Mounting an intercooler into the hood

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:10 am

Does anyone know of anyone who's done anything like that?

I was thinking, since there's such size contraints for TMICs, what about actually cutting a hole in the hood that the IC would fit into, then moulding a shroud/scoop for it?

gt2.5turbo · Post by **gt2.5turbo** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:42 am

i didnt have to touch the hood to install mine. I think the size issue was more with the amount of room between the firewall and the throttle body.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:51 am

You could mount a massive IC into the hood with extremely short piping, with tons of airflow, more than a FMIC I think

The only problem I can see would be heatsoak from the engine and turbo, but with a rad fan mounted on the underside of the IC, you could draw through outside air even when stopped.

gt2.5turbo · Post by **gt2.5turbo** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:26 am

hmm... so this would ba a rather large ic you would use then? cause a radiator fan is like a 1.5'x1.5' and that would ba one hell of a hodd scoop

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:02 pm

How would you pipe it so that you could still open the hood?

tris91ricer · Post by **tris91ricer** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:15 pm

Or even more crucial, how do you pipe it so that the ic isn't a vacuum leak?

Its a good idea, but it lacks depth and reality.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:55 pm

I think he's really just describing cutting a really big hood scoop to clear the intercooler, not actually having the intercooler bolted to the hood.

Hehe, have your intercooler out above the hood like old carbs.

rallysam · Post by **rallysam** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:27 pm

vrg3 wrote: Hehe, have your intercooler out above the hood like old carbs.

I was thinking about that the other day. Why not?

Eliminate the scoop altogether. Put the TMIC on top of the hood, but rotated towards the front of the car so the wind flows directly through it. You could get away with a MUCH smaller IC because the airflow is so much more effective. And, heat soak would probably be greatly reduced because you could make it so there are no holes in the hood that would let the air drift outside over the IC. Why not?

sammydafish · Post by **sammydafish** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:47 pm

just do like I did, and cut a REALLY big scoop in. Plus, put it where I did and no worry about heat soak when you're not movin

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:28 pm

Holy hell! At the speeds I drive I'd be afraid that I'd flip or at the very least, take all the down force from my right front.

pw422 · Post by **pw422** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:06 pm

sammydafish:
Holy cow! are you concern about rain?

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:54 pm

vrg3 wrote:I think he's really just describing cutting a really big hood scoop to clear the intercooler, not actually having the intercooler bolted to the hood.

Hehe, have your intercooler out above the hood like old carbs.

Ya, basically.

I still think it'd be better to have a scoop, or at least some sort of cowling though, because otherwise you've got what amounts to a great big hole in your hood which is just waiting for a gush of water from something to drop in and crack your engine block

sammydafish · Post by **sammydafish** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:51 pm

pw422 wrote:sammydafish:
Holy cow! are you concern about rain?

nope, the IC sits right under it and there's a duct to keep the air out of the engine. rain only make the IC more efficient

air filter is in the fender kinda under the headlight., so I don't have to worry about it sucking up rain, large puddles are a bit of a concern though

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 12:34 am

tris91ricer wrote:Or even more crucial, how do you pipe it so that the ic isn't a vacuum leak?

Its a good idea, but it lacks depth and reality.

How would the intercooler be a vacuum leak?

Have a shaker scoop over the intercooler, lol.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:07 am

I had a customer come into the store the other day, turns out he does fiberglass bodywork. I ended up chatting with him a bit about this idea, and he ended up giving me a rough quote of $500 to redo the hood to fit this, incl. painting and building the scoop

Doesnt sound too bad

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:50 am

500$ is about what a decent size front mount and hardware to install it will cost...

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 2:43 am

91White-T wrote:500$ is about what a decent size front mount and hardware to install it will cost...

Would that be better though?

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 4:16 am

Well, I'm not really sure I understand what you meant by "mounting an intercooler into the hood" but if you mean just sticking an IC up out of a hole in the hood, then yes a FMIC is definitely better.

206er · Post by **206er** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:18 am

but the idea with a big top mount is to get rid of some of the intake piping length that you have to have with a front mount. the problem is the crazy hood you would have, unless you were going for the mad max look.

also working on the engine would be a pain in the ass to every time have to pull the intercooler.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:40 am

206er wrote:but the idea with a big top mount is to get rid of some of the intake piping length that you have to have with a front mount. the problem is the crazy hood you would have, unless you were going for the mad max look.
also working on the engine would be a pain in the ass to every time have to pull the intercooler.

If that's not friggen sweet, I dont know what is.

I just watched that movie like 2 nights ago

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:40 am

91White-T wrote:Well, I'm not really sure I understand what you meant by "mounting an intercooler into the hood" but if you mean just sticking an IC up out of a hole in the hood, then yes a FMIC is definitely better.

Alright

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:03 pm

The only reason why Subarus have stock top mounts is that there is a perfect place for it due to the shape of the motor. Most all other stock turbo'ed cars use side-mounts or front mounts. The length of the pipe issue is really a non-issue if you stop and think how much air a motor uses, the pipes will get filled in a negligible amount of time. And yes the Interceptor is THE coolest vehicle ever.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:24 pm

The reason Subaru's have stock top mounts is that it's cheaper. That's the only REAL reason.

Front mount is better than top mount. More thermal mass, in a spot less prone to heating from ambient engine bay temperatures.

Down side is that it's easy to put a hole in one if you are rallying or something else.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:53 pm

yes a hole in the ic is plauseable but there are ways around it that are fairly easy, chicken wire for instance.

also your about as easy to get a hole in your intercooler as you are easy to get a hole in your radatior

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:05 pm

There is less tube surface area on a radiator than there is on an Intercooler. There is a greater area on an intercooler that is exposed to damage.

Now, intercoolers aren't glass fragile, they are durable and capable of handling the abuse of driving. But that is still a consideration when choosing intercooler options.

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Mounting an intercooler into the hood

Mounting an intercooler into the hood