the anodized black aluminum couplers and they're ready to install.



And the final product with black DME cover and brake fluid reservoir:









I can't see how dying the filters, cleaning them thoroughly, and re-oiling them would have any negative effects. RIT also comes in about every color imaginable, so the possibilities are endless.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Very neat. I'm sure this dye method is probably very similar to how other companies get their color on them anyway. That or the oil used, depending.

[1and1]

Good on ya for doing it yourself. Many would have just purchased a set of red filters. Frankly I think the roughly two tanks of gas money you saved and pride from a job well done brings way more value to the party.

Even better I bet it wont be long till you see a post from somebody doing the same thing, but in purple, or red/white/blue or something fancy like that. So, good on ya for opening up a nifty thing!

[Ginger_Extract]

Man, I was proud of myself for just getting mine clean again. Ha. This is great.

[135 TING]

Looks great man!

[mike@x-ph.com]

I like that, i need a new filter for my car ... Going to decide on which color to go with and give this a shot

[seagrasser]

Totally want blue filters now

[seagrasser]

So can we assume that our filter elements are mostly cotton?

[ShocknAwe]

This is great, thanks for posting it up OP.

On the other hand, take those cable traps off and tuck your wiring! Will look a ton better. They're just held on with plastic clips, the wiring tucks behind the engine cover under the braces very neatly. Ran like that for a couple months.

Originally Posted by seagrasser

Totally want blue filters now

Can easily get blue filter oil. I have some sitting in my garage, going to clean and oil them this weekend if I have time.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

I like that, i need a new filter for my car ... Going to decide on which color to go with and give this a shot

Originally Posted by seagrasser

Totally want blue filters now

Looking forward to what you guys come up with -- I think a pair of blue, green or purple filters would look great.

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

This is great, thanks for posting it up OP.

On the other hand, take those cable traps off and tuck your wiring! Will look a ton better. They're just held on with plastic clips, the wiring tucks behind the engine cover under the braces very neatly. Ran like that for a couple months.

I would love to see some exact pictures of how you have yours tucked. I will be doing a valve cleaning while adding a BMS OCC and a RB External PVC with Mishimoto OCC sometime very soon. Anything that would help me tidy things up even more would be of interest!

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

Looking forward to what you guys come up with -- I think a pair of blue, green or purple filters would look great.



I would love to see some exact pictures of how you have yours tucked. I will be doing a valve cleaning while adding a BMS OCC and a RB External PVC with Mishimoto OCC sometime very soon. Anything that would help me tidy things up even more would be of interest!

Wish I could, but as my DD the constant wooshing got irritating.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Wish I could, but as my DD the constant wooshing got irritating.

I think I've found exactly what you're referring to and yes I will be doing this when I install the BMS OCC and RB External PVC w/Mishimoto OCC. This is a bottom mount single turbo setup, but same concept:

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

On the other hand, take those cable traps off and tuck your wiring! Will look a ton better. They're just held on with plastic clips, the wiring tucks behind the engine cover under the braces very neatly. Ran like that for a couple months.

Finally got around to doing this when I added in the external PCV and catch cans. Much better!

ALSO I've put about 1,000 miles on the filters and have had zero issues and experienced no color loss thus far. Still bright and tangerine-tinted!

[Sopants]

Great DIY! Props on the excellent photo quality too lol

[Jeef]

Nice idea! Got these blue filters here recently that I love

[JS135]

When I cleaned mine with a K&N filter cleaner the red oil turned them a red/orange colour!

[DKNICK]

Hey, I’m actually doing this right now. Was curious how long you let them soak for?