neutron82

you might consider getting a real catch can or breather can, the little air compressor separators don't do a whole lot... you don't have to run the restrictor plate either, you will make more power without it and most of us leave it out... the factory idler that you have to break off is part of the alternator/power steering bracket so it isn't cast into the block... you should have no issues breaking the ear off the bracket to install the new idler... if you ever decide to upgrade to a secondary drive system you will have to cut that piece off the bracket anyway

romandian

o.k., so how do i go back to stock, after having broken off the bracket?

neutron82

install another bracket that still has the idler ear intact... if you don't want to use their idler you don't have to, just leave it off and install the rest of the kit as you normally would... the earlier c5 bracket isn't as strong and there is a possibility of it snapping that ear off from the added belt tension, but that doesn't seem to happen very often... your call

DOUG @ ECS

Thanks for helping him out guys, I have been busy today and not on here much.

OP, the bracket is very inexpensive if you wanted to return it to stock, or just leave the fixed idler from us on the car and sell it without it. Either way I recommend you installing it, it's very easy to do IMO.

Dave concrete

Hey Doug that intercooler, they are smaller then the one's you put on years back?

schpenxel

Was wondering about this too

romandian

so you are saying, the new idler will work when converting back to stock, right?

btw, chris sais to cut the 4" hose and use part of it on the tb. i doubt it will work and am not looking forward to cutting it.

the actual build will not happen very soon, its too cold in the garage (i dont have a lift). but i have been thinking about the options i have. in the end i will probably end up with a sd setup, but i would like to go step by step using the maf first. so can i use the stock maf with the standart kit (i understand 7-8 psi of boost)? i read somewhere that the 2000 maf only goes to 11 750 hz. alternatively get a bigger maf, but which one. you read so many bad things about after market mafs. on the other hand, maybe its not worth it dishing out another $500+ and i should just max out the original maf with lower boost, see how everythig works and move on to sd.

any thoughts?

schpenxel

On cutting the hose.. The best way I found to do it was to put one of the hose clamps on the hose to use as a guide. Score it a few times with a sharp razor blade. The key for me for the final cut through was to make sure the blade was sliding back and forth and I wasn't just trying to force it through. There is a video on YouTube that shows that method.. Search for cutting silicone hose or something like that and you'll find it

neutron82

apparently the same intercooler used in the c6 is being used in the c5 kits now and the bigger intercooler is an upgrade... the intercooler the op has also appears to have cast end tanks, the older ones were made out of sheet metal and had nice welds all the way around them

neutron82

yes, you can use the new idler if you switch back to stock or remove it and replace the bracket with an unbroken one if you want to keep the idler... I would not cut the hose yet until you mock everything up... as I stated earlier it looks like you have a mafless charge pipe so your maf will not fit, you would have to cut a piece out of the pipe in order to make room for it which isn't worth it in my opinion... on my setup I ditched the stock maf and replaced the stock map sensor with a 2bar map sensor and had it tuned in speed density, that's what a lot of us end up doing

Dave concrete

Mine that was installed in 07' with my Novi2000 makes that one look like a toy.

DOUG @ ECS

Yes, we had to bend to what the market wanted basically. Not everyone wanted or needed a $1,000 intercooler apparently so those people would go with another brand to save money. We opted to make it an option after an over seas dealer wanted bulk kits with the smaller intercooler, we kept the option from there.

We have been 8.56 with the C6 intercooler btw, others have been faster.

Dave concrete

That big boy is a beauty, the welds are perfect. Don't believe people try to save money in certain areas.

neutron82

I was unaware of the upgrade and expected the big intercooler when I bought my kit... I have also talked to 2-3 people that have purchased kits recently that also had no clue about any upgrades... I don't think they show anything on their website and I don't see much on here about it until it's brought up... I ultimately had mine swapped out, here is a pic for reference

romandian

where does the air filter go with the big cooler?

btw, explorer opens the instructions incl. pictures.

a hint to ecs: if you ship a kit overseas, it would be a nice idea to include a 3/16 allen wrench for the brass plugs. they are awfully hard to get over here.

nullpointer

Does this help?

romandian

not really, because thats the small cooler i have too. thanks anyway.

nullpointer

Gotcha, you wonder how the air filter mounts with the full size intercooler. My bad

neutron82

the top cover is cut out different and the filter sits right on top of the intercooler

DOUG @ ECS

Didn't know that, noted.