custom I/C?

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:52 am

just skimmed the april GRM DIY turbo article.

its looks pretty good.

in it was a blurb about getting end tanks and cores and building your own I/C so you dont have to deal w/the design compromises the manufacturer had to make.

anyone know anything about doing this.

i know you need to be able to weld aluminum.

would be nice to get a TMIC that fot w/out modding the firewall and was a little more efficient than the SAAB one.

the article also talked about several potential donor I/Cs and rated them.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 7:41 am

it would be hard to get one to fit without modding the fire wall and still haveing a good amount of core area and not having heat soak too. if you do do a custom ic than do a front mount even though there are some that will fit there good without modification of the beam as mine does

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:50 pm

i have no intention to run enough boost to warrant a FMIC.

dscoobydoo · Post by **dscoobydoo** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:16 pm

Aluminum welding is a B!T@H compared to steel.
YES, If I cold get a good core and do my own endtanks I could fab up a good top mount and supports. But in the end, I think it will be easier to get a WRX FMIC and do a few mods to it instead.

Just my 2 cents

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 5:16 pm

i also have no desire to take a hammer to the firewall of my car.

if i can find a guy to weld aluminum and the price is right i may do this.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:50 pm

get a wrx ic and mod the endtanks so that you dont have to do any bashing

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:15 am

azn2nr wrote:get a wrx ic and mod the endtanks so that you dont have to do any bashing

what modding needs to be done?

could you point me to a good thread that outlines these mods?

J-MoNeY · Post by **J-MoNeY** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:19 am

azn2nr wrote:get a wrx ic and mod the endtanks so that you dont have to do any bashing

What the hell are you talking about?

. The only tank is on the top and that faces the firewall. You'd have to make custom ones on the sides, plug up the Y-Pipes, seal the top, cut off the sides and weld new tanks on.

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:47 am

J-MoNeY wrote:
azn2nr wrote:get a wrx ic and mod the endtanks so that you dont have to do any bashing
What the hell are you talking about? . The only tank is on the top and that faces the firewall. You'd have to make custom ones on the sides, plug up the Y-Pipes, seal the top, cut off the sides and weld new tanks on.

thats what i thought. im so confused.

i still think i will build my own I/C.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:30 am

if you use the wrx core you can take off the endtanks and build new ones that are slimer and fit better. youll need to build a new induction pipe yes but youll still have a core to work with

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:35 am

What ever happened to using a turbo forrester TMIC?

Fernely · Post by **Fernely** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:55 pm

Guys I don't post much anymore but here is a place that has been around forever and will make you a custom application for a decent price. road race engineering With a little mix and matching you may end up with a perfect intercooler then pass on the info for the rest.

J-MoNeY · Post by **J-MoNeY** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:01 pm

azn2nr wrote:if you use the wrx core you can take off the endtanks and build new ones that are slimer and fit better. youll need to build a new induction pipe yes but youll still have a core to work with

I see what you mean now. The only issue is that it would be a hassle to do that without doing a lot of custom work. Where as you can take a hammer for free and go buck wild.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:11 pm

yeah but the original idea was custom work

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:12 pm

azn2nr wrote:if you use the wrx core you can take off the endtanks and build new ones that are slimer and fit better. youll need to build a new induction pipe yes but youll still have a core to work with

i fail to see how this is any easier than buying a "blank" core and adding premade endtanks.

that is what i would assue RRE would do.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:58 am

AWIC.

Why bother with custom?

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 5:33 am

BAC5.2 wrote:AWIC.

Why bother with custom?

after seeing what laurel and art went through i fail to see how that is any easier either.

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:36 pm

Well I remember Laurel had a hard time with the stock heat exchanger.

My AWIC went on just fine, it was not as easy as a TMIC but it was an easy weekend project. I didn't try to use the stock radiator for it, just my A/C condensor.

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:30 am

since i am keeping the A/C i think i will continue to find a way to get a nice TMIC as i dont plan on enough mods to warrant a FMIC.

i think i will try to find a old slant style TMIC.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:29 am

just so you know i have one of thoes slant ones sittin here

Brandon Clifton · Post by **Brandon Clifton** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:37 am

greg- At 12 psi and an ambient air temperature of 40 degrees F, the intake air temperature exceeds 80 degrees F. It only goes up from there. I don't understand why these cars ever came non-intercooled in the first place.

As for using a WRX non-slant IC, it's not that big of a deal. I put mine on Monday afternoon in about an hour and only required one weld. Granted I had a custom turbo outlet made, but I could have made it from radiator hose pieces just like I did on my Civic.

I used two plates and some gasket material to cover the stock inlets. I then welded a 1.600" dia x 2.0" tube to the endtank and used a hole saw to cut into the end tank. The coupler is a piece of 2.5'' 3-layer silicon stretched over the IC and TB, and the BOV is
running open atmosphere right now because I need to cut a flange to clock it about 40 degrees and put the outlet back on, then plumb it back into the intake tract.
The turbo outlet is made from two long-raduis 90 degree 1.25 SCH 40 elbows and two long-radius 45 degree 1.25 SCH 40 elbows. I will most likely replace this with .050" wall tubing.
The tube that connects the turbo outlet to the IC inlet is a radiator hose.
I disconnected the coolant tank, cut off the mounting tabs, and rotated it so the long axis is perpendicular to the crank and the cap toward the driver's side (not shown).

J-MoNeY · Post by **J-MoNeY** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:48 am

Looks familiar...

Brandon Clifton · Post by **Brandon Clifton** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:29 pm

Sure does! Why does everyone keep saying they have to hammer the firewall though? I didn't have to hammer anything.

Warp3 · Post by **Warp3** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:16 pm

Brandon Clifton wrote:Sure does! Why does everyone keep saying they have to hammer the firewall though? I didn't have to hammer anything.

But isn't the hammering of the mount in the center of the firewall done to clear the stock WRX inlet hoses (which you obviously do not have as yours has a modified inlet setup on the IC)? The stock configuration of the inlet hoses running down the back of the IC makes the IC notably deeper as far as fitment.

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 12:24 am

brandon and j-money, that is a very nice setup. i will have to read j-money's install write up a little more thoroughly i think.

the end tank is aluminum, right? so i will have to source that out to someone.

and that custome pipe is stainless?

is it possible to keep the chimney w/this setup? it doesnt look like it.

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

custom I/C?

custom I/C?