omnia

I fitted the intercooler in my Miata today. The dimensions of the intercooler is (550x180x65 mm == 22x7x2.5 inches), it fits like a charm. The power steering fluid lines looks already bent out of the way.

I dont remember where i saw this particular way of installing it first, its not my patent, but to me it seems to be the easiest way.

What i did was to drill two holes and feed some treaded rod through the holes into the IC mountings and secure it with a washer and nut. After the piping is done I will do the same underneath through the splash guard.

Next I will do the IC-piping.

omnia

What is the purpous of this bend in the power stearing piping besides taking up room and blocking IC-piping? I think i will attempt to shorten this pipe:

Savington

iTrader: (31)

That bend allows the engine to move normally without tearing the low-pressure PS hose.

omnia

Indeed useful information, thanks.

omnia

I put the pipes in. The cold side was fairly straight forward. The hotside was more tricky but I ended up just jamming a 45' and 90' in between all the hoses. After securing all the joints with clamps, i took it for a drive and the intake air was as cold as ice. (0 degree C)

I will see how much the pipes rattles about, and consider securing them in potential problematic areas. But the plumbing seems fairly rigid.

Girz0r

iTrader: (1)

Do you not have a fan on the radiator on the cold side?

x_25

Looks like a non AC car, which would indeed, not have a fan on the cold side.

omnia

No need for AC where i live, and why would anyone need AC in a convertible? (maybe hot rainy days?)

estephens13

Come to Texas in July, you'll understand real quick.

Girz0r

iTrader: (1)

lol, hot rainy days from the arm pits

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

You're going to have a coolant leak, a boost leak, or both.

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

I try to keep my gaps big enough to stick a finger between the objects.

ryansmoneypit

iTrader: (6)

But is it supported on the bottom? Or is it just hanging like an sweet tree swing?

Lokiel

Most of us route the cold side plumbing behind the sway bar, not "sammiched" between it and the radiator.

You're going to get too much rubbing/banging/wearing with that setup.

omnia

I have small fingers.

The hoses down there are already touching each other before i put the IC-pipe in. (dont know if relevant)

How hot will the IC-pipe get? according to ideal gas law my calculations say (constant volume): a doubling in pressure doubles the temperature (in units of Kelvin) so we are looking at about 300 degrees Celsius (3 times boiling point of water) at 14psi.

What are the heat resistant abilities of the hoses in the engine room?

The engine will move a bit when rev'ed i realize, but will not the hoses and IC-pipe move along with with it in the same direction? If my compressor outlet is pointing straight down, it should have about the same "arm" as the PS-unit.

Will not the hoses and silicon joints flex enough to absorb this movement?

Right now it swings more than than your parents on a saturday night :P . No actualy, it seems pretty rigid, but I will fasten it in the plastic splash guard underneat.

I was more afraid of the pipes hitting the dynamo or the belt system.

How much movement is it in the sway bar relative to, say the radiator, during different driving conditions?

btw, thanks for all the input. I might be full of ****, feel free to prove me wrong.

psyber_0ptix

iTrader: (4)

Irrelevant. Basic fundamental tribology dictates that your steel sway bar is going to eat through your tofu aluminum tube and send **** through the throttle body and you'll have a boost leak.

It doesn't matter how much the sway bar moves or the radiator moves. You're asking the wrong questions. How much do you think the engine moves to which a rigid tube is affixed? The vibration of the motor is going file that aluminum against the micro asperities on the sway bar. This doesn't even begin to take into account the torsion once the sway bar is actually in use.

I honestly think you should run it anyway. Just document your failures so others can learn what not to do. Some people learn best the hard way (myself included).

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

More than this much:

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

two thoughts:

plumb the outlet pipe on the far side of the sway bar, mounted right up against a heat source is ******* retarded. Plus there's no clearance and that's just stupid.

replace the lower radiator hose with a flex hose or molded silicone hose to get it out of the way.

omnia

Hard way or the high way.

Thanks for the feedback. I will run it like this for a short while just to confirm for my self what you already know, and told me. Then comply and reroute my plumbing.

Cheers

omnia

So it's confirmed. My initial piping was touching and rubbing the sway bar on its way up on the cold side. I made a video recording from inside the engine bay!
And you can see and, more easily, hear the pipe rattling like a gipsy's tamburine.

I believe I fixed it though, by putting the pipe in a screw stick(?, see pic) and making a small bend in the pipe to allow for clearance to the sway bar.

I dont think the bend introduced will restrict air flow very much given the very small reduction in cross section area and the amounts of 90 degree bends in the pipe already.

Granted, the pipe is still close to the radiator. I will keep it like this until I mount the turbo charger. I'm interested to see the change in intake temps under final operating conditions.

Screw stick


Void