I finally got some pictures of this modification. Here is a description of what went into it.
First you have to be willing to hack and cut up your marvelous car. Then you run down to your local Ford dealer and pick up your new intercooler which now comes with plastic tanks glued and pinched on like newer style radiators unlike the older version which had cast aluminum tanks, but should work nicely. Then you take your large box w/I/C to your favorite fabricator and have him weld on new wedge-shaped tanks with in/out pipes coming out the ends of the tanks aimed toward each other slightly (I think 30 degrees was my measurement.) A guy could also aim them up just a little as the I/C is higher in front than back when installed. I did not opt for this but the connecting pipes might be less low (?) if I had. Here's where the hacking begins. All of the plastic air ducts that lead air to the radiator must be omitted. i'm not sure, but you probably could leave them in and just trim for clearance, but the intercooler is considerably bigger than the ductwork opening. The underside of the bumper cover must be trimmed for I/C clearance. I did not do it, but the reinforcement could be trimmed for added air flow through the i/c. It blocks about the first 3 inches of the i/c. Also, the side ground effects pieces which wrap under the car have to be trimmed a little. It's a gigantic intercooler. Once there's a hole big enough it's time to fabricate some mounting brackets. I used two lower rubber radiator holders scavenged from some car wedged into custom brackes bolted to the underside of the bumper reinforcement to support and insulate the I/C in the front at the tank weld seam. These brackets must be fairly heavy duty since theI/C will be just held against them by the rear brackets. I'm sure some other style bracket could be fabbed, but this one was really simple. The rear brackets were completely custom and wrap around the core since there is no room next to the in/out pipes for a weld seam support. The rear brackets bolt to the underside of the radiator core support. The hardest part of the whole thing for me was figuring out how to intice the air to go through the intercooler and radiator instead of just going under the car. My first attempt was a large scoop hinged at the rear of the i/c with springs at the front. Disaster! Worked great on glass-smooth roads at accel or sustained speed, but as soon as I touched the brakes it acted like a front loader and all but ripped off the car. It finally came down to a simple air dam attached with screws to the intercooler itself. There are thin sheets of aluminum at the front and rear of the intercooler that support the first and last rows of cooling fins and are handy air dam mounting locations. Use real short screws or rivets, please. I'm pretty sure it's come to connecting pipes now. I had my buddy at an exhaust shop make mine with mandrel bends, but if I had it to do all over, I'd have had my fabricator make them out of aluminum pipe. It turs out that the hose clamps must be VERY stout since there is nothing to keep the hoses against the turbo/intercooler/throttle body like the factory intercooler brackets hald all that together except the hoses and clamps. It sucks when one blows apart! Next remove the aligator clip from the wastegate actuator, screw the end in about 5 turns, add a few pounds of fuel pressure and go tear up some asphalt!<a href="http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000024693/1000024693_142002112333AM0.5946118.jpg>pic1</a>
http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000024693/1000024693_142002112510AM0.1191828.jpg[/url][/IMG]
So you have to clikc on 'em. OK, terrific!
First you have to be willing to hack and cut up your marvelous car. Then you run down to your local Ford dealer and pick up your new intercooler which now comes with plastic tanks glued and pinched on like newer style radiators unlike the older version which had cast aluminum tanks, but should work nicely. Then you take your large box w/I/C to your favorite fabricator and have him weld on new wedge-shaped tanks with in/out pipes coming out the ends of the tanks aimed toward each other slightly (I think 30 degrees was my measurement.) A guy could also aim them up just a little as the I/C is higher in front than back when installed. I did not opt for this but the connecting pipes might be less low (?) if I had. Here's where the hacking begins. All of the plastic air ducts that lead air to the radiator must be omitted. i'm not sure, but you probably could leave them in and just trim for clearance, but the intercooler is considerably bigger than the ductwork opening. The underside of the bumper cover must be trimmed for I/C clearance. I did not do it, but the reinforcement could be trimmed for added air flow through the i/c. It blocks about the first 3 inches of the i/c. Also, the side ground effects pieces which wrap under the car have to be trimmed a little. It's a gigantic intercooler. Once there's a hole big enough it's time to fabricate some mounting brackets. I used two lower rubber radiator holders scavenged from some car wedged into custom brackes bolted to the underside of the bumper reinforcement to support and insulate the I/C in the front at the tank weld seam. These brackets must be fairly heavy duty since theI/C will be just held against them by the rear brackets. I'm sure some other style bracket could be fabbed, but this one was really simple. The rear brackets were completely custom and wrap around the core since there is no room next to the in/out pipes for a weld seam support. The rear brackets bolt to the underside of the radiator core support. The hardest part of the whole thing for me was figuring out how to intice the air to go through the intercooler and radiator instead of just going under the car. My first attempt was a large scoop hinged at the rear of the i/c with springs at the front. Disaster! Worked great on glass-smooth roads at accel or sustained speed, but as soon as I touched the brakes it acted like a front loader and all but ripped off the car. It finally came down to a simple air dam attached with screws to the intercooler itself. There are thin sheets of aluminum at the front and rear of the intercooler that support the first and last rows of cooling fins and are handy air dam mounting locations. Use real short screws or rivets, please. I'm pretty sure it's come to connecting pipes now. I had my buddy at an exhaust shop make mine with mandrel bends, but if I had it to do all over, I'd have had my fabricator make them out of aluminum pipe. It turs out that the hose clamps must be VERY stout since there is nothing to keep the hoses against the turbo/intercooler/throttle body like the factory intercooler brackets hald all that together except the hoses and clamps. It sucks when one blows apart! Next remove the aligator clip from the wastegate actuator, screw the end in about 5 turns, add a few pounds of fuel pressure and go tear up some asphalt!<a href="http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000024693/1000024693_142002112333AM0.5946118.jpg>pic1</a>
http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000024693/1000024693_142002112510AM0.1191828.jpg[/url][/IMG]
So you have to clikc on 'em. OK, terrific!
