water to air intercoolers

[mattw]

heres a couple of shots of my new setup. These were taken while I was first playing with it, the I/C is now closer to the engine and sits lower for clearance of the bonnet (not an issue for lifted subs). they're pretty low quality (camera phone) but its a start.....
I've used two 1-3/4" (44.5mm) mandrel bends from the turbo to the I/C. its slightly larger than the turbo nose but fits into the existing join.
The other end is smaller than the 50mm I/C inlet at the other end. For now I've doubled up two pieces of hose (Pirtek 4 bar pressure hose), with the 1-3/4" hose and a piece of 2" over it to join to the I/c. later I'll expand the end to 2", but theres been no probs so far. The inside dia is actually larger than the I/C anyway, so provided its sealed, I doubt theres anything to be gained.
the I/C outlet to throttle body is 2-1/4" (57mm), which is a bit under the 60mm dia of the throttle body but the hose clamps down on it ok for now. I've joined the I/C with a 2-1/4" to 2-3/4" Turbosmart silicone reduction piece to get up to the 70mm dia outlet on the I/C. Again, this can be expanded to that size, but the tube may fail to achieve that level of expansion.
I'll list the dimensions I cut each of the bends to get it together later.
the water hose (5/8" heater hose I think) runs through to the pump mounted in behind the roo bar, directly infront of the hole for the A/C lines, and the rad is fitted in front of the rad, in the best place depending on your sub, whether its air con or not etc..... The pump will be temp or boost controlled, but manual switched for now.

I haven't yet welded a pipe for the air hose that used to go into the bottom of the original inlet manifold, which is needed for cold idle control etc. Mines blocked off at the mo, and it really sucks.
Also, my I/C doesn't have a BOV attached, so I need to get that on as well.

hope this proves helpful, pretty straight forward install. more photos to come......

[bluesteel]

just a point to note...

be very carefull using anything other than turbo/intercooler hoses

rad hoses can deteriorate with the high heat and possible oil blowby and potentially delaminate them and suck the bits through the IC and engine

i have seen this happen and its not usually a cheap fix;)


so stick to the good silicon hoses and you'll be right

[Suby Wan Kenobi]

Yes i have used a radiator hose on mine but changed it after about a week as it expanded in size to near double what it was when i put it on.

[julian]

Thanks matt,
heaps of helpful information there- I will get round to doing mine when I get it back.

[mattw]

the Pirtek hose is an industrial pressure hose, 4 bar rated, of similar construction to the factory hose joins. Pirtek call it rad hose, not to be confused with a car rad hose. Oil won't worry it to my knowledge. Point taken tho, I'm still playing with it, so I'll keep an eye out for problems. I just didn't like the price of silicone straight off. I'll check up on the specs with Mr Pirtek for heat.

I'd never use car radiator hose....that'd be silly.

[wagonist]

Nice bit of good tech info here.
How did you guys get the boost switching to happen?
Is it only boost that ups the pump speed?

Personally, I'd like to have the pump running at full speed at idle. Mainly because there's no air flow through the cores. I think Zoom did a test on this years ago (when they we still a DIY type mag) & they showed on their RS that the highest intake temps were at takeoff after idling.

I've got an RS setup retro fitted to my WRX motor in my L.
Does the standard RS intercooler rad fit on the driver's side of the car (ie beside the middle rad support)?
I'm having great trouble fitting everything into the front of mine (retaining the A/C).

[PeeJay]

I've got the same problem. I think I did a bit of cutting to the bonnet catch and it will sort of fit in there somehow. Haven't looked at it for about 3 months or so. I should go and finish it.

[mattw]

I've just wired mine on a switch for now, so its flat out or nothing. later I'll do something more permanent, probably a two speed arrangement, switched by temp or boost........dunno yet. switch a relay off the existing boost switch? might be easy

as for the rad, mine was a motorbike rad, so will fit differently. and, i'll admit, my a/c is out at the minute, which makes it easier. I can see a hot summer ahead for me.

[subanator]

mattw, I was told a pressure switch like an adjustable Hobbs type can be picked up for $30-50. That way a cut in pressure to start the pump, and delay off with a timer to allow the heat soak transfer to circulate past the radiator to cool the system. This would work with the aftermarket electric water pumps that are single speed.

[mattw]

top notch idea. I reckon that would be perfect. got a little bit of plumbing work to do yet, life without a bov is not nice, and not good for the turbo either

[wrx_nut]

how did you guys go with the waic setup?

[wagonist]

I've gotten nowhere.
Once I've got a handbrake & a steering rack in, all work on my car is stopping until after I've finished my house renos & then moved.

[wrx_nut]

looks like ill be putting mine off untill i work out whats wrong with my turbo... its making weird wining noise :P

[wrx_nut]

back on track now...

wheres the best place to mount the water pump from the RS setup?

[wagonist]

In front of the left front wheel is where they are mounted in the Lib & also where most of the plumbing runs.
If you don't have air suspension, then there's also a big void there as well.

I'll try to post up some pics of mine before the end of the week.

[mattw]

This thread has been racking up plenty of views, and I've finally got a few new pics into my album, so I'll have a crack at putting up a few (can anyone tell me why these pics are only coming up as linked thumbs???).

You can see where the inlet pipe is rubbing on the bonnet, I need to either invest in a lift kit, or get a tighter bend section to lower the whole lot. This will allow me to get it all lower and closer to the engine. The water pump is mounted inside the roo bar so that its in line with the hole for the a/c line, which the hose is passed through.
I still haven't got the piping finalised for the bov etc, got the bov now, so I just need to get the welder out.......
As I've said, I am using a motorbike rad, which is thinner and so I've fitted it in behind the centre 'latch spar' for now. When I pull it all apart to get the bov piping, I/C mounting etc sorted, I'll fix the rad mounting up too.
enjoy, and as always, any Q's I'm happy to help.
Matt

[wrx_nut]

so how were the end results of the intercooler setup on your ea82t?
power gains? economy?

mounting mine this week.. radiator & pump is in and also another turbo is in that has no bearing slop :P

wrx_nut

[Suby Wan Kenobi]

I have mounted my water pump under the LH front guard as in the same way it would have been mounted in the RS and what would you know there are even bolt holes in the correct spot

[wrx_nut]

on the intake part of the rs intercooler are there any certain ways the water should go in and out... in one side out the other? or are they both the same and can be used either way?

[redskin]

on the intake part of the rs intercooler are there any certain ways the water should go in and out... in one side out the other? or are they both the same and can be used either way?

yep, either way is fine as far as l know, its a closed circulartory system, it fills and drains from the same reservoir tank, as long as there is water flow, (obvious if you remove the tank cap), water has to be passing through the radiator.