Revising Procharger intercooler system (Twins to FMIC) - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

Blackbirdws6 · 10-01-2012, 06:33 AM

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

Top Bracket Welded

Bottom Bracket (with "Speed Holes")

Mocked Up On The Car

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

sweetbmxrider · 10-01-2012, 07:33 AM

That should work well! What happened to all them action shots?

Blackbirdws6 · 10-01-2012, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

That should work well! What happened to all them action shots?

Action shots were blurry except for one.

ar0ck · 10-01-2012, 08:47 AM

Did you hit the lotto or something while i've been gone? Although I can't see the pics I'm sure its pretty damn awesome!

Blackbirdws6 · 10-01-2012, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ar0ck

Did you hit the lotto or something while i've been gone? Although I can't see the pics I'm sure its pretty damn awesome!

Heh far from it but I seem to not be able to leave things alone. I think after this latest round of mods, I need to slow it down and save more..... (you can save this for a later thread I will be posting).

Blackbirdws6 · 10-06-2012, 10:38 AM

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.

greenformula92 · 10-06-2012, 11:09 AM

Looks good man. Thats one hell of a bumper support

Blackbirdws6 · 10-06-2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenformula92

Looks good man. Thats one hell of a bumper support

Thanks! Should be made out of gold for how much it cost.

greenformula92 · 10-06-2012, 11:20 AM

you can now demolish brick wall the trans am

sweetbmxrider · 10-07-2012, 08:11 AM

It certainly demolished his wallet

Looks real good bro!

Blackbirdws6 · 10-16-2012, 10:00 AM

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.

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 and it works surprisingly well. I made one for the 3" pipe and another for the 3.5" pipe.

Coreylt1 · 10-16-2012, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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 and it works surprisingly well. I made one for the 3" pipe and another for the 3.5" pipe.

wow that is a very cool idea , awesome results. nice build too!

10-17-2012, 09:54 AM

what intercooler/piping kit is that? where is your BOV mounted?

Blackbirdws6 · 10-17-2012, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerzLT1

what intercooler/piping kit is that? where is your BOV mounted?

CXracing intercooler and their universal piping kit. Bypass valve is mounted right as it enters the engine bay by the driverside headlight. If the intercooler shows to not be efficient, I can switch to a better unit from somewhere like Treadstone without much hassle.

10-17-2012, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackbirdws6

CXracing intercooler and their universal piping kit. Bypass valve is mounted right as it enters the engine bay by the driverside headlight. If the intercooler shows to not be inefficient, I can switch to a better unit from somewhere like Treadstone without much hassle.

i thought that it looked familiar. a lot of guys are making great power with them.