IC Ram Air Project

95SC_Money_Pit

Registered User
I am currently working on designing a ram air system for cooling the stock intercooler. Any input would be appreciated!! So here's the idea.....

My observation of the real problem of the stock IC's inefficiency is it's location. This is evident by the number of threads on re-location of the IC.

I have spent hours pondering the air flow to the stock IC on my 95SC and believe that I have come up with a solution.....Ram Air!!

Stage 1
I am designing an air-tight, aluminum, contoured and baffled shroud that will be replacing the rubber boot currently on the front of the IC. The shroud will be about 1" thick at the top, 3" thick at the bottom, 8" wide and 20"+/- tall. The basic idea is to create a "snorkel" style scoop that diverts air from the underside of the car to the full frontal area of the IC thus ensuring a direct path to colder air than allowed by the stock setup. If theory and design is correct, I should be able to increase the volume and velocity of available air (over stock) as vehicle speeds increase. Pic's to come in the next couple of days!!

Stage 2
With improved airflow to the front side of the IC, my next move will be to address the backside airflow. My plans are quite similar to the front side solution.....An aluminum shroud encasing the backside, mating to a hood vent located directly above. My only problem here is finding a rectangular vent that is functional, flows enough volume and eye pleasing. (Aesthetics are important!!)
 
What are you trying to achieve with the shrouding on the back? It doesn't matter where the air goes after its cooled the IC, and trying to get air to flow in from the back is just going to disrupt the air flowing from the front.

I think that it would be a lot of work for little to no gain. Going to a shorter AC condensor and IC fan would be more beneficial.
 
TBone95 said:
What are you trying to achieve with the shrouding on the back? It doesn't matter where the air goes after its cooled the IC, and trying to get air to flow in from the back is just going to disrupt the air flowing from the front.

The rear shroud would be to mate to a hood vent that "extracts" the hot air from the IC. In other words....Create a vacuum, using a hood "vent", not "scoop", on the backside of the IC which would effectively decrease the pressure and flow more air!!

Is this thought process flawed?? If so....save me some work and tell me I've been smoking crack!! It won't be the first time I've been accused, believe me!!
 
You're not going to create much of a vacuum that way. And any tunnel that you create go to the hood is gonna have a 90 deg. bend and be seriously necked down to fit. You'll just create backpressure with it.

There is a shorter condensor for sale, search on here for it. That and a fan would be best for the stock IC. The front shroud may help a little if you still want to do that.

The real problems with the stock IC is more in internal flow restrictions and surface area.
 
I personally think that for the work you want to put into that, while still running the stock IC is too much for what it's worth. I'm not trying to shoot you down, because you've got some great ideas, I just think that the size of the IC also plays a factor in it's efficiency. By installing a shorter A/C condensor (around $150 plus a dryer), and an IC fan...roughly $100, you will get better performance than the custom work you are thinking of doing.

Now onto the size issue. My personal plans are to install a shorter condensor, then relocate my IC infront of the condensor. While doing this, I'm going to make a double or triple IC welded side to side instead of stacking them. This will require more work, especially in the fabrication, but I believe that it will cool the air just as effectively as an MP unit, or maybe better. Downside, is if you don't have the tools to do it, then it will cost much more to get it done. There are many more ideas out there too as far as increasing the IC thus improving its efficiency. If you plan on keeping your SC primarily stock though, the stock IC should be sufficient. Just remember cooler air is better. The cooler you can get it, the better it will perform...
 
TBone95 said:
any tunnel that you create go to the hood is gonna have a 90 deg. bend and be seriously necked down to fit. You'll just create backpressure with it.

The “tunnel” would be more of a box that would be contoured with an approx 2” in depth at the bottom and 6” at the top. As long as you have more area at the venting point, than you do on the ram air side, couple that with the faster air traveling over the front of the hood, a vacuum should be produced. Surely this would flow more air than venting the backside of the IC into the pressurized area under the hood??
 
95SC_Money_Pit said:
The “tunnel” would be more of a box that would be contoured with an approx 2” in depth at the bottom and 6” at the top. As long as you have more area at the venting point, than you do on the ram air side, couple that with the faster air traveling over the front of the hood, a vacuum should be produced. Surely this would flow more air than venting the backside of the IC into the pressurized area under the hood??


True, but will it flow as much as an 800 CFM IC fan?
 
007_SuperCoupe said:
True, but will it flow as much as an 800 CFM IC fan?

Ok....So I'm starting to get the picture. I can't possibly dispute the above statement. So how about this...

The placement of the 8" fan is usually directly against the top rear face of the IC. This leaves the bottom 4" x 8" surface open. Would a shrouded 8" fan producing flow over the entire surface be an improvement??

My goal with this project is to achive performance by developing mods that are cost effective while keeping the vehical as stock as possible.
 
95SC_Money_Pit said:
The “tunnel” would be more of a box that would be contoured with an approx 2” in depth at the bottom and 6” at the top. As long as you have more area at the venting point, than you do on the ram air side, couple that with the faster air traveling over the front of the hood, a vacuum should be produced. Surely this would flow more air than venting the backside of the IC into the pressurized area under the hood??

I just don't see how you're getting around that upper IC tube, and the engine bay is crowded enough as it is without more stuff in there.

I don't think there's really all that much pressure in the engine bay. The air is warmer, but that shouldn't increase the pressure.
 
if it's any help: i have the cougar grill (much greater airflow to the engine bay). i recently hogged out the entire center section of my header panel and threw my condenser in the trash and deleted my whole AC system. you could probably stick your head in the front of the car and head butt my IC. I went to the track the other night to see the amazing difference. after jamming a bag of ice against thefront of IC for a half hour i managed to tie my fastest run ever! I ran the same time as when i had all that AC crap and header panel blocking air to the IC. so, if i can't get any gains from all that work, i probably wouldn't invest much time in anything for the stock IC. if you have the means to fab up an elaborate scoop like that, than you may be better off going with a front mount IC. :)
 
TBone95 said:
I just don't see how you're getting around that upper IC tube, and the engine bay is crowded enough as it is without more stuff in there.

I don't think there's really all that much pressure in the engine bay. The air is warmer, but that shouldn't increase the pressure.

1. The box would encase the rear face of the IC and seal around the upper IC tube. Then the top would be open and seal against the hood creating a sealed system. (just like on some ram air and cowl induction cars)

2. I have read many a post discussing the positive pressure created under the hood of an SC. Some say that a cowl hood promotes release of this pressure. Some are doing this by removing the rubber seal at the back of the hood. They have done this to alleviate heating problems. I will do a search on some of these threads as I seem to remember that someone has done some pressure readings at various speeds.
 
95SC_Money_Pit said:
The placement of the 8" fan is usually directly against the top rear face of the IC. This leaves the bottom 4" x 8" surface open. Would a shrouded 8" fan producing flow over the entire surface be an improvement??

Yes, you can make a shroud (I plan on it) that will increase flow over the whole of the IC.
 
I don't remember anybody talking about engine bay pressure. I'd like to see some reasoning behind that idea. I think the pressure readings you're thinking about are in the intake track, not the engine bay.

The bottom line is that you're looking at doing a lot of work for very little benefit. At most you would pick up a little consistency. If you want a project you should do something that has more potential for gains, like a FMIC, home ported heads, or maybe a CO2 sprayer for the IC.
 
my idea

(dammit :) someones thinking like me ) i wanted to do this then mention it, but Since someone already mentioned it, one project i was hopeing to come out with before someone mentioned it :( but i dunno i'll share a drawing i was doing a while ago on it. i think it might work, or even a setup for aftermarket ? i dunno, testing proves this.. havent done it yet.. Alex L
 
SuperCoupeSC91 said:
(dammit :) someones thinking like me ) i wanted to do this then mention it, but Since someone already mentioned it, one project i was hopeing to come out with before someone mentioned it :( but i dunno i'll share a drawing i was doing a while ago on it. i think it might work, or even a setup for aftermarket ? i dunno, testing proves this.. havent done it yet.. Alex L

Great!! I'm not losing my mind on this idea!! Either that or we are the only 2 people on crack nowdays.


I just received the aluminum sheeting for the project. I’m going to start forming it this weekend. Just so happens that I work for a company that does metal roll forming and I have just about any piece of equipment I desire at my disposal. If the aluminum model shows a measured improvement (and I will measure it), I have a friend up the street that does custom plastic molding. This will be my next step in producing a marketable product.

The main difference between your drawing and my idea is that I plan to draw air straight up from underneath the front of the car. It’s the only way that I can see to get maximum cold air flow without affecting the looks of the front end. Will post some Pic's next week.
 
i was gonna make it go under the front bumper low, inbetween my front bumper and ground effex so u couldnt even see it :) good luck.. cant wait to hear what u come up with. i would think you would need a puller pan though ?? wouldnt a electric supercharger :) that i guess are from boat places work with the tube just run it inline ? i dunno..not sure what they push for air, if not put a puller infront and or possible pusher on the back of the intercooler .. :) Alex L
 
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