2phast- I also fabricated a heat sheild for some of the CIA i have installed. One thing that I did in the Xterra that I installed a CIA(which had a heat shield) was to remove the iintake silencer from the fender. The air silencer was mounted in the driver's side fender and had a connection to the stock airbox. From here I connected a tube to the spot where the old air silencer mounted and ran the hose behind the bumper. From here I fabricated a scoop(mocked it off a wide shopvac vacume attachment) and attached it so it was scooping air from behind the bumper. I then took a leaf blower and from about 3 feet from the bumper and let her rip. you could feel the air comming throught the tube in the engine compartment. The nice thing about this is that it helps provide cooler air and elimates the chances of hydorlocking the engine if the new scoop ever is submerged in water.