[blarsen]

2 posts in one day!! new record..
I wanted to install an intercooler on my supercharger but i did not want to.
1. block the air into my radiator, so that I over heat.
2. install 5 feet of tubing and have a ton of lag.
3. position the intercooler where it could get hurt.

So I purchased a 3" thick, bar and plate intercooler with 3" inch inlet and outlet, the size is like 14 x 16 (actual size of the cooling area not the including the inlet or outlet).

I purchased a hood scoop from a Subaru WRX (not STI) and installed it in the hood and ducted it over the intercooler, on the inter cooler I mad a gasket that seals the hood scoop to the intercooler and forces the air through it.

The inter cooler in mounted over the a very small section of the head, but mostly over the open area over the exhaust manifold.

The intercooler is plumbed with 3 inch mandral pipe from the supercharger to the intercooler and has a silicone sleeve between the intercooler and a flange on the intake manifold.


I know you are wondering how it works???
Well, I can say that it has made the biggest difference in performance, in 50-60 degree weather I can run the engine hard for any amount of time, stop and put my hand on the cooler and it is cold to the touch!!!

We drove to Moab a week ago from Orem and with stock gearing, 35 inch tires and loaded with 4 people and all our gear, we made it over soldier summit in overdrive at 70 plus without effort, I am very impressed, I had not even hopped for it to work this well.. On the way back from Moab, the really steep hill between green river and price, I was doing almost 80 in overdrive...

Sorry to the members that have no idea of the hill I am talking about, but for comparison my stock 80 would struggle to hold 50 over soldier summit and the other hill mentioned.

later

[MTNRAT]

Whoa, More pics and diagrams and a write up please.

[blarsen]

MTNRAT
Well at least you're not asking for much.. (joke)
I will see what I can do, but just moving all the vacuum lines and other stuff out from where the intercooler is mounted took about 10 hours.. I have almost 30 hours into the whole hood scoop/intercooler install.. the hardest part by far was the 3" pipe from the supercharger to the intercooler.. I had to cut the end off the SC exit pipe in order to get the 3" pipe in.. plus the radius on the pipe bend going back to the intercooler is only about 2 inches, so I had to custom make that radius.. (the tightest I could find was 3" inch pipe with a 3" radius U bend)..
later Bret

[cruiserdan]

What about heat-soak when you are moving slow off-road?

[airlaird]

Absolutely, get more closer pics please...no one has ever thought of that routing as far as I know. Can you give us a part number and where you bought the intercooler?
airlaird

[blarsen]

C-Dan
I am not very worried about heat soak on the trail (it will happen). The intercooler will not get any hotter than the stock supercharger setup (worst case) at very slow trail speeds, and I had no problems with heat before (knocking, overheating, etc). I have read a ton on air flow and intercoolers and it seems that 20mph is enough air to cool the intercooler and remove the max BTU's.. the crucial part is making the air move through the intercooler and having NO way for the air to go around it and lessoning the effect of the potential air you have. Having said that.. i have enough room for a 7"diameter, high performance fan on top of the intercooler and have a setup in mind that would put a heat sensor in the outlet of the IC to turn the fan on at a given temperature to cool the charge.. But the main reason for the IC is for driving to and from the trail, vacations and adventures with the family, and it works perfectly for that..
later
Bret

[blarsen]

Airlaird
I will hunt around for the part number for the IC, I purchased it a year ago and since moved to a new house.. I may have bookmarked the site? (I hope)
I am sorry that I don't have all the info on my install, I must admit that I have had it done for a month and have not wanted to get flamed from people who have nothing better to do than give people crap.. I am happy to say that all the questions have been very good and i will see what I can do to provide the information to those interested..
thanks
Bret

[blarsen]

It is a very good intercooler for the price.. (you can pay lots more)

This is where is purchased the intercooler:

http://www.justjap.com/parts_nintercoolers.htm

and this is the closest one to the size I used:

Cooling-Pro Universal Intercooler - Small Type
Bar and plate - 280 x 300 x 76mm - 3 Inch outlets
$149...

later

[landtank]

I like it.

[NaterGator]

Cool idea, but like Dan said, what about heat soak when you are moving slow? Did you somehow protect from exhaust heat rising up? This would be wicked if you could shield it from below and duct the bottom so that the air dumps out into the fender to keep under hood pressure correct.

[Beowulf]

Originally Posted by blarsen

I am sorry that I don't have all the info on my install, I must admit that I have had it done for a month and have not wanted to get flamed from people who have nothing better to do than give people crap.

Bret,
You should never let the "fear of critique" stop you from posting anything, especially a solution as creative as this one. Some view questions as flaming and some get defensive but, for the most part, those here in the 80-section will appreciate your work and your ingenuity.

Numbers and data also make us happy. How about a 4-wheel dyno run?

-B-

[airlaird]

Bret I appreciate it..don't be timid about posting your install, heck you enlightened me with how you did your install, and it looks looks great. Try to post some over head views of the set up please.
airlaird

[Doc]

I'm wondering if you wrapped your exhaust header with that heat tape? I hear it's really effective. Would also help reduce potential heat soak in the intercooler.

[mot]

Good stuff!

Thanks for sharing, and would like to hear/see more about it myself as well!

Mot

[blarsen]

I had planned to make a exhaust vent for the bottom of the IC and dump it down the fire wall and out next to the exhaust... But, I soon found out that with a 3" core the extra room under the IC and the head (just on the far right side of the IC) runs out rally fast.. so if I would have made a pan for it I could have potentially restricted the flow through part of the IC. I started thinking about the Head gasket and how it always go's out by #6, and if I left the IC without a pan and ducting it would direct cooler air directly on that part of the motor and could help the HG in the long run to stay cool and last longer.
I have not wrapped the exhaust with the heat wrap, but I do have the stock exhaust shield in place. I did figure that I could use some if it became a problem.. So far it works perfectly, MUCH better than i could have wished for, the cool air flows very easy through the ic and just blows cool air onto the exhaust and out under the truck.
Bret

[fzjchase]

Reminds me of the STi setup with a top mount intercooler. Except that it's a flat four and turbo-charged...

[blarsen]

As for the flaming part, Its really hard when you (me) have been planning this IC install for over a year, reading everything I could from the Tuner Car guys (they know IC's) and investing a lot of time and money to make something as good as i could, and to have someone who may be having a bad day glance at the post and rip me a new one... I fully understand that it happens VERY little on IH8MUD (great people). But in the end, trying to get things across in this kind of form is difficult at best and a disaster at worst, most of the time i just choose to shut my mouth (see keyboard) and glean as much information from reading the posts as i can, i comment very little and post almost never.
Bret

[Rainy Day FZJ]

Looks wonderful, any idea of the rough cost?

[Trunk Monkey]

I like, a lot. The intercooler on my truck uses a radiator placed in front of the main rad. and I've never liked that set up. But, on an interesting note, we shot some before/after intercooler temps on mine and saw about a 20 degree drop. Much more than I thought it would be.

[blarsen]

Cost:
Intercooler $150
Mandrel pipe $100
Silicone Elbow and 2 sleeves $50
vacuum lines $5
WRX Hood Scoop (used) $100
Sheet metal (for ducting scoop) $10
Ultra Dense Foam/silicone gasket for top of IC $45 (Had to make it my self)
30 hours install time, Priceless!! (and 1 year of Orem City's Internet time)
later Bret

[Romer]

Nice write-up. Do you have part numbers and web sites to order the stuff from?

A good diagram and some more pics would be great.

Think about if you were a reader is there enough for you to do the mod yourself.

Excellent thread. You have done what a lot of folks have talked about and wanted (and still do) to do themselves (Including me )

[blarsen]

Romer
Thanks a lot, I will work on some illustrations and part numbers (or links) to the parts needed, the really sad thing is that i didn't take picture as i put it together, I get working on things and find it hard to stop even for food.
As for the intercooler in front of your stock radiator, I learned that putting one in front of the other makes them both function less than they should, it blocks the air to the LC Rad and in turn makes a dead air space between them and stops the air from going through the IC like it could. the front mount IC is very efficient if you can mount it so that it is not in front of you LC Rad and you have a way to Duct the air so that it must go through the IC not around it, the only place I could do this is where the Factory winch would mount, and then place a scoop on top of the bumper to catch the air and then duct it through the IC... It turned out to be a lot of work and I choose the top mount..
later

[Beowulf]

How is access for maintenance of things like the spark plugs, valve cover gasket, PCV, etc?

-B-

[blarsen]

Access?
All that is needed to remove the intercooler is to loosen 2 stainless clamp (crap I forgot those in the price!!) and lift it out. takes 30 seconds.
Good question..
PS. I am leaving work and won't be back on Ih8mud until Monday..
later and thanks
Bret

[Cattledog]

Great work!

[clarkrw3]

Great work...If I had thought of this I would have picked up a supercharger before they were discontinued.

[Kenso]

I've done nothing but think about this very same mod since I bought my s/c kit. Seems like an ideal solution. The only thing I was concerned about was hacking up the hood for the scoop (and how it might look). Yours seems to blend into the look of the truck fairly well. I'm really glad you posted this, gives me the motivation to attempt something similar myself. If you get a chance, how about some more pics, especially of the hood/front end from a further distance away. I'd like to get a better idea of how I might like that WRX scoop.

[Dusty]

cool build. could be utilized with a turbo too.

the heat sink thing isn't an issue. the air going into motor probably isn't much cooler while wheeling but wouldn't be any hotter than without one either. and at least an intercooler in this location isn't in front of the motor when wheeling like mine.

one may argue that this intercooler is too small for our motor but If this intercooler can flow a 2.5l motor to 10+ psi at 7000 rpms it could arguably flow our 4.5l at 6psi and 5000rpms. do you have boost guage numbers taken at the intake manifold pre and post intercooler? this would give an idea. does the eaton m90 on the cruiser application take the bypass pressure signal from supercharger itself or from the intake manifold? if your setup is taking the pressure signal at the supercharger (pre-intercooler) you may want to take a line from the intake manifold itself (post intercooler)so as to make sure your intake is seeing maximum boost and not leaching off a psi or two due to the resistance of your intercooler.

[knorrena]

Nice job. I recently test drove an Acura RDX and it had a similar IC setup and my brain started wheeling away, then you post yours. I am sold on the idea and now you have me looking up ICs. Do you recall how much room there is between the hood and the top of the valve cover? I am going to guess about 4.5".

Karl

[blarsen]

4.5 inches would be really close... good luck
Bret