The official 1HDT Intercooler thread

[SeaJay]

its lunchtime and I stopped for a coffee, I have done a bit of the IC install, took a while to blow the bugs out of the AC condenser but it cleaned up ok. Drilled the holes with a hole saw, and fitted the IC and trans cooler. So far I'd give the kit the thumbs up, all seems well made, good solid brackets and comprehensive instructions

 

[Imwhere]

Looks good Stuart but that's a lot of heat it the one area. How hot is the air going to be by the time it gets to your radiator?
Uphill in summer with the AC on..... Just Saying
I know it can get hot in WA

 

[SeaJay]

Looks good Stuart but that's a lot of heat it the one area. How hot is the air going to be by the time it gets to your radiator?
Uphill in summer with the AC on..... Just Saying
I know it can get hot in WA

it gets bloody hot driving in the North West, was 45c when I drove down 2 weeks ago, I drive back up in a week or so, so that will test it for sure

I had to put the glow screen housing back in to fit this kit, I removed the glow screen itself, Loctited the nut, and peened the thread

got the L/H side pipework connected, you have to rotate the brake line bracket, but that wasn't too hard

Its a tight fit with the AC receiver/drier, had to bend the AC pipes a bit, and lower it an inch, ideally relocating the receiver/drier to behind the headlights would be good

 

[syche]

Hi, can we get more picture of that beautiful intake elbow you bolted on the manifold?

 

[SeaJay]

there ya go

 

[syche]

Very nice adapter, thanks for the pictures

 

[diby 2000]

Looks like a nice kit @SeaJay
Where do your tranny cooler lines come through the radiator support pannel?
If I remember correctly mine came through the hole on the right hand side (looking from the front) below the hole that the air conditioning line came through.
The location the cool side of your intercooler pipework runs where I run my winch (50mm2) through the support.

 

[SeaJay]

Looks like a nice kit @SeaJay
Where do your tranny cooler lines come through the radiator support pannel?
If I remember correctly mine came through the hole on the right hand side (looking from the front) below the hole that the air conditioning line came through.
The location the cool side of your intercooler pipework runs where I run my winch (50mm2) through the support.

I had to remove the trans cooler lines from there factory position, I will re-route them with new hose either thru one of the headlight holes, or where the AC line goes thru. The power cables for the winch will be going thru there as well

 

[SeaJay]

The R/H side seemed easier to connect up than the L/H side, I have to buy another metre of trans cooler hose as I am connecting to the join near the bottom of the radiator, I found it too tight to use the factory fitting thru the radiator support

 

[SeaJay]

I ran the trans cooler lines thru the original hole, just had to get rid of the factory metal pipe there, just not enough room, I slipped the hose thru some retic line, then silastic around it so there is no movement/wear on the trans hoses. Just about got it back together, having to trim some plastic off the back of the grill to get that to fit

 

[SeaJay]

Finished the install, the grill needs to be ground, but its not noticeable once fitted. Defiantly a lot more work involved fitting a front mount of this type than the top mount was, but as you can see its do-able

 

[syche]

Hi,

It looks very nice but i would worry about all the rubber it appears to be on piping and hoses. Vibrations will take it's toll

 

[SeaJay]

I do have to get a longer hose from the rocker vent to the catch can so its not touching, and some heat shield for the R/H battery, but that's about it

 

[oszkari]

I’m looking to put an IC in before this summer. My cruiser is a manual HDJ81, OEM winch with ARB bull bar.

I’m leaning towards a front mount, but I have read that the OEM winch can be an issue. Since I don’t have to deal with the transmission radiator I wonder if I was still ok with a front mount?

I’m using the cruiser mostly for overlanding (I don't shy away from Moab and such) so my criteria are: reliability, performance, ease of installation.

After reading through this thread I have shortlisted the manufacturers below. Can I have your opinion which one you think would be the best fit for my use case? if you know any better alternative I'm open to it.

Safari (Safari Intercooler System)
PDI ( Landcruiser 80 Series Front Mount intercooler)
HPD (LANDCRUISER 80 SERIES FRONT MOUNT INTERCOOLER KIT - $1,595 : HP Diesel, Performance kits for your 4WD)

Thanks!

 

[Loober]

I can speak for PDI, just installed their kit on my 70 series, and it is top notch. The fit was very good all considered and Brian is very helpful. Their product is well made and you can tell they've put a lot of R&D into it.

 

[SeaJay]

+1 for PDI, and they are 100mm larger than the HPD. Both are larger than the Safari unit. I just got back from towing a trailer 1600 km in North Western Australia summer heat, no problems

 

[mudgudgeon]

+1 for PDI, and they are 100mm larger than the HPD. Both are larger than the Safari unit. I just got back from towing a trailer 1600 km in North Western Australia summer heat, no problems

Sounds like a good result.

 

[TuffMudder]

Wow, what a thread! Took me forever to read through. Started out certain I wanted WTA, but by the end was back to ATA. Has to be front mount though. It's going on a 1990 HDJ81 with factory winch and an add on ATM cooler, so i won't know how much room i have up front until it arrives in a week or so.

Of the ones discussed here, it looks like the PDI is my best bet, but the price tag did make me do a bit of a double take. If $1500 is the price of admission, i guess i'll belly up to the bar, but I'm curious if anyone is running one of the sub $1000 front mount ATA and if they're happy with the results.

I'm also wondering if anyone has any thoughts how this similar one on ebay compares. Looks like its 450mm vs 550 on the PDI, so perhaps in line with the HPD? Any one have specific experience with this 450x330x76 or this one at 600x300x76. If they are 90% of the $1500 PDI, the prices are certainly appealing.

and @surfari-LC80, did you ever finish the WTA that you were working on?

 

[mudgudgeon]

Any one have specific experience with this 450x330x76 or this one at 600x300x76.

The first one, I'd want to see more pics of what you get. If it's a kit, ask for photos of it installed. Also, ask for a photo showing inside the core. I've seen a few eBay cores that look like they were cut with a chainsaw.

The second one is a generic universal kit, compare the pipes you get with what's in a reputable purpose made kit. I think most of the pipes in the universal kit won't be particularly usable. You'd have to cut a lot of the bends, then form a bead on the cut end to retain hoses.
I think you'd do better being more selective in buying individual bends that will work, and using some silicone bends instead of hard pipe so you can eliminate some joins and clamps.
Also, look for 2.5" piping, it's plenty big enough, less lag, and a lot easier to find pathways for 2.5" vs 3" pipe and bends

With a kit like the PDI, you're paying maybe a third to a half of it for the purpose made pipes, cast adapter at the manifold, and ease of fitment

 

[TuffMudder]

Thanks @mudgudgeon . I'm thinking i may just get a 600x300x76 radiators and have the rest fabbed locally. I have to wait until the truck comes in to see if theres room. The PO add a transmission cooler, so I'm not sure how much space i'll have left