I am going to be buying a front mount and was wintering what is a good one to go with that I can keep my power steering and ac? I have been looking at the cx racing one. But not sure if u can keep all that.

 

Most FMIC kits loose the AC because of space. I'm not sure which ones can keep it. I highly advise against CX Racing. Their quality and fitment are far from FD worthy. You get what you pay for.

What are your power goals? Many folks do well with the Pettit large stock mount. No AC or PS issues, and can support single power. With AI, it can be more than capable for larger framed turbos.

 

CX Racing is the same owner as rotary works. Do a search. They are no longer a forum sponsor for a reason. I would not support them.

I would make your own fmic. Most kits place the intercooler where the front bumper is, which creates radiator cooling issues. Place the intercooler against the radiator with no gap in between the two and you should have no issues. This is how oem cars and trucks are usually set up. When you have a gap, the air becomes turbulent and doesn't want to push through the second core.

 

I wouldn't put it directly against the radiator for two reasons...you don't want conduction of heat from the radiator to the intercooler and you don't want them wearing against each other. There needs to be a gap of some kind. The best bet is using a high density foam that doesn't mind seeing 200F temps and using that between the two.

Agree with the CX Racing comments though...avoid them.

 

I thought that having some room for flex would be obvious. My fathers pickup uses rubber grommets to attach the intercooler to the radiator, and I think there is probably a very small gap (1/2"?). However, this is not the same as the three foot gap seem with most fc fmic kits.

 

Only V mounts cause real AC configuration problems.
The Blitz FMICs works well with both AC and radiator cooling.
The extreme FMICs like the Greddys require a 1999 front to allow best radiator and AC cooling as they totally block the stock inlet and only allow cooling to about 1/2 the IC.

The Koyo "N" pass solves the radiator over heat problem.

 

You'd be surprised.

 

I can't speak to the effect on turbulence, but the primary reason most OEMs put the heat exchangers together is for packaging and ease of assembly.

Packaging -- because underhood space is at a premium in most cars, empty space is hard to justify.

Ease of Assembly -- the radiator, trans cooler, A/C condensor, intercooler, etc. typically arrive at the plant as a single unit, from a single "cooling module" supplier. It all mounts together and reduces high in-plant labor costs.