I am going to be making the stock TMIC into a water/air intercooler. I have decided to do this because of low price (i hope) and i dont know of anyone that has done this.


So the plan is to use

-the stock Fmic
-electric water pump
-some kind of reservoir ( i have some ideas to make my own)
-water radiator (I am thinking of using a stock oil cooler from an FC)

So Ill cover the Fmic with alumminum using epoxy and ribits. desine it some way so that water flow is spread evenly across the intercooler. Run some hoses to the pump then the radiator to ther reservor and back to the FMIC.

WHat kind of water pump should i use?
What kind of epoxy or other glues?


What do you guys think?

 

I've heard that a water to air is much more efficient if the air is passng through the finds and water through the core. m I could be way off tho, but i hope this works out for you, some1 was talking about doing it a few months back but i don't know what evre happened with it, maybe you could find the thread using search

 

BDC has this on his TII. He doesn't post much on there though. He didn't use the stock TMIC.

Check it out here

 

seems easy enough but I'd look at a car with one already installed stock, and mimic that install....the 03 Cobra has a very nice water/air intercooler

 

I thought he used the core from the top mount?

 

BDC used the stock IC, rad out of some small car, a boat belge (sp?) pump. and a huge resavoir in a rear bin.

I doubt it would hold water with glue and rivits... need to weld it on. which isn't easy.

 

I stand corrected

 

I am thinking about doing that this summer for better cooling. Not planning to upgrade performance anymore, and dont feel like spending money for a FMIC right now if its not completly needed as of right now.

Has anyone written any kind of right ups? or have some better pictures.


Yeah you would probably have to weld the alum together, which i hear is alot different then welding steel.

 

I really want to see how EXACTLY this can be done, because I'm really interested in this setup.

 

You want to use a Jabsco or Sureflo pump. They have pumps that will cylce 3.6 gpm at 100+ psi. These pumps are also self priming. As far as a radiator...this depends on what you want to spend. I had one made that is 34"x6"x2" and it has 2 -10an fittings on one end, it was 400$. I know people who have used radiators from a yz250 dirtbike, or even a plate and fin oil cooler, though not as efective. For a cell you can use a 2-3 gallon fuel cell. Hoep this helps, i can give you more info if you ask specific questions, Not on the IC fabrication though, i am using a vortech aftercooler with my setup-


this is what i was going to use as a heat exchanger-

 

Waste of time on a daily driver...


-Ted

 

Make sure the radiator is a big as possible. Personally I think a stock oil cooler will be far too small. A/C condensors are great, and if you don't want to keep your A/C you can just use the stock one. No mounting issues; just hook the pipes up.

Also use the biggest reservoir you can fit. The total water volume can make or break a water-air system.

Have a read of this article on converting a WRX from air-air to water-air. Learn from his mistakes!

 

I think i could fit another A/C condencer in frunt of the one on right now.

How much water do you think is apropiat?
I am thinking two gallons.


I could make the parts and then have a welder weld them together. It takes some skill to bea a welder.

 

I run about a 2.5 gallon cell in my setup. I use the 3.6 gpm pump i spoke of, with only a 4.5 amp draw-

There are differant ways to wire the pump, some people say to have it running when the car is running, i am trying to find a 80 deg. swith. I have mine on a manual switch right now-


I some what agree with ReTED on the daily driver issues, mine is a daily driver but very short distances and i don't run above 14psi on the street. If you don't mind spending some money you can use it for daily driving, it can get expensive though, i am up to about 150$ just in teflon/stainless hose. I paid 150$ for my pump, 400$ for my heat exchanger, i am still waiting on the bill for my tank, it was made to fit in my front fender so i am guessing it is about 350-400$, then i have 130$ in fittings. This doesn't include the cost of my vortech aftercooler. I am at about 1500$ just in parts, Another reason why this is really "Cost Effective" for the street

 

BDC made 425 rwhp with his converted stock top mount. He used a boat bilge pump for circulation, a Hyundai (could also use any other small compact car radiator) radiator for cooling since it was cheap from a junkyard, and the drivers side storage bin behind the seat was converted into a giant water tank that he could dump ice into. The intercooler had some lousy welds though so it was constantly being fixed with JB Weld which always needed more attention and was unreliable.

For daily drivng around town there is no issue with it. Most of the time you aren't under boost anyways. The ambient air running across the system radiator will keep the water at least ambient in temperature which is equal to that of a front mount system. If you decide to go out and play one night though and get on boost hard over and over again you will start to lose efficiency though since the water will slowly heat up and have a hard time cooling back down quickly. This is where you are at a disadvantage unless of course you decide to use a bunch of ice in the system before you go out. Even then it only lasts for so long. That is the big advantage of it in a drag race though. I woldn't try it on a road course. I went out with BDC one night after he dumped a bunch of ice in the reservior (use a screen). He took the car out for about and hour driving it pretty hard. When we got back and opened the hood there was still frost on the intercooler. The ice lasts a while if you just want to go out having a little fun.

One design issue that BDC changed is that he runs the system radiator before the reservior rather than after it. It slows down the speed at which the water heats up in the reservior since the water is cooled before it rather than after it leaves it. It makes a little difference.

 

You've obviously taken a very high-quality approach, but I don't think it needs be so expensive. Given the water system is operating at low temps and low pressures, Teflon and stainless hose seems overkill when rubber heater hose would work fine. A large plastic tank in the boot is going to cost far less than a custom steel one. Enclosed air-air IC's make great heat exchangers and even with the required custom work are probably cheaper than an aftermarket one depending on how much work you can do yourself.

Your way is most likely the better way, but performance-wise I doubt there's a huge difference compared to a budget approach.

I actually thought that was the correct way to do it, for the reasons you stated.

 

A small car radiator is not a bad idea. I was thinking a honda civic radiator.

2.5 gallons sound good to me. i could make my own reservoir with alumminum.

Now to ebay then to the junkyard.


Thanks for the info verry helpfull

 

 

civic radiator is way to big, if you really want one i have 2 lying around-