Intercooler?

[Preluder77]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a place i can buy and intercooler for a 1985 grand national.


Also does anyone know about how much it will cost to switch to a 86/87 setup and how difficult is it ?

THANKS FOR THE HELP

 

[Boost231]

no one makes a intercooler system for or cars anymore. you might get lucky and find one on ebay or on the board but they are slim to none. if you dont mind going to the 86-87 motor its not the expensive. can be done for around 1500 depending where you find the motor. if you want to go with a intercooler your better off just going with the 86-87 motors.

 

[cool 84]

If you can find an old Spearco kit, it's worth it. That's pretty much the only professional kit around and it's not made anymore. I used one for a few years and then made my own using a Ford Powerstroke intercooler and around $450. Sold the Spearco to a friend for his hotair for the same price.

It's very worthwhile if you find the Spearco. Installs in a few hours and depending on your mods and boost level will add 60+ hp on a nearly stock motor.

 

[Preluder77]

So no one even just buys a random intercooler that can fit and makes there own piping for it ? i Cant see there being no options on intercolling the hot ait cars.

 

[cool 84]

You can buy an intercooler for an 87 that will bolt up to your car and make your own plumbing. From time to time I see them for sale without the plumbing which would probably be pretty cheap. Everything is easy and straight forward with the exception of finding an elbow adaptor for the back of the intake manifold. I had mine welded in but you need to pull the intake off to do it. My 3" mandrel bent plumbing cost me $60. You can get the silicone couplers and t-bolt clamps at a diesel store. My total cost was $450 for my setup. The plumbing itself took less than an hour to make. Here's some pics of the intake adaptor and the finished product.

 

[Hot Air 85]

cool84 ...got a better pic of you custom elbow to throttle body area?

 

[cool 84]

cool84 ...got a better pic of you custom elbow to throttle body area?

I'll dig around. I had some good ones and the computer crashed and they seem to be lost. I'll post them if I find them.

Basically, I bolted a 62mm 87 turbo inlet bell (exactly the same as the one bolted to the turbo in the pic) to the outlet of my TB which was a straight bolt up deal and the outlet side was 3" which was perfect. That is coupled to the elbow in the pics with regular 3" silicone intercooler hose. The intercooler pipe to throttlebody is just coupled the the TB with intercooler hose. I don't like how it necks down from 3" to the TB and then back to 3" again even though it's only for a few inches.

 

[Preluder77]

Hey cool 84 thank you for the help and the awesome pics. This is great i knew there was a way to do this. This is what im gonna do for sure.

Where did you get the piping at i know it is custom made im just talking about the pipes themselves?

Thanks again

 

[cool 84]

Diesel exhaust shop. They sell generic pre-bent tailpipe sections with a few different angles and they're all mandrel bent. I cut the sections I needed and coupled them with the silicone hoses. Each section was $30 but I had to get two.

 

[Preluder77]

Something like this here?

eBay Motors: stock 86-87 grand national intercooler (item 230133166684 end time May-28-07 17:20:27 PDT)

 

[cool 84]

That's a stock unit and it's made to be mounted in the engine bay. There are many fast stock location cars around but since everything is going to be custom anyway, you might look at a front mount. There are tradeoffs. Everything except for the Ford unit is going to make the car run hotter because they block air to the radiator. The plus is you don't get heatsoak from the engine when the car sits or you're at low speeds. If looking at the stock 87 unit, keep in mind they make a 1-1/2 intercooler which is an extra half of a core added on to the stock unit. Also, the inlet is a known restriction and at the minimum should be replaced with the Duttweiler neck. It might not hurt you in stock form but once you start flowing some air it will restrict you somewhat.