core size is 16”x10.4”x6”
The intercooler is made by bell intercoolers in a design collaboration i had with Bell. The concept of this intercooler is to replicate the hks intercooler but make it narrower so i can bring the intake to the opening of the bumper.

to make the installation a little easier due to the additional thickness we have welded part of the tubes on the intercooler, hence the longer inlet/outlet tubes

 

Looks like a drag core. Thick, bar and plate, meant to heat soak down the 1320. Interested to see how it performs on the street / track when it's seeing constant load. Rule of thumb is, air passes thought a cooler at 1/3rd of it's frontal area. How much area did you lose?

Do you have pre and post-intercooler data from the HKS core? Interested to see how it compares.

 

It's almost moot (the loss in length), because the old HKS basically dictates a hot-air intake that's way less than ideal. The engine bay also dictates a shorter (fewer row) cooler than you'd maybe ideally want, so while there's a diminishing return in thickness, it doesn't hurt either and may help with pressure drop when running high boost levels.

 

I had to make a similar decision. I opted to make the radiator slightly shorter to give space for the filter and used a Garrett GT 24x12x4 bar/plate core. Probably resulted in a bit more fab work.

That being said I am not 100% convinced keeping the filter behind a properly sized IC core is as big of a problem some make it out to be. I could be wrong but I do not think the air Temps from the inlet, outlet of the turbo and inlet, outlet of the IC are completely liner. For example, ingesting 30 degree higher temp through the filter is not going to result in 30 degree higher Temps on the outlet of the IC if the IC core is sized properly.

 

Actually the intake the way i currently have it, is an inspiration from your setup. Well its not like i am not using a few of your components anyway .
But i figured if it had worked for you i don't see how it shouldn't work for me even as a temporary solution.
The only difference is that i stuck the largest filter i could find since the flow in the area is somewhat restricted.
I also never really had an issue with the intake temps with the filter being where it is. My intake temps were always pretty low. They were low enough that i had other priorities to keep an eye for.
Could they have been any better? Sure, but like with everything, there's always room for improvement.

I can't make the radiator any smaller actually. I have replaced the radiator with a brand new of the same unit (Koyo N-FLOW) I will be going back in 3 weeks to test whether my overheating issues were resolved. I will make the decision then to switch to the Electric waterpump or stick to the OEM one.
I am actually planning to do a new radiator for next year, it will be much wider and several inches longer .

 

It is a bar and plate intercooler. whether that alone classifies it as a drag core i dont know. I had a very long discussion with Bell about the setup. They said that this is the right core for this configuration.
I dont have the numbers handy but if i recall, this intercooler is 8 inches shorter from the original HKS unit, so 8"x10",= 80in^2? something like that

 

Ooooo shiny, custom, new parts

Looking forward to seeing how this next iteration of your cooling system performs.

I talked to Bell a decade ago about a custom v mount similar to your project. Brilliant group of engineers to work with. True enthusiasts. Ultimately did not follow through as I hooked up with "Speed of light" and he built a few kits.

 

Take their word over mine. I think they might know a bit more about it haha.

Very interested in the results!

 

I cant wait to be honest. 3 weeks is not coming fast enough haha.
There's a few more things coming related to cooling. I am expecting the thermostat delete kit i designed to come in the mail today.
As for the Bell engineer i worked with, his name is Justin.
I had called in with my request after sending an email with some pictures. He was on board within seconds. Very interested in the whole project and very enthusiastic about it.
I wasn't exactly sure what to ask for and i had told him that. I told him I am in the design and manufacturing business but i don't know the nitty gritty details for the intercooler design and manufacturing.
He did not disappoint. I am not 100% sure that this intercooler will work but i would much rather try it and fail than never try it and go lecture people how things should and should not be done .
I had reached out to other manufacturers about this intercooler design they either turned me down or didn't even respond. Bell was the only one seriously interested in this.
Once we agreed on the drawings and all the changes, i was given a lead time of 3 weeks. it was done within the week...
Very impressed with Bell so far. Most likely i will have them manufacture the radiator i think i will be using for next year.





I will update the thread with the results once i have done the testing.

 

Thermostat delete kit has arrived. 316 stainless steel 3d printed. I think this will be great

 

How do we go about getting one of those bad boys? I also have a hole to fill

 

i had it made at shapeways. I think there is a way to make it public in shapeways so you can order it from there. I ll get back to you on that but i would rather test it first and confirm the functionality first in about 3 weeks.

but DAMN that twin turbo system will kick *** once completed

 

thanks. And no worries, we’ll see if it ever gets completed haha.

I also thought about just filling the bypass section with Devon and gutting an old thermostat to use to keep the rubber seal functioning.

what are you doing for a thermostat/bypass? I just got these. Took me forever to find something like this.

 

the idea is to control the speed of the pump to control the temperature. i am not planning to use a thermostat. but this will block the cavity to let air out.
i am thinking to slow down the pump to 10-15% until it reaches the operating temperature. The beauty of having a pdm

 

interesting....was 3D printing cheaper than having it machined? Looks easy enough to machine from bar stock.

 

Machining it would have probablybeen slightly cheaper but doing it properly i would need to mill and turn the part. Its not a difficult setup but it definitely adds setup time since i was making only one piece, but i was mostly interested to see how it would turn out printed because i do not have metal 3d printing experience.

even though i liked the overall results in the printed part , i still have to passivate it and one small insignificant section came out crooked.

 

I'm use you thought of this but just to make sure (and for other people in the future), the pump always needs to be flowing at least a little bit, or you can suffer from hot spots and you won't get an accurate temperature reading. That's the benefit of keeping the thermostat with normal flow, no hot spots but a quicker warm up without the radiator in the loop.

I noticed you're running a different trigger wheel with A/C and PS and all the stuff? I need to read through your thread and find the details. I have a Hall trigger kit but gave up on it when it wasn't an easy fit.

 

correct the pump always needs to run when the motor is running. The plan is to slow down the pump enough to reach the operating temperature quickly. I currently do not have a thermostat and reaching the operating temperature is not an issue but now with the new radiator it might be. I will have to experiment.
Also worth noting, since i have replaced the battery with a 60Ah (previously 19Ah) i am planning to run the pump for a certain amount of time after the car is off to prevent heat soaking. Whether thats 2 minutes or 20 minutes it is to be determined.

as for the trigger wheel i am actually running the stock one. Yes, I still have the A/C and P/S . I am not sure whether it was mentioned previously in the thread or not.
It is one thing i wanted to keep stock to avoid potential headaches and i am very glad i did.

 

Ok so that pic was just a mock-up with a different trigger wheel. I've seen at least one person make it work, but I haven't found the details yet.

 

i dont recall what picture that was. I did not know that using a different wheel will create some kind of an issue. I only wanted to keep the oem trigger wheel to avoid the issues that other people had. I do like the oem design. It makes it fool proof

 

LMAO I'm so blind. TwinChargedRX7 posted that pic, I thought it was yours seeing as this is your build thread hahaha.

Carry on with the good work, I'll go visit an Optometrist

 

i just did the math, and the HKS IC is ~961 cubic inches, and the new one is 1018cid, about 6% bigger

the HKS is 600x255x103mm, its 23.6x10x4 inches

 

correct. It is similar size in volume. The idea was to keep the volume roughly the same while being able to bring colder air from relocating the intake.
i did not want to compromise the performance with a smaller intercooler. It is to be determined whether this is the case or not due to the thickness.
so if this works i will have my cake and eat it too and if the improved efficiency of the new intercooler can help push past the 700whp i will be very happy but at high boost the car is frightening as is

 

i'm cautiously optimistic, you had an intercooler engineer help. its bigger too, which is good.
the intake setup is reminding me of the old Mazda race cars, in the 1st gen the radiator is over to the right to make room for the battery, in the race cars they shove it over to the left and then the intake feeds to the bumper.
they called it the cassette style bumper... you can kind of see the ducting


i know i'm coming along late to the party, but it looks promising!

 

This is exactly what i am looking to do but with a different opening on the bumper.
I could have manufactured the intercooler myself but like you said, get the help from the people who do this every day and they specialize in this. I am sure there is a lot of tribal knowledge that i do not know. If it doesnt work, oh well , at least i tried