I've got a small NPR intercooler and have been waiting to get a hood before I installed it.

Well, I finally got a Sexy style hood to help with some under hood venting.

Things needed:
-Small Isuzu NPR intercooler
-Small or relocated battery(I'm using Odyssey PC680)
-2.5inch intercooler couplers and piping
-Dremil w/cutting disks or sawsall
-hammer/mallet
-manual rack(for easy/pretty IC piping)


Here's my progress so far.
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First. Remove AC condenser and little crap in front of radiator.


The intercoolers new home


Here's the IC so you can get an idea of it's size.


and the IC turned upside down so you can see where the end tanks will come out.


Trimming location one


Trimming location two


You have to trim those two mounts off. I also bent the horns forward a bit but it looks like I didn't need to.


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Now the cutting
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I started to cut right above the radiator support hook on both sides. The end tanks won't be that low but you need the room to slide the IC in there. You can always fill the left over gaps up with weather stripping foam.

It's a bit of trial and error now. Make a conservative line and cut. Then trim where needed.

Location one cut and metal folded back for temp use



location two with a bit of trimming and hammer work to battery air vent chamber

 

Test fitting



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As of now the IC is in. I just don't have pics of that part yet. I had to trim up to the top beam on each side to get the end tanks to fit farther towards the front so my radiator gap isn't huge.

The great news is that the stock radiator shroud and fan still works without hitting. I drove the car around with the IC in but not installed and didn't find any changes in cooling so I think this will work really well.

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Next step. IC piping and battery.

I'm still stock turbo so I plan on running 2inch hotpipe to the IC and then 2.5inch to the TB.

Here is my solution to the TB issue



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I'll have more pics up once I get home and get the needed couplers and piping.

 

As long as you're spending all this time under the hood, I hope you can spare an hour or two to clean it up.
Seriously, that's one of the dirtiest bays I've ever seen.

 

I was at Firebird raceway last weekend and had a few "off track" excursions. You should see my tires and rims. They're a nice tan/brown.

Besides. This is a track/drift car.

 

Mini Battery with aluminum hold down


Intercooler is in Stock shroud and everything.



Up close of outlet of IC. You can see some small trimming needed on the radiator bracket.


Same deal on the inlet side of IC.


Mock up of the TB and intercooler piping after I cut it.

 

Then the hotside.
I am going to do 2inch for now until I go bigger turbo. It's also so I don't have to go get my Tial BOV welded onto new piping for now. Later I will get it welded onto the TB side. Luckily It looks like I can just turn the stock stuff upside down to give it the right angle and height needed to get over to the IC inlet. Just have to go get some 2inch piping and a 2-2.5 coupler adapter

 

Hooray! Done!



Hotside piping


45ish degre bend pipe and then 45 degree 2.5 coupler


My Tial BOV welded onto my apexi stock up tube(Apexi bov failed after 3 1/2 years)


Other view. Yes that is a Full Race coupler They are down the street from my work so I went there during lunch. Kind of funny reading the artivle of them versus Speedmachine's FC.
Misc stuff in shot are MBC and the tee off to my BAC.


Over all shot of the setup without a radiator cover panel


Side view of the setup


Close up of the stock TMIC rack and engine hoist/manifold support. I cut it off next to the Manifold nut. The throttle body cap would have hit and I didn't want to completely remove it since it helps hold stuff up and to yank the motor out.


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Test drive went well. Although I ended up popping my TID off so I just have to tighten that part down but the IC pipes stayed on through 10psi.

Now I just have to fill the little cracks with weather stripping foam to keep that precious air from escaping.

 

Didn't Full-Race lose partially because they had a blown intercooler coupler? and they had pistons, obviously...

 

hahaha, yeah. I forgot that part. Hopefully mine don't try and get revenge on FC's.

 

do you have any beads welded on the pipes Corey? That will help keep the couplers on.

 

nope but the piping is decently tight to I'm hoping they'll stay on.

The cold side shoudllbe pretty safe although the Ubend may try to come out.

The hotside is the iffy part because of the bends. We'll see.

 

Great job! that's the best npr install i've seen.

 

Where did you get your IC, I mean location not from what lol.

 

It came with a TII chassis I bought. Although my friend just got one from a truck junk yard which had a few NPR's.

 

Is your radiator leaking? There sure are some nasty deposits around the top endtank!

 

damn....your engine bay needs some love. There's a lot of filth in there.....Good job though..

 

Lol looks as dirty as mine.. not bad, not bad...only wish I was turboed.

 

Yeah, I think my koyo was leaking from the top corner. The gunk has seemed to slow or stop it though haha.

Yeah it's dirty. Arizona dust is nasty stuff. Especially when you plow into it sideways at 30-40mph. You can see the dust inside the main pulley.

Don't worry. The car will be nice and clean before I head out to Sevenstock

 

Got the sexy style hood on and I must say. THe car is running really cool now.

I think the mix of vent hood and front mount have really helped to keep the car solid.

It was probably around 90-100 today and it ran right around 185~f and tipped near 190 when I did some hard throttle. Normally it would have climbed to 195-210 with heavy throttle during the summer here.

Boost is decent. I have the MBC set to 12psi but the summer and thin air kills boost and I usually only see 10psi. THe boost felt much smoother so I think the intake temps have dropped. I can't tell though since I'm rtek 1.7

Overall the car feels really good and I should have done this earlier. AZ summer kills cars here.

 

I wouldn't count on it. Even with T-bolt clamps, the vibration will cause the hose to walk in the coupler.

 

them hose arent going anywhere because there inline ...nice job

 

the hotside metal bend came out of the IC endtank because I hadn't given it enough to hold onto. One side had lots of pipe to grab while the other had an edge. I evened them up and it's sturdy so bfar but I figure popped piping is the norm when doing a custom IC so I'll find the issues as they come.

 

Unbeaded lines will pop off if used with silicone couplers. It's a known fact by anyone with experience in forced induction vehicles. You need beads on the lip of pipes to prevent this. At low boost you might get away with it but after 8 PSI or so pressure is significant.

 

Where did you get the piping, couplers and clamps from?

Im thinking about buying a greddy fmic and doing the piping myself, are those ebay piping kits any good?

 

I bought the pipes from a local guy BUT piping is piping. Silicone couplers are different though. I wouldn't skimp out on them since they can have variable reactions to heat and pressure.

Some of the silicone vacuum hose kits will split in seconds under heat while higher grade ones take direct heat from turbos without flinching.