intercooler piping on the cheap

[elyria_boy]

ok, so besides the obvious bling factor, is there any reason a guy couldn't use mandrel bent exhaust tubing to fab up custom intercooler piping? :confused: i've never really been one for chrome, so powdercoating is an option when it is all said and done. I also considered using header wrap to cover up the ugliness. any opinions would be great, or any other ideas. I have a set of smic's i want to plumb in asap and i'm a tightwad. also i haven't seen a cheapo option for smic pipes only front mounts.

[akotten]

I suppose you could, but if you're thinking steel, its going to be HEAVY

[Polygon]

Cheapest option is cutting and welding sections together. Mandrel bent would nice but expensive to have someone do it for you.

[tachyon]

You can do it, but unless you know somebody the cost will be high. To custom fab IC piping wouldn't be all that hard, but as a time/material job it won't be cheap.

If you do have somebody fab piping for you, the stock intercoolers have tubing that's 1-5/8 inch OD. The compressor outlets are each different... front I think is also 1-5/8 inch OD, rear has the female fitting that the stock hardpipe slides into with an o-ring.

The ends of the Y-pipe that connect to the intercooler lines are 1.75 inch OD.

Another option is the CX Racing kit for the stock sidemounts. You can check it out at CX Racing's site, where they sell it for $400 last I looked. One of our vendors, PMP - Price Matched Parts - sells it as well, for $300. Only issue there is that CX changed the kit some last year to give better fitment. I bought one from PMP in May, and they sent me... the old kit. Fitment on the old kit is poor. Really poor. So, if you go that route, ask PMP which they're going to sell you. They're good guys, if I had asked I'm sure they would have told me. I didn't ask. The new kit may not fit as well as it might, but it looks like it'll be better than the old one.

Good luck either way - let us know what you decide to do. I like the sidemounts too, altho I have DSM intercoolers not stock. But I don't want to lose my crash bar or fogs or both, so for the time being I'm sticking with the sidemounts.

[x2xtreme360]

If you're good at TIG welding aluminum, you could do it... but I'd imagine it may just be easier to spend $300 on the PMP piping.

[Polygon]

If you're good at TIG welding aluminum, you could do it... but I'd imagine it may just be easier to spend $300 on the PMP piping.

That being said, call Jason up and see if he'll do one with side mounts for you.

[Austin@STM]

Im guessing your talking about your average steel exhaust pipe. I wouldnt recommend it, it will rust and then you will get all kinds of debris inside your engine from it. It will also be rather heavy. If you want something cheap go with the cx racing piping kit. It fits decent has ok couplers and t-bolts, and then just get a good core to use with it.

-Austin@STM

[Atrosity]

I do not recommend using the CXRacing Hard pipe kit. I had so many compications and fitment issues, it was a nightmare.

I have my review written here.
http://3sforums.com/index.php?topic=797.0

[Polygon]

I do not recommend using the CXRacing Hard pipe kit. I had so many compications and fitment issues, it was a nightmare.

I have my review written here.
http://3sforums.com/index.php?topic=797.0

If it's anything like they're Y-pipe, I can understand that.

[Atrosity]

If it's anything like they're Y-pipe, I can understand that.


It is exactly like their y pipe.....never had to modify so much shit to make it work....wish i bought DNP but this is now working for me.

[Polygon]

It is exactly like their y pipe.....never had to modify so much shit to make it work....wish i bought DNP but this is now working for me.

Yep, a classic example of you get what you pay for.

[Austin@STM]

I used the cx kit last year to try it out. It wasnt perfect but it all fit without any modification for me, and it was only like 600 bucks.

-Austin@STM

[Polygon]

In all fairness there's almost nothing in your engine bay besides the engine.

[Atrosity]

I used the cx kit last year to try it out. It wasnt perfect but it all fit without any modification for me, and it was only like 600 bucks.

-Austin@STM


I have heard/seen that their fmic kits fit just fine. However the hardpipe kit does not.

[elyria_boy]

there is a shop that will do 3 dollar mandrel bends ten minutes from me. i dont think that will be too bad, but i guess that depends on how many i need and how many times i screw it up. lol. and i thought about the o-ring and the difference in pipe sizing over stock. I figured i would have to do some hack n slash on a extra rear stock pipe, but the more i think about that, the more i think it will look like shit.i think the fabrication part of it is really enjoyable tho, wich is why i thought i would pose the question. hmm, and using exhaust grade steel pipe would be no good due to the rusting, flaking, engine, turbos, bank balance exploding mod. so then you have to spend more just on raw materials, and then try to make it functional and pretty. then buying quality couplers to hold it all together....

[Austin@STM]

What does that mean, how are you going to wire pipes together?

Also steel pipes will rust, ETS used steel piping for a long time, and it rusted on the inside. This caused a lot of issues because they sold it as "stainless" piping, we've had it on a few customer cars here and witnessed the rust first hand. There are threads about it on the Evo and DSM boards. SS or aluminum are the best ways to go.

-Austin@STM

[Polygon]

It's how it's done on proper race cars.

To join 2 metal pipes together you weld tabs on the sides. Those tabs are used to hold the pipes together either with wire, bolts or some other means.
The coupler (rubber pipe and hose clips) is there only for a seal, not to stop them from blowing apart.
Sure SS or aluminium might be better in the long term but mild steel is cheap, easy to weld and doesn't rust with oil on it.

Steve

At that point you mind as well just weld them up completely. I'd rather have that than a bunch of couplers anyways.

[Austin@STM]

Yes i agree the less couplers the better, less possible problems to run into. However something is wrong if couplers are just popping off.

We run almost 50 lbs of boost in our shop Evo, and it has a standard coupler and t-bolts on aluminum piping on all joints that arent welded, never had a pipe fall off yet.

Are you using reinforced multi layer couplers like this? Also do you bead roll your pipes?
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.com/parts/b/stm_silicone_straight_couplers.jpg

[Atrosity]

A bit off topic......but Just bought the Dejon Y pipe for blow-through, I chose the t clamp option and paid the extra cash for it thinking it was the better option so has anyone get t clamps from them that did not fit? I had these suckers tightened all they down to the end and I was able to pull the pipe right off...

[1992redvr-4]

What does that mean, how are you going to wire pipes together?

Also steel pipes will rust, ETS used steel piping for a long time, and it rusted on the inside. This caused a lot of issues because they sold it as "stainless" piping, we've had it on a few customer cars here and witnessed the rust first hand. There are threads about it on the Evo and DSM boards. SS or aluminum are the best ways to go.

-Austin@STM

On your stealth, are you using aluminum or stainless for your ic piping? I'm thinking about getting some stainless and fabbing up something similar to the DNP hard pipe kit. I figure 16 or 18 gauge ss would be good, but may be a lil heavy.

[Atrosity]

On your stealth, are you using aluminum or stainless for your ic piping? I'm thinking about getting some stainless and fabbing up something similar to the DNP hard pipe kit. I figure 16 or 18 gauge ss would be good, but may be a lil heavy.

I would use aluminum, SS just seems really heavy for the same result...

[Austin@STM]

We run run aluminum on everything, we use .065 aluminum welded where ever is possible with a few couplers here and there to make it easy to work on. SS is great to it doesnt dent easy and is stronger, but it is heavy and not needed.

Yes i run aluminum on my car.

Back on topic with the original post, whatever you end up doing make sure you take your time, keep the pipes round, and make sure they dont rub on anything or they will wear through and make a hole. Also make sure you boost leak test the hell out of it, if you plan on running say 20 psi it should be able to hold 30 without a leak.

-Austin@STM

[elyria_boy]

Ok, so how about a soft pipe setup? Benifits would be one solid length of tube from ic to turbo to intake so less chance for leaks. Easy to route. No hard turns to mess up air flow.What kind of material could be used? Rubber, silicone? What about braided pvc? Rock crawler guys use that for rear mount radiator setups. What temps does the hot side see? Any body know?

[elyria_boy]

Anybody running softpiping other than stock chime in.

[11secondFWD]

Um buy a 70 buck aluminum piping kit and make it yourself. I made fmic and piping for 130 bucks. It was good for a 123mph car making over 400whp.

http://www.3si.org/forum/f60/ebay-fmic-pics-388772/

[mikeyVR4]

Bead rolled or lipped pipes = no blow off.

[Tiberius]

I'm running Samco IC-hoses with quality t-bolt clamps, cheapo Alu Y-pipe and turbo intake pipes. All vacuum hoses are Samco as well.
With a proper reducing coupler from Y-pipe to throttlebody and proper sized quality t-bolt clamps (1 clamp on TB, 1 before and 1 after the bead of the Y-pipe) this whole setup works perfectly.
Critical points: Y-pipe and turbo intake can be cheap stuff but bead-rolled ends are a must. Choose exact t-bolt clamp sizes for all hoses and get good quality, I think I spent at least €60 in clamps alone. Everything else is easy-peasy. Not fitment issues at all.
The only thing left to do is replace the cheapo silicone couplers from turbo-intake pipes to turbo with matching Samco couplers. So far no problems @ 15 PSI but I don't trust that stuff.

downsides to the Samco setup are:
-inside diameter of the Samco hoses is stock-sized and won't strech very much. Anything larger than stock will not work.
-rear turbo IC pipe remains stock. I just painted it silver, looks OK but no eye-candy
-I didn't weigh it but the Samco stuff must be a bit heavier than stock rubber. It's at least 3 times thicker after all.

[elyria_boy]

I think I'm going with aluminum. I got the strut bar I wanted and can make them both fit. I've heard some guys setups won't allow both.