can you have a ic too big? fmic pics

slipknot1212121

Registered User
so yeah, it seems big, ebay special obx for 66 bucks....core is 24x12x3, 3 in. outlets... question is, seems like alot of volume,any drawback???
 

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Perfect size

I just installed a FMIC with the exact same dimensions. the only difference is my inlet/outlet's are centered instead of at the top/bottom. I can tell you the thing is awesome. After 6 laps at Road Atlanta including a couple of 100MPH + passes down the backstretch, the cold side and return tube were cool. I was there with one of the other guys from the club. He had a double IC. His return side and return tube were substantially warmer than mine. Just make sure that you've opened up the exhaust first, or you won't see the real potential of the IC.
I was afraid of loosing low end throttle response, but that didn't happen. The IC and the other intake mods I did just made the car wicked fast. And I haven't had a tune yet!
Here's a couple of pix of mine.
 

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This is how

This is the finished product. I had to sawzall the radiator support as well as the plastic grill that the lights and facia mount to. I've driven the car over 600 miles including wacking the rumble strips at Road Atlanta pretty hard several times and everything has stayed put so far. I also have done the wire 14 mod, so my rad fan is constantly pulling air through the IC. Had to use the FRP '69 Shelby hood pins to keep the bonnet down:)
 

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Looks really sweet man. Looks similar to how I want mine done. Do you have any issues with overheating due to it being in front of your radiator like that?
 
No heating problems

I also installed a 180 T-stat at the same time. I'm also running pure water with Redline Water Wetter with only about a quart of coolant through the winter. I did temprarily remove the AC condensor, though. I'm going back with one of the compact condensors this spring. My temp never comes up more than 1/4 of the gauge, even when pushing it at the track for 25-30 minutes at a time.
 
That really is one of the nicer FMIC install that I have seen people do. Nice work

Ken

Wow, Ken, thanks. That's quite a compliment coming form you, as I consider your work in your engine compartment to be the defacto best in this club. Some of the best I've seen period.
I'm not trying to hijack Slipknot's thread, but how thick is that flat bar you made your Strut tower brace out of? I was inspired by yours and am looking at a piece of flat bar on eBay.

Thank you again!
 
Wow, Ken, thanks. That's quite a compliment coming form you, as I consider your work in your engine compartment to be the defacto best in this club. Some of the best I've seen period.
I'm not trying to hijack Slipknot's thread, but how thick is that flat bar you made your Strut tower brace out of? I was inspired by yours and am looking at a piece of flat bar on eBay.

Thank you again!

I built a FMIC for mine also and didnt see a lag in throttle response. I beleive I dropped a little on boost due to less restriction from the stock IC. Every mod you do seems to have an effect somewhere else besides just performace. A FMIC will affect the air flow goin to the radiator. One of the first things I did before the FMIC was install a griffen radiator since I had read that these cars seem to run a little hot. I also installed a 180 degree thermostat and had my chip burned to bring the fan on line at the lower temp.

The alum bar is 21/4"x3/8" thick. It was a scrap piece of material from my material rack. If I had to do it over I would have made it out of something a little less wide, like 2" max. I had it chromed to keep from having to polish it out all the time

Ken
 
They are a perfect size of an intercooler. My car has a 24x12x4 core size, which is 31" end to end.

On a 50 degree day my intake temperatures were 51 degrees. You can romp on this intercooler for fifteen minutes straight and only the first third half of the intercooler is hot. Everything else feels like you haven't run it. The more surface area for cooling you have with a FMIC the cooler the intake temperatures will be.

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72229&highlight=finished+fmic

There are pictures in that thread of my setup.

Nice work, Daspanka.
 
Perfect size

They are a perfect size of an intercooler. My car has a 24x12x4 core size, which is 31" end to end.

On a 50 degree day my intake temperatures were 51 degrees. You can romp on this intercooler for fifteen minutes straight and only the first third half of the intercooler is hot. Everything else feels like you haven't run it. The more surface area for cooling you have with a FMIC the cooler the intake temperatures will be.

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72229&highlight=finished+fmic

There are pictures in that thread of my setup.

Nice work, Daspanka.

I agree. This seems to be almost an optimal size for these engines. Mine is 3" thick, so you have a good bit more core volume and internal surface area than I do. This size intercooler is a challenge to mount on our cars, though. But I really believe it's worth it.
I actually almost went the same way you did with the inlets on the bottom and wrapping the pipping around the bottom of the rad support instead of doing the cutting. I think yours gets more clean air than mine. But I thought the extra 90 degree bends were a trade off.
Thanks for the compliment, and nice work yourself.
 
I built a FMIC for mine also and didnt see a lag in throttle response. I beleive I dropped a little on boost due to less restriction from the stock IC. Every mod you do seems to have an effect somewhere else besides just performace. A FMIC will affect the air flow goin to the radiator. One of the first things I did before the FMIC was install a griffen radiator since I had read that these cars seem to run a little hot. I also installed a 180 degree thermostat and had my chip burned to bring the fan on line at the lower temp.

The alum bar is 21/4"x3/8" thick. It was a scrap piece of material from my material rack. If I had to do it over I would have made it out of something a little less wide, like 2" max. I had it chromed to keep from having to polish it out all the time

Ken

I had some of the same concerns with mine. But the orignal owner of my car had a brand new Ford Rad installed with only a few K on it. So I decided to give it a chance. I back flushed it well while I had it out and haven't had any problems with heating so far. When I put an AC condensor back on, I'll probably go with a Griffen as well. I don't know about you, but I've noticed an overall reduction in engine and engine compartment temps sinc the FMIC install. Cooling the air charge more seems to have helped dramatically. My blower top doesn't seem to get as hot either.
Thanks fot the info on the Strut brace too!
 
mine workes really good .. except in dead stop traffic ... i live in LA where u sit for ever in traffic lol
 
nice pics everyone...Where do you guys get your pipes?? ebay specials also??I have seen the kits,just seems wierd to spend more for pipes than my intercooler..lol
 
that said,I can get mandrel exhaust pipes in bulk, straights, u-bends..I guess i could paint them ...but I like all the shiney chrome.
 
nice pics everyone...Where do you guys get your pipes?? ebay specials also??I have seen the kits,just seems wierd to spend more for pipes than my intercooler..lol

Yes, the piping will be the most expensive part of the project. Even worse, you really, really want to ditch the rubber couplers that come with the kits and buy silicone couplers and t-bolt clamps. At the very least use a good silcone coupler where you hook up to the blower top and the hot side of the IC. This spot can see 400 degrees occasionally and the silcone's are made to stand up to it. I spent $125 on the piping kit, then another $130 or so on silcone couplers and t-bolt clamps. There's a vendor on eBay that will throw in free t-bolts with his couplers if you search. Here's my piping kit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BRAN...3QQihZ019QQcategoryZ33742QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

All of the couplers, even $20 ea silicone, will try to collapse a bit under vacum. The rubber couplers may eventually deform and lose their shape. Several guys have had boost/vacum leaks from the rubber couplers after they heat up a few times, even when they tighten the bejesus out of them.
 
Yes, the piping will be the most expensive part of the project. Even worse, you really, really want to ditch the rubber couplers that come with the kits and buy silicone couplers and t-bolt clamps. At the very least use a good silcone coupler where you hook up to the blower top and the hot side of the IC. This spot can see 400 degrees occasionally and the silcone's are made to stand up to it. I spent $125 on the piping kit, then another $130 or so on silcone couplers and t-bolt clamps. There's a vendor on eBay that will throw in free t-bolts with his couplers if you search. Here's my piping kit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BRAN...3QQihZ019QQcategoryZ33742QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

All of the couplers, even $20 ea silicone, will try to collapse a bit under vacum. The rubber couplers may eventually deform and lose their shape. Several guys have had boost/vacum leaks from the rubber couplers after they heat up a few times, even when they tighten the bejesus out of them.

if you cut your pipe sections to fit snug together you don't have to worry about connector collapse.
 
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