Herr-Kuhn

You need to have one built if you want it right. The bar and plate charge coolers are the way to go. I believe that unit to be way too small for your needs. You will need something like 3.5" or 4.5" thick. You don't need a ton of frontal area, but it helps. As a comparison...my 4.5 TT intercooler is 3.5"X18"X6" tall....the air flows across the 3.5"X18" area. Internal flow area is one of the keys to a low pressure drop intercooler. Most of the heat transfer happens in the first 8" of core length. Also, remember the turbulator design in the core plays a huge role in how well it will flow. I use Bell's "bump-design" turbulator....offers low pressure drop without being too restrictive. It is all a balancing act with intercoolers.

My votes is to mock up what you want and then have it built. Otherwise no telling what you will get.

Imo000

I don't really want it to be right, just to be good enough.

You see..........You and I are totally on the oppsite sides of the boosting spectrum. My goal is to spend as little as possible on this project and you tend to go for the best money can buy.

After actually seeing the Volvo IC, I don't think it's too small for my application. I beleive this IC was over designed and that's why its soo much larger than other OEM ICs. I do feel that frontal area is the most important factor in an IC. Larger the area the better the heat transfer. Small, thick ICs are alot less efficient that large thin ones. My final goal is 400RWHP. With a test H-pipe, this IC and 8psi of boost, I might even get there.

Hey, if it doesn't work out, it's only $65 and I can always sell it to someone else.

Not being able to tell the outcome is what this whole project is about. Ever since I started this supercharger build, I only had rought estimates of what the end result will be like. So far I've haven't been disapointed.

TAREK

If you add shipping and handling, your total cost may be $1042.62 for the whole system?

way to go good luck and hope to hear it worked out well for you

jeff jackson

Imo...
Have you looked at the Starion/Conquest intercoolers ??? Probably lots available in the scrapyards, and the sizing is pretty good for a boosted shark (given the available space)...its been a very long time since I had a Starion ESI-R (don't ask me what all the nomenclature represents)...but as I recall, the intercooler was approx 2.5" thick, by 10" high, by 12" to14" wide...and the inlet /ooutlet ports were about 1 3/4" in diameter. Supposedly...the stock units were working satisfactorily with T3/4 or 20G hybrid turbos @19 psi...According to some sources...(Racetep.com), these cars were producing 420 HP from 2.6 litres of displacement. Crank HP measurement no doubt. Just something to consider, if you are going the most economical method possible for your intercooler. These are nice well built aluminum tube and fin air to air units, with modestly sized end tanks, which should produce very little pressure drop across the core. You certainly would have to fab up piping or hoses for the air tract to and from the IC, but it might be worth the effort. heres a link to a photo of an upgrade version of the OEM Starion IC. http://www.racetep.com/STARIC.jpg

Remember...this is an "upgrade version" of the stocker. It DOES look identical to OEM unit though.

Imo000

Jeff,

I did look at the Stration and other OEM intercoolers before deciding that the Volvo IC is the best suited for my build. The main problem with almost all the OEM ICs is the size of the In/Outlet. They are always 2" or less and I need a minium of 2.5".
But thanks for the info, every little bit helps.

Herr-Kuhn

Contrary to popular belief I don't go for the most expensive money can buy. All my projects are done on a budget. You don't see my car with ball bearing $1,500 turbos or radical hardware. It is all old school hardware application that works and works well. I do go with what works best. For me that is the Turbo. You will really need to look at the internal flow area of that cooler, this will determine your pressure drop. Large surface area is nice, but if you under-do the flow area the pressure drops will be high and the intercooler can actually hurt performance.

Consider just for a minute that you could have one made for about $500.00 that will do the job perfectly. By the time you mess around trying to fit what you are looking at you will have at least $250-300 into it. So, you save a few hundred and have a lower quality part.

hacker-pschorr

Are you offering or can you direct me in the proper direction to have a front mounted IC made for $500? That seams pretty cheap so I am very interested.

Herr-Kuhn

Call Gerhard at Bell Intercoolers and check out what is possible. My TT IC was $1,000+, but that is a complex fabrication to fit the twin turbo system. I would think you would be close to $500.00 for a medium unit with simple end tanks and feeds. It depends on how big the core is. They also make air to liquid units. They pride themselves on quality work that is reasonable in price and they deliver on time.

www.bellintercoolers.com

JK

Jim_H

Are you folks just talking AA or are AW questions welcomed?

Imo000

If that was the case I would totally agree with you, however I will not be spending more than $100usd ($125cdn) on this "project". If the pressure drop is too large, I'll just buy a universal fit IC on e-bay for under $200 and make that fit. I can even go back to the non-intercooled setup and call it a day or go with the alcohol injection way. There is not way in hell I'm spending $500 + tubing on an IC. I'll weld two Volvo IC cores together if I have to before I fork out that much $$$$.

Imo000

The IC is in the car. It's only mocked up at the moment but it did fit with very little modification. I had to move the radiator 1.5" in and 1.5" down. This gave me enough room to nicely fit the IC and the electric fan. The hardest part is over, now all that's left is to make some extension tabs for for the radiator, shorten the lower rad hose by 1", make the mounting brackets for the IC and the tubing. The In/Outlets of the IC will go over the rad. There is just enough room to do this. This will be ideal since the SC is on the passanger side and the inlet for the engine is on the driver side.

I will post some more pics when it's all 100% complete.

FlyingDog

That blocks an aweful lot of the radiator. I hope it doesn't cause heat problems. What fan are you using? Are you going to also have a puller?

Imo000

No room for a puller jsut a pusher, the crancase pulley is too long. I thought about the blocking too, but originally there was a AC condenser infront of it and that also blocked the rad a bit. I know the factory included a large safety margin when designing the cooling system so hopefully it will be fine.

hacker-pschorr

Have you looked at Tim Murphy's puller setup for his kits? I see no reason why his setup would not fit on your car.

Even if this IC does not work as well as your hoping for, it does give you a good template to have a custom one created. I may find one of those around here, use it as a base to have one custom made.

Imo000

I haven't look at that setup yet, but I don't think it would work in my car. The catch can I built is located on the driver side of the rad, between the rad and the engine. As you suggested, even it this doesn't work I can alt least get an idea how to have one custom made.

I think this will actually work even with portions of the rad somewhat blocked, the air flow should be enough to cool the car at highway speeds. In a stop and go traffic this electric fan might be a bit on the small side. It's capacity is 1200cfm.