FD Front mounted Intercooler
 

Hi, i have just rebuild my FD engine, street ported and now looking for a front mounted intercooler. I have seen many on E-Bay but not sure what i should be looking for, any help would be appreciated

The quality of the eBay kits varies greatly and few of them are direct bolt on. The kits sold as RX-7 kits are generally pieced together from generic kits and thus end up with a ridiculous number of clamps and couplers. It is also up to you to fit them.

Then again, it is hard to beat the price. If this is your first project, it may be worthwhile to just bite the bullet and purchase a true bolt on kit from a vendor to make the process easy. If you have access to the equipment to weld aluminum and have some experience, then the eBay kit may be the way to go simply because of the price at the small sacrifice of quality.

They ebay stuff is generally thought to be low quality. They work for some others have issues with them. You get what you pay for.

The Blitz is considered one of the best FMIC for the FD since it doesn't obstruct flow to the radiator as much as other intercoolers. The Greddy FMIC is particularly bad in that respect. My car ran very hot with the Greddy FMIC.

Threads to research ICs.
>Scroll down to the I section:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/faq-3rd-gen-other-useful-links-68640/
>Search or browse past threads on intercoolers pros/cons:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-archives-73/

Places to buy:
http://rx7.com/store/rx7/fdintercooler.html
http://www.pettitracing.com/rx7/index_turbo.htm

thanks , unfortunately the links Gracer7 had mentioned are all broken but i guess e-bay is not the place thanks all

Don't necessarily discount eBay if you know what you are doing or can get the advice of someone who does. I run an eBay intercooler on my car and have had no issues. 400 RWHP on a GT40R at 13 PSI, somewhere around 500 RWHP at the high side of 16 PSI and my air temps are fine.

Then again, I knew what to buy on eBay. :) There is a lot of junk out there and if you can't recognize it, it turns into a waste of time and money.

Like Aaron and others have said though if you have the knowledge and tools or a friend who does and will help out ebay is a good place to go as long as you know what to look for and can tell whats junk and whats not.

If you have no experience with installing an fmic in general and dont know a buddy who can help, i would suggest going for a RX-7 specific one as it'll be much easier and you wont have to worry either

I am all new to Rotary experience ... so its time to get dirty lol

Also, since i am going to use the car in the track i am going to look for an internal one since the external intercoolers are more prone to get damaged

if i remember i think pettit racings is the style your looking for also you may want to double check that

I have looked for one but believe me is not easy to find a dealer here in Canada ... also, with that type of Intercooler, how much mods do i need to do ?

i'm in canada also..i'm just outside of Ottawa actually with a second home in Orillia just outside of Barrie..

anywho you could just call and have it shipped to you and pay the lil bit of currency difference and customs...a lot of the time for the products it's entirely worth it..

If you plan on 'tracking' the car as in HPDE events, you don't want a FMIC. Its just about impossible to keep the car cool on track with a FMIC.

What exactly is the problem with the links I posted? They work for me.

So which ebay intercooler is the one to buy? What is there to look for?

Depends how you will use the car. Research and read the past relevant discussions in the links I posted and you should be able to learn enough to figure which one best suits your needs.

Generally speaking...

For the FD, SMIC or a v-mount setup is best for a road course track driven car b/c it doesn't block air flow to the radiator. Block air flow to the radiator when pushing it on track = overheat = coolant seal failure = blown motor. For drag racing, a FMIC is often OK.

Whether you choose to buy it from ebay, this forum or a well known rotary shop is up to you. Just do your research in advance.

not one of the cheap ones, i just talked to cxracing, if you can wait 2 months. they are coming out with a full vmount kit with radiator with all mounting brackets, couplers, piping and a front end brace for like 1000 which is a smokin deal.

Dang, yea, i'd prefer vmount but wasn't sure if it was worth the hassle. I was going to just do fmic and was just trying to figure out which ebay one was good

vmount is def worth it, its 95% more efficient. a.) better air flow for cooling, b.) no cutting of your front bumper required 3.) no relocation or air ducts needed for the radiator 4.) radiator gets plenty of air flow to cool it down since a fmic core isnt blocking it. etc. it may be a bit more money, but you could also buy a core, use some aluminum and make your own brackets.. and then make up some piping which wouldnt be all that hard or costly.