JDM intercooler install please help my pathetic ass

[atsiauto]

I got this intercooler and cant decide how it is supposed to go into the front if I am able to use any mounting points onthe car or if I need to cut the hood latch support or just cut my damn bumper, I have it all tore down and feeling liek I need to ask for help before I do it "my way " and jack it all up .

 

[brisvr4]

Ok,
1. The side of the cooler with the single bracket near the centre is the top. It bolts to the hood latch support.
The bolt hole for it should be just below the bolt that holds the trim piece to the latch support.

2. The 2 bottom bolts are a bit more tricky... Once you get the top bolt in you will see where the bottom
brackets line up, the holes do not have any nuts fixed to the back of them though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I used a magnetic tool pick-up tool to hold the bolt and I fed it into the support panel from each side until
I could get it to 'poke' out. Gently push the bracket over the bolt and secure! Make sure you use a split
washer so it doesn't come undone!

3. Good luck trying to understand my instructions!!

Here is a shot of one installed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[atsiauto]

I think I got it !

should I cut the front cover all out to get more a rflow or will it look ghey ?

 

[a2vr4]

leave the bumper alone, if you must cut it, only trim the supports. good job, by the way /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[a2vr4]

like this

 

[atsiauto]

Yeah thanks for the help and advice everyone , I always seem to prevail the support looked like work which is kryptonite to me .

 

[ziggydb]

Sweet I was missing the bottom pipe and didnt know how long I needed. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[johnnyRacer]

Physically, this JDM intercooler look very close to the '88-'89 StarQuest intercooler. Of course one end tank and the tubes are different. very similar though, hmmmmm....

 

[steve]

They are very close in size to the star/quest. My old setup:



new setup FTW:

 

[atsiauto]

That looks nice Steve , the one thing I can say about doing this is it will be much easier to add /upgrade to a larger unit later on as most of the sh*t work is already done, other than the trimming necessary to accomodate the larger piping that should be used with the jump up to the big-un's.

I have just hung the bumper(loosed on) , maybe another hours worth of work and Ill be giving the old test run ! I am hoping the butt dyno results will be worth these efforts . I have a 13.3 slip and would like to buy 4 more tenths hehe.

 

[atsiauto]

Update!

Holy Jesus ! what an improvement .

The car actually is torque steering now you really have to drive it on accel as it tries to fight you , its crisp and just a big improvement all the way across the board and I am sure its getting more air to the a/c and radiator etc withe that bumper support trimmed up .

I am very pleased after this mod , I reccomend this to anyone I did it in my spare time in 3 afternoons and took it slow ( for me)

Thanks everyone for the help you are an encouragement !

 

[speedyvr4]

did you HAVE to trim the bumper support or did you choose to? I also have a starion FMIC with modified side tanks but I don't want to trim the bumper since my wife usually drives the car.

 

[atsiauto]

there is no way it was going to work without trimming the bottom out, I tried the bumper onand then it hit the intercooler with over an inch to go till full mounting,

It was then that I took the bumper cover off the re-bar and eyeballed it decided to start cutting .
That JDM intercooler is bolted in pretty good though as it utilizes the factory mouting points and would take a hell of a wallop in the worst case scenario, surely not as good as steel , but id have to say it would offer some impact protection as you smashed it like a sandwich bag .

If you were to mount the starion one further back, and cut the center support to the hood latch to a degree yo may be able to make something work there but what you would miss is id say 30-40% of the airflow netted by the cutting the support which is blocking the intercooler face .

The way I did it retains the stock appearance of the outer bumper , but gets the I/C out as far as possible to tranfer heat and leave space behind it to accomodate the 90 oil cooler and some spacing between the other hot components in there.

I also ditched the a/c fan which had died years earlier froma shop rag it inhaled.

 

[johnnyRacer]

This should be added to the How To Section, I just spent a hour searching for this.

 

[omertaitalia]

ya it kinda seems obvious but now you know i guess.