For those that cant swing the almost $600 stinger kit can anyone recommend a cheaper universal kit that worked without buying an entire extra piping kit?
Oh yeah I saw these guys from gnari and they had a FMIC kit for around $470 with a bypass valve but I havent read much about these guys any idea on this kit??
http://www.gnariperformance.com/product/front-mount-intercooler-kit
Just buy an IC and some piping and make your own.
(Not that difficult (http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?17322-Chuck-s-83-TBird/page11))
The kit looks OK. It's for an 83-86, however, and you'll probably need to do a few mods to make it work for your 88. Gnari is new-ish to the TF scene, I think.
Is there a ideal size of the FMIC I should be looking for? I dont have my front clip off to really measure anything mainly the width is what my concern would be. And I also emailed those guys at Gnari and they responded with this
"The front mount intercooler that we offer has been installed on 1987 – 88 Turbo Coupe Thunderbirds by some of our customers. We have been told that with little to no modification the kit bolts up. We have not been able to test fit it at our shop, so we don't want to say that it is a direct bolt on yet.
The kit is designed to work with the stock A/C condenser and radiator/electric fan setup on the 83-86 and 87-88 thunderbirds. (See pic below)
We have them in stock and ready to ship. We would enjoy seeing before and after pictures of your car if. Good luck with your T-Bird."
I think the kit looks good, my only concern would be the blow off valve. There radiator kit looks good too.
My 85 has the stinger kit on it as the only mod to the car and it works good.
Yeah I know once I have enough cash saved up ill most likely just bite the bullet and buy Stingers..just sucks dropping that much knowing with a lil ingenuity you can save half that money.
I bought a Volvo one for 20.00 and will be using stainless exhaust pieces taken from a few trucks. And lots of duct tape.
Where did you mount the BOV..and im sorry did u run a BOV, BPV, or hybrid valve? Any pics? Stiring up some interest on finally doing this FMIC sometime this year..
Normally i always preach that the more you pay for a part the better it is. Well i have eaten my words on this lately. I wanted to test some cheap intercoolers that i installed on my car and dynowed it. Normally i use spearco and banks and other high dollar units so off to my dyno to see what is what. The bellow inter-cooler was a cheap E bay unit and surprising enough it had good quality. I installed it and ran my car on the DYNE. Well that cheap inter-cooler made consistently 11 More HP than the spearco. And had much less restriction than the more expensive one it replaced. It was good quality and it was made rather nicely as you can see it had studs on both sides and good welds. My answer to this question is simple. Does all these fancy made inter-cooler kits made from good parts or are they made in china. Well i am willing to bet a lot of them are. Some of my friends are making well over 900Hp, street cars with Chinese turbows and inter-coolers. I have seen them hold up for years and take a beating on the street. As far as piping any thin-wall pre bent will work rather good and couplings and elbows are readily available on the net. So is stingers stuff better. Not according to my DYNO!! We also replaced one of his kits with an E BAY one and made the same exact HP on a 2.3 turbo MUSTANG!! Have a great evening guys
I have a BANKS on my TYPHOON and a Spearco on my coupe. By the way Bigger is always better with a front mount if restriction is not increased. restriction is the KEY!! Anything front mount is better than a stock 87-88 Turbo coupe factory IC!! I totally agree with Chuck make you own and save a bunch of money. I paid 120 Bucks for that unit bellow and my Spearco was 1100 hundred bucks. You can buy a good turbo for what i paid for the Spearco and have some money left over to take my grand daughter to Burger king. have a great evening guys.
(http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/tomrenzo/family283.jpg)
BOV.
You can see it in the pics HERE (http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?17322-Chuck-s-83-TBird&p=362121#post362121)
I think I have an IC close to that one, Tom, up in the attic. I bought it for another project, but sold the car before it got used. The one on the TBird is a fair bit larger, and didn't cost me all that much either.
I am actually bewildered as to why the E BAY unit makes more HP. So me and my top tech discussed it. The spearco is much heavier. All we can think of is the lighter one from E BAY dissipates the heat better and is less restrictive. Clearly it made more HP. And was a bunch of bucks cheaper. Have a great Holiday guys.
That is a great read thanks for the well detailed response. I am curious what brand did you test it with? Seems like CXRacing is the most popular one these days.
Generic BOV question's...
- Is it better to run the bov closer to the turbo or throttle body?
- Where does the vacuum line get routed to it?
- Is it better to run a BOV (http://"http://www.stinger-performance.com/Pics/BOVRFL.jpg") or a Divertor valve (http://"http://www.stinger-performance.com/Pics/BPV.jpg") or one of them hybrid valves (http://"http://www.stinger-performance.com/Pics/BOVDual.jpg")? (Note:I am not running a VAM as I have a PIMP ECU)
Also im gonna be running a Volvo FMIC in the next month or so but still havent decided on piping. I don't have access to a tig welder but I do know somebody who can do steel aka exhaust tubing. Im debating on grabbing a 90,45, and some straight 2 1/2 exhaust piping and making something.
Sorry to say and i apologize but the VOLVO IC is very disappointing. I tested one on the MIDNIGHTER. Sorry. But much better than the stock 1987-1988 TC one. You can use piping with those silicone cuplers and not weld. I did one that way to see the difference. It really did not make much difference at all. Good luck on your build.Thanks tom
The BOV is better off near the the throttle body and since you are running a SD system (PiMP), I would just run the BOV, not a bypass or diverter valve. That being said, my BOV is mounted down by my FMIC and works fine. I mounted it down there because when I had it up by the TB it would "sneeze" methanol (meth injection upstream of BOV) on the header. Not a good idea for sure! I have since removed the meth system and switched to E-85 but don't feel the need to move the BOV back up to the TB.
As for the FMIC piping, mine is all migged 3" steel exhaust pipe that has been ceramic coated. Looks good and I would bet there is 10lbs or less weight difference between it and aluminum piping.
Here is my FMIC. It is a godspeed brand, 3" in/out:
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/turbod408/garage1106021.jpg) (http://s45.photobucket.com/user/turbod408/media/garage1106021.jpg.html)