Finished my custom stock-mount intercooler today...write up & pics
 

well i finally decided to go ahead and get a new intercooler. the stocker just wasn't cutting it. i've been wanting to push 15lbs on the non-seq twins ever since i got the motor back together, but i knew the stock intercooler just wouldn't like that very much.

here is the setup before, with the stock intercooler:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_184_full.jpg

after checking out all of the kits i didn't find one that i really liked. i really wanted to keep my m2 carbon fiber airbox & my a/c. i didn't want a front mount because it's too hot for that here in florida and i think most v-mount setups require you to ditch the a/c. i decided to make a stock mount but i wanted it to be as large as possible.

pettit sells their cool charge III kit for $1500 + tax + shipping, and it utilizes a 17" wide core. i didn't really want to drop that much on something i could build myself so i ordered an intercooler with the dimensions 24" x 12" x 3.5" (18" wide core w/ 2.5" inlet/outlet).

here's the intercooler i ordered from cx racing:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_199_full.jpg

it's a pretty nice intercooler, built very solid. it does seem a tad bit heavy, and the welds aren't the prettiest i've ever seen, but it was a great deal for the price and it will definitely do the trick.

here's a shot of it next to the stock intercooler:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_200_full.jpg

first thing i did was make a bracket out of some scrap aluminum. i don't really care how pretty it is...this isn't a show car. i used the stock intercooler top-mounting bolt locations.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_201_full.jpg

welded the bracket to the top of the intercooler:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_202_full.jpg

here's the first test-fit with the bracket installed. we ended up modifying the bracket a little bit so that the intercooler sits more horizontal and farther back towards the engine, but you will see that in later pictures:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_203_full.jpg

for the driver's side, i found that an unmodified piece of intercooler piping from cx racing would work, but required a 45degree bend coupler (which we didn't have). for the passenger's side, we took a U shaped piece of pipe and hacked it up, then welded it into a sort of S shape. we then connected it to the efini crossover pipe, but this gave us trouble when closing the hood:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_204_full.jpg

the solution was to connect the intercooler directly to the efini y pipe, eliminiting the crossover pipe. using the stock y pipe this would be much easier since the stock pipe uses a coupler, but the efini pipe uses two bolts with a gasket to hold the y pipe & crossover pipe together. i traced the crossover pipe onto a piece of aluminum to create a flange, then i used a piece of 90degree bend pipe to create a new crossover pipe:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_205_full.jpg

here it is after being welded, read to bolt to the efini y pipe. the pipe had to be slightly squished in order to be low enough so that it would not make contact with the strut bar:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_206_full.jpg

since we needed 45degree couplers, but didn't have any, and since i didn't want to waste time ordering any, we chopped up some more bent intercooler piping to make 45degree elbows, then hacked the intercooler inlet & outlet down to the end tanks:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_207_full.jpg

here's a photo of the intercooler installed with the new elbow inlet & outlet:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_208_full.jpg

we welded a straight section of pipe to the new crossover pipe, and then connected that to the intercooler with a couper. on the driver's side, we trimmed the section of intercooler pipe and attached it as well:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_209_full.jpg

here is another photo of the setup. in this photo you can see how the top bracket was re-bent in order to change the orientation of the intercooler:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_210_full.jpg

the last step was to attach a mount for the hks bov. i bought an aluminum mount off ebay (big mistake...read on):
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_211_full.jpg

the cheap ebay hks bov mount must have been made of some really crappy aluminum. when we welded it to the intercooler piping, all the impurities came out of the metal and made it near impossible to weld the sucker on there. the result was not pretty, and the mount ended up getting warped. after pressure testing, the mount is leaking and there is little we can do about it, so i'm going to order a new section of pipe & a new (non-cheapo) hks bov mount.

here is the final result. piping still needs to be polished and the passenger's side piping needs to be trimmed a little bit, but everything is nice and tight for now:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_213_full.jpg

all that is left is to create some ducting. i am going to create a mock-up sometime tomorrow, and then we will have it made out of fiberglass or perhaps sheet aluminum. there is pretty good clearance between the radiator fans & the intercooler, but it would definitely be much easier (and probably get better flow) if i was using some aftermarket low-profile fans on the radiator.

well, that's the write up. in all i am very satisified. total cost for parts was around $300, and we did the labor ourselves.

i'll share intake temps when i get the duct installed.

i forgot to mention...another reason that i went with this type of setup is because i have this nice vented hood...
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_155_full.jpg



i also installed a re-amemiya carbon fiber rear diffuser this week :D here are a few pics of that...

raising exhaust bracket for more clearance:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_192_full.jpg

installed:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_198_full.jpg

from below:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_197_full.jpg

alsoooo...converted my lights to '99 style. took about an hour. very easy and i'm very happy with the results!

putting them back together:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_175_full.jpg

results:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...9_178_full.jpg

i also have a fuel kit coming tomorrow...new secondary rail, 1600cc injectors, fuel pressure regulator, lines, etc. and a relay to re-wire the supra tt pump i recently installed. oh, and an hks twin power...

busy week...special thanks to the guys at advanced race technology in sarasota, FL for all the help and use of the shop! :cheers:

nice, what are your air temps like since you dont have a ic duct?

well it was hot as hell out today here in FL... low 90's fahrenheit with 80% humidity.

after letting the car warm up & idle for awhile while we checked for leaks, the car's water temp sits at 85c on the PFC, and the air temp was showing around 54c. kind of hot i guess, but without the duct those fans are running and blowing hot radiator air onto the intercooler, so i guess that's expected.

really looking forward to seeing the intake temps once the duct is installed.

very nice job mate, could you explain what the "duct" is going to be like? i take it its just ducting air from the front of the car onto the surface of the IC? basically like a front mount?

i appreciate the creativity. nice job on the piping too.

my go to tuner guy (Luke at Beyond Redline-Green Bay) says be very careful re buying cheap intercoolers. according to him, they do an amazingly bad job rejecting heat and create alot of back pressure... apparently there are alot around and they are cheap. just a heads up.

hc

Clean install, I also like the way you mounted your rear diffusor.
But why did you weld the straight pipe to the bend on the Y-pipe?

Theorie thats a nice project!

Howard, do you have more data on that statement or an example of what to look for? Identification methods? thx

thanks for all the feedback guys.

i'm pretty confident that the intercooler isn't junk. i did some research before i ordered this and apparently the brand i bought is pretty good, and people have had great results with it. it's constructed very well and the end tanks are a single cast piece. looking at the internal fins, the cooling potential should be pretty good as well.

we are most likely going to put it on a flowbench sometime in the next few days, so i'll share info about that.

Looks awesome, man. Great work!

Good job and thanks for the inspiration. I've been contemplating about ditching my FMIC and fabricating my own SMIC as well.


I would greatly appreciate it if you would.

:)

Nice work my friend.

Nice work so far... but remember, a good portion of the cost of a stock mount intercooler is the duct (or the R&D that went into the mold for it).

Everyone always looks at $1500 for an SMIC and says, "what the hell, I can buy an intercooler for $500". Well *good* ducting is crucial, and the toughest part to make yourself.

I spend a crap-load of time building FG oil cooler ducts. I'd have paid a helluva lot for an off the shelf product (had it existed) and smiled about it.

very nice work, good job!! how much did everything run you?

ahhh lovely hood and very good job, is you rad mounted in the stock position?
where di you get the hood from?

I agree the duct is not a minor thing, and if available for purchase $$ is not much of an issue. Now to do a one off you can make a sacrificial male mold for almost no cost at all other than a lot of time and patience, skill level is not high refer to my post #10-12 below when I made my Greddy duct.


https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=734323&highlight=duct

Nice work. That is the same IC i went with for my budget build.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...I/DSC03188.jpg

I really do envy you welder guys haha.


=Ben

very nice. it's nice to see people doing their own fab work.

that intercooler looks the same as the one i used for my front mount. i think its about the perfect size, large enough to cool the air, but not so large to create a huge pressure drop.

i want to make duct for my IC too. where can i pick the air from? hole for the stock duct, separated on the driver side, is too small and middle side is pretty tight to put anything through it

great write up mate, got few questions tho :

because ill probably do what you did, could you please tell me if your rad is still in the stock position? have you driven it without the duct yet? whats the intake temps mate? does it work at all? and could you do a similar writeup for the ducting?and obviously compare intake temps with and without ducting(just for curriousity to see what the difference would be)

btw:
dont know if you have seen it but this is the best ducting for the IC i have ever seen:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=IC+ducting


cheers

looks great! i remember looking at all the photos you had posted up on myspace. decent craftsmanship, but i didnt particularly like the strait pipe w/ 90 that replaced the y-pipe.

i also recently added photos to my rx7 album :)

Nice work!! I hadn't seen this update on your car domain yet. I have a Pettit Cool Charge III and would be willing to bet that Theorie's interercooler will be just as effcient once he get's his duct fabricated as the CC III. Hell, if you want a good SMIC, buy the same size core as the Pettit CC III, buy the duct from Pettit, and fabricate your own piping.

Love the fabrication work!

After a proper duct is installed where does the air go that comes through the radiator? seems like a large portion of the rear of the radiator would be blocked...

Might not be a problem in your application, but it was a problem in mine.

consider making some kit of a bolt on kit? I would be interested in something like this as I cant weld.