Oh, in a early post on this thread, I mentioned I don't have a TII, that a friend does. I have it now since I bought his TII SO i'm interested in the IC kit, clutch and rebuilt turbo on your site. Just need some cash...damn it.

Tim Benton

 

If you're making FMIC motions on an FC, you really ought to move the battery! That gives you more flexibility in pipe routing, and gives you a place to keep the overflow bottle...

 

i have a hawker odysee (spelling) pc680 that i am going to be putting in there. my current battery is tilted a little. as you can see in the picture, this one is not. this convertable was done after the original one was put in the tII so we knew what problems were going to be. so in the case of the convertable...there is not realy a need to move battery. just want to know if anyone else is running a similar set up and where they placed the expantion tank if the kept the battery in stock location.
thanks though gene

 

I really do not recommend going with battery.&nbsp I believe the capacity is on the order of about 30Ah?&nbsp This battery is just too small a capacity on a daily driver.&nbsp Most of the FD's that run this battery have run into draining problems or the battery dies eventually; very few have had zero problems with such a set-up.&nbsp I've seen talks of trickle chargers just to keep these small batteries charged!&nbsp This is what I call a major pain in the ***.&nbsp The FD has a 100A alternator; the FC has even LESS current capacity than that.&nbsp If you've ever monitored the voltage at night, the stock alternator cannot charge adequately with headlights, stereo, and AC on!&nbsp I really have a good laugh when these FD owners find out their small batteries died within a few months...




-Ted

 

Ah, what the heck. I'll reply to this.

Yeah, I ran an A2W intercooler for quite some time. A buddy of mine actually came up with the idea for my FC way back in '98. We built one from an '88 T2 core (Trey Cobb's old '88 Anniv TMIC from back in the day if you guys know him) by welding 1/16" aluminum plates directly on top and bottom of the core. We then ran 1/2" (then to 1") water lines to the core, then to a radiator (Daihatsu factory rad; severly oversized), and then finally to a tank w/ a submerged bilge pump behind the driver's side seat. Brad's not lying; I was consistently dyno'ing between 418 and 425 to the ground with this intercooler setup. It has been called "cheesy", "impossible", etc. etc., but the numbers still prove its efficacy as an intercooler as well as a core that can move enough air to let the 13BT breath enough air to make that much power.

When Brad was posting to this thread in January, I was planning on running a dual intercooler setup but changed my mind against it later. Theoretically, it'd work great, but theoretically, it'd also add alot of volume that would have to be filled with air in the intake plumbing system. Plus, the issues of the FMIC cropped up which helped me decide against it. Here's my take on the FMIC thing:

- One, in my opinion, I think alot of people do this for aesthetics because that 'aluminum intercooler core in the front bumper' has a real aggressive and modified look to it. I, personally, think it's attractive too.

- Two, in my opinion, I believe some people do this because 95% of the intercooler options out there (as far as aftermarket options go) utilize the front-mount (in the front bumper) idea. It's what the common modifier has uncritically learned.

- Three, placing a heat-exchanger in front of the other two heat-exchangers, I think, especially given the fact that the front ram-air ducting on the FC3S platform stinks, is a bad idea. I've exhaustively tested this with an Isuzu NPR core (19" by 14" core, widest width at 29" including end tanks and 2.75" ID inlet/outlets) placed directly in the front bumper area, slanted at 20 degree angle or so. This is where some of the not-so-desirable stuff comes in. Most people here on the lists and on the forum don't accurately measure things like water temperature, air intake temperature, or oil temperature. For those of you that know me, I'm a real nut when it comes to numerical data and I like to try and know as much as possible about physical changes like this and what they do to the rest of the car. The breadth of my own testing centered around keeping a sharp eye on both water (engine side and radiator side) temperatures as well as oil (oil filter location) temperatures. Even with the addition of a 14" thin-line puller fan behind the IC, I noticed a drastic increase in oil temperatures by about 30F degrees on same-temperature days. Also, water temperatures rose by about 10 to 15 degrees. Another thing that disturbed me, besides the static rise in oil/water temps, was the fact that there seemed to be 'less tolerable limits' as far as the amounts of load you could put on the engine with respect to how quickly those said temperatures would rise. Going from solid 180F's to low 200's/210F degree water temperatures after a swift run didn't appeal to me much and wasn't worth the trade-off of not using a top-mounted intercooler.

When it all boils down to it, there's two issues you have to deal with when it comes to the top-mount IC (air to air, stock one that is): the arguable and somewhat controversial aerodynamic problem with the hood/scoop as well as the heat-soak problem. The heat-soak problem is definitely true. I've measured this time and time again. Also, the aero problem seems to be true, as well, past certain speeds on the highway.

I suppose, in conclusion, switching to an air-to-air core aside from the stock one is desirable, but I don't believe using an FMIC smack-dab in the front bumper area (especially without any care or attention given to front-bumper air induction) is the best choice. You can get rather creative and come up with a number of solutions, such as relocating the radiator up front and re-routing parts of ram air to a back-mounted intercooler, using an air-to-water system, etc. There's alot that can be done out there.

B

 

Feared7, how far have you come along with your development of the TMIC. Do you have any test that you can update the forum members with??

 

.. I dont currently have a 7 , although I have previosly owned a 1st Gen and a 2nd Gen Vert... and my minds a lil rusty on what room is available... and I realize the whole Idea is to make it cooler, without too many mods, and simple installation.. but what about the idea of a dual saddle style ( each side from the engine ) set up i/c's with some sort of duct work , that would feed from say just under and to the sides of the radiator, or the center opening? Kinda like the best of both worlds, shorter piping than maybe fmic , and off to the side so as not to succumb to heat soak as bad as a center mounted... and with ducting, fresh air? The only mod would be some relief venting in the hood, louver's?


Just a thought

 

Yes but the engine bay is a high pressure zone (relative to everything else)

 

any new news?