V2 Intercooler Install (now with pics pg3)

boostjunkie · Post by **boostjunkie** » Fri May 07, 2004 3:13 am

vrg3 wrote:I guess it's technically not the firewall; it's the little platform that the ignitor mounts to.

I don't remember mine contacting that piece either. *shrug*

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Fri May 07, 2004 3:50 am

Thanks guys, I don't feel so left out now.

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:59 pm

Well, an update....

I Started the install today since The GF is home on vacation for the week and can cook for me while I work on the car

Anyway...

First things first, I broke the "To Turbo" nipple on the coolant tank... Took maybe a 1/2 lb of force before it basically disintegrated....

So I have to find out if a WRX Tank will fit for sure, since there seem to be a few of those on NASIOC for sale here and there...

I'm going to epoxy a brass or Nylon 90 fitting in place for the mean time.

The Turbo to IC Inlet Pipe will need a 45 Degree bent Rad hose or some hose to connect them together, I cut the original piece about 1/2" in front of the original BOV fitting.
just enough to leave room for a hose clamp.

As for the A/C lines, I'm thinking I should switch to a N/A compressor hose as boostjunkie suggested, but I'm not sure how to go about removing the unit and replacing it and still have A/C.

I have to leave for 2 days tomorrow so I geuss It'll just sit for the day.

On a good side note, I can keep my strutbar. and once I get pass all this little junk I should be fine.......

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:13 am

Yeah, that nipple likes to break... people have used several different fixes with varying degrees of success; I think Matt's had the most success with his hollow all-thread method.

To switch A/C lines you'll need to have your A/C system discharged first. Then you swap the line, and then have it recharged. Before recharging, though, it might be good to give it a flush and then replace the receiver/dryer. You should consider replacing any o-rings you uncover, too. If you're running R-12, then naturally you'll probably want to retrofit to R-134a in the process.

That's the exact spot I cut the pipe on mine too. Be prepared to invent some words and strain your back installing the hose.

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:18 am

I'll have to look into all that jibber jabber you mentioned about the A/C...

I might just try n squeeze it in there...

I'm also not familiar with the all-thread method even though I read his post I didn't quite understand what he did, so I'll stick to the threaded barb, I may try tapping the plastic to get a better thread out of it...

Oh I am very prepared to Learn new words.

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:57 pm

Here vrg3

http://quickdraw.dynu.com/intercooler/turbo

The 4th pic might help the best..

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 1:00 am

Hey Quick, I'm gonna quote and reply to your PM here, to add to the useful information that's collecting in this thread. I hope you don't mind:

vrg3 wrote:The upper and lower coolant fittings are connected with a small strip of steel. I cut this strip. I then removed the upper fitting and reinstalled it angled 45 degrees towards the back of the car (be sure to use new annealed copper gaskets). I then had to cut away a little of the chimney to clear the fitting in its new location. The stock hose still fits, and it's out of the way of the intercooler.

QuickDrive wrote:I'm not sure what you mean by annealed copper gaskets??
I've never heard of it, or have taken off my turbo...Is it something I can just ask for at Napa or somewhere??

The coolant line uses a banjo fitting, just like the brake lines on our calipers. The banjo fitting seals with two washers made of softened copper; one goes on either side of the banjo. Whenever you undo the coolant line, you have to be sure to get the old washers off, and either replace them with new ones or re-anneal them (if they aren't squashed too flat already). Annealing copper is pretty easy; you heat it until it's red hot and then either quench it or let it cool naturally.

QuickDrive wrote:When you angled the coolant line 45 degrees toward the back, I assume you mean vertically changed the angle, correct?

Well, English is failing us here a little

.

I rotated it about the axis of the banjo bolt, such that the hose was moved further away from the intake tubing.

QuickDrive wrote:Steel Strip..
I'm going to post a pic of what I think you mean. can you tell me if I'm correct?

Hmm, well, your picture isn't coming up... You should use THAWA's free hosting service.

Let's see if a little bit of doodling can help:

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/pics ... ne_mod.png

The red arrows point to the copper gaskets you'll need to replace. If I remember correctly, their inner diameter is 12 mm. Any respectable auto parts store should carry them. I think I got mine at AutoZone.

The blue line is where I cut.

The green arrow is a weak attempt at indicating which direction I rotated the fitting.

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:18 am

Excellent...

I'm understanding that now 100%

One more Q.

How did you cut the strip?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:28 am

I think I just used the same Dremel with cut-off wheel that I used to trim the chimney.

A phat pair of tin snips might work too.

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:47 pm

Upper coolant line relocated, Chimney cut up very nastily..

I'm sure new gaskets for the coolant line are absolutely necessary, are they?

Could you not just reheat the old ones? there seems to be lots of life left...

Coolant tank in epoxy drying mode.

I decided on a 90 Degree bend in the to turbo nipple since I did rotate the coolant bottle 90 degrees.

I think I might have cut the rad hose 1/2" too short now, and may be returning to napa for a replacement to try again.

Pics will come soon I suppose.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:57 pm

If they look thick enough, then go ahead and re-anneal and clean the copper gaskets if you like. Just be sure to get them hot enough. New washers generally only cost on the order of tens of cents, though...

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 7:16 pm

Cool,

So I should heat the gaskets, then quench them, THEN install them?

again thx vikash.

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:56 pm

Pics So Far, up at

http://quickdraw.dynu.com/ICinstall

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:29 am

Update....

Everything installed, fits nice and TIGHT....

Score so far... Turbo Coolant bottle 2 - Me 1...

Both the upper and lower nipples broke.

1st one (read prior posts), 2nd one, after leaving the car sit for 20 minutes idling (checking for leaks) It just popped off.....

it was at somewhat of an angle I suppose... but the newly replaced 90 fitting (monday) will fix er up.

I'm getting lonley not driving my car, it's been 9 days!!!

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:13 pm

Update again.

Everything is installed... Now Throwing a Code 22....

Cleaned water and coolant from around knock sensor, resetting ECU to hopefully fix...

QuickDrive · Post by **QuickDrive** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 12:21 am

18 days later,

Intercooler installed,
CEL out.

Charles is a happy camper.

Vikash, I'm going to have to find a better "hose" from the turbo outlet to the intercooler piping, the one I used kinked slightly when I installed it, obviously decreasing the amount of flow going to the IC.

To be honest, since I drove the car today for the first time in 2 weeks without a CEL, adding the intercooler seems to have done nothing....

Butt dyno may need some more testing on this fact however.

Rejoice!!!

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:09 am

I had a couple of questions regarding this install, as I just picked up a V2 myself.

First off, how important is it to rotate the coolant hose? I wasn't able to see how much clearance was available.

2nd, what did you guys do about the F-tube? I haven't finished hacking up the inlet piping, but my attempts at seeing how much space was available resulted in the short connector between the F-tube piping and Boot B getting pulled almost all the way out. Does everything fit ok once the hard 90 is cut off and replaced by soft hose?

Anything else about this install I should know about that may have been missed in this thread?

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:15 pm

Tried to install mine today, found out you definitely have to rotate that coolant line. Dang....

Any thoughts on that PCV hard line? I'm still noticing it gets pushed out of the way, but I'm wondering if thats because I haven't moved the coolant line yet.

Also, any thoughts on replacing that accordian section with some flexible hose? I'm wondering if that'll make things easier to line up, but I don't want to be a test case.

Help!!

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:56 am

You might get away with not adjusting the coolant line if you make the hose take a sharp downward turn as soon as it comes off the hard line. You could do this by finding appropriately molded hose, or by bending some 1/2" copper tubing to the right shape and connecting it with little bits of hose.

I didn't have to do anything about the F-tube; it fit okay as it was.

What kind of flexible hose are you thinking of using in place of the accordion piece?

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:35 am

You are just asking for trouble if you don't take care of the coolant tank. Mine blew with nothing touching it.

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:12 am

I ended up moving the coolant line, as I didn't see the intake tubing fitting well with it in its stock location.

I ended up cutting the elbow off the end, instead of the accordian piece, like you guys did.

The F tube still gets pushed over on mine, so that the short hard join between the tubing and Boot B is almost all the way out. I'll have take another look at it.

Aside from having to redo my BPV hose, and sorting out a sqeak from the intercooler rubbing on something, its installed and running!

Edit: Forgot, coolant tank was moved a while ago in preparation for this!

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:26 am

I've still got the rubbing sound, and it seems to be coming from the brake booster hose. Also, I noticed its rubbing on the clutch reservoir. I'm probably going to loosen the clamp and rotate it.

Last thing I've noticed, is at very light part throttle settings, the car seems to buck. I haven't reset the ECU yet, but I'm wondering if anyone else had this problem. I have no idea what might be causing it.

As for the other things, did anyone else notice any similar issues?

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:53 am

Argh. Changed the BPV for my stock one, and reset the ECU. It still bucks with very light throttle pressure during deceleration, and only once its fully warmed up. Also, my attempt to reduce the rubbing on the clutch cylinder by rotating the intercooler only resulted in more rubbing noises.

Quick, would you be able to take some new pictures of your install? I'm starting to get fed up with trying to figure this out. I'm also wondering if its my rad hose connection between the turbo and the intercooler.

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 2:25 am

Argh again. I'm still getting what sounds and feels like misfiring at very light throttle settings. I moved the ignitor again, this time to the driver's side of its old mount, and made sure its well grounded (from what I can tell). Definitely no leaks, as I've had it on and off so many times the clamps are definitely tight. Spark plugs have been changed, fuel filter's changed. Only things I haven't looked at yet are new plug wires (only 1.5 years old) and the air filter.

The only thing left for me to suspect is the rad hose I'm using. I'm wondering if mine is thinner or weaker than the ones everyone else has been using with their intercooler setups. Its definitely expanded already from the heat. My current plan is to find a 45 degree metal elbow, and use rad hose as couplers for that.

Anybody else have any thoughts?

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V2 Intercooler Install (now with pics pg3)