Custom FMIC

[98evoIIIpwr]

Hey everyone. I bought an intercooler off of Ebay and was having trouble figuring out the best way to make custom piping for my 98 talon. I tried many different ways (and wasted a lot of money). Just incase anyone wants to know after all my trial and errors. The best couplers you can get are what plumbers use for underground sewer lines. I work in the construction industy so I came across these for free after trying silicone and T-bolts and some other stuff. These couplers you can get at Home Depot. For my 2.5" piping I used a 2" coupler. These are very hard to get on and almost impossible to get off. If you get the High quality ones they are almost a hard plastic. These hold over 120psi of pressure in the underground lines, so I am sure they can hold 40psi of boost at least. They have a lip in the very center of the coupler to divide the pipes and make them meet exactly half way through the coupler. All I did is slid one pipe on and cut the lip down to the size of the pipe, Becasue it was a little too tall. They comewith standart work clamps and I would recommend replacing those with a solid t-bolt clamp. This way is somewhat expensive if you dont have access to the materials like I do but if you want to do it right I wouldnt recommend any other way ( like i said I tried a lot of different techniques). Another benifit is they have two more little lips on the outer edge which my rolled ends fit perfectly into. I spent 200 on my intercooler 125 on piping and 25 bucks on t-bolts. Thats a total of 350 dollars for a 32x11x3 intercooler with aluminum 2.5" mandrel bent polished piping and no chance of any pipes coming apart. You make your own choice but I like to do it the right way and thats exactly what this is. Hopefully I didnt leave anything out if I did i will post later but I gotta run now.

 

[GalantGst]

hmm..

i bought a intercooler of ebay 30x5.5x3 its bar and plate for 260$ and i bought 4 coupling and 8 t bolt clamps for 40 $ i need two more and thats it.

 

[edpettit_TSI]

WOW.. I DO NOT GET ANY KIND OF PLUMBING SHIT FOR YOUR CAR. I've done some plubming... well for the past few years. Do not use any of those "couplers.. they are 100% trash and that's one of the reason they are not made for DSMs. All they do is expand like holy crap. .

 

[5150DSM]

WOW.. I DO NOT GET ANY KIND OF PLUMBING SHIT FOR YOUR CAR. I've done some plubming... well for the past few years. Do not use any of those "couplers.. they are 100% trash and that's one of the reason they are not made for DSMs. All they do is expand like holy crap. .

I have to agree with you here. Those were the first couplers I tried on my set-up and I blew the fu(kers out at 15psi; also, they couldn't handle heat worth a shit and melted on the hot side.
To the poster, glad they are working for you but my first hand experience with the Fernco couplers from Home Depot flat out sucked.

 

[goofynick6]

Are you referring to the ones with a metal sleeve? Or the Fernco crap? Because the Fernco's are what most people use for cheap setups and or CAI's and they can't hold boost or heat from a turbo setup. I tried using a transition coupler for a temp fix until I could get a real one and I blew two of them out in an hour at 14 psi.

Nick

 

[terminaltsi]

i have to agree, the fernco's suck after about 10 minutes of heat and pressure. they blow out.
i don't recall home depot selling any type of couplers other than fernco's......where are these other ones you're talking about? do they keep them in the turbo section of the store? j/k

 

[blcknspo0ln]

my writeup

replace/add/remove number of pipes as needed. i'd probably go with T-bolts or double wormscrew clamps if you feel the need to.

as for short route, i'm in the process of figuring that out too. let's just say I got a 90*, 2.5" straight pipe, RRE TB elbow, and a 45* coupler and i'm almost done

 

[98evoIIIpwr]

WOW.. I DO NOT GET ANY KIND OF PLUMBING SHIT FOR YOUR CAR. I've done some plubming... well for the past few years. Do not use any of those "couplers.. they are 100% trash and that's one of the reason they are not made for DSMs. All they do is expand like holy crap. .

I guess it might depend on the brand then. I dont have a built bottom end so I dont want to try and run too much boost but I can run quite a bit. NOw I didnt get these from HOme Depot I just saw some similar to the ones at home depot. I had my plumber at work get me these specifically. It seems like a few people have tried these and had bad experiences (just going off of the negative posts) with them. I havent had any problems yet and they look cleaner then the silicone couplers that I have. NO melting or expanding for me. Again I guess it all depends on the manufacturer. And yes the ones that I have do have a metal band around the hard rubber insert. I used T-bolt clamps instead of the worm clamps because of better holding pressure. Anyways sorry if you dont like the idea. I am not one to sit here and argue and put up nasty posts but this was just my experience. HOpefully you found something that works better for you.

 

[98evoIIIpwr]

my writeup

replace/add/remove number of pipes as needed. i'd probably go with T-bolts or double wormscrew clamps if you feel the need to.

as for short route, i'm in the process of figuring that out too. let's just say I got a 90*, 2.5" straight pipe, RRE TB elbow, and a 45* coupler and i'm almost done

Hey thats a good install for a good price. The only thing that I wouldnt do is put SS piping on my car. Aluminum is a lot lighter and dissipates heat much better. The piping that I got was polished and had rolled ends. Both of these installs are good in my opinion(dont think im tryin to dawg your install). I just prefer alum. piping ive heard a lot of good things about it. Anyways good job.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Hey thats a good install for a good price. The only thing that I wouldnt do is put SS piping on my car. Aluminum is a lot lighter and dissipates heat much better. The piping that I got was polished and had rolled ends. Both of these installs are good in my opinion(dont think im tryin to dawg your install). I just prefer alum. piping ive heard a lot of good things about it. Anyways good job.

no harm. goodluck and post your results!

 

[Omega]

For those that make their own pipes...

You will be surprised how well couplings stay put if you bead or lip the ends. You won't have to spend boat loads of money on t-bolt clamps.

Those fernco couplings might not pop off for the moment, they just burst instead.