Anyone know which holes to use to mount a FM1/2 intercooler on a '96 miata? This intercooler:



Mine has tabs coming out of the bottom part (referencing the picture, which I think is actually the top part), which im assuming isnt correct for my model year.

I couldnt find the installation instructions on FM's website, it seems they only have the newest instructions available.

 

For the pipes I sold you, the elbow (lower left of your pic) should be pointed towards the ground on the driver side of the car. My guess is that the tab sticking out of the top mounts to the bumper reinforcement (the end tank with the elbow). I am not sure about the other tab. Mine mounts differently, so I'm not much help there.

 

That's what I had thought, and there are holes on it to match, but it sits very low. The tabs are on the front side of the ic and about a foot apart as well, so I can't really mount them on the hood latch mechanism either.

 

If you call Flyin Miata, they maybe able to help you out. I had problem on my kit and they were able to find someone who remembered how to fix it.

 

Remove that hood support bracket or whatever its called. There will now be two 10mm bolt holes in the back of the bumper support. Get a random L-bracket at home depot (I used some drywall bracket) and use the 10mm bolts to mount it. You can mount the front tab of the intercooler to said L-bracket. Left tab goes to A/C or radiator mount.

 

II think That's actually exactly What I just tried to do, except I tried bolting both brackets to the bumper support. Is there any way you might be able to give me a pic of what you've done?

 

Sorry for the bad quality. My car is currently in a million pieces so I had to hold the IC in place. The other tab should line right up with one of the holes for holding the A/C condenser.

 

Ah i see what you mean. I may have been a bit misleading in my first post, I could not find a better picture of my intercooler without taking one myself, but my intercooler has different tabs. My intercooler is more or less exactly like the one in this picture (left):

 

Aha. I didn't realize there were different styles of the old IC. Not really sure on that one. FWIW, mine also sat very low when installed.

 

I wanted to share how I approached this problem with my intercooler. The IC still sits pretty low, but I havent bolted my undertray on yet. I can almost guarantee that the front portion that bolts up will not fit. Anyone know a way around that problem?



Anyways, I ended up basically copying messiah. I cut one of the tabs off of the intercooler and had it welded to the front around the spot where it lines up with the bolt holes on the front bumper support. I bolted a L-bend piece of metal to the support, and lined up a hole to the L-bend and the IC tab. I then got a metal bracket that is used to attach wood with screws to attach the two. The picture really explains it better than I can.

 

I called Corky and he mailed me the front mounting block.

 

I ended up making a new undertray out of a big sheet of ABS plastic. It bolts to the bottom of the bumper and doesn't box in the radiator like the old one but it's better than nothing. The FM IC still pushed down on that, IIRC.

 

Those intercoolers are such a huge pain in the ***. I called FM and they sold me a mounting bracket. Through some weird exchanges I ended with two of these intercoolers and two mounting brackets.