Cheap FMIC and Custom pipe fabrication. Who has done it?

[me612]

how to route your own 1g fmic piping...
http://www.geocities.com/bennyhoffb/cepadsm/fmic/customfmic.htm

 

[95GST]

It is quite a bit of work. cut, debur and test fit and piece it together, then weld, takes alot of time.. Good luck

 

[BoostinAWD]

I did mine for about $400 complete including the price to get some welding done to the intercooler.

$200 for the cooler on ebay shipped
$100 to relocated inlet/outlet
$100 mandral bent piping, couplers, paint.

Stays cool even in summer az heat


Its pretty big the core being 32 wide x 11.5 tall x 4 thick.
oh btw lag is minimal and the boost guage goes from 0-20psi in a blink of an eye, theres no watching it make its way up like my 14b on stock cooler used too.

But that may have something to do with my badass SBR GT12 God I love this turbo.

 

[dsmturboawd]

just go buy some bends and make it happen. it isnt rocket science.

 

[me612]

what core did you get for 200 shipped? also where in az u from

 

[BoostinAWD]

No clue on the core
Bar and plate, lets just say it works very well.

I live in goodyear.
Are you stationed at Luke?
If so I live 5 mins from there.

 

[me612]

nah im stationed in Yuma. its on the border of AZ, CA, and Mexico. about 3 hours outta phoenix. but ya i been lookin for a good bar and plate FMIC on ebay for awhile but they all seem a lil over priced. but that intercooler looks huge on your car, people gotta see that and be like DAYUM!

 

[Larry L]

I just finished my 2G FMIC install. My intercooler is 26x6x3. It cost me $250.00 on Ebay from Issani. Then I purchased 3 mandrel U bends from Dyno Worx in San Bernardino. And a piece of 6 ft 2 1/2 exaust straight pipe. I start by removing my front bumper. Then removing the smic. The fiberglass bumper support was removed and cut so the piping could fit within it. (look at vfaq under 2g starion fmic install for an example.) My Fmic has end tanks that exit on each side. So the ends of the false bumper where cut so the pipe could fit through it. The FMIC was bolted to the bottom of the false bumper.
O.k. here it goes. The piping comes out of the turbo and goes through the j pipe to where the stock Smic would sit.( a 2 1/2 to 2 inch reducer was used to adapt the LICP to the new 2 1/2 U bends...$4.00 at Home Depot. I use two.
Then I cut one of the U bends and made my first turn towards the FMIC. The second turn which went into the ic was the second half of the U bend. 2 1/2 rubber hose was used in 3 inch sections to couple the pipes together. Out the other side of the Fmic I used another U bent to go up to the opening in the false bumper (Drivers side). then a 31 inch section of straight 2 1/2 pipe was used to go across through the inside of the false bumper. There I cut the third U bend and used one part to make the 90 degree bend back to the second bend which made a 60 degree turn up to the UICP and connected with the 2nd reducer. All pipes where then taken apart and taken to the local muffler shop to have them slightly flaired...(And I mean Slightly...Just enough to give the clamps something to grab...) Total price $400 and 8 hours work... Mad power increase... 14b on crack! I'll post pix asap.

 

[me612]

pix are worth a thousand words man!!!

 

[LeoGSTSpyder]

Originally posted by me612
pix are worth a thousand words man!!!

Yeah just post a picture.

 

[Robby Camero]

I learnt a stupid simple way to do it.

All you need to do is gather all the piping you think you are gonna need. They dont need to be mandrel bent, welded, nothing! Just straight pipes.

Then get 45 degree,90 degree, transition or hump silocone couplers from Kinetic or where ever to join everything once the pipes are cut to lenth and layed out.

This is how Kinetic sells their 1g dsm fmic kits actually! Just straight pipes and couplers. Stupid simple right?

 

[sidoze]

I just did it on my second gen, I got mandrels from Road Race.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=772187

Much fun doing it yourself and it feels good after, I'm still working on my tech article...I have a hard time being coherent with english It was under 500$ too and I haven't blown any connections yet either.

 

[me612]

Originally posted by Robby Camero
I learnt a stupid simple way to do it.

All you need to do is gather all the piping you think you are gonna need. They dont need to be mandrel bent, welded, nothing! Just straight pipes.

Then get 45 degree,90 degree, transition or hump silocone couplers from Kinetic or where ever to join everything once the pipes are cut to lenth and layed out.

This is how Kinetic sells their 1g dsm fmic kits actually! Just straight pipes and couplers. Stupid simple right?

yes both those couplers are not cheap. You'd be better off buying pre mandrel bent piping from JC WHITNEY. i agree that would be simple, but i think you'd be better off with piping around the bends rather then couplers, plus it'd prolly cost less using JC's pipes.

 

[sidoze]

those silicon couplers are like 40 bucks each i thought

 

[me612]

Originally posted by sidoze
those silicon couplers are like 40 bucks each i thought

EXACTLY

 

[Robby Camero]

Yeah, I agree the couplers arent cheap but if you find cheap material for the piping somewhere like at an industrial supplier, friend, or at work if you work in a shop of some sort, your setup really only ends up costing a couple hundred bucks. And also, down the road if you decide to change something, like add a maft, or upgrade to a different fmic, it makes it easier. The couplers will always hold their value as well if you decide to get rid of them. Welded piping might work for your car but no one elses.

Just a suggestion. Is it the best way?..... definatly not, I agree.

 

[DSMJim]

You can get the 90deg silicone bends from industrial truck suppliers (like Mack truck etc..) for about 5-6 bux each. That is where all these places get them from and sell them to us for crazy amounts of money because we don't know where to buy it.

That is also where our silicone "intercooler" hose comes from. Thats nothing more then Mack (or similar) truck radiator hose.

Check in your yellow pages for some type of truck place for 18 wheelers. Mine was a filter company which sold everything to my surprise.

Here are my custom pipes...

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Used mandrel bent pipes and cut them so they fit. I used duct tape to hold them together during the fitting process. Once I had the pipe where I wanted. I cut some of the tape back and went to the shop and tack welded it so they didn't move in the spots where I cut the tape back. Then took the tape off completly and welded around the pipe all the way, painted it black and went back and fitted it.

The lower IC pipe is one piece from the turbo to the inlet. Off the turbo I used a 90deg rubber elbow from that truck place. The upper IC pipe is 3 pieces. From the cooler to inside the car by the headlight wher ethe stock IC used to sit. The upper pipe is a Hahn pipe but I cut and modified it to work with my Magnus intake.

 

[4pistons]

Here's some alternate routing. I used a Starion IC but you could use just about any FMIC. I'll be upgrading mine this year (next year!) but will try to retain the short plumbing.

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/StarionIC.html

Rick - '91 GSX

 

[Larry L]

Hey DSMJim I love the simplicity of you set up...Looks great! Now my ic U bend comes up and into the black false bumper in your picture. Tunnels all the way through the Passenger side where the pipes bend toward the UICP. And pix are on the way...

 

[Turbonium]

idk how all you guys had such an easy time at it, i thought i had it all planned out bought a bunch of 2.5 mandrel 90's from JC and thought i was halfway done already. i was using a starion thta i had different pipes welded onto idk if that matters but f&#% it turned into El disastro of a project its all done and it works but next time instead of buying the 100 dollar Starion and 150 in pipes an stuff i'll spring the extra couple hundred for soemhting alot prettier in the end thats my .02$ good luck tho it is kinda fun!
Ryan

 

[greyforestgst]

this is my setup

cost ~$350