Revising Procharger Intercooler System (Twins to FMIC)

[blackbirdws6]

My front bumper is off to get repainted to repair general stone chips and other general defects which have been bothering me for some time. While its off, I decided to revise the intercooler setup on the car. The car was running the twin, 3.5" Procharger intercoolers but I decided on trying a large FMIC to see if there would be any efficiency gains. The LS cars get all the fun with the 4.5" ICs but these were not an option since the inlet and outlet are very different. The 3.5s are rated to 700hp (combined). The dual IC system basically has a split pipe from the Procharger outlet. One IC sits under the passenger side headlight (horizontal) and it's the same on the driverside. The passenger pipe on the passenger side requires removal of the front bumper support since it travels over to the drivers side to go into a crazy assortment of merges before finally going to the main charge pipe under the hood. Most of the pipe size is 2.5". The new setup will be all 3".


The current setup works fine for basic highway pulls but after a few runs, the IATs climb which pulls my timing. I am running meth injection however I want to keep the IATs as low as possible. I could noticeably feel the drop in power at the track last season at the top of third and through fourth.


The goal would be to pick up some CFM, reduce any restrictions and see if I can keep the IATs under control under prolonged boost. Also while the bumper is off, I had a Burkhart front bumper support which I sitting around which I haven't done anything with. Below are some pics of the intercooler (31x12x4) with the front bumper support. My buddy has an industrial welding shop so we were able to fab and weld in some brackets for the FMIC.


Current Setup
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_1545.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_1547.jpg


Top Bracket Welded
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_0415.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_0418.jpg


Bottom Bracket (with "Speed Holes")
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_0417.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_0416.jpg


Mocked Up On The Car
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_0423.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_0424.jpg


I will pull it off and paint the entire front bumper support so it looks nice.....for the internet but mainly for rust prevention.

[popo8]

Damn... thats some really nice work man!

[Fastbird]

Doing like me and coughing up the fog lights huh? How was the fit on that burkhart piece? I've got nada under my nose right now.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

[shownomercy]

Doing like me and coughing up the fog lights huh? How was the fit on that burkhart piece? I've got nada under my nose right now.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

oh teh cutting

[blackbirdws6]

Thanks Popo.

Yes Shownomercy....the cutting was thankfully minimal for the little upper supports for the front bumper support.


Doing like me and coughing up the fog lights huh? How was the fit on that burkhart piece? I've got nada under my nose right now.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

Not sure yet. Nose will be back in a week (hopefully). I'm ditching the foglights for now but depending on room, I may get some simple brackets fabbed up. I want to see if the intercooler works and I also have room for puller fans if I need more airflow through the unit.

[CamaroZGuy]

wow....this is exactly how i am wanting to mount mine...great minds think alike! lol

[ZOHAN]

looks like a good start for sure! ive been brainstorming on how to support the bumper better, i dont have anything suporting mine right now either, i need to do something to keep it from trying to sag away from the fenders. How much does the bracket weigh? ill have to post some pics of mine. i cant tell exactly where your intercooler sits horizontally, but mine sits prob 2-3 inches higher. i actually cut into the black plastic cross piece about an inch to fit around the intercooler, then the lower bumper mounts mount to my bottom bracket. good looking setup though!

[Fastbird]

Another question, or thought. Look at how low yours sits. I say that because if it's lower than the radiator support, I'd be very VERY cautious because it's going to be the lowest point on the front end. If you look at my pic below, you'll see how I actually notched the upper plastic to allow me to tuck my intercooler as high as possible.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i177/Fastbird93/Purple%20Car/DSC_6483.jpg

As mine sits, the intercooler is maybe 1/2" to 1" higher than the radiator core support.

Just food for thought. Anything can happen on any given day (tree branch, roadkill, road gator, etc) that could cause a lot of damage up there with it too low.

[Badbird_96]

His is above the lower plastic under the bumper. His doesn't look as tall as yours Sean unless its all an illusion.

[shownomercy]

wow....this is exactly how i am wanting to mount mine...great minds think alike! lol

Why thank you.

And yea, the IC is above the air dam as to not block air from the unfilled AC condenser.

[Fastbird]

His is above the lower plastic under the bumper. His doesn't look as tall as yours Sean unless its all an illusion.

When you say lower plastic under the bumper, you mean the flat part of the nose at the front, or the air dam? My concern is being lower than the radiator core support. If he's above that, then all is well. You can't take the air dam into account though because at least 1/2 of it is lower than the core support. I'm just thinking about it in that "what if" scenario that something high ends up right in front of him. I'd rather have it bounce off the radiator support than my intercooler.

Looks like he's got the same intercooler I got. CX Racing 24x12 core.

[ZOHAN]

being low was my thought as well. maybe its an overall different size than mine. ill put pics of mine up later when im home.

[Badbird_96]

I was meaning the vented plastic that attachs to the bottom of the bumper. You can see the plastic to the side. But like I say I was just comparing pics when I read your post. His may still be lower than yours I was just wondering if that was high enough lol

[blackbirdws6]

The way it sits will be a little higher than what's shown. The top bracket is right around an 8th of an inch from the bottom of the plastic where the bumper mounts. Looking at your pics, mine will be as high as yours once I bolt it up. Check the bolts holes for the crash bar relative to the front bumper support mounts and you will see its sitting lower than it should. Once I paint it, I will mount it for good and take new pics.

[Fastbird]

The way it sits will be a little higher than what's shown. The top bracket is right around an 8th of an inch from the bottom of the plastic where the bumper mounts. Looking at your pics, mine will be as high as yours once I bolt it up. Check the bolts holes for the crash bar relative to the front bumper support mounts and you will see its sitting lower than in should. Once I paint it, I will mount it for good and take new pics.

Good stuff man. I'll be data logging on Saturday at the track so I can give you some intercooler feedback.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

[blackbirdws6]

Good stuff man. I'll be data logging on Saturday at the track so I can give you some intercooler feedback.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

Awesome and appreciate you remembering. I will be doing the same when I get mine all done and can take it for a few good runs. I have a track rental coming up in November so I want to be well prepared. (even though that's essentially impossible)

[shownomercy]

Awesome and appreciate you remembering. I will be doing the same when I get mine all done and can take it for a few good runs. I have a track rental coming up in November so I want to be well prepared. (even though that's essentially impossible)

How hard is it to prepare for 11s, I mean, cmon now.

[blackbirdws6]

How hard is it to prepare for 11s, I mean, cmon now.
Pot, meet kettle.

[MeanTA]

Another question, or thought. Look at how low yours sits. I say that because if it's lower than the radiator support, I'd be very VERY cautious because it's going to be the lowest point on the front end. If you look at my pic below, you'll see how I actually notched the upper plastic to allow me to tuck my intercooler as high as possible.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i177/Fastbird93/Purple%20Car/DSC_6483.jpg

As mine sits, the intercooler is maybe 1/2" to 1" higher than the radiator core support.

Just food for thought. Anything can happen on any given day (tree branch, roadkill, road gator, etc) that could cause a lot of damage up there with it too low.

Sean what are those 2 seperators for?
sorry reading and getting ideas for my build.

[Fastbird]

They're standoffs for the bar stock that the intercooler is mounted to in order to raise it up higher.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

[MeanTA]

They're standoffs for the bar stock that the intercooler is mounted to in order to raise it up higher.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

sorry should have said that different. Im talking about the seperators/breathers mounted on the sides of the IC.

[CamaroZGuy]

they are catch cans

[MeanTA]

going to what?

[Fastbird]

-10 AN line from each valve cover.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

[ZOHAN]

how are you creating the suction on the out side of the cans?

[shownomercy]

how are you creating the suction on the out side of the cans?

I think BLS uses a vac source off the inlet hat on the F1.

[ZOHAN]

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i177/Fastbird93/Purple Car/DSC_6483.jpg



ok, here's some shots of mine, you can see how much higher mine sits into the plastic. Along with my upper and lower brackets. The bottom attachment points of the front bumper sit just behind the IC bolted to the bottom bracket

[MeanTA]

-10 AN line from each valve cover.

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

i like that setup. i might have to steal that idea and do something similar

[blackbirdws6]

Made some progress today. Front bumper support is painted and everything is mounted. Fitment looks excellent and I'm shocked how close I got that top mount for the intercooler so close to the plastic where bumper mounts. I also have some nice clearance below the intercooler to not block air flow to the plastic that directs air to the radiator. I have a couple inches behind the intercooler as well. Tomorrow I will start playing with the piping.


http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_1570.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_1571.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_1576.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/Blower%20Build/IMG_1580.jpg

[shownomercy]

Thats not how fastbird did his though? Will you be having the same guy tuning popo's car tune this?

[popo8]

... Will you be having the same guy tuning popo's car tune this?

Whats that supposed to mean?

[blackbirdws6]

The charge piping is all done. I just need to tighten everything up for good. Everything fits really well satisfies my OCD with these kinds of things.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0465.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0466.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0464.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0471.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0478.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0475.jpg

I've also included a few pics of my redneck pipe bead maker. The piping kit I bought had this done to all the ends but I needed to cut some of the pipes so everything fit appropriately. I stole this idea from the internet (cough Fastbird cough) and it works surprisingly well. I made one for the 3" pipe and another for the 3.5" pipe.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0452.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0449.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0450.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0462.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w170/bmdeluca/The%20Bird/IMG_0463.jpg

[96SilverRam]

Nice job on the bead rolling. The inter-cooler setup looks very nice with custom front mount bracket.

[Fastbird]

Where are you using a 3.5" pipe?

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

[blackbirdws6]

Where are you using a 3.5" pipe?

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

Procharger piping grows to 3.5" when it makes its way into the engine bay. Old system would be a 3.5" outlet split into two 2.5" pipes and ultimately merge back into a 3.5" pipe. I didn't see a need to change any of that larger pipe since my bypass valve is welded to one of those pipes and they mate up well to my 5 wire MAF.

[1fstss]

your pipe layout looks almost identical to mine, except i still have my bypass valve in the same spot as my twins had... also my intercooler is mounted high too... i cut away the metal bumper enough and left the top strip and used that as my mounting point, and that hold it stable enough i dont have a mount on the bottom, the only thing that hangs below the bumper cover is a sliver of the 2 mounting points on the bottom of the intercooler. i hate seeing people mount the cooler and it hangs down below the bumper cover like 4 inches LOL

[Paules94z]

Any updates on this build?

[shownomercy]

It ran a high ten second pass before shamu jumped the sea wall to freedom.

[blackbirdws6]

New intercooler system worked well IMO. IAT rise down the track was much much less than before. The unit cooled down quicker as well. I picked up a little mph from running last year and made my first 10 second pass. Now I just need to get the car to hook properly and go deeper in the 10s. Shamu weighs almost 4100 with me in it (lol) so I may just have to run a smaller pulley :).

[The SRZ]

Nice!