front-mounted stock intercooler
 

i have seen threads about this, but are there actually any gains? i was thinking about doing it so i can put off buying a fmic, but i wont do it if its not worth the trouble...
does anyone have any input on this?

don't waste your money on piping and stuff for that, just save and get a good fmic.

i was searching around about that as well. i found in an old thread that the stock TII up front flows even better than a starion intercooler.

I did a search for starion intercooler and found a bunch of good info.

interesting. i want to hear some more.

My front mounted TII intercooler works quite well. I don't have any numbers or proof, but I can drive on the highway all day at 10 PSI and the upper intercooler pipe (outlet) is only marginally warmer then ambient. The lower pipe cannot be touched.

Same with my stock front mount. The outlet pipe is usually only warm while the inlet is pretty hot.

so aaron, you think it would be worth my time to front mount it? i want to be able to run 11-12 psi safely after i get my safc and injectors without having to buy a big ass 1000 dollar greddy frontmount kit.

Depends on what you consider your time to be worth. :)

Figure 10 hours or so, and you should be able to weld OR have access to a pipe bender...Details in my turbo NA post. Real TIIs may require relocation of the battery.

interesting.. and i think you're right about the battery... its like directly behind the driver side headlight.
could i use pvc pipe ? :)

ABS/PVC probably won't be able to take the heat for very long, but it has been done before. I recommend stainless exhaust tubing. Not terribly expensive, but good stuff.

thanks for the tips. i'll get back in here as soon as i get my water thermo sensor thing figured out.. want to try and tackle that one? my car runs shitty with the new one plugged in... when i take it out it runs fine...

did i just hijack my own thread?

yes...yes you did :D

I think it could be worth it if you never plan to buy a intercooler kit. Because if you do this, you will already have the piping pretty much done if you wanted to just use a better later on down the road. BUT I will tell you that the GReddy fmic kit is a great deal and you will notice immediate gains(or a blown turbo if its on its way out anyways :()

:(
anyone else have any input?

Really, its not that hard to do and is worth it. It wont cost that much to do. Plus if you ever want to upgrade the intercooler most of the piping is already done.

Defective sensor? :)

I've seen a few T2's with the new GReddy fmic and the battery still in place...so its possible...but i'm sure the relocation would definately free up some room...and frustration ;)

Does anyone have pics of the stock IC front-mounted? Would welding two stock ICs be twice as good?
Thanks, Craig

In the archives, there is my thread on turbocharging my NA. There are pics of my front mounted TII intercooler.

There have been several people who have welded two stock cores together. Ask BamBam7 about it. I believe he had pretty good success, but blew his engine due to an unrelated problem.

I plan on using a front mount also (either a small NPR IC, a Starion/Conquest IC, or the modding the stocker) I just want to make sure that I understand a little about a FMIC. When you install a front-mount don't you lose a little boost? I know it depends on the bends in the intercooler piping but about how much do you lose? The advantage of a FMIC is that it can handle more boost right?
Thanks,
Craig

FMIC's cool better (as its not sitting ontop of the engine, or where ever else) absorbing heat. But because the piping is longer, there is more of a pressure drop.

Depending on what type of IC you use, you probably won't notice any boost drop... mounting from stock one front mount, you probably won't see any noticable drop.
I don't know if I'd go through the trouble of using the stocker as a front mount.
If you are going to take the time and effort to mount an IC up front, might as well get a bigger one than stock.
You might notice a fraction bit more boost lag though, since the longer piping and larger IC core has more volume to pressurize.

And yes, with a front mount you get more power immediately, with your current setup since intake air is cooler. It also allows much more potential for higher boost, keeping temps down and safe.

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/mandrelbends.htm

just what I was kinda thinking about tonight.. doing a custom FMIC. came down to it. I figured roughly 300 or so in parts. that's with some extra stuff just in case. Using the same basic setup as the GReddy (basically mocking it) but using a spearco core w/ end takes.. so yea i'm gonna just do a GReddy when the time comes. By the time you get it welded and test fitted yada yada the cost effective fmic no longer seems so. Basically.. a stock IC piping it wouldn't cost much. Doing a different core will.

Actually I just finished (well almost) removing my entire ac system (wasnt planning to, but it was out of juice + in the way of what I want to do). My IC fits perfectly under there with a ton of room to work with. I just have to get some mounts fabbed up (not doing that till I get the motor and rad in there) and I think it will work perfectly.