Custom Twin-Chargecooler setup

[mike_sekinger]

Good progress

Curious why did you decided to route the coolant hoses through the chassis? It is far more straight-forward to run hardpipes under the car and also easier for any maintenance or problems.

Cheers,

Mike S

[dodgy]

Bit of a delay in getting the pics up, I had to shower to get the coolant out of my hair

The hose we used Mike was good quality s/s braided hose which cost a pretty penny.There was a struggle getting the pipe to feed though the chassis with Mark sitting inside pushing it though the gear mechanism hole towards the front, and me under the car guiding it though the holes with a screw driver.... phew.

once it was though, we fed the hose almost all out towards the front, and the mark pushed the remaining hose to wards the back through the chassis while i pulled it and routed through the pipes and cables towards the back.

Overall, quite easy really, and looks very neat.

We did discuss the alternative, but there seemed to be not enough space to fit the hose into, along the outside of the chassis.

this is the old rad with the a/c rad fitted

the new one

we did attempt to get the box out, but we eventually ran out of time

the final pic of the night, 9pm, so we left a mess

A good day

[nosaint]

You should let me know next time you have a group fix!

I would drive up to help...

Cant pass up that kind of learning experience!

Plus Mark and Dodgy owe me a pint since you ditched me in Banffffff

[t70]

Ouch!... We are in my shop almost every sunday. This coming sunday, I'll be in edmonton, but if you simply call ahead, you can be sure if we'll be out there. Usually, Garry is out there as well.

[garry_ludwar@hotmail.com]

"usually" i havent worked with you guys in almost two months

[dodgy]

its going to be a lost weekend

No workshop!!

Edited November 11, 2008 by Dodgy

[t70]

I'm pretty sure we can arrange a way for you to get into the shop Dave..

[garry_ludwar@hotmail.com]

it already been arranged but thanks anyway mark

atleast now ill get to have a little fun for my birthday

[t70]

Here's some more pictures of the events... And we managed to get the transmission out -- very easy actually, simply pull back and up on the clutch fork and then remove the transmission... dead simple.

Here's the transmission on the ground:

Here's the engine bay... missing something?

This is the hoses coming out of the front of the chassis:

This is kind of a bad shot, but it shows one hose coming out of the back of the chassis.

Now we get inside the car, and see what the hoses look like sitting inside the chassis:

You can see in this picture how we routed the hoses through the front of the chassis first (Taken from the gear shift lever hole):

And, Finally, This is what the hoses look like when fished through the back of the chassis (Again, taken from inside the gear lever hole):

Thanks again DAVE!!!!!

[aerobat]

Brilliant! Looking very sharp guys!

[lotus4s]

Nice work Mark!

One thing you might want to keep in mind is that the braided stainless is very abrasive so you might want to protect the other rubber hoses from rubbing on them. You could make some small sleeves by splitting some old coolant hose...

[t70]

Thank you for that! I'm not sure How I'm going to do that though... the space that I have is very limited, so I may have to use a piece of steel instead of rubber between the hoses at the points where they contact.. The alternative is to grind the holes bigger so that the hoses have enough space for rubber.

[t70]

I just got the new intercooler radiator in the mail today... I've decided not to use the A/C system for the intercooling... so here it is:

[mike_sekinger]

Very smart !

Are you keeping the A/C radiator as well?

Cheers,

Mike S

[t70]

Yes... I'm keeping the A/C Rad too. The aluminum pipes need to be slightly moved to fit the unit. I haven't done the test fit yet, but the measurements worked to about 1" of clearance.... so I'm crossing my fingers. The cooler may be a bit large, but at least this way John will be able to drive under sustained boost without having any drastic air intake temperature changes. BTW... Keep up the good work on you're build man!!

[t70]

Wayne... You're inbox is full so I thought I'd reply in the thread...

Hi Wayne;

If you're speaking of the three-core aluminum Rad... I'm pretty sure it's JAE's... I got it from the Canadian Distributor for JAE (Richmond Auto Clinic). As for the fit... so far it seems perfect... but I haven't put it back into position yet (aka.. I haven't mounted it to the car completely yet)

As for the total core thickness.. I have no idea.. i'm guessing 3"?

Yours,

Mark..

[WEllison]

Thanks for the response Mark. I also cleaned out my in box thanks!

I have a call into Jeff at JAE about his radiator.

Wayne

[t70]

Today was somewhat successful. We tried to install the Intercooler Radiator and it does fit like a glove... but, it blocks off more than half the airflow to the radiators because of the angle it sits at and the thickness of the unit itself. This was compounded by the fact that the radiator weighs 19.5 lbs!! GOOD LORD!! I couldn't believe how heavy it was! So, after we discovered that this idea wasn't going to work... we decided to pull the engine instead. There will be some photos uploaded later, but it basically went off without any big issues. We only found one Zip strap holding us back when we lifted the engine... so a quick cut.. and we were out.

[fastdave92649]

I'm starting work on thise same type of project. I was/am planning on using the PWR barrell intercoolers in the same location. Although I was thinking about stacking them on on top of the other giving more options to run pipes and leaving more room for junk in my trunk. So far I have my new aluminum pipes that I will be using to fab replacements to the turbo to TB ones. I will be doing this in 2 steps as I have other plans to implement before I buy the intercooler cores and assorted stuff.

First is to change out those squashed stock intake tubes and replace with 2.5" aluminum pipes. I will be ceramic coating them to help with heat transfer, possibly wrapping them as well. For the TB areas I will be first tring to use 45deg (2"-2.5") silicon reducers to get that junction out of the tight space in the plunium area. Hoepfully it will clear the EGT pipe and all the other hoses. If sucessfull it will open up more options for the rest, 90deg silicon (2"-2.5") from turbo's, straight pipe parrell to the exhaust to a 90deg manderel bend through the bottom of the trunk floor into the hump area. I will be using straight pipe instead of the intercoolers first giving my the ability to install my meth/WI kit first and then upgrade to the intercoolers down the road.

Of course its all in my head right now, waiting on the silicon reducers before pulling the old pipes and starting.

[t70]

Hi Dave!

Great to hear you're doing a similar project... there is one thing that you may not have taken into consideration... you're silicone 90's from the turbos will melt according to "Vibrant". I'm currently trying to find a way around this problem... I've found a cast 90 2" elbow which might work, but I will still need to use a silicone coupler right next to the manifold. As for the TB area... don't worry about it yet.. I think I have a solution there that you will be able to see when it get's a little closer to done.

The biggest issue that I've encountered is the heat exchanger for the system in the front. I am still trying to source the right type of rad for this... the common system used is a oil cooler which flows to quickly to have any cooling benefit... So, once I've sourced this part... I'll be selling it myself.

[fastdave92649]

Hi Dave!

Great to hear you're doing a similar project... there is one thing that you may not have taken into consideration... you're silicone 90's from the turbos will melt according to "Vibrant". I'm currently trying to find a way around this problem... I've found a cast 90 2" elbow which might work, but I will still need to use a silicone coupler right next to the manifold. As for the TB area... don't worry about it yet.. I think I have a solution there that you will be able to see when it get's a little closer to done.

The biggest issue that I've encountered is the heat exchanger for the system in the front. I am still trying to source the right type of rad for this... the common system used is a oil cooler which flows to quickly to have any cooling benefit... So, once I've sourced this part... I'll be selling it myself.

According to the manufacturer of these elbows they will support up to 376deg F. http://www.extremepsi.com/store/customer/p...1540&page=1

I find it hard to believe that there will be an issue with melting seeing as most aftermarket manufacturers of intercoolers use them for all connections including the turbos. Might be differant on the lotus seeing they are so close to the exhaust mannifold.

Anyone have real world experiance with this?? Are the stock straight connectors not silicon?

Either way, I have 90deg aluminum bends if I need to do that too, but it will still require some sort of silicon connector between the turbo outlet and the bend.

[sierra1off]

I dont think there is enough space to fit a 90deg ali bend on the LHside turbo as it exits strait up under the exhaust manifold.

The stock part is heavily squashed and restrictice to make it fit in the space.

On my system i was going to cut off the original ali pipes level with the back of the block and extending them with welded on ali extensions and bends.

I hadnt thought of using a 90 deg silicone bend direct off the turbo, will investigate that as it saves cutting up a couple of factory pipes

I am going to use motorbike radiators for the cooling..... nice and small and easy to site.

[fastdave92649]

I dont think there is enough space to fit a 90deg ali bend on the LHside turbo as it exits strait up under the exhaust manifold.

The stock part is heavily squashed and restrictice to make it fit in the space.

On my system i was going to cut off the original ali pipes level with the back of the block and extending them with welded on ali extensions and bends.

I hadnt thought of using a 90 deg silicone bend direct off the turbo, will investigate that as it saves cutting up a couple of factory pipes

I am going to use motorbike radiators for the cooling..... nice and small and easy to site.

On most turbos (if not all) you can loosen up the char to compressor housing and rotate it. I have not looked in detail at ours yet but if possible a simple rotation outwards towards the frame would alleviate any clearance issues. Of course this is mostly from looking at Mike's engine build thread and pictures of engines out of the frame. May be a differant story once I get in there and pull the old ones out.

[t70]

Well.. the ideas expressed are all good... but there is an issue or two. I would love to use a silicone elbow.. but the pressure applied over a greater area will have more effect in terms of expansion against the silicone elbow than it will on just a small gap between two pipes that are nearly touching. The other factor is that the joining pipe is actually about 2" away from the manifold... and therefore it is in a significantly colder area.. plus... it's heat sheilded.

As for the flattened up-pipe... it's actually flattened so that you can install it from the back of the engine.. it's just for clearance on installation, not because the manifold will touch when it's in-place. So.. you should be able to fit a 90 degree 2" cast aluminum elbow and use a silicone hose again for joining to a regular aluminum pipe. The other option is to use a mandrel bent steel pipe... I know... Colin would lose it over that one.

And... with regards to the re-clocking of the turbo; the clearance to the chassis is VERY small (I think it's about an inch) and it's not much more than the engine torques under load. So, re-clocking the turbo, unless you turn it upside down and completely re-route the piping by the exhaust and back up, isn't really a viable option.

Here's the pics of the progress as promised:

This is the two coolant hoses disconnected:

Abracadabra! all the electrical is on top of the engine!

We removed the rear hatch struts and had Andi hold up the rear hatch:

Hoisting the engine out -- Gary is on the watch for anything in the way... and I think at this point I was cutting that zip strap I mentioned earlier:

Engine out!

And... hmmm... Hey JOHN!! I think I like you're motor... I think i'll put it in my car instead!

And finally... Now that my engine bay is full.. Here's Johns bay... empty!

Edited November 25, 2008 by Mark T-C

[dodgy]

cannot forget the highlight , adjourning the the hot-tub for a couple of hours

Edited November 25, 2008 by Dodgy