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My Water to Air intercooler install

I think we all love living vicariously through your builds. Just giving some of my dreamings. What ever you do is more than I have done or ever will with current budget. I always dreamed of a combo "catfish" mouth bumper plus lower trim valance with slits or perforated then seal off sides air slip area of cooler behind openings so it " dams"air and encourages flow through cooler. The under bumper trim piece use to come with gaps for tow hooks but would still make using tow books much less easy. I also always dreamed of the front radiator as a second cooler and leave a first stage under the truck. It's about delta temp and or air flow. So while coolant is hot a radiator underthe truck could shed some then front radiator could cool it a tad more in air stream.
 
schiker said:
I think we all love living vicariously through your builds. Just giving some of my dreamings. What ever you do is more than I have done or ever will with current budget. I always dreamed of a combo "catfish" mouth bumper plus lower trim valance with slits or perforated then seal off sides air slip area of cooler behind openings so it " dams"air and encourages flow through cooler. The under bumper trim piece use to come with gaps for tow hooks but would still make using tow books much less easy. I also always dreamed of the front radiator as a second cooler and leave a first stage under the truck. It's about delta temp and or air flow. So while coolant is hot a radiator underthe truck could shed some then front radiator could cool it a tad more in air stream.
Click to expand...
I'm trying to follow what you're saying here with damming the air, but having trouble picturing it. Are you trying to create a low pressure zone behind the cooler somehow? If you have any pics or drawings of what you're talking about I'd love to see them.
 
Any way to reduce pressure on back side of cooler would help some too. Diverters in nostrils to seal air flow up might help
Dam air from backside from slip around?
 
FellowTraveler said:
If I may, you would be better served by reducing the area before that cooler and make it more efficient. The intake area should be only the same sq inches as the openings in your cooler between the cooling cross bars 'the area air actually flows through', you measure that open area then only have an intake opening that size "actually reverse of what most think is better."

When the area before the cooler is larger the airflow actually reverses because of the cross bars and side tanks and goes around the sides of the cooler at speed you will get some cooling but never near what you'd get with proper sized setup.
Click to expand...
I thought about what you said some more and drew up how I interpret what you're saying. Is this correct?
 

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I'll try and sketch something it's really dreaming and visionary stuff. When I was looking at truck there is a front cross member pretty close to back of bumper between frame rails that took up prime real estate so i think it's much tighter than what I am dreaming might be.
 
schiker said:
I'll try and sketch something it's really dreaming and visionary stuff. When I was looking at truck there is a front cross member pretty close to back of bumper that took up prime real estate so i think it's much tighter than what I am dreaming might be.
Click to expand...
I'd love to see a sketch, if you have the time to do so, please do!
 
I was on my phone replying before. My computer is slow and bogging down lately really bad. I can't see your .pdf yet. I'll work on it and try and add some pictures and/or sketches.
 
schiker said:
I was on my phone replying before. My computer is slow and bogging down lately really bad. I can't see your .pdf yet. I'll work on it and try and add some pictures and/or sketches.
Click to expand...
Here's a picture of it.
IMG_7655.JPG
 
The key word there is speed. The opening vs air passage factors with velocity. Example: the old Charger Daytona would overheat at town driving but over 100 ran cool. The smallish opening for cooling gave less drag at speed, but insufficient airflow for street use.
I'd keep the opening as is nut put. 1/4" heavy gauge screen in front, topped by a sturdy household window screen to block the gravel and big bugs. This has worked for me, I check the cooling stack annually and it's been 7 years without having to clean it.
Just my $0.02, or $2.00 in today's paper.
 
dangerousdave said:
The key word there is speed. The opening vs air passage factors with velocity. Example: the old Charger Daytona would overheat at town driving but over 100 ran cool. The smallish opening for cooling gave less drag at speed, but insufficient airflow for street use.
I'd keep the opening as is nut put. 1/4" heavy gauge screen in front, topped by a sturdy household window screen to block the gravel and big bugs. This has worked for me, I check the cooling stack annually and it's been 7 years without having to clean it.
Just my $0.02, or $2.00 in today's paper.
Click to expand...

Your $0.02 is good...........
Actually, without any pulling from the radiator cooling fan via ducting from the cooler the cooler will heat-up around town so a lower air dam will reduce the heat build up via vortex generating a pulling effect through the cooler somewhat but not as good having pulling fans behind the cooler wired to shut off at speed (45 mph) or ducting to cooling stack too.

I had installed ducting behind my CAC & added fans for around town.
 
Last edited:
dangerousdave said:
The key word there is speed. The opening vs air passage factors with velocity. Example: the old Charger Daytona would overheat at town driving but over 100 ran cool. The smallish opening for cooling gave less drag at speed, but insufficient airflow for street use.
I'd keep the opening as is nut put. 1/4" heavy gauge screen in front, topped by a sturdy household window screen to block the gravel and big bugs. This has worked for me, I check the cooling stack annually and it's been 7 years without having to clean it.
Just my $0.02, or $2.00 in today's paper.
Click to expand...
Do you have any pics of the screens you put in your grill?
 
I am going to be slow replying my computer is acting up. I borrowed wife's for now but its newer and software is different for pics etc. This won't do it justice but here is a sketch of my dreamings. I tried googling around and the options don't seem to be as plentiful as years ago when I looked at it. Use to be Goodmark Industries had the bumpers with wide open mouth and had metal valences with slits for air flow through valence. Also some with holes for fog lamps in valence etc.

Stylintrucks dot com still has a plastic valence with tow hook openings number 5764 but its plastic. I of course dreamed of bending some sheetmetal to even add another inch or 2 taller valence. Could either cut open a mouth and put on a expanded metal grill or perforate it with holes. The valence 5764 looks to have a slight upturned bottom lip that might help keep air from just flowing down and might help scoop it a tad bit. I'll post a link next computer/internet issues are slowing me down and making it painfully slow to post (and not always fast on good days).

My thought was hide a small cooler behind the valence and bumper as a finishing cooler. Put some sheet metal deflectors in to help divert air maybe.

I don't know if opening size of core is better than full size IF you block off frontal dam/mouth area so air can't slip around cooler rather than pass through it. The tanks will shed some heat if air moves over them but not near as much as core. Air will take path of least resistance around or through it if possible.

Of course depends on thickness of core and if you take off skid plate etc etc this is just a frontal sketch.
 

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Ok, I've taken everyone's input and come to the conclusion that I'm not building a race car where everything has to be 100% optimized, it just has to work. Plus whatever I do, it has to be better than what it had before..... So in that vein of thought, I made 2 plates that trimmed off the interior of the opening so that the tanks are now covered. Not only does it visually cover the tanks, but it also smooths the air into the core at normal speeds maybe? Meh, whatever it does, it looks more finished. Oh, and if I ever decide to use the Hoe to go after Heath's Bonneville record, then I will adjust the opening accordingly! :D

I've also decided to do more trimming/molding on the bottom side to make it more finished, protect the fasteners and make it more robust if it has contact with a snowbank, curb or whatever. But before I do that, I need to make the grill and figure out its attachment method. I'm using some floor grate for the grill. When I saw it at Alro it reminded me of the existing Chevy grill so I bought it. I have the height trimmed and next will be trimming the ends so it sits down in the opening.
IMG_7660.JPG IMG_7661.JPG IMG_7662.JPG IMG_7663.JPG IMG_7664.JPG IMG_7665.JPG
 
FellowTraveler said:
Your $0.02 is good...........
Actually, without any pulling from the radiator cooling fan via ducting from the cooler the cooler will heat-up around town so a lower air dam will reduce the heat build up via vortex generating a pulling effect through the cooler somewhat but not as good having pulling fans behind the cooler wired to shut off at speed (45 mph) or ducting to cooling stack too.

I had installed ducting behind my CAC & added fans for around town.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have some kind of fan situation on it still, but I don't want it to restrict airflow at speed so I think I'll just do 1 or 2 of the small fans I was running before but without a shroud.

schiker said:
I am going to be slow replying my computer is acting up. I borrowed wife's for now but its newer and software is different for pics etc. This won't do it justice but here is a sketch of my dreamings. I tried googling around and the options don't seem to be as plentiful as years ago when I looked at it. Use to be Goodmark Industries had the bumpers with wide open mouth and had metal valences with slits for air flow through valence. Also some with holes for fog lamps in valence etc.

Stylintrucks dot com still has a plastic valence with tow hook openings number 5764 but its plastic. I of course dreamed of bending some sheetmetal to even add another inch or 2 taller valence. Could either cut open a mouth and put on a expanded metal grill or perforate it with holes. The valence 5764 looks to have a slight upturned bottom lip that might help keep air from just flowing down and might help scoop it a tad bit. I'll post a link next computer/internet issues are slowing me down and making it painfully slow to post (and not always fast on good days).

My thought was hide a small cooler behind the valence and bumper as a finishing cooler. Put some sheet metal deflectors in to help divert air maybe.

I don't know if opening size of core is better than full size IF you block off frontal dam/mouth area so air can't slip around cooler rather than pass through it. The tanks will shed some heat if air moves over them but not near as much as core. Air will take path of least resistance around or through it if possible.

Of course depends on thickness of core and if you take off skid plate etc etc this is just a frontal sketch.
Click to expand...

I see. So you're thinking about the same thing I am I think, just in a little bit different configuration. These ideas are sure fun to knock around in your head for years, eh? I have a couple of projects hanging around for almost 20 years and I worry that if I actually finish one it won't live up to the dreams I've had all this time! Once it's built it's hard to change, but if it's just in my head it can always change, right!? :D
 
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