FMIC on 1990 N/A Sedan

[Project_Legacy]

ive been measuring and trying to find an intercooler on ebay that would fit on my car with as little cutting as possible. its a 1990 N/A Sedan. for some reason, a lot of the FMIC install pictures that i have seen on here, the IC would be INFRONT of the latch. i see no way of putting an IC in the front of my hood latch because the bumper beam is there in the way.

what is it exactly that you guys are cutting to fit an IC in like that?? what i wanted to do was fit an IC in front of my radiator, it looks like i could fit an IC with overall dimensions of around 18"-24"x6"-12"x2"-2.5" thats all i saw that could fit.

has anyone cut the lower portion of what is holding the latch up? im sure the cable runs down that bar though. any thoughts plz? i really need to get an IC on soon cuz im gettin whooped by my friends' hondas.

[BAC5.2]

The latch isn't mounted to the bumper beam.

I cut the hell out of my bumper beam, but it fits, and I run zero risk of rubbing on the ground.

Remove the bumper and cut away!

[Project_Legacy]

lol. thats what i was scared of. is mounting the IC too close to the radiator a bad thing? i will have to find me a daily driver pretty soon before i do this then.

ahh... back to the drawing board. i wasted all morning and parts of the afternoon lookin to fit one in. thanks anyway.

[BAC5.2]

Probably not a bad thing. Ambient air is flowing through it, and after passing through the fins of the intercooler, the air is still going to be cooler than the coolant in the radiator, right?

I haven't noticed any problems so far.

[Project_Legacy]

hmm. cuz what im talkin about is like less than an inch of space between the IC and the radiator. but if i get a small one to fit it should be fine. it would be like half the size of the radiator anyway.

[BAC5.2]

How are you going to get it within an inch of the radiator?

There is a vertical beam in front of the AC condenser (what the hood latch is attached). My Intercooler almost touches that vertical beam.

[dzx]

Or, you could just remove the front bumper beam like I did, just dont hit anything.

[BAC5.2]

I found that cutting helps support the bumper cover. That was the only reason I left mine. That, and I have airbags that I do not feel like disabling.

[douglas vincent]

You have seen my NA mount thread?

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=25654

[Project_Legacy]

o yea ive seen that. hahah. i just dont know if i want to do it that way. down here in tacoma, washington... a lot of thefts happen. i dont wanna have to deal with that.

i also dont want to have to take out the bumper beam also. that vertical beam, that is the one i was talking about. theres no way to cut that a little bit? i can fit an intercooler inbetween that vertical beam, and the radiator. it has like room for, probably the biggest would be a 2 1/2 inch thick intercooler core. but it would be so close to the radiator, i thought it would mess with the radiator's cooling ability.

[BAC5.2]

I wouldn't put an intercooler there. So little space to run pipes from that location.

Also, you run into the issue that, while idling, you will be heating the intercooler, reducing intercooler efficiency.

I'd put it in front of the vertical beam, you reduce that effect, and a good sized core can fit without much trouble.

Mine is almost 4 inches thick, and it fits pretty well.

[Project_Legacy]

ok. maybe i am just not seeing that space. i havent had the bumper off before. and yea piping looks like it would be a biatch to run in that little space.

i was trying to go the easy way out. LoL. looks like that wont be happening. i guess getting an impreza is out of the question until i get this intercooler in.

thanks for your help bac5.2.