Patrick G

The East Coast Supercharging kit is great and it makes a lot of power. But in the C6, that thick intercooler is blocked by the front bumper assembly and less than 50% of it gets fresh air though it.
To make matters worse, the IC next to the bumper also means that very little air gets to the top half of the AC condenser or radiator. It's blocked.
And because the factory shroud is scrapped, a lot of the incoming air goes around the IC, condenser, and radiator. If you have elevated cooling temps and poor intercooler performance, I have a solution.


Cut out the front bumper between the airbag sensors then rebox it for strength.


Now you have about 3" of clearance between the bumper and intercooler.


Now you can actually see the entire intercooler and the air can get to it.


Here's the bumper with it boxed and welded.

Patrick G

But opening up the bumper is only half of the solution. Now you have to capture the air that gets around the sides of the IC, condenser and radiator.


First you mock it up with cardboard (see the white boards on each side?)


Next, you cut it out in sheet metal.


Both sides shown.


Here's what your side panels will look like.


Here's the finished product with the air cleaner and IC reinstalled.


Another view.

Patrick G

Here's the proof. My coolant temps used to hover in the 220f range going down the highway until I changed the tune to run the fans all the time. After the fan change, the temps would stay between 208-212 going down the highway. My trans temps would follow suit. Now, my coolant temps are 181-185f with the AC blowing. If I do a long WOT pull on the highway, the temps will go up to maybe 189, then they'll drop back down to the low 180s after a minute or so. It would NEVER do that before. The IAC temps are MUCH better than before. I'm going to redyno this soon and hope my IATs stay lower longer. I'm trying to get this thing ready for the Texas Mile and I won't get a very good trap speed without good airflow going through the intercooler. I hope these photos show you how you can make a big fat intercooler work on a space-confined C6.

gotjuice?

Nice upgrade to the bumper, That should help on the intercooler. A&A kit already comes with the side panels like the ones you built. They do make a big difference on the engine cooling.

inspector12

Yeah I did that to mine 2 years ago, but didn't box it back. I have a much larger Bell intercooler and none of the side shrouds you made, but I do have a Dewitts radiator and twin fans set up. Coolant runs @178-180 with AC on in summer make a pull it will go up to about 185-190 and drop right back down oil temp follow the engine coolant temps. But good deal sharing info as some probably haven't played with it any. Also it posted double pics BTW.

Patrick G

Did some further dyno tweaks on my 93 octane, no meth tune. The reduced IATs helped increase my power to 744rwhp/709rwtq (was 719/653). I make peak power around 5900 rpm, then at 6400 rpm this little supercharger starts running out of airflow. Did a 6800 rpm blast in 3rd and 4th gear which gets me above 160mph and the highest my IATs got was 169f. That's way better than before. They would have been 190-200f at the same rpm and speed before.

Sorry about the double picture posts. If the mods can clean it up, I'd be appreciative. I couldn't figure out how to edit them.

Unreal

It is on my list of things to do. Either cut/box it like you did, or just cut the whole thing out and tube it.

Did you reinstall the foam piece that goes on the front?

Patrick G

Yes, I reinstalled the foam piece. It weighs just a couple of pounds and it keeps the nose shape from deforming when going triple digit speeds.

Unreal

Since you have the templates for the side pieces, any thoughts of making a few sets for sale?

I got a cutter/welder/etc. This looks far easier than cutting the whole thing out and tubing it like I was planning. Glad to see the results.

Patrick G

Might consider making some more side panels. But since everything was cut to fit the piping on my C6, others may be slightly different.

Unreal

Yah, it is easy enough to do myself. Maybe next weekend do the same thing. I have a plasma/mig/tig and everything to do it easy enough.

grocerygetter

Very nice work and great info!

SlayerRX8

Thanks for the info - looks like a great upgrade!

C6smackdown

So you permanently hack up the front of your car, all in an effort to get an I/C to cool more efficiently??

Wow...

ajrothm

Nice job Pat.

Next time try taking the elephant trunk air inlet/filter off on the dyno and see what it does... Blowers hate having a 90* bend in front of them--hence why youre running out of air flow.

Sub'd for how long the stock 6l80 lasts...

drumacdy

Just curious….was your former dyno @ 719 with the 93oct & the meth tune? Do you plan on retuning with the meth now too?

Ultrasport05

Nice job pat. I wish I had the equipment and the know how to cut and box the crossmember. I would love to buy a set of the side plates if you do decide to sell them. I even don't mind if I have to modify them slightly to fit my car.

Pitufina

Please!! I'm willing to pay for this!

X2

Certainly! I think Pat may need to reconsider...

X3

gotjuice?

Might want to stay out of the forced induction section if you don't understand.

Unreal

After looking at them, I wouldn't be interested unless they are $10 or whatever the materials cost. Too easy to make yourself.