I saw one thread on the top set up but I did not save it. It was more involved as I recall. The radiator was tilted forward or something...

What I like about the way Joe did it besides the fact hat he documented everything nicely is that he used a minimum of couplers and supported the IC very well. :drool:

No, no need to tilt on NBs. It looks kind of funny because of the way the turbo is clocked, but there are much less bends involved. It's almost a straight shot (maybe 2 bends) from the compressor outlet to the intercooler inlet if done right. The intercooler outlet side is similar to the standard routing. At least this is what I've gathered from the images.

For over the rad for nbs like mine, take off the bolts that hold the stock radiator/ac mounts, also unscrew the 2 bolts on the antisway bar, mount the one hole, then drill the other hole on the bracket and mount that too. This is will give you the room you need to run 2.5" piping over the radiator.

On my NA, I think the radiator support is as high as the radiator. I don't think it would work... But first I need to find what flea bay IC I need to buy.

You lower the radiator down to make room for the pipes on top. Simple as that, i'll upload pics in a sec

Cool! thanks

Sorry for the wait, having some issues with my bluetooth, if anyone ever gets one of these toys, BlueSoleil sucks and their customer service is worse than a Nigerian scammer that has your money in their hand already.

Anyhow heres few of my setup. Yes i am running a track dog as you can see in my sig. The first pic, you can see i ended up cutting up the pipe and added my own pipe with few toys i had welded for the bov and the air temp sensor. The track dog ic is just straight piping just like the drivers side. The top bends appear to be 60-70ish degree bends. Cover is removed so you can see how it's set up. While i had the cover off the black taped area got painted blue also.

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Dont make the mistake i did when you try to remove the antisway bar bolt. Powertools is a NO NO.
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Great job!!!

What is that bracket painted in blue ?

What did it hold ?

Thanks for the pics

That bracket is the stock bracket that holds the radiator and the ac condenser unit, if you look on my picture it was originally mounted 2-3 inches above in those open holes. The reason why its painted blue is that i had to redrill a whole lot because i broke the screws on the antisway bar since i tried to use powertools to get them out as it was much more convenient than swinging a wrench. The blue paint is there to prevent rust. Use the original front hole in that bracket and redrill the rear hole. Since the antisway bar mount holes are closer together.

Got it !

Have to look at mine (1991) to see what I can do.

Thanks .

if you dont have ac, it will be very easy. The condenser does get in the way. I ended up pulling a line on mine that i gotta flare again.

Attachment 192999


thicker core radiator on stock mounting points....

just cut out slots for the pipes themselves on the hood latch support bar itself, hood latch still in same spot, the mounts/brackets for the intercooler are right in plain view of the picture, the 2 bolt heads in the middle of the "miataturbo" sticker. hood closes normally, IAT is in the cold side pipe right before the throttle body, IATs are 6 degrees above ambient at WOT (12psi).

last measured IAT reading was on a 60 degree night, 66 degrees at WOT, 54 at cruise.

intercooler size is 18x13x2.75

Did you use a torch to melt the body off or something?

nah we cut with a the support with a jigsaw..

cut it then grinding the sharp points, and called it a day.

heh when i did my cutting i tried jigsaw and ended up melting the blade :vash: :facepalm:

i ended up using a wheel cutoff saw.

I do have ac and ps btw. A big IC is impossible to mount if you are going to have the ac as it goes between the IC and the end exactly on the left where your (throttlebody side) pipe is at..

Let me ask a stupid question - will there be enough room to close the hood if the pipes are carefully deformed to have more of an oval shape right at the point where they would interfere with the lower part of the hood ?

The flatter shape should not take away from the overall flow area or cross section.

Do you recall where the IC came from? I've been looking for this style lately but have only run across 16" and 24" wide versions...18" looks about perfect.

Is the top of the radiator lower on the passenger side than the stock one? Looks like it may not have the bulge near the rad cap that the stock one has.

Did removing that much metal from the latch support bar make that area easy to bend/really weak? You say that the hood closes normally, but IDK if you mean because of this or that it's clearing the piping.

If it's not clearing the piping, have any shots of the underside of the hood?

I got it on ebay, search for a "v mount intercooler" on ebay and you should find some, maybe a hair smaller. At least thats what I did.

There was a spot where actually my BOV was rubbing the hood during hard pulls because my motor mounts are garbage by now, but I took a body hammer and just knocked a smoother spot above it, no problems whatsoever now not even during full throttle pulls/engine rocking.

The hood doesnt contact the charge pipes whatsoever, and they are not deformed/hammered/beaten on at all. The IC piping kit was a generic 2.5" ebay kit. I painted them black myself. I can get some more shots tomorrow during daylight just let me know if you have any specific pictures you want? The hood latch area is actually VERY strong/solid feeling, with the intercooler mounted there and the hood latch attached to the frame support in front of it (behind the bumper reinforcement) its actually very strong, no deflection or twisting at all!