WRX TMIC Idea? need some opinions
 

I threadjacked on someone elses thread so i figured I'd start my own. I'm making a homebrew turbo kit for my 1.6L. High HP is no goal, I just want something cheap and reliable. I will mostlikely be running a t25 and i had an idea about using a (free to me) wrx tmic as a fmic. Has anyone heard of using a wrx tmic in reverse, so that the ic piping would go inder the radiator and into the former coldside entry and out through the Y-pipe portion.

maybe its a stupid idea...i dont have my miata or the said I/c intercooler in front of me so i figured I'd guage opinions.

Y pipe on back, sorry for small pic, its all i could findhttp://gallery.honest-bob.com/d/4985-2/DSCF0614.JPG
-dan

Doesn't seem worth the hassle since acceptable intercoolers can now be had for $100 and less. There is no reason to utilize an OEM intercooler off another car now days.....

except for that it is free...I'm just a poor college kid so $100 is a lot.

If $100 is alot and puts pressure on you financially, the last thing you want to do is turbo your Miata. Finish up college, then you can show us all how its done. :)

get it
sell it for 100
get another one that is easier for 100.

Or use it as a top mount and chop a hole in your hood. That'll be free.

I second that....ebay the bitch and get a starion used off ebay

Vash-

I had a WRX TMIC in my garage for a while. I figured I'd use it to save some cash.

I bought a 27x6 core from a member here. It's just not worth the hassle.

yeah I totally understand how other fmics may offer an easier fit for not much cash. I just don't really see the difficulty in routing the i/c piping as long as you have some decent 90 degree couplers. The Y pipe is still attached to the IC as well, so I don't even need to buy one.

maybe Im just being to stingy, but I like cheap solutions....as long as its not ghetto rigged.

-dan

Those two phrases should never be used in the same paragraph. Price out some 90° couplers. ;)

Agreed, Atlanta...you're preaching to the choir, I know they are way too expensive. Luckily, my roomates father owns a warehouse distributor, so I have a major hookup.

I appreciate the help from everyone in the board, but I'm beating a dead horse. When I start my install, I'll post up the results. If it doesnt work, I'll have to find a used starion unit or something.

-dan

That is actually my intercooler. I don't have any picks because someone pinched my digicam, and I am still two pissed to get another one.

In the end it cost almost as much as a china cooler just to make it work.

I do like the core, with all those tubes it should flow enough air for way more power than I will ever have, there is of course some loss of cooling efficiency from the short tubes.

It fits really well in the nose, I have AC and PS and I didn't even have to bend any lines to make it fit, almost the entire core is exposed to direct air flow through the stock bumper inlet.

I had the tanks taken off at a radiator shop, did some cutting and fitting of new aluminum tubes and took it to a guy with a tig. So it was like $35 for welding $10 for aluminum tubes and $20 for the radiator shop (but you could do that part your self if you really wanted to).

So what I have is a 1.75" tube comming out on the right (facing the front of the car) side of the top tank (the one that originaly had the 2.75" hose fitting) that tube points straight up, and a 2" tube sticking out of the bottom tank (this is the one that had the two odd shaped flanges on it), it points to the left.

So my hot pipe is 1.75" (Slightly larger than the t25's compressor outlet) and goes over the radiator through an existing hole and down to connect to the IC. The radiator did not have to be moved at all. The cold pipe goes around the radiator in the normal manner.

It makes a lot more power than it did with no intercooler.

I don't think this is the ideal set up, but it works pretty well, and was something that was easy to make myself. I felt like it would be tricky to take the hot pipe around the radiator on a 1.8 with full ac and ps, and that is what I came up with.

I think it works quite well, but I would only recommend it to someone with my specific set of problems, and the understanding that it will not be any cheaper than a china cooler.

could you find a way to snap pics

thanks, Dan