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Making a top mount intercooler and have a plumbing question.

Nartanian

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Jan 14, 2009
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611
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Richfield, MN
Dang that sounds painful! +1 to ETS fmic though.
 

belize1334

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Nov 18, 2003
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Location
Bozeman, MT
You could do an A2W IC like mine... if your A/C is gone the HE sits where the condensor used to be and there's no cutting!
 

beaner

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Jun 22, 2005
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1,562
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b'ham, mi
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif Stop pushing the a/w. I'm running a/w too, but this guys thread is for fabbing an air/air top mount setup. Lets stick to that.
 

rdomeck

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Jun 1, 2011
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620
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Indianapolis, In.
My A/C is in place and working. My main reason for making a top mount was to keep the front bumper reinforcement. As I have mentioned this is going to be used as a daily driver with my twins riding in the back so safety is the most important. Looks like I am still going to have to make one that fits in behind the bumper and retains the reinforcement!
 

Terry Posten

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Dec 16, 2003
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Davenport, Iowa USA
Install a huge front mount by hacking the crap out of the front support and go General Lee style.

click
 

belize1334

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Nov 18, 2003
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Bozeman, MT
Quoting rdomeck:
Looks like I am still going to have to make one that fits in behind the bumper and retains the reinforcement!



I've thought about going this way too. I figure if it's no more than 2"x20"you could probably make it a good 12" tall. That won't be huge, about 400in^2, but it'll probably be enough for a 16g-ish turbo. For reference, I had a cobra front heat exchanger for my A2W which was behind the bumper core but in front of the cross-member. Those are 1.25"x24"x6". It had PLENTY of vertical room but barely fit with that width and thickness. The issue is that the bumper support curves. Going down to about 20" wide I could have stuck something in there that's 2" thick no problem.

As for pushing the A2W, I take issue with that remark. I only suggested it when he said he was dropping the top-mount but still didn't want to hack the bumper. My previous mention was simply to observe that we had made similar use of the space adjacent to the engine... If I do decide to push it I'll make a different thread expounding upon all the reasons that it's awesome and why everyone should have one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

turbowop

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Apr 29, 2001
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Yakima, WA
Once again, retaining the stock front bumper support will be no more effective in a big crash than a hacked one. It's there for 5mph crash standards, not huge head-on collisions. That's what crumple zones are for. If you get into a front end collision that is bad enough to obliterate the front end, stock USDM bumper, hacked USDM bumper or lightweight JDM bumper, you will have bigger things to worry about.
 

rdomeck

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Jun 1, 2011
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Indianapolis, In.
I disagree about the front bumper support. Companies do not put extra metal into a car just because they can. They put in just what they can get by with and nothing more. Cutting into something like that is not a good thing if you plan on doing any street driving......But hey it's just your life your playing around with so what's the harm in trying it?
 

IncorpoRatedX

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May 28, 2003
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Location
Arizona
So cut it and weld in a piece of DOM tubing.

That bumper really isnt that helpful.
 

rdomeck

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Jun 1, 2011
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Indianapolis, In.
So who on here that is saying cut the front bumper has done crash testing with and without it? An automobile manufacturer does not go to extra work if they don't have too....I know that there are those of you that cut the front bumper, but it is not a safe thing to do and I would rather have 100 horsepower in a safe car than 1000 horsepower in an unsafe car!
 

Barnes

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Feb 9, 2003
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Richland, WA
I'm gonna strongly agree with Turbowop and Alpha Male on this one. Even if the bumper really performs any safety function, you can reinforce it after you cut it to fit an FMIC. And honestly, if your concern is safety, the GVR-4 is not the ideal platform to start with. Although fortunately for kids in the back in seats they will probably be safe whatever you choose to do.
 
Last edited:

turbowop

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Apr 29, 2001
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Yakima, WA
Quoting rdomeck:
I disagree about the front bumper support. Companies do not put extra metal into a car just because they can. They put in just what they can get by with and nothing more. Cutting into something like that is not a good thing if you plan on doing any street driving......But hey it's just your life your playing around with so what's the harm in trying it?



They made the front bumper support burly like that only on USDM cars to satisfy U.S. 5mph impact standards. Like you said, they only put in what's required, which is why this chassis in every other country only uses enough metal in the bumper to support the urethane cover.

But what do I know? I've only been on this board for over ten years and a GVR4 owner for over 12. Safety first, right? Please. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif
 
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rdomeck

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Jun 1, 2011
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Indianapolis, In.
Mark, It sounds like your offended......Not my intension. You need to understand that we all have opinions and you should not blow up if people don't agree with yours. Just because you have been on this board for however many years and you have owned a VR4 for however many years does not make the expert on crash testing and removal of factory installed safety components. I grew up in a body shop and I run a fabrication business working with many types of metal's as well as still doing the occasional restoration because I enjoying doing that kind of work. So I may know a thing or two about collision damage and repair.

I do realize that most people believe that you can remove the front bumper and it will be perfectly fine in a front end collision......It may be, but it's not a chance I am willing to take. It just doesn't make sense to me to pull out the first thing that would take the impact if a collision were to occur! It would be much different if you were building a track only car and you had other safety devices in place.
 

turbowop

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Yakima, WA
I'm not offended nor did I "blow up". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

Did you not read what I wrote regarding why the heavy support is behind that urethane bumper cover? Who needs to do any crash testing? Do you know the difference between the JDM and USDM bumpers? The factory bumpers that come on these cars if bought in any other country are literally nothing more than a urethane support structure for the bumper cover. It's no different than removing the ridiculous support behind the urethane cover of a USDM bumper. I suppose you wouldn't put your twins into a factory JDM version of the GVR4 for safety reasons? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 

Goodnes me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif This topic has turned out a bit different than I had hoped. I've been doing a lot of thinking for ya. Why not essentialy seperate the two sides of the engine bay along the bellhousing line on the exausst side using a piece of polished stainless or ally. Then use a half width, but thick radiator on the exaust side and have the fan infront of the rad? then the air filter could get direct airflow from behind the front bumper. It would be in a high presure area and the intercooler would get a very cold air stream too.

I was talking about this with a friend and he happened to have photos of an RX7 scoop on a gvr4, if ya interested /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

img.php


BTW I'm trained in collision repair and fabrication. People might be suprised at the difference with and without cut/modified bumpers. Though I think what realy suffers is the ability for the car to be repaired rather than ocupant safety since you still have the motor infront of you.
 

rdomeck

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Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
620
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Indianapolis, In.
Justin, that RX-7 hood scoop looks nice. I had the exact same thought on bringing in fresh air from the right side of the car (driver's side on your end of the world). I will be retaining the A/C so I'm not sure how much that would effect the air charge coming in. I'm sure it would be some. I will experiment with these setups in the fall when my hand heals and my shop workload goes down. I have done a lot of racing in the past, but this is my first turbo'd car so it's going to be fun to find what works and what doesn't.

Thanks for the positive input.
 

Quote:
I have done a lot of racing in the past, but this is my first turbo'd car so it's going to be fun to find what works and what doesn't.





What car and what type of racing? I'm a rally bigginer, for that reason I'm staying N/A so that I don't end up in a class I can't compete in. I'm working on a airbox with panelfilter that I'm plastic welding together to go inplace of my battery at the moment. I'm interested (extreemly) in how this top mount works out as I can see it's benifits in rally. Make sure you update this when the set-ups complete!
 

rdomeck

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Jun 1, 2011
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620
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Indianapolis, In.
Justin, I started out in a CRX and went through a few door slammers until getting into open wheel. I was doing autocross at first and then went into road racing. I have looked for the 21st Centuary Performance book, but can't seem to find it in print anywhere in the states. Any chance you know of an online store I could order it from? I'll keep you updated with how good or how bad this set-up works!
 

RedTwo

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Jul 16, 2008
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1,917
Location
New Zealand
Just had a crazy idea to blow your A/C through/over your intercooler - and somehow still keep it flowing into the cabin /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/idea.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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