Heres how it goes, there's some cracks in the exhaust from scraping over speed bumps, the wheels don't match, and the tires are worn out so im inhaling fumes, slidin' n scrapin' down the road thinking:
'I need to sort this ride out'
'I cant go on like this il get sick'
'Those wheels are really cramping my style'
'Whoa that stepped out there...haha'
'Hmmm I think I need an inter-cooler!'
Maybe that was when I got to work or just the fumes talking, however thats what stuck in my mind.
There lots of FMIC set ups available for the supra 'off the shelf' which would have fitted with out much fuss, I read a lot about 'cheap' and 'NASTY' ebay cores, to be honest they sounded quite appealing, and what I "needed" was a £1700 Greddy 4 core shipped overnight from japan.
What I did know was I didn't want a front mount set up, as any gentleman with a V8 heat pump who spends a lot of time sideways knows.
Leaving me with a few options:
1.Stock supra set up - proved hard to find, with all the pipework and fittings - Supra owners are neanderthal and barbaric they could not possibly envisage anyone would need anything other than the core for a twin turbo conversion or otherwise so happily throw all that stuff in a hole after likely breaking it with a hammer whilst removing an old flaky corroded inter-cooler half blinded by the bling from their new FMIC set up. Then demand £150 or £200 from a breakers
However I did fancy the set up for its proven Toyota quality, ease of fitment and its established BHP capacity, I just couldn't find one that had what was required to fit it and looked reasonable enough to work.
If I was going to have to fabricate fitment I wanted a better item.
2. CW up - rated SMIC inter-cooler, with a quality core and someone else who has done all the measuring to fit this would be ideal especially as there is several 600 +BHP set ups out there.
A wallet bashing £700 new and £3-400 second hand, its not in-keeping with the ethos of this project blah blah blah....No im just too tight!
3. Trawl though google images and parts websites to search if these anything OEM out there big enough with the holes in the right places to fit, anything aftermarket maybe? surely relentless google bashing would win the day again! and it did, Toyota Aristo SMIC for £25 'guestimated' to be ok.
Here is the reasoning: Aristos are a top of the range vehicle for Toyota and produce 300+BHP as standard, the inter-cooler looks significantly higher quality than a supra item with cast end tanks and a thicker core, The size was right and the holes roughly in the right place and most important of all....
The price was right....
SO out came the grinder, the hammer, the welder, knives, cold chisels more hammers and it was in,
It looked like it might work.
I thought id just drive around for a while with it just mounted at this stage to see if it fell out. during this time there was pipe measuring, cutting, filing more measuring to be sure, A long, long time ordering silicone joiners in the right step sizes after triple measuring again.
Finding a welder, as I just wanted it done rather than sit there and fail at aluminium welding some more and waste all that painstaking measuring and preparation.
Paying for the welder . . . that hurt the wallet, (it shouldn't have as he provided me with a quality solution in a quick turn around for which I was grateful)
A long process.
It was several months before I dared to see if it would all work out, over the winter period so natures inter-cooler was doing me just fine, thankfully not spinning me out at 80mph on the motorway like last year (I do learn from some experiences).
So on my birthday I turned my phone off and opened the bat-cave.....
'I need to sort this ride out'
'I cant go on like this il get sick'
'Those wheels are really cramping my style'
'Whoa that stepped out there...haha'
'Hmmm I think I need an inter-cooler!'
Maybe that was when I got to work or just the fumes talking, however thats what stuck in my mind.
There lots of FMIC set ups available for the supra 'off the shelf' which would have fitted with out much fuss, I read a lot about 'cheap' and 'NASTY' ebay cores, to be honest they sounded quite appealing, and what I "needed" was a £1700 Greddy 4 core shipped overnight from japan.
What I did know was I didn't want a front mount set up, as any gentleman with a V8 heat pump who spends a lot of time sideways knows.
Leaving me with a few options:
1.Stock supra set up - proved hard to find, with all the pipework and fittings - Supra owners are neanderthal and barbaric they could not possibly envisage anyone would need anything other than the core for a twin turbo conversion or otherwise so happily throw all that stuff in a hole after likely breaking it with a hammer whilst removing an old flaky corroded inter-cooler half blinded by the bling from their new FMIC set up. Then demand £150 or £200 from a breakers
However I did fancy the set up for its proven Toyota quality, ease of fitment and its established BHP capacity, I just couldn't find one that had what was required to fit it and looked reasonable enough to work.
If I was going to have to fabricate fitment I wanted a better item.
2. CW up - rated SMIC inter-cooler, with a quality core and someone else who has done all the measuring to fit this would be ideal especially as there is several 600 +BHP set ups out there.
A wallet bashing £700 new and £3-400 second hand, its not in-keeping with the ethos of this project blah blah blah....No im just too tight!
3. Trawl though google images and parts websites to search if these anything OEM out there big enough with the holes in the right places to fit, anything aftermarket maybe? surely relentless google bashing would win the day again! and it did, Toyota Aristo SMIC for £25 'guestimated' to be ok.
Here is the reasoning: Aristos are a top of the range vehicle for Toyota and produce 300+BHP as standard, the inter-cooler looks significantly higher quality than a supra item with cast end tanks and a thicker core, The size was right and the holes roughly in the right place and most important of all....
The price was right....
SO out came the grinder, the hammer, the welder, knives, cold chisels more hammers and it was in,
It looked like it might work.
I thought id just drive around for a while with it just mounted at this stage to see if it fell out. during this time there was pipe measuring, cutting, filing more measuring to be sure, A long, long time ordering silicone joiners in the right step sizes after triple measuring again.
Finding a welder, as I just wanted it done rather than sit there and fail at aluminium welding some more and waste all that painstaking measuring and preparation.
Paying for the welder . . . that hurt the wallet, (it shouldn't have as he provided me with a quality solution in a quick turn around for which I was grateful)
A long process.
It was several months before I dared to see if it would all work out, over the winter period so natures inter-cooler was doing me just fine, thankfully not spinning me out at 80mph on the motorway like last year (I do learn from some experiences).
So on my birthday I turned my phone off and opened the bat-cave.....
Whats that snout peeping out into the engine bay?
Some bracket bodgery.
Only one way for air to go!........Additional ducting will be implemented later for inter-cooler optimization along with maybe some sort of spray.
The old pipe above with Blitz blow off valve and new pipe below with 3 flanges......hmm what could they possibly be for?
One Dump valves not enough these days to impress the proletariat so im going for quantity .
Welding to my own shame was not done by myself :(
I kept melting holes in it...not good on a pressurized pipe!
Extra silicon joiners had to be painstakingly measured, searched for, and ordered in all the right step sizes so it would all fit together.
One Dump valves not enough these days to impress the proletariat so im going for quantity .
Welding to my own shame was not done by myself :(
I kept melting holes in it...not good on a pressurized pipe!
Extra silicon joiners had to be painstakingly measured, searched for, and ordered in all the right step sizes so it would all fit together.
The bends had to be cut down to fit, Mark all the way round first as a guide for a straight cut (it never goes straight by eye!) A handy tip for a smooth finish was to use a flap disc on them after cutting.
Below is some pictures of the completed pipework, Im happy with the result, minimum pipe length, not too many bends and of course SHINEY!. Now let see what these pipe dreams are made of!
Below is some pictures of the completed pipework, Im happy with the result, minimum pipe length, not too many bends and of course SHINEY!. Now let see what these pipe dreams are made of!