I'm sure that this has been asked before but i searched and couldn't find it. So i'm looking to get a fmic for my 88 tii and was wondering about the ones on ebay. they are a lot cheaper than the greedy kit by like 1000,but was wondering about the quality of it. Will it block the air flow going to my oil cooler and my radiator? I want to know because i'm upgrading to a bnr stage two and i know that stock tmic gets heat soaked easily and its not very efficient. I just don't want to get one thats going to block all the air to the rad and the oil cooler and cause heat issues, but then i can't really afford to by a greedy.

 

The ebay cores do work but they will probably heatsoak faster than the nicer ones (Garrett, Greddy, etc), and you will have to cut all the pipes they include to fit.

 

the pipes suckkkkkkk i bought one they are super thin almost like plastic and they heatsoak real fast biggest waste of money ever


ps it raises oil and water temps alot

 

It all depends on what you buy and how you install it. 2mm or thicker aluminum piping will be fine, and take a 3" thick core minimum. In most cases, depth is more important than width or length. And 95% of ebay cores are better than the OEM piece of ****.

I have an ebay FMIC 29.5x9.5x3.5 with 2mm 2.5" piping and my water temps never go over 195F. Something is wrong with you car, or you fixed the FMIC BEHIND you rad.

Spec.

 

same here. i've had no problems whatsoever with my ebay intercooler.

 

The cores are fine you just want like a 3 row IC if you can on a turbo upgrade. Most the super large ones will cause way to much pressure drop on the stock turbo it doesn't have enough breath. Consequently your doing more harm then good.

The piping is CRAP quality welds like junk pore fairest.

 

what about getting a better i/c (corksport or the like) and then getting some decent ebay piping? i think that's the path i'm leaning towards...

 

I spent just under 200.00 for a huge core and 2.5 inch couplers. I have had no issues at all. Thats even including my dumbass taking an onramp too fast, resulting in some offroading bending my unibody. The intercooler was at a 30 degree angle from the impact and still held vaccuum on the drive home. I flipped it around and remounted it, and have driven it since....1.5 yrs ago. No leaks under boost.

john ny

 

very interesting.

 

I will post pictures tomorrow (or it didnt happen. yeah yeah yeah).


john ny

 

you gotta pay to play =D

 

its all in the set ups, how you do and what you do effects all.

 

For the price, it's hard to beat the piping you get for $100. Several 45 degree bends, several 90 degree bends and some straight pieces. You would have a seriously hard time buying that stuff at a supplier for two or three times the price. The piping is quite thin, but a skilled welder will have no issues. The aluminum is very dirty but I have had no trouble welding it in my EconoTIG which has absolutely no balance control. CLEAN the inside and out with a stainless wire brush and then acetone.

The coolers themselves are standard bar and plate and I have seen some variance in quality. For example, in my shop there is a long and thin cooler which looks like it was made to fit a CRX. The interior of the tubes is horrid. Half are missing finds, lots of distortion, etc. The no-name China cooler on my car (eBay style) is the exact opposite. It has internal finning and high quality welds.