Intercooler Questions
 

I am looking into doing a custom FMIC job on my 87 TII. I have a friend who works at a muffler shop, who can do the piping for me very cheaply.

I have been looking at getting a used core (poor college student) and most of them look dirty and nasty. Now I don't think dirty and nasty is a good mix with the RX-7 so my first question is, does anyone know a way to get them all nice and shiny again, without ruining it?

Secondly, I have done a lot of searching on different cores borrowed off of different vehicles, and the three most popular seem to be the NPR, the volvo, and the conquest/starion. I have the opportunity to get a volvo one right now for cheap. I have read that they are too big and won't fit (740), and I have read that they can fit just fine.

Does any one have experiance with the volvo, and also does it cool enough to provide any noticable HP increase over the stock one?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance guys!

Dan

To clean, I use Gunk degreaser on both the inside and outside of the intercooler. I then throw it in the shower with me and clean it up good. :) Then dry it by blowing the hair dryer through.

The Volvo intercooler will fit between the rad and the front of the car if you move the rad back. Note that the Volvo cooler is HUGE, it is marginally larger than the stock FC rad. You will need to relocate the battery.

I was hoping to remove the bumper and place the intercooler there, is this intercooler too big to fit inside the bumper? Thanks!

Dan

Yes, much too large. Search on eBay for pictures of one...When you see the size, you will realise what I mean. :)

Well now I have to rethink my entire project here. Are the gains less noticable having the intercooler in front of the rad instead of in the bumper?

Also is it easier to run pipes to an intercooler in front of the radiator as opposed to the bumper?

And will my radiator suffer with a fmic RIGHT in front of it?

And last question I swear, what is a good size intercooler core (as economical as possible) that would fit in the bumper?

Yes I am trying to keep the budget down, but not by taking shortcuts, it is a job I want to do right! Thanks

Dan

Whether it is in front of the rad or behind the bumper it should not matter.

It is marginally easier to run pipes to a cooler directly in front of the rad, as you don't have to take off the bumper to mount things up. There is also less bending involved.

The intercooler should not effect the rad.

As far as core size, it depends on what you want to do. Anything that is 1.5 times larger (or more) than the TII intercooler is what you want to look for if you are planning to run stock or slightly above boost levels.

Just another observation, there are a few vacume hoses that are plummed into the factory intercooler right now, what do I do with those hoses when I do the upgrade?

I know right now I also have my boost gauge tapped into one of those lines.

Dan

There is only one line that I can think of, and I can't remember what it is. :( You will probably just have to reroute, or add a nipple to your new intercooler.

Re: Intercooler Questions
 

Try to get it glass bead blasted....That should really clean it up if it's in good enough shape.

mike

erm... you can glass bead blast the end tanks... I dunno about doing the fins tho. I think you'd hurt em badly...

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