td 42 after market intercooler

[dirtaddict]

Hi Guys i had intended to fit and ARE cooler to the gq but finances won`t allow it right now ,
are these cheap coolers on ebay worth the time and effort?anyone used one? i`m thinking front mount about 450 x300 , sounds smallish but its way bigger than what a 100 series cruiser uses from factory so i figure its better than nothing , My main concern is the pressure drop these cheap cores are reputed to cause . Ase turbo systems do a kit for a grand but thier cooler is only about that size anyway . i gotta get my egt`s down a bit .
Thanks

[TD_Wagon]

Hey mate, I have just put one of those ebay specials on as a top mount, haven't really tested it properly yet (only had it on a week), but so far around town egts are good and drop faster when I had no cooler.
I havent noticed any drop in boost, I'm running around 18psi. It does now make more noise (sort of whilse/whoosh as it comes on boost) which must mean there is some sort of restrcition but overall its better than before and I will be gettinng it tuned so hopefully get some more ponies.
heres a pic and the costs of it

http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab125/charged88/Topmount.jpg

All up was relatively cheap to do:
cooler: 160
silicon bends:80
stainless 180:50
clamps:25
Other stainless was freebies
WRX scoop : 130
so total so far is $445
Still need to buy paint for the scoop
Cheers
Lewis

[nissannewby]

Thats a nice setup mate. Have you checked if you get a pressure drop across your cooler. You could have 20psi on one side but the 18psi on your inlet side. Any intercooler on an unintercooled motor will net improvements. Top mounts work ok, front mounts will work better and for the slower stuff water air is best. You will probably find you will have a pressure drop more so to do with all the extra pipework there are plenty of people using those ebay items without to many dramas. If you were looking at massive boost and hp figures then you may be more concerned about pressure drops across the cooler but if alls you are doing is towing just go with the front mount.

[nissannewby]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/600x300x76-Intercooler-2-5-Piping-Kit-Integra-Black-/110682688814?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19c533cd2e
Sometthing like this would be the go. They only state a 0.2-0.5 psi drop across the cooler @ 15psi

[TD_Wagon]

Nah havent check pressure drop, but i havent adjusted the boost since it went on and it looks to be about the same, but as you said there would definately be a pressure drop.
I went top mount over front mount so i didnt have to clean the cooler, aircon condenser and radiator after a trip in the mud ha ha and it would have been a b!tch to plumb and fit with my highmount wiring etc...
Will be looking at a water to air or a front mount when i get more serious with power.
cheers

[nissannewby]

Yeah most coolers are pretty good these days. As i said above its more likely you get a pressure drop through your pipework than intercooler.

[dirtaddict]

Nah havent check pressure drop, but i havent adjusted the boost since it went on and it looks to be about the same, but as you said there would definately be a pressure drop.
I went top mount over front mount so i didnt have to clean the cooler, aircon condenser and radiator after a trip in the mud ha ha and it would have been a b!tch to plumb and fit with my highmount wiring etc...
Will be looking at a water to air or a front mount when i get more serious with power.
cheers

Nice work td thats the exct cooler i was considering , what referance piont did you use for the height? to make sure the scoop seals right?

[garrett]

i bought my fmic from ebay works fine egts are good too, will take a pic wen i get home. my size was 550x180x65, cut the grill a bit but was gonna get a nice mold done by a plastic welder

[garrett]

heres what she looks like

[97_gq_lwb]

Had the same size in mind myself be interested in results as well





Hey mate, I have just put one of those ebay specials on as a top mount, haven't really tested it properly yet (only had it on a week), but so far around town egts are good and drop faster when I had no cooler.
I havent noticed any drop in boost, I'm running around 18psi. It does now make more noise (sort of whilse/whoosh as it comes on boost) which must mean there is some sort of restrcition but overall its better than before and I will be gettinng it tuned so hopefully get some more ponies.
heres a pic and the costs of it

http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab125/charged88/Topmount.jpg

All up was relatively cheap to do:
cooler: 160
silicon bends:80
stainless 180:50
clamps:25
Other stainless was freebies
WRX scoop : 130
so total so far is $445
Still need to buy paint for the scoop
Cheers
Lewis

[dirtaddict]

i bought my fmic from ebay works fine egts are good too, will take a pic wen i get home. my size was 550x180x65, cut the grill a bit but was gonna get a nice mold done by a plastic welder

looks like the one i have , a mate gave it to me for nicks , i am moving the radiator and air con condensor back towards the motor by 30mm so i can keep the grill and and origonal bonnet latch support , still a tight fit though and a pain making brackets ect . have you checked the boost at the inlet yet? just curious as to the pressure drop , did the car go better once done> also what boost are you running on yours ? also curious about lag is it really noticable compared to no cooler
cheers for the info

[TD_Wagon]

97_gq_lwb - so far without any real testing (been swamped at uni) the car does run approx. 50c (pyro) cooler in most driving conditions, also it takes alot longer for the pyro's to rise and alot quicker to drop off. I still haven't yet sealed the scoop to the core so there is almost half the scoop just going past the cooler at the moment. I'll get a pic in the daylight of the scoop on.

dirtaddict - I used a very crude way of getting the height right, I just sat the cooler on different bits of rhs sitting on the rocker cover till it hit the bonnet when shut ha ha, worked ok to be honest, worked o that the front bottom edge of the cooler is around 50mm from the rocker cover. But good luck with the front mount you should see better results then mine.
Cheers

[97_gq_lwb]

Thanks i was think if sitting a coke can on the rocker cover and closing the bonnet on it to get the height lol.

[TD_Wagon]

ha ha gold!

[dirtaddict]

Thanks i was think if sitting a coke can on the rocker cover and closing the bonnet on it to get the height lol.


Now thats enginuity right there , awsome

[TD_Wagon]

Just for reference here's a pic of the scoop on mine; (its off a 2003-2005 WRX)
http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab125/charged88/scoop.jpg

[garrett]

looks like the one i have , a mate gave it to me for nicks , i am moving the radiator and air con condensor back towards the motor by 30mm so i can keep the grill and and origonal bonnet latch support , still a tight fit though and a pain making brackets ect . have you checked the boost at the inlet yet? just curious as to the pressure drop , did the car go better once done> also what boost are you running on yours ? also curious about lag is it really noticable compared to no cooler
cheers for the info

running it at 15psi, i put the new turbo and fmic on at the same time. was at 8psi untill the tune and she goes twice a hard now, the bonnet latch didnt bother me same as the grill not sure about the pressure drop but would b interested to find out. cant notice any lag either