All of these are fantastic. I'm especially impressed by Malteser's build. Very clean.
It looks like everyone tossed the stock inlet pipe that enters the throttle body and fabbed up a new one to get the desired angle, is that correct? Wish I knew someone who can weld aluminum.
Also, is that top support bracket sufficient to support the weight of the intercooler, or is there a bracket on the bottom as well?
Yes, we all got rid of the stock inlet pipe. I have a CAD drawing somewhere that shows dimensions for a flange for the throttle body inlet. Can find it if you want.
You can buy a general purpose 2" aluminum piping kit from
Ebay. They usually come with a few 90degree bends. Then just buy silicone couplers and clamps to put it all together. The setups with fewer couplers look cleaner, but they also flex less and are more prone to cracking. In fact, I think Jarrat said he ended up modifying his setup to add couplers back in.
We all made slightly different brackets. But yes, those mounting points we all used are strong. The real key is to design it in a way that the intercooler can rock back and forth as the engine torques and vibrates (moves) side to side. That type of intercooler has mounting holes on top and bottom. I made a bracket that attached to both, but was suspended only from the top. This allowed movement.
The reason I went with a water/air setup as opposed to air/air, was to retain my A/C compressor. If you did not want your A/C, an air/air setup would be easier.
Oh yeah, and don't be tempted by larger than 2" piping. There is no point for the CFM's that our engines use. I think 2" can support over 200hp. In fact my friend used 2" on his HDJ81 running a Supra turbo. It is not restricting his power either.
