3" intercooler plumbing for CAS V2

[JESTER]

I bought a V2 from CAS a couple of years ago with 2.5" plumbing, and was told that there are no significant gains by sizing it to 3". I've now noticed that all of the new V2's come with 3" piping. I'ved tried to contact Tony @CAS to see if an upgrade is available and what it cost, but he never replied. I checked with a local shop with a mandrel machine to see if the could bend something, and was told " I could get anything I want In 3" stainless." I'd like to have the lightweight thin aluminum, not all that heavy stainless. Does anyone know of a shop who will bend the lightweight stainless, or should I keep hounding Tony for an upgrade? Thanks.

Eric

 

[Russ Merritt]

I bet Cottons pipes are close. My new GN has one of his uppipes on it with the CAS V2. Fits OK but these are his old pipes. I believe his new ones will fit better. He could probably have em made for you if they didn't, as he has em custom bent for his I/C.

 

[ijames]

Cotton's turbo to intercooler fits fine but the uppipe is about an inch or two too long - it sits up above the throttle body. No big deal, just cut a couple of inches out about even with the top of the radiator where it is nice and straight and use a straight piece of 3" hose. Roll beads on the ends if you can so the hoses can't come off under boost. It's also a nice place to relocate a 3" LT1 maf to, if you feel like it (but you might want the 3" to 3.25" hoses from Mike Licht since jamming the lt1 maf into the 3" hoses was a pain). The pipes are about $300, though.

 

[colby]

Good luck on getting in touch with Tony (it'll never happen), start looking into other avenues like Cotton's shop.

 

[JESTER]

That was my experience when buying the intercooler in the first place, slow email responses and ship time. I guess I'll have to get in touch with Jack, thanks for the info.

Eric

 

[strikeeagle]

From the school of hard knocks:

IME, the fit of the tubes has to be just so.

I wouldn't want to try to adapt the tubes from somebody else's I/C to a V-2, or vice versa.

I've had 3 V-2's on 3 TR's, 1 with a thicker core, 2 with 3" tubes, and NONE of them has fit exactly the same.

I note Tony changed the shape of his 3" tubes as things evolved for a better fit.

The 3" tubes eat up a lot of room, so the fit is not very forgiving, especially compared to 2-1/2" tubes.

The tubes must be straight where they connect to the turbo compressor, I/C and T/B, or the clamps and hoses will walk.

Hose lengths are very important. I bought straight and reducing hoses from PTE (excellent quality, mutiple ply, overlapped, black NOMEX reinforced, silicone) and had to do some trimming on some of them, so that they were exactly right.

The straight hoses that attach the tubes to the I/C are the logical place to take up the slop, rather than the reducing hoses. I like these straight hoses to be extra long.

The toughest place to clamp is the snout of the TB - it too short to accommodate even a standard width clamp, nor does it have a bead - nice going GM. That connection absolutely requires a very tight, high quality, spring loaded T-bolt clamp.

 

[JESTER]

Is there really any significant gain by going to the 3" vs the 2.5"? If the gain is under .10 sec in the 1/4 I'm not going to mess with it right now. It just seems like too much hassle, especially if there are clearance/fit problems. My fuse is really short when seemingly simple things don't cooperate like they should. Maybe I should attend some anger management classes . Thanks again for the info.

Eric

 

[strikeeagle]

Jester,

My friend, if you're short on patience, you're in the wrong hobby! Or at least consider something other than a TR! TR's can be maddening. Well, so's a lot of other stuff, come to think of it.

The whole I/C fit thing is problematic. Wouldn't it be nice if we were all rich and had a personal "tubing craftsman" like the high $$$ rides do who'd flawlessly fit tubing for us? OK, wake up, dream's over!

I really like the 3" tubing. I like the look. And I like that the I/C to T/B tube is one piece - 1 less hose, 2 less clamps to mess with.

So far as performance goes, I doubt it's a big deal on an 11 second car. In fact, I've seen at least one low 10 second car that uses the OEM up pipe - though it looks a bit silly to my eye!

 

[JESTER]

I've been dealing with the madness caused by my TR for 7 years now and haven't given up on it. I was just referring to the aggravating situations of trying to fit the old "square peg in a round hole". It just irritates me when the task of fitting several non moving-non mechanical pipes together makes me look like an idiot. I've caught myself cussing those damn hose connections and clamps or more than one occasion, the opportunity to eliminate one seems very interesting.

So is the 3" tubing from CAS one piece from the I/C to the T/B? Or is this a custom piece you refer to? I know the CAS 2.5" tubing connects to the factory up pipe and I'd just like to make sure before I request a purchase order from "the Queen". Don't want to find out I'm short a length of pipe and have to try and requisition some more cash from her. I already blew through my GN fund for the year and I'll have to perform some real tricks to try and weasel the dough for this one. Thanks for the info.

Eric

 

[GNVYUS 1]

There is no need to upgrade to the 3" tubing.

The pipes are one piece from the IC to the throttle body and offers only a slight improvement in pressure loss for larger turbos.

I would not send any money to CAS as its not worth doing.

 

[strikeeagle]

As the Doc said, the I/C to T/B tubing is one piece.

Whether you chose to go 3" or not has less to do with performance than aesthetics and fit.

Good luck with your decision, but is CAS even in business any longer?