I got the idea for this DIY from this thread on TN.
Oil catch can/system...
Many thanks to the author and contributors to the thread for laying the groundwork that I built on to adapt the concept to the IMZ-FE engine.
I liked the idea of trapping the oil out of the crankcase blow-by. If you have ever looked in the Throttle Body or the ACIS (Acoustic Control Induction System) you will find a thin film of oil everywhere. Much of it comes from the blow-by of oil vapor that is sucked from the top of the valve covers and fed directly into the air stream and into the Throttle Body.
The purpose of this DIY is to make a way to capture this vapor, store it so it doesn't get into the air stream, and then a way to remove the capured oil. On a IMZ-FE engine there is a hose that runs from the front valve cover directly into the CAI which feeds the Throttle Body. Here's where the oil capure device will be installed.
The oil capture system is comprised of a jar to hold the oil, an inlet from the intake manifold and an outlet to the CAI. It's a passive system, so there shouldn't be any hit to performance, or smog problems. But I kept the old hose just in case the next time I take the car to get it smogged, I'll be able to remove everything and replace it with the stock hose. Here's a shot of the parts you will need to make it. You will need a jar of some sort, fittings, washers and some tools most everybody will have.
First, cut two holes in the jar lid. I found it's best to clamp the jar lid to a piece of wood, and use a step drill to drill the holes. Then trace out the washers onto the rubber sheet, and cut them out with sissors. Punch the center hole for the fittings. You could just buy rubber washers, but they were .90 for two at Lowes, and you will need 4, but the rubber sheeting cost .90 for the whole sheet, and I could use it to make many more if I needed them. I also planned on using part of the rubber sheet to act as a chamber divider.
The IMZ-FE engine compartment layout was such that 90 degree fittings work best, so depending on where you decide to locate the jar will determine if you come straight out of the jar with the barb fittings or use a 90 degree fitting, like I did. Since the threads are tapered on pipe fittings, I used a die to "un-taper" the threads, by flipping the die over, and started with the smaller diamater end of the die. You might be able to skip this step providing the washers are thick enough to allow the tapered threads to cinch up before the tapered threads seat fully. You'll know right away if it will work or not. I used a threaded nipple as the jam nut on the other side of the 90 degree fitting.
Other people have used steel wool as the capture material, but I had some Bronze Wool, and I decided to use it. It dissipates heat a little better, and won't rust. Although that probably isn't going to be a problem, since the jar will be filled with oil vapor.
I cut the rubber sheet to act as a divider between the inlet and the outlet ports. But there was a problem. I got a temporary case of the Dumb Ass, and didn't think to remove the hose and check the diameter of the stock hose. Turns out the hose diameters were much larger than the barbs that I had bought, and wouldn't fit properly.
So I had to go to Plan B.
Fortunately the fix was pretty easy. Rather than have barb fittings, I got a short length of threaded pipe, and cut it in half and used the outer diameter of the pipe. The stock fitting on the Valve Cover was a different size than the one on the CAI (??) but 15mm seemed to be a good compromise, so off I went to find some 15mm hose.
Pep Boys didn't have any 15mm hose but did have some 19/32" hose that looked like it would work. While I was there I wanted to find some way to filter out any loose Copper Wool strands or any other crud that might come loose in the jar and be sucked directly into the engine. I looked at several fuel filters and found one that was perfect. It was a sintered Bronze fuel filter, and as luck would have it, the inside diameter would allow me to thread it onto the end of the pipe fitting.
FWIW, I noticed while I was at Pep Boys that they had barb fittings like the ones that I got a Lowes and paid $3.74 apiece. They had the same fittings for $1.99, almost 1/2 the price, so it would pay to shop around for the fittings and save yourself some money.
After I put the revised model together, I was wondering if the rubber separator was a good idea. It might shred, and over time small rubber particles might get into the engine. So I looked around the shop to come up with a more sturdy solution. I thought about using some plastic, maybe even cutting another jar lid in two but then I found it in some stainless steel shim stock. It was .007 thick, plenty sturdy to do the job, so I cut off a piece, bent it and fitted it into the jar. It worked great.
Now I had something that was pretty much impervious to oil and I could easily disassemble everything, rinse all the parts in Lacquer Thinner, and it would clean up good as new no matter how crudded up it got.
Now to install it. I removed the stock hose, and positioned the whole assembly into where the stock hose was. It fit nicely between the cruise control cable, and some other smaller smog tubing. In fact it fit so well, I didn't even need to make any brackets to hold the jar in place. I cut a short length of hose and attached it to the CAI, then turned the fittings on the top of the jar to align with the fitting on the CAI. I did the same to the fitting on the Valve Cover. I ditched the stock clamps and replaced them with stainless steel worm drive clamps to hold the hose tightly to the fittings, which would also help to hold the jar in place and keep it from moving around.
Here's what it looks like installed.
After everything was hooked up, I started the car, and went for a drive. Pretty un-eventful. I didn't notice any change in performance. I fully expected to have some weird P9458 code thrown (something like "hose too short") but fortunately no CEL. I scanned the computer and no codes were pending. My only long term concern is that the jar might unscrew so I'll keep an eye on it. The small jar is pretty thick, so I dont' think it will break, but it's a possibilty, so to be super safe, you might want to substitute a plastic jar in place of the glass one used here. I might cut up some of the insulation that is used on water pipes to act as a cushion to prevent scuffing, but for now the jar sits in there pretty nicely
And I'm sure that many of you are wondering if you might be able to acheive the same level of filtration using an in-line filter, like the ones made by Magnafine.
Maybe.....but what's the fun in that?
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1999 Toyota Avalon
95 Camry
AUTO to MANUAL Swap Guide (3rd Gen) - 
I changed the description and included a picture of the package it comes in. To satisfy my curiosity I snipped off a piece of it and confirmed that it wasn't magnetic, so I'm pretty sure it isn't a bronze or copper coating over steel. And truth be told, there probably isn't any real difference in heat dissipation between the Steel Wool, and the Bronze Wool. I just liked the color of the Bronze Wool over Steel Wool, it adds a bit of color to the project. 
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