i just bought a vortech kit. im going to eith er build a air/water intercooler or use an air/air, what is the largerest intercooler you can fit on a c4. i know there isnt much room and i think i want the largest one possible. also are air/water intercoolers better? thanks

 

You can put a really large one in front of the radiator if you stand it up and move it back toward to engine, but air flow/coolant heat will likely be a problem.

 

I just bought a 12"h x 24"w x 4"d core, side-to-side flow, bar/plate style (Spearco copy). I will be making it fit a few inches in front of the radiator of my 89.

 

Remove your front bumperskin and remove enough styrofoam (using a turkey carvig knife,electric is best) to fit the intercooler in there. Get a copy of Corky Bell's Maximum Boost and read about the ducting requirements. Next cut out the licence plate hole ad put in one of those inlet's from M.A.D or Ecklers if you like. In either case you'll be worlds ahead of sticking it in front o the radiator in terms of both heat soak (asphalt) and depending on how good a job you do trimming, airflow thru the core.
Especially getting all it's air from the absolute highest pressure area on the car, the very tip of the nose.

 

what if i made an air to water and put 3 or 4 heater cores in the license plate are to cool the water. would that be any good. i dont think the license plate area has a large enough area for an air to air cooler.

 

It would seem that way, however you only need 25% of the area of the entire intercooler for an inlet. Think of how much air will pass thru a 1 square foot opening at 60mph. It's just imperitive that you do a good job with the ducting. it MUST be sealed in order to take maximum advantage. Having a smaller opening is actually ideal (provided you have done your sealing job correctly) as air that comes thru the opening finds it impossible to go anywhere else but thru the core. Also the "reverse funnel" effect slows the incoming air enough to help with distribution across the core.

Funny you should mention the heater cores, I have been toying around with a pair from a 12 pass full size van. I'm gonna try to use 4 of them staggered with fresh air ducting to all to cool the engine.

 

do you think an air/water intercooler is the way to go?

 

That is where mine is. It is the same size as the radiator. I did have some cooling problems initially but then I cleaned out the area around the radiator (bunch of leaves and stuff) and installed a 3000cfm dual Spal fan. Now it runs between 178 and 183 degrees consistantly.

 

what size ducting do you use. 2.5 inch or 3inch?

 

cjg454SS,
I currently run a 3.5"T x 12"H x 14"L horizontal flow Spearco unit on my vette. It has a 3" inlet and 3" outlet.

I am in the process of completing a 5.5"T x 20.5"W x 15"H vertical flow unit that totally encapsulates the radiator/condensor package. The inlet is 3" oval, and the outlet is 3.5" oval. The feed is at the lower right (near the lower radiator hose), and the discharge is ~4" directly in front of the throttle body.

I have not seen anyone with a unit this big, and it has been quite a bit of work to install, but requires no cutting of the frame, or relocation of components (hood mounts, A/C condensor, radiator package, factory fan, etc.). The aluminum ducting that brings air from under the bumper has been a challenge as well.

Aaron

 

If you live in a very hot climate, definitly. It's heavier, no doubt, but it can be your advantage. For about $300 in parts and a little ebayin' I can show you how to build a tank similar to bruce's. Since you live in FL you run your a/c all the time anyway. What do you care if it cycle's twice as much? Chevy suburban's and full size vans have been using a dual evap setup for Decades, you can do the same to chill a tank of water down. The better the job you do insulating the lines back and forth, the more effiecicnt it becomes. You can get the line from any local Radiator shop. Almost all of them will build custom a/c lines. At least in my neck of the woods they do. Get a custom T suction line made. It's the fat one that comes out of the top of the a/c box. It will cost about 120 bucks. Give or take. You could use -AN (it stands for army/navy, I never knew that. thanks history channel )to do the same if you wish.
For the high pressure side, You can use a conventional flare tool and copper tube to run a split right after the condenser to the back of the car. 3/8 Dia is sufficient, right from home depot.
Now all you need is the largest evaporator you can,
1) get your hands on
2)fit into whatever water tank you source.
Ebay and junkyards are a good choice. Some will still have the expansion valve (or orifice tube) If they don't, I'll give you the part no for the one we used in bruce's car from grainger's.

To help to condenser out (and efficiency) use a few small spal pusher fans in the nose. the whole car wil run cooler.

Now on to the engine. We used a PWR 6x10 barrel cooler. It's very efficient. With a fully chilled tank bruce's IAt's @15-16+psi were only 120 deg F. Not to shabby considering it goes by the passenger header (less than 1/2 in) AFTER the intercooler! I imagine in your case it would be far below 100deg and pretty close to ambient or maybe less.
They recently came out with a 8x10 model that will flow 1530 cfm. Haven't tried that one yet.

Insultate the tank and intercooler well! If you run the pump continuous it will be like driving your car in the winter! (without the mess)

 

I'll be running 3" tubing all the way; I'm looking at some stainless flex stuff Summit sells as a way to avoid custom fab. Also look at "marine wet exhaust" fittings.
I too plan on removing my front plate and cutting thru the crash bar. Then a fully sealed alum shroud to the intercooler and radiator; plus the big front airscoop (which forms the lower 1/2 of the shroud). I also got the dual Spal 11" fans which pull like 2900cfm and fit the radiator core PERFECTLY!