99/00 Intercooler with AC/PS
 

Ok so I’ve seen a few people asking about nb intercooler setups while keeping ac/ps so I figured I’d start a thread on how I did mine. I’m definitely not the first to do this. I actually got the idea from one of 18psi’s builds and I think he got it from someone else. Regardless of whos idea it is, heres how I got it to work on mine. There is a hole behind the driver side headlight. Obviously its too small for a pipe but can easily be expanded to fit a 2.5” i/c pipe. Then its just a 90* into the intercooler. The cold side is fairly straight forward and similar to other year models. Just down and around the radiator.

One issue I did have was mounting the intercooler because of the a/c canister. If I recall correctly my i/c is a 27"X5.5"X2.5" ebay special. I don’t think a 3” would fit.

Ok so heres some pictures. Please go easy on my rusty innards :(
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...0/IMG_1923.JPG
Heres a pic of the i/c
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-V...0/IMG_1927.JPG
Mocking it up
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...0/IMG_1932.JPG
All mounted up
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...0/IMG_1931.JPG
Heres a picture of the hole placement. I can’t remember if this is the final shape of the hole but pretty close.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...0/IMG_1930.JPG
Here it is from the front looking through the headlight hole.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...0/IMG_1950.JPG
Here’s a shot from the top with pipe in place. As you can tell I got a little trigger happy with the grinder, probably didn’t need to be quite that big.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...0/IMG_1946.JPG
Another picture from the top. Make sure you either round the cut area or do what I did and put a scrap piece of coupler between the pipe and metal. Otherwise it will rub and cut a hole in your pipe.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...0/IMG_1949.JPG
Here it is from under neath
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E...0/IMG_1948.JPG
Where it meets the i/c.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...2/IMG_1943.JPG
Heres a picture of the hotside pipeing out of the car for reference.

Cold side:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...0/IMG_1937.JPG
Heres a pic of the cold side piping out of the car for reference.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMG_1959.JPG
Side view, this is a good picture of how the intercooler sets up against the canister in front of the condenser and rad. Also after these pics were taken the ic was drilled and tapped for an iat sensor on the cold side.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0...0/IMG_1957.JPG
From the throttle body its just straight down. I had to remove the ducting but I havn’t had any problems (115 heat this summer but I don’t do track days) so if you anticipate problems you’ll need to make custom ducting. Hope this helps.

Good shit.
For the record I got the idea from CEO's BIIIG turbo setup, although his was a bit different still.
Its a no-brainer though. Works like a charm. Glad is working for you too.

mine is routed without having to cut a big hole like yours. besides the hole it looks clean

Ya hole looks like shit but with the headlight in and wires tucked you can't even see it. Thats why I wasn't really worried about how pretty it looked. Plus my engine bays not exactly prestine to begin with.

i think i may go with a over the radiator set up with a top panel.

if i were to do this and cut holes i would use a metel hole drilling kit that would make the hole a circle or round the edges to where you could put some edging there.



but either way that is a good looking setup and i like the size of the intercooler. thanks for the pictures also.

Ya over the top is definately an option, I just don't remember seeing an over the top setup work with ac. Plus I like the look of the entire mouth filled. Your right it would definitely be better with the correct tools. All I had was a 3" grinder I picked up at wally world. Also I wasn't sure where the pipe needed to be, I originally had the pipe farther towards the back and had to cut the hole bigger to move the pipe forward.

its not over the top, the fitment its crazy tight but it will work on mine.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1314330906
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1314330906

Oh was talking to turbotyla about the over the top set up. Ya I've seen pictures of yours, thats pretty cool! How big is the piping?

The way I did mine you wouldn't even be able to tell that its been enlarged. I carefully cut off just a TINY bit and bent the edges EXACTLY how they were in the original, oem hole, so even though you couldn't see it underneath the headlight and pipe, it still looked clean.

Took a good chunk of time to do right though. Probably like 3-4 hours cause I even made sure not to crack the paint:D

I'd say mine took a solid 45 minutes:laugh:

2 inch hot side 2.5 inch cold side

I was one of the people looking for pics of this kinda setup :) Props, can't wait to get my kit on, but due to this hurricane.... it may be postponed to mid week next week. I can wait lol

Commenting so I can find this later. Too cool for bookmarks and 18psi's pictures are gone.

Why does everyone use blue couplers?

So not classy.

I haz black ones.

class act.

Because siliconeintakes.com is back-ordered on black ones in the right size, and blue is less ugly than red? At least, that's why I am considering ordering a blue one. :)

--Ian

blue/red couplers should be illegal.

I am really interested on how much this affects the cars structural rigidity.. That is a gaping hole in the uni-body, not to mention at the same location of some very critical joints.

I don't approve, but I don't have to. Just don't be surprised if you track/AutoX the car for a while and then get back to the alignment shop and see some very bizarre "numbers" on the rack. In a hard right turn I would bet money that outside wheel is not acting as it should.

I don't consider that part of the unibody. Nor do I consider it structural.