Anybody running a fmic inside the engine bay behind the bumper support. I mean without a V mount.

I知 going back to an oem look so standard bumper with no cuts and oem bonnet. But I still want to run a big turbo. I知 wondering if a Vmount is a good idea if there is no airflow or would a more conventional setup be better.

 

Vmount is the proven best setup to keep engine coolant and air temps in a happy place.

For a FMIC mounted behind the bumper support, check out the old Blitz fmic

 

Unfortunately the Blitz FMIC kit is discontinued.

It was nice because it sandwiched IC and radiator for good air penetration (fmic kits with gap overheat more) and you didnt have to cut anything or even take off the front bumper to mount the kit.

 

The old Blitz and Apexi front mounts were solid. I've had both, haven't had any cooling issues.

The Greddy front mount followed the trend of the time of shoving it as far forward as possible so you can see the big front mount. The Blitz/Apexi are hidden. But you have to hack the hell out of the car to get the Greddy in there.

I will say when buying used the hard part is all the brackets and what not. Many times they are lost or you don't get them and fabbing new brackets is a HUGE chore. You can rig something up but IMHO everything should be very well mounted and done right - do it well and you'll have zero problems.

I will say give yourself a LOT of time to do an install, I think I spent a solid month.

Dale

 

I saw an Apexi core for sale in the RX7 group on Facebook not too long ago. Looked to be in good shape. That was always my top choice for FMIC 20 years ago. No cooling issues when running that core. Anymore, the Aussie or knightsports U type SMIC seem to be the way to go if you aren't willing to go V-mount. I've seen a few single setups use these. It really depends on your power goals, I would think the Aussie unit would support 450hp based on some of the dynos I've seen but probably great for 350hp cars.

 

Echoing Dale here. As someone who would like an FMIC, but won't compromise on cutting. I'd have to eyeball brackets and pray since no one has given plans and every listing for the Blitz kit usually is just the core.

 

I went with the Apexi setup since it was the only kit at the time. 24yrs later and still going strong.
The thing that sold me was able to run the A/c equipment and not having to relocate the battery. Not hacking up the car was also top priority. As it stands, closest part to the engine is the Fluidyne rad, then the a/c condenser and then the intercooler.
The trend of blocking the entire front source of air inlet with the intercooler never sat right with me. The Apexi kit sits everything nicely tucked away. Only way to tell you are running a front mount is if you’re about 20-30ft back and directly looking at the bumper.
If you are planning on going single or have already made the change, it leaves even more room in the engine bay.
Never any issues with cooling. Even more so now that I run duel oil coolers. If anything it takes about 10mins longer to get some heat into the car before you start stretching her legs.

Here is with the stock bumper.
with the new rspec bumper there’s even more room between the opening and the intercooler. Way harder to tell now.

 

It痴 a single already with a lot of bits removed. I want the standard look and I don稚 like the idea of cutting anything. The engine bay is a mess. It痴 a project at the moment. Radiator is hanging by its pipe work Intercooler is stoping bumpers fitting correctly. I知 planning a full respray but I want it running solid and tuned before I spend money on paint.

 

I have a koyo XL rad on the way. I may remove the brace and mount both intercooler and radiator flat like other cars. The intercooler in it is a greedy something or other it quite large though. The plan is to clock the turbo so the IC piping is facing straight up. There is lots of extra piping and bends there that don稚 need to be.
I値l probably move the fuse box too.

 

Ohh, yours might be a little tighter since it痴 RHD?
having the turbo clocked in that manner is really robbing you of room.
You running A/c?

My rad and condenser are practically merged together and there痴 a tiny bit of a gap between the condenser and the intercooler. Yours is definitely sitting further forward since you can see the cooler fins.

About the only thing I had to do was change the OEM battery for a Honda civic battery. Gives you a bit more room to play with without having to relocate anything.

 

No AC and the battery is in the boot.

 

wow! That痴 crazy. I can稚 imagine driving any vehicle without a/c. Unless you池e converting this to a track car?
I especially didn稚 want to relocate the battery.
With those things out of the way though, you should have plenty of room. No cutting anything..

 

Blitz front mount in the FS section, btw

 

The core with rotated outlets, missing piping and brackets.