Has anyone here built a custom intercooler and pipe setup? Or know someone that can?

I was on spearco's website and looking at their intercoolers, it looks like they may be the place to go for the core but what about custom welding and fabricating for all the aluminum piping? Can I get everything made from them?
what do you think the cost would be for a custom intercooler and piping setup for my car?

TIA,

Paul

 

I may be selling my liquid to air setup now that I have a bigger blower.

I have about $3500.00 into the setup. It is a custom install and the car is needed. Also don't count on spearco to give correct installation information. I had to redo the intercooler three times before I got the results I was looking for.

 

opps....I meant to post this in the C4 FI section!

Mojo, you can move it if you want to.

Blown,
what kind of intercooler is it? what cFM does it flow?
Do you have pipes?

If you have pics of it in the car I would love to see it.

Paul

 

Hi Zelement,

Before I went to the water injection I was also looking at their webste as well. It liooked like you can pick the core and they can put whatever ends you want on it... As I recall the size I was looking at the were about 1200 dollars... But I was soewhat tailoring it off of the ATI intercooler except a wider and taller.

Mo

 

Mo.

thanks for the input.
Yeah, I think I am going to base it off the aTI as well. However, since my is a L98 the pipe end is on the opposite side. I also hope the Spearco outflows the ATI

 

I would think that since you have the luxury of choosing the flow, you should be able too...

Mo

 

I am in the middle of my custom intercooler setup on my '90.

Mine is the ATI single intercooler (from an '85-'89 kit). I am customizing the lines right now. It is a lot of fabricating and cutting. I am using 2.5" pipe, but may move up to 3" later.

Stainless steel piping is the way to go. It has better cooling effects than the aluminum. If you need custom pipes bent in stainless, call stainless works. They can do it for you. Up to 3" pipe.

As far as silicone elbows and adapters, there are a couple of places that sell hoses. I would check www.injen.com first. They seem to have the best prices, but not a huge selection of silicone. If you don't see what you need, call/email them. They may have it, just not listed. You can get some hoses from NAPA, but they willbe pricey.

I put my intercooler in front of the air conditioner evaporator/consensor (?). Which is in front of the radiator. I hear that it blocks the radiator so I wired both of my fans to come on by a switch inside the car.

ATI provides a scoop, that sits in front of the intercooler and forces air into the intercooler. It bolts to the front of the intercooler and there are brackets that attach under the hood hinges that hold the intercooler/scoop assembly in place.

I routed my lines backwards according to ATI's directions. I made it so that the line that comes off of the head unit goes to the side of the intercooler closest to the head unit (ATI has the two lines crossing and going to opposite sides of the intercooler). I had the exit of the intercooler go up over the top of the intercooler and then a 90 right into the intake. The blow off tube sits in front of the intercooler.

The only major cutting that I had to do was to the radiator cover. Since the cover holds the radiator in place, I needed to keep it. I cut just enough for the intercooler to fit in front. It has less than an 1/4" gap from the radiator cover to the intercooler. I may try to seal it up better after.

When I have it done (by the end of this week). I can take pictures and send them to you. Send me a PM if you want them.

 

That's awesome info. Just what I was looking for! Thanks a bunch.

Do you know what CFM the ATI intercooler flows? I think my setup might be too much for the ATI intercooler but if not, I will use it just to make life a lot easier.

I would love to see pics of your install. Post them or PM them to me when you get a chance.

I would like to see what exactly you had to cut, your custom piping, and where you welded the BOV. ALso the kind of silicone connectors you used.

Did you use stainless steel piping?

Thanks a bunch,

paul

 

Zelement,

i would venture to say you would probably out flow the ATI... I have heard comments that anything above about 10 pounds of boost they start getting quite a bit of pressure drop through the intercooler... Plus they are at the bare minimums for size to be really effective... at least on the LT1 versions...
Mine was not effective, as I think I mentioned before , thus the reason for going water injection... It by far has yielded the best results for me anyways... aside form topping it off, but I usualy only go through a gallon of water/ meth with every tank full of fuel, unless i'm doing some hard back to back runs... about 15 gallons per hour... or 2 full minutes of hard WOT...

mo

 

I am not sure about the CFM, but the ATI intercooler that I am using is the single, two-core 2.5" in and 3" out. Like I said, it sits in front of the radiator so it is about as long as the radiator and is about 3" thick. I bought a used ATI kit, so I had their piping. I ended up cutting most of it apart and rewelding it back together. After I am done, I am going to mark everything and take the piping off and have custom stainless steel pipes bent at stainless works. They use a mandrel bender and the pipes will be smooth inside. The silicone elbows that I used were the 4 ply, fiberglass reinforced tubes. I used regular hose clamps that were supplied, but doubled them up. I am thinking about going to the T clamps when I get the stainless pipes.

The BOV was pretty simple. I cut the tubing out of the ATI stuff and ran it right above the radiator shroud. It is almost exacting the same amount of space from the exit of the intercooler to the intake. Around 18" from the intake and 18" from the exit of the intercooler.

My car is speed density. I am not sure if yours is SD or MAF. That could make a difference with where you run your piping. ATI has the piping run down and under the air dam. I thought that it was too low, so I ran mine through the headlight area. It is a tight fit, but there is no chance I am going to rip it apart on a speed bump or the bumpy New England roads.

I don't have pictures yet. My wife has the camera and she is in Virginia. When she gets back I will take pictures. I will email/PM them to you.

 

Mo,

I already have meth injection...remember? I have to agree, it runs a lot better with it then without it.
So are you not running an intercooler right now? Or both? I want to run both because eventually I want to upgrade to the YSI blower.
Right now, My IAT is fine with only about 11 psi of boost but I feel that anything above that I will need both in order to maximize my setup.

 

Swirk,

Thanks. Yeah, my is SD just like yours. I would love to see some pics. Let me know when you can take some pics.

Thanks,

paul

 

Here is two pics from my custom IC in 1990 Corvette.
Two 2,5" inlets in sides and one outlet directly to tb.

 

Here are mine. More coming.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1059379

 

Rokka,

That is one nice looking intercooler!! What did that thing cost you?

 

Sweet craftsmenship!

 

It was a little less than 800 euros, thats about $1040.