Zappo Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Since people are tired of seeing the big pile of parts Kevin has yet to install on his car, we decided to tackle the intercooler today. Ok, the real reason is I did mine last week, so that usually means I will be helping Kevin with the same install soon after. Some people also wanted a write up on this, so hopefully I can remember everything. Just starting to remove stuff.Removed the cover that holds the fuel relays, upper intercooler hose, TB cover (makes it easier for removing the fan assembly), ECU cooling hose and the intake hose.Remove the 2 screws and 2 bolts at the top of the fan assembly, disconnect all the electrical and remove.Remove the splash guard. Kevin's was a bit strange because his horns are mounted to the splash guard.In this picture you can also see one of the lower bolts holding the condenser, IC and rad together.Disconnect the lower IC hose. Not sure what Kevin is doing up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted October 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 There are 6 bolts holding the IC on. 4 of them also hold the condenser onto the radiator. Everything is bolted to the radiator, and it is bolted to the car at the bottom. Kevin only had 4 bolts actually holding everything together. He also had a a nice racheting wrench with a pivoting head that made removing the top bolts super easy. I was able to remove them before unbolting the radiator for the body. It may be easier to do it the way I did, which is to unbolt the radiator and tilt it back towards the motor to get better access to the upper IC bolts.We used a piece of wire to hold the condenser up while we dropped the IC out the bottom. This part isn't easy. We used a piece of cardboard to help protect the radiator fins from the top IC opening as we pushed it down and out. It is faster if you have two people to help with this, but I did my entire install alone, just takes longer.Here is a shot of it out compared to the new one going in. Kevin's seems thicker than mine, so maybe his is 50mm? I thought all the ones we got were 40mm, but his was 2". New IC goes in there. I took measurements from the old IC to mark the holes on the new one. This works, but I suggest slotting the holes on one side just like the stock IC. It makes assembly much easier.I wrote down these measurements to help, but trust them at your own risk. The are measured edge to bore center on the hole. The 26.25" is the center to center across the radiator.Getting the new one in is a bit harder than removing the old one. It is physically taller, so we had to raise the front of the car more to get it in. Again, we used a piece of cardboard to help protect the rad fins as we pushed it up into place.I think I disturbed him while he was sleeping under the car.The IC is 'in', but nothing as been bolted up. You can see the wire holding the AC condenser in place still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted October 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 At this point, we did some other work. We decided to change out his vacuum lines while we still had the fan assembly out. You can see the lines in the picture below; they are silver. Because his intercooler was so much thicker than the stock one, we had to make a run down to the hardware store to pick up some longer bolts. We needed longer than what I thought, but I was able to get them to work. In the picture you can easily see one of the two upper screws bolting the fan assembly to the body. The bolt on that side is hidden under a small brace. The bolts can be a pain because clips they bolt into move easily out of place. Make sure they are lined up before putting the fan in.The bottom opening on his IC is 60mm, so the Samco hose he had wouldn't work. Luckily, he had his RIP kit lower elbow at work, so we used it.If you look carefully, you can see the lower bolt holding the condenser and IC to the radiator. You can see the space between the radiator mounting point and the IC flange. That space is the reason we needed new bolts. Top end is almost finished.Me, finishing up the splash guard.You will have to wait and see what Kevin says about the performance. After the install when he first started the car, the CEL he had before was gone. Probably a vacuum leak that was fixed when the hoses were replaced.Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything, but I can add it later if I remember. Kevin can help fill in anything I missed also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volvoson Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Great write up Sorry I didn't help, I felt like sleeping some more, plus I wouldn't have been a lot of help anyways B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted October 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 We could have had more pictures. Kevin told me you were a lazy bum and didn't want to get up.We didn't start right away anyway. I was 15 minutes late getting to Kevin's place (part of it due to bad directions). Checked out his new place and met one of his hot roommates. My female roommates never looked like that. At BV, most of the shop was working and we had to wait for 20 minutes or so while they unloaded a truck before had a spot to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volvoson Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Well, I wish I would've helped, at least by taking more pictures along the way Turbo install + RIP Kit install is next, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Nice write up guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
550 Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Nice writeup... now remove the blue hoses and send them to me damnit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdizzle Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 'bout time! :monkey: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted October 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Nice writeup... now remove the blue hoses and send them to me damnit. We have one off. Kevin cleaned it up for you also. I wanted to just do the RIP while we were at it, but he says he has to do the turbo at the same time. Just because the BOV is on the pipe doesn't mean you have to use it. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
550 Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 George atleast I know you are looking out for me hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the ünderstüdy Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 wow that was an awesome write up george. looks great kevin, that thing is a decent size no doubt. no more table top! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maiku Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 wowwhen RICA gets here, kev's car is going to be awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the underlørd Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 First off, I'd like to say thanks to George for the help.Yeah, I was getting a CEL for some strange altimeter code.. I always assumed it was the wastegate...(since the PO had the 'insight' to mess with it, but I adjusted it back to normal. Started the car up, no CEL! w00t..Anyway... I'm sure it's a combination of replacing all the vacuum lines (even that beotch of a one on the bottom of the turbo) and the new intercooler, but the car feels much stronger.. (yeah yeah, i know... butt dyno) but car feels great, (it's been wet here so, no dry pavement to really stand on it). Waiting for my intake mnaifold gasket, and then all the gauges will go back in, Boost, EGT, and oil P... so I'll have some numbers soon. When was the IC group buy? I think Swedish Mike offered the idea to me around Christmas of 04... lol... So glad I finally got it in.-- ps we had a really great plan of attack to move the IC out front, but it would have involved opening up the AC system, taking out the condensor, cutting off the brackets, and redoing pretty much everything.so, if the my AC system ever takes dump on me, we'll make it happen.all you guys.... put an A-Tech intercooler on your xmas list.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dougk Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 dug likes 75 dollar srt4 intercooler'sbut dug likes people clearing out their family rooms more lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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