My Water to Air intercooler install

[FellowTraveler]

Real nice work!

 

[n8in8or]

Real nice work!

Thanks FT!

 

[n8in8or]

Upper intake is done. Drilled & tapped, profiled and now the paint is drying.

 

[Hink]

Now that.... is bad ass.

Not just the piece and the workmanship, but the "hey, I need an upper intake." Bam. Done.

 

[n8in8or]

Now that.... is bad ass.

Not just the piece and the workmanship, but the "hey, I need an upper intake." Bam. Done.

Ha, thanks Hink! I'm fortunate to have acquired a certain set of skills.....not like Liam Neeson in Taken, but some that I have found to be useful none the less.

 

[Hink]

Well, yeah me too. I can run a bead. But that doesn't mean the boat won't sink. You do good.

 

[n8in8or]

Well, yeah me too. I can run a bead. But that doesn't mean the boat won't sink. You do good.

Thanks Hink. Sorry, if my last comment came across as cocky - sometimes I forget that some humor doesn't translate across the internet as intended. I appreciate the compliment and that you're enjoying the progress. I haven't checked in on your build in a couple weeks, I hope you're enjoying it.

 

[Hink]

Nope, you're ok by me! : )>
Moby should be on the road this weekend.... we'll see. Fingers crossed, eyes to the air.

 

[FellowTraveler]

Thanks Hink. Sorry, if my last comment came across as cocky - sometimes I forget that some humor doesn't translate across the internet as intended. I appreciate the compliment and that you're enjoying the progress. I haven't checked in on your build in a couple weeks, I hope you're enjoying it.

I got it and liked it too. It would be interesting to measure the pressure loss across the CAC/IC after your done getting it back together.

Great fabrication indeed......

 

[n8in8or]

Thanks guys. I don't ever want to be thought of as cocky.....I'm here to learn like the rest of us.

I don't have a good way to measure the pressure loss across the IC other than read the peak gauge pressure in the cab when driving. With the 4" setup I'm seeing 16-17 peak boost right now so I will see if that changes when I change to the 3" setup. I don't expect a change, but that's why I did this mod independently - so it could be seen if there was a change. Like always, I will report my findings.

 

[FellowTraveler]

Thanks guys. I don't ever want to be thought of as cocky.....I'm here to learn like the rest of us.

I don't have a good way to measure the pressure loss across the IC other than read the peak gauge pressure in the cab when driving. With the 4" setup I'm seeing 16-17 peak boost right now so I will see if that changes when I change to the 3" setup. I don't expect a change, but that's why I did this mod independently - so it could be seen if there was a change. Like always, I will report my findings.

Move the boost gauge line to the pressure side of the CAC/IC to get the figure..

 

[n8in8or]

Things are going really well and I'm almost done. I'm just eating a little lunch while bracket paint dries.

Here are some pictures of before for reference.

 

[n8in8or]

Here are a couple pics of the new upper intake installed.

 

[n8in8or]

Success!! After I installed the intercooler last summer I had a lot more engine noise inside the cabin. Unfortunately I also had a new windshield installed at the same time so I wasn't sure which thing caused the new noise. After seeing the heavy rub marks on the hood it made me more and more suspicious that it was the intercooler installation causing the noise. However I wasn't sure how to address the problem since it was such a tight fit on the engine. Finally I thought up the offset 3" intake as a solution. I'm happy to report that the engine noise is gone!! It used to be really bad at 75mph and I just went on the highway and all I had was normal exhaust noise. I'm so happy! I'm also happy to report no loss in boost pressure. Getting on the highway I was pushing 17psi and up around 90 or so it was creeping up to 18psi. Win-win!!!

You may notice in the pics that I only have one bracket mounting the IC to the engine now. With the way it's sitting it feels much more stable with only one bracket instead of 3. The one bracket was pretty easy to mod too, while the others were going to take a lot more modifying. This was such a quick project that I may have some time tomorrow to start working on the header again! It's a good day.

 

[n8in8or]

Before and after.

 

[Hink]

Nice!

The only thing I can think of on the switch to 3" is the volume of air idea, like with the ATT vs. GMx turbos. The ATT may have lower boost pressure but flows more volume. Did you lower the volume of air moved by your turbo (I know you don't have an ATT) by going with the 3"?
I'd say maybe, but a very miniscule amount if any. And you'd probly only be able to tell the effect on the dyno.

 

[n8in8or]

Nice!

The only thing I can think of on the switch to 3" is the volume of air idea, like with the ATT vs. GMx turbos. The ATT may have lower boost pressure but flows more volume. Did you lower the volume of air moved by your turbo (I know you don't have an ATT) by going with the 3"?
I'd say maybe, but a very miniscule amount if any. And you'd probly only be able to tell the effect on the dyno.

Perhaps, hard to know for sure I guess, except maybe on a dyno. The outlet on the turbo is only 2.25 or 2.5 and both the inlet and outlet of the IC are 3" so I feel like both of those would be the constraints before the intake was. I was thinking that maybe there would be a less even distribution in the intake from the smaller and offset intake, but since the intake is pressurized and not under a vacuum that effect is negated....that's all theory though I guess. The important thing to me is that it feels the same when driving and is quieter inside. We just took it out for dinner and my girlfriend said it's definitely quieter inside, so that makes me happy.

 

[Hink]

Ah, yeah ok. If the turbo is smaller than the Intake then it would be fine. I wonder actually if it would be better if it were the same. But we're really talking minute differences here.

 

[FellowTraveler]

Both turbos mentioned have a compressor outlet @ 2.5"+-, the compressor intakes are HX40w 4" with the XXX being much smaller, the turbine sizes the HX40w is 18 cm2 w/4" out and the XXX cm can be whatever w/3" out as of yet 4" down pipes are uncommon but would be a great benefit to turbines w/4" outlets.

As to what cfm flow either turbo can get too it's a flip of the coin the HX40w has various application charts and there is a difference between n8in8or's HX40 and mine and both have the same part number. Generally 800 to 850 cfm is the flow on the bigger compressors.

2.5" CAC/IC runners are ok for both turbos however going w/larger CAC/IC then larger runners would IMHO give best return in performance. N/A a 2.25" will flow 409 cfm, 2.50" will flow 508 cfm, 3.0" will flow 747 cfm, 3.25" will flow 882 cfm add boost minus flow loss for turns etc and you still have decent flow.

 

[FellowTraveler]

Success!! After I installed the intercooler last summer I had a lot more engine noise inside the cabin. Unfortunately I also had a new windshield installed at the same time so I wasn't sure which thing caused the new noise. After seeing the heavy rub marks on the hood it made me more and more suspicious that it was the intercooler installation causing the noise. However I wasn't sure how to address the problem since it was such a tight fit on the engine. Finally I thought up the offset 3" intake as a solution. I'm happy to report that the engine noise is gone!! It used to be really bad at 75mph and I just went on the highway and all I had was normal exhaust noise. I'm so happy! I'm also happy to report no loss in boost pressure. Getting on the highway I was pushing 17psi and up around 90 or so it was creeping up to 18psi. Win-win!!!

You may notice in the pics that I only have one bracket mounting the IC to the engine now. With the way it's sitting it feels much more stable with only one bracket instead of 3. The one bracket was pretty easy to mod too, while the others were going to take a lot more modifying. This was such a quick project that I may have some time tomorrow to start working on the header again! It's a good day.
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EXCELLENT!