Intercooler Ducting

[fischer]

When I got the car the ducting for the intercooler was a mess as can be seen below and had been mostly cut away to feed the Intercooler it was
not doing anything in the way of cooling so I have now ripped/cut it out.

I can not find a cooling duct that will fit straight in so thought I would look at possibly making one, unless someone know of one that will fit, interested in what others have done materials used etc, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jdmr_neil]

When I had a smic I removed the original plastic duct and mocked up a replacement using cardboard. Once in cardboard it was fairly easy to copy it out on ally sheet adding a couple of tabs to screw it down.

Remember to lengthen the scoop in the front air dam to pick up more air from there but not so much to block the radiator.

I did it with the bumper on as couldn't be arsed to remove it.

For much much better results in cooling intake temps i would consider WI. especially running a single and a smic.

 

[jack.am]

I'll try and get pics of mine. The intercooler is (pretty much) completely sealed from the bumper, through the intercooler and on to the radiator with a top panel. I just used 2mm aluminium and cardboard templates. Mine is FMIC though, makes it a lot easier.

In the recent hot weather my IATs have been under 40 and water temps never going above 85.

 

[fischer]

Just made a cardboard one and I certainly would not of got a Blue Peter badge for it, I will order some
2mm ali and see how I get on. anyone with pics of what they have done would be good.

 

[cib24]

I had my stock duct modified with fiberglass. I didn't lengthen the duct in the bumper opening as I thought it was unnecessary with the amount of air that flows through the bumper at speed anyway. Plus, it doesn't look as good as the OEM solution.

In this hot weather my cruising AITs are about 45 degrees and yes, it still heatsoaks in traffic. The other day I got stuck in the Blackwall Tunnel for over an hour and my AITs went into the 80s, haha, but who cares. I wasn't going to be boosting anyway at 1 mph.

At WOT the SMIC on its own will keep temps around 50-55 C after several WOT pulls, but I use water and my temps are usually low to high 30s in this heat.

In fall, winter and spring I don't need the water as temps don't seem to go above 45 C.

 

[cib24]

Some photos.

 

[jack.am]

According to Corky Bell you only need a duct opening that’s 1/3 of the area of your intercooler face.

Ducting in an SMIC is a real pain in the bum because of the way the radiator sits, i’d be tempted to lower the angle of the radiator slightly to give more room, also build an air dam around the front of your radiator.

You can use expanding foam to create a plug and then build your fibreglass around it. Use a solvent to then melt the foam.

 

[fischer]

After studying my cardboard template I decided that making a Ali one would be beyond me so I bought some
Fine mesh and made a sort of skeleton frame that more or less fitted and bound it together with small cable ties and
then wrapped some heat resistant tape around it to give it some form of rigidity, then I got some heat resistant 10mm
sticky back foam and wrapped that around it.

It may not be the best looking duct in the world but it will get some much needed air in, and will do the job until I can find somewhere to make one. The plan is to tidy up the engine bay next year so It will do for now.

 

[Spendyrx]

Ha cool! Nice thinking it's not as if you drive around with it on show and if it fecking works then who gives 2 shits what it looks like

 

[cib24]

Ha cool! Nice thinking it's not as if you drive around with it on show and if it fecking works then who gives 2 shits what it looks like

I give 2 shits, lol

 

[Spendyrx]

Ha typical bloody American! You're all ocd about your carcleaning