Cory Simpson

Here is a link:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33742




Has anyone ever used one of these OBX intercoolers? It looks good in the pictures, but I don't know the quality just by looking....


So if anyone has any information on these let me, I'm looking at buying one and have the pipes bent at a local shop, but that seems cheap for an IC that size.

rzograbian

you have to look at pressure drop.... thats why people go with name brands that are proven..... i wouldnt but that becuase pipes will be very hard to make IMO

Maxthe7man

That looks like the spearco I used, the measurements are damn close to, even the same tank configuration, it looks like Bar and plate which is better than extruded core, the price is pretty reasonable, although their exhaust manifolds were reasonable to, and prove to be basically crap even on the none rx applications, I think that stuff is made in China or Korea, I wouldn't want to be the first person on the block to have one..Max

Carl Byck

That looks like a great deal. I say looks like, because of all the bad experinces everyone had with the Manifolds from these guys. That said, I may buy one just to have as a backup for my race car. As far as piping, you need a cut off saw, a welder, and a die grinder to make the pipes for a reasonable cost. The parts to make the piping will run you around 125.00, plus some couplers, and T bolt clamps. You will also need two 2.5"x3" transitions since almost all the turbos, and TB elbows we use are 2.5". I recently bought a Spearco 33.5x10x2.5 bar and plate for ~500 delivered from boostcoolers(ebay). That was the best deal on a bar and plate at the time(by about 200.00 for my size. I will have to look at my SCC tech article on ICs, but I think it's hard to make a bad bar and plate IC. One note, is that this is a very large IC, unless you are running pretty high boost the pressure drop that can come with such a large IC may be a problem for you. My advice is if you can weld, and have the equipment, go for it. You could also go to an exhaust shop, and get a quote on running the piping. One other thing is that 3" piping will be a bear to run, as space is already tough with the 2.5. You could use 2.5" piping, and transition right off the IC if the 3" pipes prove too tight a fit.
It is true that name brands have a track record, but that said they are not all good either. For 275.00 you cannot go wrong with that IC IMHO so longas you are ready to make the pipes. Do not buy this thinking you will be able to find pipes pre made, YOU WILL NOT Later this week, I will be posting some pics of my car, you will see the routing required for an IC of this size. Good luck.
BTW looks like he has a bunch of these, you might try caliing him, and lowballing him, he has been known to take some pretty aggressive counter offers in the past. Carl

Cory Simpson

I was looking at that IC, because I want to make it like the greddy kit, so it is right behind the bumper skin (not good if I get in a wreck......, or if I hit one of those speed humps, becase my car is lowered.)


But there is a local shop that is buying a mandrel bender, and I'm trying to work him into letting me use my car as a templet, and making "universal" IC piping kits for the FC. By that I mean like, you would have to use the inlet/outlet at the same hight, but you cut to fit, the width of the pipes were the IC goes. May not go though, he might not be interested in that..... If he doesn't want to do that, I know he will sure as hell bend me a set



Does anyone know what a good size IC for about 7 PSI on the stock turbo is? I'm not going over 2.5" IC piping, and I know to big of an IC will cause more pressure drop, than it would be worth for the extra cooling. But no one has ever really said what an ideal size is..... I was thinking this one would be fine (but then again that's my bigger is better idea )

Maxthe7man

Actually Guys, the large the IC the less pressure drop across the intercooler, but the more volume to initially fill, its not going to cause a pressure drop going larger but will increase the time to pressurise the added volume, which to me was hardly perceptable at all..Max

Cory Simpson

I'll probably be a test rat on this IC


Also I'm considering some that just started poping up all over ebay, they are a little cheaper, but they are in Austrailia. They are trying pass them off of Trust, HKS...... But I don't believe they are, considering they are selling them for $250.

Carl Byck

Max, I know on the SCC test of the M2 FMICs the larger IC had a greater pressure drop. It all depends upon design, I think the larger the IC the more magnified design flaws may be, thus the potential for larger pressure drops. Like anything, it's not B&W, but nonet the less, that is a great price for that type of IC. Carl

Maxthe7man

I think its just the M2 that turned out that way, I remember that article.. If you took one core design and compared sizing, larger cores flow more overall, and will have less pressure drop on a given flow, its like blowing through 5 straws, and then blowing through 10, 10 is of course going to be much easier to blow through, this can be seen with Greddy as they increase the row count on their IC's...
I would like to see a shot of the inner core of that OBx to see what kind of secondary heat transfer surface they have in there, maybe none!....max

RacerXtreme7

iTrader: (2)

I was wondering about this intercooler as well. Its the exact size I want to buy (I was eyeing Speacos, but the endtanks sucked on the one i was looking at and the price was nearly double). I did a little looking around, heres a different auction selling the exact same intercooler for the same price (same shipping too) except they give you a 3" to 2.5" rubber reducers or a 3" to 3" coupler FREE with the auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33731

This auction also shows the internal fins of the IC also. Its looks to be nice quality bar and plate. I'm thinking about making a purchase and being a guinie pig if someone else hasen't yet.

~Mike...................

Carl Byck

I wonder why these never showed up before, "seems too good to be true"...

Maxthe7man

I think I found the reason...

...
Ok, Mike I guess you are the test pilot for these ones....Max

RETed

I don't think there is such a thing for ANY (aftermarket) intercooler.


-Ted

Maxthe7man

Check out the california approved turbo and supercharger kits that have intercoolers, they have to have all those designation to pass Carb..
Here click this:
http://www.turboneticsinc.com/kits.html



Alot of the brand name stuff has a minimum dot rating, if you are in a accident with none dot stamped equipment on your car, your insurance company can and probably will walk away from you if the car is inspected. Even in Canada, the US DOT is a required stamping, even though we have our own approval stamping...
Most likely part of the added cost of the spearco stuff etc etc, is that they have the designations and done testing on them to have certification in house possible, when you don't do any of that stuff, your paper trail go's down, and so does your cost, but your own risk as a consumer goes up.. We can't get some cars here because cars with FMIC's won't pass our crash standards(evo 8,mitsu spyder etc)..Max

RETed

I see CARB-EO numbers, but nothing on DOT or SAE.
Does CARB-EO supercede DOT and SAE?
When Spearco sells their bare intercooler cores, you see none of those "stamped" on the unit nor paperwork for certifications of any of those organizations.

GReddy might be the other one that has CARB-EO, but if you understand the CARB-EO certification process, it does make sense.

I'm mostly talking about intercooler cores, since this thread was specifically talking about an intercooler core and not an intercooler kit.

I have never seen any intercooler core have any sort of CARB-EO, DOT, or SAE certification.


-Ted

Cory Simpson

How does an FMIC effect a crash? It's 3" of radiator.... It will crush, and probably obsorb impact (very little... but still) Can't imagine that would make any kind of a difference.

RETed

Go tell that to CARB, SAE, or the DOT...


-Ted

Maxthe7man

I would think that it would have to be DOT certified before CARB even looked at it, it would only make sense that it be safety certified before even emmissions certified.. If you ran one of their intercoolers, chances are you apply for CARB clearance because they have done most of the emmissions leg work on their kits..
As I said before, some manafacturers also certify in house, they will have prior authorization and consent to manafacture parts for cars, and when they don't you get disclaimers like that above, they follow pre approved manafacturing standards and laws and also have manafacturers insurance to cover what they make and do.
That disclaimer tells me that there is no official certification of any of their products or manafacturing standards, they are not paying for any kind of liability insurance to cover the use or misuse of their prodcuts, they have never submitted any of these prodcuts to any regualtory body, nor do they intend to..
In a nutshell, you are paying for probably off-shore labour and materials, of unknown standard, sure it might work but for how long..
Its kinda like all those clear tail light lenses, yeah they all looked the same, but the ones that were twice were made by a company that submitted their design to the DOT for approval..Max

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

I think the DOT issue w/ FMIC on factory cars stems from the "5mph" bumper law, right.

Isn't that a consumer/insurance protection law that the manufacturer must prove the vehicle can survive a standardized 5mph impact and sustain damage UNDER a certain dollar amount.

Insurance will not cover aftermarket parts except in certain circusmstances (special collector car insurance, etc) and the consumer is the one who would put the aftermarket part on the car, so it would seem the DOT rating would not appy to aftermarket parts?

supracosworth

You think it's possible to make a v-mount out of this intercooler?

Carl Byck

Max, I think you are going waaaay overboard, it's an IC..... I looked in the endtank of my Spearco, and compared it to the picture, the design is similar. So, as far as performance I expect it to be similar. As faras liability is concerned, I'm not sure what you think you are getting with Spearco/greddy/HKS, but liability coverage is not part of what you are purchasing... Blue TII is correct with regard to the 5mph deal, which may mean that the ICs for Neons, and EVOs are very reasonable. Anyway, look at it at face value, it is a bar and plate IC of substantial size, and appears to be well constructed, the end tanks are cast, not welded boxes, and the welds look good. No matter how you slice it, it is a good deal. Haters go home

Trav

It's possible to make a v-mount out of any IC with enough time, talent, and money.

Is it going to be easy? I don't know that any v-mount is easy, but then again I've never done one, so someone else can comment there.

Take into consideration size, mounting location, and inlet/outlet placing on the IC. Depending on the inlet/outlet you may have wild piping runs or not. Can't say for sure on this IC how it would be -- it all depends on your configuration I'd think.

Cory Simpson

Well, the money just went into my paypal account, so I'm about to go but the one that comes with the silicone coupers.....


Hopefully it won't be a rip for $300 shipped....

Cory Simpson

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=7916289584



Well.... Just bought that one. When it gets here, I'll post up more pictures, and quality of everything (stuff you may not be able to see in his pictures....)

RETed

You're assuming way too much.
I talked to Robocar about their 1ZZ turbo kit for the MR-S, and I surprised to see their "CARB-EO pending" sign on the kit.
I talked to their tech rep about it, and I was surprised how "easy" it was to get a CARB-EO.
I researched the story, and he was right.
I think the CARB-EO certification is posted online - try do a web search.

I really don't understand how you can claim DOT-certified.
I don't think ANY of these intercoolers are certified for that.
I'd like to see proof of such?
I've never seen it myself.

IC has nothing to do with vehicle safety.


-Ted