gergrx7

Well im looking for a fmic for my turbo 2 and i was wondering what i should use for a core. i was looking at a couple on ebay that look pretty nice. I just wanted another opinon of how good they will be. I am going to be useing this on the stock turbo for a while untill i can afford somekind of t04 + mircotech etc...


what do you think of these intercoolers?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...9899828#bottom
or
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2469705410

or should i get somethign else?

ddub

I've heard a lot of good things about Spearco intercoolers, no idea on pricing and size that would fit though.

1SxyRXy

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...e/f9e711e4.jpg

this guy lives down the street from me and it seems to be working fine on a TO4B turbo

CRXtoRX7

that car is...colorful

do you think you could get a picture of the engine bay and how he has the piping routed? I am thinking of doing a spearco like that for my t04b. also...dimensions? please??

1SxyRXy

YearsOfDecay

I'm working on a Custom front mount right now....

Unless you want to cut up you front bumper, cut the bumper support and cut some other stuff, neither of those will fit. (you will have to mount them in the same manner that you do a Greddy FMIC for the TII).. but they will work if ya feel like doing that!

I'm mounting mine between the front subframe rails.. about two inches back from the front lip.. the MAX width to one in there is 26 inches. that gives a 20 inch core... the endtanks also have to exit to the rear. the you can run the pipiing up and around the radiator through the walls (have to cut a little bit of sheet metal).

I'll be getting my core in next week and posting pictures.

Thats also a first gen in the pics... i have no idea what the dimensions are for those.

gergrx7

Years what size core are you going with? and which way are your endtanks going to go out?


And since those are too big then what would you recomend?

CRXtoRX7

yeah i was actually confused by the first picture..haha realized it was an fb later. Still, I really like the superior flow of the bar and plate design that the spearcos have. Now I just need to save a good 500 for the parts!

gildardo

I agree with YearsOfDecay.I like spearco to.

eViLRotor

iTrader: (2)

Here is my spearco core: Its 25 1/2" x 8" x 3 1/2".

Its a very effiecient core, my intake temps are usually around 7-10C higher than ambient even on the hottest days. And that is whith the 'cold side' of my piping running near the UIM.

The IC itself sits further back than the Greddy VSPL kit. I like that aspect, doesn't draw as much attention. You almost can't tell I have a FMIC.

The last pic shows my pipe routing. Not ideal in terms of heat, but I have very few sharp bends which is good.

jreynish

iTrader: (2)

the sparco core is the one that you want the other one is too long it will not fit between the frame rails! even with modification.. you would have to totally anihalate your bumper.

Barwick

When choosing an intercooler, you want the MAXIMUM charge air surface area available. The more charge air (compressed air) surface area available, the less restrictive the intercooler will be, so the less the turbo is going to have to work to make X lbs boost. (if there's 2 psi pressure drop, it makes 17 psi to get 15 psi at the engine. If there's 1 psi pressrue drop, it makes 16 psi to get 15 psi at the engine.)



Looking at these two intercoolers with the SAME core dimensions, just the charge air moves in a different direction:

Say they're 8" high by 20" wide by 3" thick.

Intercooler A will have 8 * 3 = 24 sq-in charge air face available. About 45% of that is actually available for air to flow through (you've got the ambient air passageways there too remember, as well as the walls of the intercooler, etc..) that leaves 10.8 sq-in avaialable for charge air to flow through.

Now, Intercooler B will have 20 * 3 = 60 sq-in available, times 45% is actually 27 sq-in available for the charge air to flow through. That's almost TRIPLE the area for your compressed air to pick where it wants to go.

The only drawbacks are a little added weight (what, two pounds maybe? if that?) and the end tanks should have a couple (maybe just one) baffles in them to distribute the air more evenly.

gergrx7

so you are saying that it would be better to have the endtanks on top and on bottom of the core? im confused on what you are tryign to tell me.

what would be an ideal size core, and the total size with endtanks to fit a little further back like on evilrotor's car?

Where else is a good place to find spearco cores?

CRXtoRX7

evilrotor-
how do you have your griffin held to the car? I have a griffin in my car, but right now its just screwed to the cross member/hoodlatch thing. The previous owner is to thank for that. I am thinking I need to get some brackets welded on to attach to the stock location.

Evil Aviator

IMO mounting the intercooler up front by removing your bumper, effectively making your expensive and fragile intercooler your "bumper", is a really bad idea. Get a different Spearco bar and plate intercooler that will fit in the area below the hood latch. Max dimensions are roughly 26x4x17", but you need to measure yourself, especially if you want to retain the hood latch. I recommend making a cardboard mock-up of an intercooler that you think will fit, and that way you will know for sure before you spend a lot of money. Be sure to plan for the plumbing.

I recommend buying the whole intercooler assembly rather than just the core unless you are an accomplished aluminum welder. Spearco will make you a custom assembly if you like. Spearco is now owned by Turbonetics, and the intercoolers are in the catalog.
http://www.turboneticsinc.com/

Not necessarily, but you could think of it that way. What he is saying is that it is best to have the end tanks on the ends that are the longest. Everything he stated in that post is covered in Corky Bell's books, "Maximum Boost", and "Supercharged!". I actually like the "Supercharged!" book better because it is more modern and covers all common types of supercharging, although the "Maximum Boost" book has a really nice explanation of AR Ratio. What is not coverd in the books is that the main concern of an intercooler design is that it needs to actually fit in the car. If you look at examples A and B again, while B is a better design for a given core size, its end tanks take up more space for a given vehicle mounting space. Imagine shrinking the core of B down so that the assembly has the same external dimensions as A. Now which intercooler looks better?

eViLRotor

iTrader: (2)

That is basically what I have. 4 welded on L-brackets

YearsOfDecay

Evilrotor....

The SPEARCO install is a dam good job!!! and the dimensions are dam near the same as mine, mounting position is real close as well... I went with in/outs on the back of the endtanks near the middle for better flow through the IC.

I didn't want a bar and plate though, which is why i went with the one i got.

I thought about bringin both the pipes out one side like you did, the i said, screw it, I'm moving the battery and tearing out the AC anyway, might as well take it out either side and use less pipe!!

I think I may go with the top exiting tanks in the future though, as that is a much more direct route!!!

As for it sitting back, thats EXACTLY what I'm going for.. i don't need a rock smashing my friggin core, and I'm not into advertising that my car has a lot of parts under the hood for people to steal!!!

YearsOfDecay

What you are saying is correct.. HOWEVER, the COOLING efficiency of intercooler B is AT LEAST 3X LESS than that of intercooler A because the dwell time of the air charge (the time it takes for 1 molecule of air to cross the length of the core) is three time less than in intercooler A.. Now then, because the air spends less time in the intercooler, it has less time to interact with the internal fins and walls of the intercooler to bleed off heat, thus, the air temp comming out of intercooler B is going to be higher than that of intercooler A. Intercooler B is also going to heatsoak faster than intercooler A for the same reason.

You have to balance the budget somewhere... do you want less pressure drop or better cooling efficiency.. I'm opting for cooling efficiency being that it was the whole point of adding a front mount in the first place...

ok, ,i'm done now

Evil Aviator

You are forgetting that since B has a greater internal flow area, the air going through it will have a lower velocity, which will increase what you call "dwell" time. Intercooler B is by far the superior core, assuming it fits in the car.