front mount intercoolers custom

stephens89sc

Registered User
ok well i wanna make a front mount ic system for my 89 sc.


i have to top and the piping figured out but i am wonderign what type of intercooler to use.

my air condidtioning is gutted so i have no condenser. i have a decent amount of room infront of the rad.


i wanna use 2.5"-3" tubing what type of intercooler could i use, i dont wanna go and buy a new one if i dont have to, i was thinking about checking some junkyards to see if any of the volvos or saabs or something had a decent intercooler.

does anyone know of a decent intercooler that came on a car stock ? or do i have to go any buy a custom one ?

i dont care if its massive, im more worried about flow , i want 2.5" inlets on it are there any you guys can think of that wont kill my wallet.... preferabley used
 
Look on ebay. I have been thinking about doing the same thing as you. I might try to fabricate a system this winter when the car is in storage. I saw one on there from a supra or eclipse that would work great.

I would just need a custom top or I guess a spare tube to cut and then use a rubber connector to connect to some 3" or 2.5" exhaust pipe.
 
I got a Volvo intercooler that Tim give me.I havent had time to put it on yet.
I wished that it was a little thicker.It looks to be about the right heigth and
width..

I hope to make a new top for the blower.By changeing the outlet on the
blower top.To exit the front passenger side of the top.Hopfully this will
give a straight shot to the intercooler inlet neck.With the least amount
of bends in the pipe.

Then on the exit side of the intercooler.I want to run the IC tube in the same
route that the top stock IC tube ran.Tring to keep it as straight as i can,no sharp
bends,just a long curve as it makes it way to the intake manifold plenum.

I don't know if the Volvo intercooler flows well or not,I hope it will flow better than stock IC.

I have given some thought about making part of my IC tubes double walled.And running
gas between the IC tube walls to freeze them.This way I would be able to easily replace
the tubes,If they fail because of the freezing cycleing.In sted of freezing the intercooler
and have it come apart from the freezing and cooling cycles.

I hope that I can get this done before spring next year.I need to air pressure test my
used Volvo intercooler first,to make sure its a good one before I buy any tubeing.
I run a stock motor with some bolt ons.I am hoping that this IC will get me in the
13. all the time,when we race.

RANDY
 
I haven't looked for any part numbers on the volvo intercooler.

But it looks just like the one you have pictured.

What do you know about it? Is it better than a stock SC intercooler?
Is that style worth the work to install on my SC?

randy
 
thats the same thign im trying to figure out, its out of an 84-92 volvo 740 turbo intercooled car, type in volvo intercooler at google.ca and theres a whoel ton of **** on it
 
The Volve IC dosent flow well at all, keep looking for something better. The Turbo 2.3 stang people use the volve IC all the time they might have the CFM rating on it. I know they complain about it on pretty stock 2.3s so the 3.8 would choke it.
 
I have the Volvo Intercooler in my stang with the Supercoupe motor, it is true it does'nt flow great but I think its better then the stock SC IC, but if your gonna mamke a custom one this is not a great choice. I was able to run a 13.9 with it though, and with better tuning should hit low 13's with that IC, but my stang is also lighter. Here are some pics, I am using a stock SC rad so it fits perfectly inbetween the rad hoses. The inlet/outlets are 2.5 inch but I am using 3 inch piping.

SC%20rad%20and%20Volvo%20IC.JPG


SC%20rad%20with%20Volvo%20IC%20front%20shot.JPG


SC%20rad%20with%20volvo%20IC%20top%20view.JPG


Pic of the setup with my custom piping.

pipes_both_finished_and_installed.jpg
 
front mount intercollers custom

The powerstroke intercooler is way to big, ask Dan Sly. He had one and I guess its a lot of work to cut it down, ect. I think the volvo looks great in the mustang. I wonder if it could be built as a double wide? Its hard to beloeve that anything is not better than the stock unit. I sure would not pay $1500 for a "special" one thats for sure. It seems to me that a good ic is the key to making horsepower.:D :D :D
 
i have one

My ic is two volvo 740's welded together with custom endtanks and 2.5'' inlet and outlet. I bought it from another sc'er that had it on his car. I made the hp in my sig with a stock ic, so i hope to get it dynoed again to see if the ic made any difference. Its pretty think, like 4inches, but actually each core is only about 1.5''. I too would like to know what one of these intercoolers flow.
 
If you want a FMIC for low cost I can build it using your stock IC with some surgery, I'm building one right now in between my other project which will be done this week. The stock core is good its the end tanks and where its posistioned that kills the stocker.
The stock end tanks are the worse pieces of **** I've ever seen.
I'll let you in on another secret, if you've been using RTV to seal your tubes I'll have to dig that **** out of the core after the tanks have been removed.;)
 
I have seen 2 Volvo ICs welded together with custom tanks as well as THREE Volvo IC's welded together with custom tanks, pretty damn thick. I think the best IC was the one BKB did, which I plan to do as well, take two stock SC IC's, lay then sideways and then stack them on top of each other, then build endtanks for them, BKB posted a pic of his before, hopefully he'll do it again, I think he said his flows around 1000 CFM.
 
Yeah I'm trying something simular to BKB's but I'm not so sure it will fit in the SC nose. I'll have a better idea this weekend. Right now I have to get some rads finished up first.
 
here is a pic of a triple core Volvo IC with custom endtanks

volvo_ic_3_cores_side_view.jpg


and here is BKB's setup with 2 SC IC's on top of each other with custom endtanks.

bkb_front_mount_ic.jpg
 
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