FMIC install With parts list

Daspanka

Registered User
After a request for a list of parts and pics in another post, I decided just to post the whole project including a pretty complete list of the parts required. I did the intercooler install last fall. I decided to go the hard route by using an IC with center inlets. You could buy the same intercooler with bottom inlets and route the pipping around the bottom of the Rad support, avoiding having to cut through it. But, if you want to use the center inlet, straight through, here's how I did it. All of the parts came from ebay. I didn't choose the cheapest intercooler, but one I felt would really cool the air charge. Parts list and pics:

Intercooler 29x11x3 Mustang CenterInlet CRX RX7 300ZX (from CXRACING)
BRAND NEW UNIVERSAL FMIC INTERCOOLER PIPING KIT 2.75" (from Assembleweb)
Ford Racing Stainless Steel Hood Latch & Pin Kit (Parkway Ford)

The below is from Silcon Intakes (Great company!)
2 ea 3.0" Silicone silicon 90 degree bend elbow blue (could not find 3' to 2.75" reducing elbow)
1 ea 45 Degree elbow 2.75" 4 PLY SILICONE TURBO REINFORCED
3 ea 2.75" STRAIGHT 3 PLY SILICONE COUPLER TURBO INTERCOOLER
2 ea 2.75" Silicone silicon hump hose coupler blue 2 3/4"
12 ea 2.75" Stainless Steel T-Bolt Clamps
4 ea 3" Stainless Steel T-Bolt clamps
(Just use two of the rubber couplers that come with the pipe kit to adapt the 3" elbows to the 2.75" pipe. Slips right in. Then T-Bolt the 3" right down on it. My pic shows worm clamps, but I am replacing them with the T-Bolts. I ran out.)

You supply:
Blood, sweat, tears, curse words. Jack Daniels (only AFTER the Sawzall :) )
Also, use the mounting brackets of your choice. Mine were just pot metal brakets from Ace Hardware.
 

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More pics

Here's some more pics. Be VERY careful cutting through the RAD support. You have the ABS lines coming up from the ABS control on the drivers side (at least on 94-95 cars) and the PCM wiring harness on the passenger side. I removed the hood latch and mount, the winshield washer tank, air bag sensors and secured all the lines, etc that went to it all. I mounted my Outside air temp sensor inside the front bumper. I held the IC up to locate it with a jack. Marked for my mount brackets, and marked for the cuts in the RAD support. AC condensor had to go at this point. I am in the process now of installing a smaller, parallel flow condenser between the IC and Rad. More on that later. I also used some pieces of split heater hose to cushion were the silicon couplers pass through the cut areas to prevent them from chaffing. Oh, and I sawed the end off the return plenum and smoothed the outside down so that the 2.75" coupler would fit on it. I ported and gasket matched the plenum while it was off too. Had to bend the oil dipstick to the right about 2-3 inches too. Also, you will need to saw the old lower IC mount from the drivers side accessory bracket. If you're carefull, you can get the sawzall in there to do it. Removed the nut from the blower top with a hacksaw (couldn't get the inner nut to budge) so that the other coupler would slip over it.
 

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Finished

After fitting all the piping and tightening the clamps. We were ready. Re-installed the Rad. I alos took this opportunity to add a second oil cooler to the trans and remove the trans lines from the rad alltogether. The coolers are half in front of the rad (see pic), and the other half I put my old 8" IC fan behind the oil coolers, since the rad fan will now be pulling air over the new IC. The trans oil is MUCH cooler now. Almost ambient temperature after passing through the coolers. Be sure to re-tighten your T-bolt clamps after a week or so, as the silicon will compress under them and they will get loose. Check them again after a couple of weeks, but once or twice should be enough. The hood pins are a must because we removed the hood latch. Mine are FRP 67 Shelby pins. They were a complete PITA to install, because you have to cut holes through the back of the "boxed" top of the rad support to get the nuts on the bottom (this is were the Jack Daniels helps). You'll also need a 1" and 2.5"-2.75" hole saw to cut holes in the top and bottom of the hood. That's about it. Fill'er up with water, water wetter, and a little bit of coolant. Fire it up and go find a Mustang to spank! The young man in the picture is my son Andrew, whom helped me greatly in routing the piping.
 

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some ?'s

im doing a custom FMIC in the next week or 2. i was gonna make a thread askin some questions but maybe u could answer them.

1st :
it looks like u used 2 90* silicone elbows for the inlet and oulet of the IC, right ? i was gonna do this but i wasnt sure how they would hold up to boost and vacuum.

2nd :
did u use 2mm or 1/16" piping ? i was told to use the 2mm piping, but why?? will the boost blow the 1/16" piping apart lol ?

you did a great job on the project, let me know how much of a difference it made from stock.
 
im doing a custom FMIC in the next week or 2. i was gonna make a thread askin some questions but maybe u could answer them.

1st :
it looks like u used 2 90* silicone elbows for the inlet and oulet of the IC, right ? i was gonna do this but i wasnt sure how they would hold up to boost and vacuum.

2nd :
did u use 2mm or 1/16" piping ? i was told to use the 2mm piping, but why?? will the boost blow the 1/16" piping apart lol ?

you did a great job on the project, let me know how much of a difference it made from stock.


The two 90's do collapse under vacum, but I really didn't have another choice at the time. A lot of ricers have this type of setup and never have problems, but it may chaff the inside of the couplers after a while. Some ricers actually use a reverse system that uses all silicone piping with steel couplers that go inside the pipe. The entire system collapses under vacum. I still think it's a bad idea and may shorten the life of the couplers. I may try to insert some pieces of 3" tubing inside them next Winter to eliminate the collapsing.

You want to use the thicker pipe because the thinner pipe will tend to misshape or collapse under the pressure of the t-bolt clamps. Mine is the thicker pipe and I accidently crushed the pipe that goes into the blower top a bit by over tightening it. I striaghtened it back out and now use my head a little better when tightening the clamps.

It made a big difference from stock as far as overall engine cooling and heat-soaking immediatly. It didn't make a huge power difference until I finished up my other intake and exhaust mods. A chip and tune to are pretty necessary to get all the goody out of the lower ACT's too. Now the car will snap your neck back like my old '71 charger used to. :) The car actually lost traction and I got some wheel hop while accelerating in 2nd gear on dry pavement (not during a shift) the other day. I have a newly rebuilt locker with 245 Potenza's, so this was a pretty big surprize. I thought my trans had slipped until I doubled back and saw the black marks:D
 
when I did my fount mount years ago it looked almost identical to yours. Although mine is a Mustang. But I had the issue of collapsing elbows under vacuum as well, I fixed it by getting high strength hoses used on transport turcks, worked like a charm, plus I didn't use rubber elbows, I used tubing for the rounded parts so I only had to use sleeves to connect the pipes.

Also you may want to weld on a tab for the outlet pipe off the blower top, mount the tab under the pipe so it can bolt up to the alternator bracket like the stock one, this will help support all that piping. Thats what I did.

Here is a pic of mine, I used a Volvo IC and centered the SC rad in the middle of it, I made a new IC to copy the Vovlo IC but the endtanks were too big and blocked a lot of the rad and thus caused me to overheat so I ditch it. BUt the IC worked like a charm cooling the hot air :) But notice how all the bends have no rubber couplers, only sleeves to connect the pipes.

Here is the bracket I made under the pipe

outlet_pipe_bracket.jpg


brackets_and_pipes_installed_front_view.jpg


pipes_both_finished_and_installed.jpg



BTW your setup looks AWESOME non the less, and nicee wrtie up!!!
 
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You want to use the thicker pipe because the thinner pipe will tend to misshape or collapse under the pressure of the t-bolt clamps. Mine is the thicker pipe and I accidently crushed the pipe that goes into the blower top a bit by over tightening it. I striaghtened it back out and now use my head a little better when tightening the clamps.

do i absolutely need the thicker tubing ? im looking on ebay for the piping kit and the only ones that have the right size pipe w/bends and couplers i need have the 1/16" pipe. i could just not tighten the crap outta the tubes. its not like im gonna push 20psi thru them.
 
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WOW...totally nice wright up. I was going to do one as well in a few days on the same setup. My problem is that I dont have my blower here yet.

As far as the tubing question, why would you skimp on something that is so detremental to your car? Do it once and do it right. I skimped on the intercooler (found a cheap one on E-bay, NEVER EVER EVER deal with SSautochrome) and wound up not having what I paid for, for four months. Then, they acted like they did me a favor by sending me one. Bottom line, cars are expensive and you have to pay to go fast.

Chris
 
when I did my fount mount years ago it looked almost identical to yours. Although mine is a Mustang. But I had the issue of collapsing elbows under vacuum as well, I fixed it by getting high strength hoses used on transport turcks, worked like a charm, plus I didn't use rubber elbows, I used tubing for the rounded parts so I only had to use sleeves to connect the pipes.

Also you may want to weld on a tab for the outlet pipe off the blower top, mount the tab under the pipe so it can bolt up to the alternator bracket like the stock one, this will help support all that piping. Thats what I did.

Here is a pic of mine, I used a Volvo IC and centered the SC rad in the middle of it, I made a new IC to copy the Vovlo IC but the endtanks were too big and blocked a lot of the rad and thus caused me to overheat so I ditch it. BUt the IC worked like a charm cooling the hot air :) But notice how all the bends have no rubber couplers, only sleeves to connect the pipes.

Here is the bracket I made under the pipe

outlet_pipe_bracket.jpg


brackets_and_pipes_installed_front_view.jpg


pipes_both_finished_and_installed.jpg



BTW your setup looks AWESOME non the less, and nicee wrtie up!!!

Thank you!
Yeah, I really didn't want those 3" elbows. I ordered enough pipe to have a 90 section of pipe going into each inlet with a 3" - 2.75" reducer. After I got started, I realized that I didn't have room for them with the ABS tubing and the CAI on both sides. The elbows were ordered at the last minute and I consider them to be the weak point of the entire system.
Very nice setup! Is that an entire SC motor dropped into a 3.8 Mustang? Where's your alternator?

Daspanka
 
Great write up. When I did my FMIC years ago I couldnt find information like this, so I made it up as I went along. I know I would have done a lot of things diffrent on mine had I had some step by step writes up like this. I didnt write mine up like you did because I made some changes and piped it quite diffrently than a stock SC so my way wouldnt work for the average SCer. A lot of guys will look at your work and jump in there and do their own IC because it doesnt look so much like a mystery. If the SCCoA would have a Forum that would be for how to projects, that would help more people. Think of threads covering how to install a cam, or how to install lowering springs with step by step instructions and PICTURES of what to look for and how it goes together. That would help the average SC owner. Than when a newbe ask how to install a new MAF you say go to the How to Forum and look up MAF and its all there. Just a ideal

Ken
 
i had 90 degree elbows welded to my i/c, beads on the ends of all pipe connection points plus all the joints welded too. i bought my piping kit off of ebay and it's 1/16" thick and it's working great, no problems what so ever. I also went with the 3" pipes and 3" inlet/outlet i/c plus i put a 12" puller fan on the back to ensure cooler temps. after extended high rpm usage the pipe exiting the sc top is pretty hot but the pipe to the return plenum is nice and cool. i wish i had a way of checking the air temps before and after the i/c because i know there's a big difference.
 
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As far as the tubing question, why would you skimp on something that is so detremental to your car? Do it once and do it right. I skimped on the intercooler (found a cheap one on E-bay, NEVER EVER EVER deal with SSautochrome) and wound up not having what I paid for, for four months. Then, they acted like they did me a favor by sending me one. Bottom line, cars are expensive and you have to pay to go fast.

Chris

its not that im trying to go cheap on the IC tubes, but the kits that have the size and bends i want have the 1/16" tubing.
 
Make no mistake, I am not trying to call names here. Put it this way, I have seen so many people try to move foreward and cut one corner. Then, the whole project goes south. I would rather see what you are working on come to fruition than go south.

Chris
 
Make no mistake, I am not trying to call names here. Put it this way, I have seen so many people try to move foreward and cut one corner. Then, the whole project goes south. I would rather see what you are working on come to fruition than go south.

Chris

i see what your'e syaing chris, but if nickelman had no problem with 1/16" im gonna go his route also. i need a certain amount of pipe and the right angles to make this work.

nickelman60 : any special tips or info u wanna give from your install ?
 
nickelman60 : any special tips or info u wanna give from your install ?

i changed a few things when i did my install:
1. welded 3" piece of 3" x 3/16" thick aluminum piping to raised top to accept the 3" pipe without reducer.
2. cut off the i/c flange on the return plenum and welded a 3" piece of aluminum piping to it for same reason as above.
3. i cut off the bracket on the radiator for the i/c bellows, shortened it, rewelded the mounting bracket on and then centered it in the radiator support to give me room on both sides to run my pipes to the i/c.
4. i did my fmic knowing i was deleting the ac.
5. i cut all of my piping sections to exact lengths since i was welding the joints, took a bit more time because you have to be precise.

here's some pics with the bumper off, bumper on and the last one shows the pipe connections with the abs delete completed, lots more room in there.
 

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Great write up. When I did my FMIC years ago I couldnt find information like this, so I made it up as I went along. I know I would have done a lot of things diffrent on mine had I had some step by step writes up like this. I didnt write mine up like you did because I made some changes and piped it quite diffrently than a stock SC so my way wouldnt work for the average SCer. A lot of guys will look at your work and jump in there and do their own IC because it doesnt look so much like a mystery. If the SCCoA would have a Forum that would be for how to projects, that would help more people. Think of threads covering how to install a cam, or how to install lowering springs with step by step instructions and PICTURES of what to look for and how it goes together. That would help the average SC owner. Than when a newbe ask how to install a new MAF you say go to the How to Forum and look up MAF and its all there. Just a ideal

Ken

That's exactly why I decided to do this thread. When I installed My IC, there were a lot of fragments of information and pretty good pics, etc in the forums. But, I had to basically make most of it up as I went along. I made a lot of missteps, and had to work around them. I decided that the straight through, center inlet IC is what I wanted to go with, so I fit the car to the IC. I think a lot of guys would hesitate to saw through the Rad support, etc. (my wife thought I was nuts, whacking at the T-bird with a sawzall:D ). Maybe this will give some others a point of reference to see what they like or don't like about the way my install was done, and help them plan their own projects. It's not that I think my install is better than anyone elses. Or "THE" way to do it. Because I certainly don't. But, mine certainly is a way to get the job done. Especially for the "pipe welding impaired" amoung us:)
 
Let's all post our installs

Thanks Chris and Fast Ed!
How about everyone post detailed pics, instructions, and parts lists of their FMIC installs. We'll turn this thread into a giant "how to" manual. Hell, we create 20 page threads arguing over useless crap, let's do one over something constructive:) We've already got mine, v6sprout's Mustang, and Nickleman60's installs. Every time I see someone else's FMIC install, I see things I wish I had done or would like to incorporate into mine. I'll bet everyone who has done, or is planing an FMIC install would get something out of it.
 
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i wish i had a way of checking the air temps before and after the i/c because i know there's a big difference.

Mike Puckett be da' man you need to talk to. He made a hombrew ACT gauge when he installed his snow system. Beware though, Mike is a wiz with this stuff and the "electronically impaired" may become dizzy when he explains it:)
 
i'll post my install pics when i do it in the next week or 2.

heres a pic of my progress after winter upgrades.....

on my return plenum i just sawed off the flanges and used an angle grinder to smooth it out. now i can just slip a coupler over it.

009.jpg
 
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