Finally the performance bug has bitten me on the
butt... I'm not after a huge power output, I *should* be happy with
200hp at the rear wheels, but we'll see... When it comes to horsepower,
when has enough ever been enough? 
Firstly I purchased a Hybrid style 600x300x76mm intercooler from ModYourCar.com. I had planned on having custom piping made up, but at nearly twice the price of the intercooler itself I was looking for other options. As luck would have it Terry and Jamie from our little Kalgoorlie performance car clan offered their assistance in knocking up some pipes to suit the intercooler and get some nice cool air into the SR20DET motor.
Before we could start on the pipework I needed to get the intercooler mounted.
I ended up needing two goes at this as the first time I mounted it too low for it to look right.
The Intercooler
1st try...
;)
You can see in the pic how low it ended up... ;)
The
brackets were made from 40mm x 3mm steel flat bar, with the top two attaching to the front bumper bar support and the
bottom two attaching to the mounts previously holding part of the bumper bar bottom. This part of the bumper was cut in my
attempt to make space for the intercooler.
The one good thing about this attempt was how solid the mount ended up. No movement unless a huge amount of force was used.
2nd try...
;)
See? Much better... After some friendly suggestion
I moved the intercooler up approximately an inch by modifying the brackets
I had already made.
;)
To allow enough room for my top brackets and the
cooler itself, I had to trim some of the bumper, support bar, plastic
on the headlights and some of the grill. None of this, except for the
bumper, can be noticed with everything in place.
You will notice the brackets at the top mount to the metal bumper support
bar at the front of the car. I had planned to mount it to the same area
as the headlights, but I deemed this area a bit flimsy, especially since
someone had hacked into this area before I had the car.
;)
One of the guys from the
SilviaWA
board thought I shouldn't mount it as I have because I wont be able
to take the bumper support bar off without removing the intercooler...
I can't see it being a problem, but each to their own.
The bottom brackets mount to the holes that originally secured the bottom
of the plastic bumper.
The Piping
Since the intercooler was now mounted it was time to get some piping assembled to utilise the new addition.
;)
First we needed to rotate the battery (I had a small
battery that allowed me to spin it), as the piping on the drivers side
needs to go straight through the battery tray. Terry is a dab hand with
the angle grinder and cut a neat square hole for the piping to pass
through. I tidied it up a bit more with a die grinder and later we put
some rubber around the edges to protect the piping.
Parts required :
- 1 x mandrel donut
- 2 x 3" rubber 90 degree bends
- 1 x metal 2" to 3" reducer
- Approx. 60cm or so of 3" straight pipe -
A metal bed head perhaps?
- Approx. 30cm or so of 2" straight pipe
- Approx. 10cm or so of 1" pipe
- 5 x 3" T-Clamps
- An 8cm piece of 3" silicon tube.
All of the above items were sourced from MDU Detroit
in Kalgoorlie, except for the silicon stolen from Terry's shed.
The stock intercooler was ripped out so we could
have some room to move and work out the angles required for the left
side pipework.
The stock piping was retained from the turbo to where it met the stock
intercooler. The 2" reducer was next in line, before a piece of
the mandrel donut, next a straight piece of 3" pipe leading into
the 3" rubber elbow and from there into the intercooler. For now
the pieces were taped together awaiting tack welding.
;)
The right side was a bit more difficult and Terry
did a top job working out all the bends!!
Starting from the throttle body, a short piece of 3" pipe leads
into a piece of mandrel donut, then more straight, a bit more donut,
more straight, another bend, more straight, into the other rubber bend
and finally into the intercooler. Pheww... Made it.
;)
To make it all solid we tacked it together... What
a laugh!! I haven't done any welding before really, so it was quite
an experience. I firstly burnt a huge hole that Terry had to fix, but
I later fluked a couple of tacks which was good. Terry ended up doing
most of the tacking, test fitting as he did each section, just to make
sure it all worked out.
And here we have the pipework ready to be professionally MIG welded.
;)
I took the pipes to CCP Racing where Lindsay did
a top job welding it all together for a very reasonable $80. Along with
the main pipes to be welded, I also needed a 1" pipe added for
one of the hoses near the throttle body, as well as a fitting mounted
for my GFB Hybrid Blow Off Valve. ;)
Lindsay has a big belt sander which
quickly smooths down all the welds, which made it a lot easier to get
the pipes ready for paint. As the only real visible part of piping is
the part near the throttle body, I concentrated my efforts there. With
a die grinder, files and some sand paper I ended up with the finished
pipes painted with 'hammered metal' spray paint.
Fitting the Pipes
The passenger side bolted up without any problems using 2 of the T-Clamps on the 3" rubber elbow and using the hose clamps from the stock piping for the other end.
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
The right side also fitted up without problem except for a few scratches and I miscalculated where the extra 1" pipe needed to be. It should be on the bend near the throttle body, but its on there and with a longer hose does its job.
;)
I bought a K&N Pod Filter and Air Flow Meter
adaptor from Jeff at C-Red Tuning so I could fit it along with my blow-off
valve.
The piece of 2" pipe with the 1" fitting replaces the stock
pipe from the turbo and holds the GFB Hybrid BOV running in full atmo
configuration.
;)
If the bling bling causes hassles with authorities further
down the track I can swap the pipes back.
And there you have it, a front mount intercooler with piping and fitting for approximately $650. Cheap, yes, but I definitely understand the work that goes into custom intercooler piping now!! The pod was an extra $130, but opens up the engine bay quite a bit and sounds great!!
The Drive...
;)
I was expecting a loss in throttle response after
reading some other peoples reports about their intercooler installs,
but I don't notice any difference to how it was in that respect. The
noises coming out of the engine bay are awesome, from the sucking and
whistling of the pod to the very loud PSSSSCCHHT from the BOV, I am
loving it... Aint nothin like a bit of w@nk factor!!
;)
Performance wise, boost has increased from the usual max of 10psi**
to a max of 12psi** and the boost comes on quite a bit faster than before.
I don't have temperature readouts unfortunately... I may have to look
into this in the future.
** That's what my gauge reads, I'm not sure how accurate it is.
The only problem I have had was with the passenger
side intercooler pipe which blew off with a huge bang due to a loose
clamp...
I haven't had any problems since, thankfully... *knocks wood*
Update...
After installing the Blitz DSBC Boost Controller and Apexi S-AFC a final figure of 198.7rwhp was achieved on around 15psi.
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