Jacob,
If you have the all aluminum version of the Powerstroke IC, DON'T cut the header pannel just yet. You can cut 4 rows off the top of the IC and have the tanks rewelded (cost me $50). Everything will fit under the top of the header pannel with the only mods then being the two holes in the radiator support, trimming of the two bumper braket tabs, and clearancing in the headlight bucket area.
Regarding the pipe length...
Just like you, I used 2.5" pipes. They were the 2.5" mandrel bent aluminized pipes from jcwhitney.com. I can't give you specific lengths to go with... it's more of a "cut and test fit, then cut again" process. Just make sure all your cuts are LONG.
The hardest part of the pipe fitting (remember, I welded the pipes so they had to be TIGHT) was the IC outlet to throttle body pipe. I made this pipe from three separate pieces (in order from TB to IC outlet)...
- (1) stock uppipe
- (1) 90* bend
- (1) half of the 180* bend pipe (it has a longer straight piece than the 90* pipes had).
The pipe connected to the TB drops straight down, perpendicular to the ground. That's where I welded the stock uppipe and 90* pipe together. Then the pipe is connected to the half of the 180* bend pipe. This runs at a slight angle down & towards the front of the car to the IC.
I had orignially planed on using (2) 90* bends but I ruined one pipe because I made it too short. That's why I used the stock uppipe. If you plan on joining the pipes with hoses (I welded mine) I think you'll have a little more leeway. Don't forget thought that if you flare the ends, that will increase the clearances between the pipes some... cut accordingly.
Other...
I got my hoses and t-bolt clamps from Precision. Get the 3"-2.5" reducer hoses in the LONG version, not the short. You'll also need a 2" to 2.5" for the turbo (get the short version).
I used a miter saw with a cutoff wheel attached to cut the pipes. It worked well, just watch the sparks and keep any flamables (gas, oil, etc.) away from the work area!
Where I cut through the radiator support, I epoxied door trim stripping on the metal so that it wouldn't cut/wear the hoses or rattle against the IC.
I was even able to keep all of my headlight adjusters, I just had to drill new holes for the two closest to the IC and mount them with epoxy between the two headlights. There's a ridge there, so I just cut a little out and epoxied the adjusters in place. Headlight adjustment is now spot on and nothing has come loose yet.
As far as mounting the IC, I made two "L" shaped brakets from 1" wide metal strapping from my local hardware store. I drilled holes in them and mounted them to the radiator support. I then used adhesive backed foam (for using as weather stripping at home on your doors) as a cussion. Looks like this...
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I took pictures of the first half of the install, but was rushed for time to get the second half done (everything I described above) and was not able to take pics of that. One of these days I'll pull it all apart and take the pics and post them to my site. If you (or anyone else) is ever in the DE, PA, NJ, MD area I can show you the car.
Hope this helps & good luck,
-Banning.
