ETS Street intercooler installation problem

[Oldsid]

I finally had time to install my ETS street intercooler and after some pre-fitting, I found that the AC lines interfere with the intercooler on both sides.
Are we supposed to bend those lines out of the way? Do we need to bend the sides of the sheet metal to be able to fit the inlet and outlet lines of the intercooler. Pictures that shows the inlet of the intercooler line between the intercooler and the cut out and that also shows how much the AC lines needs to be bent will be very helpful.
Thanks.

 

[donniekak]

You have to enlarge the "d" holes enough to fit ac lines, and intercooler piping. Usually the driverside line has to be bent pretty good.

 

[Oldsid]

You have to enlarge the "d" holes enough to fit ac lines, and intercooler piping. Usually the driverside line has to be bent pretty good.

I know that I need to enlarge the "d" holes. But before starting the enlargements, I centered the intercooler and raised it until it touched the bottom of the bumper. I then wanted to mark the location where to start triming. Form my measurement of the intercooler and the location of the "d" holes, the lines from intercooler will be touching the sheet metals unless I bent them. It also seems that I will need to bend the AC lines quite a lot and that may damage it.

 

[leepen]

I bent the PS and had this made for the DS
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/bolt-tech/431627-ets-street-ic-c-lines.html

 

[agentorange313]

The ETS kit says you dont need to modify anything to make it fit, which you really dont, but modification of the bumper/crash bar will help the fitment issue.

I just posted in this thread about what I trimmed on my bumper.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/186772-buschur-fmic-install.html#post153107965

It will allow you to raise the intercooler so that the inlet and outlet holes are aligned with the larger portion of the D shaped area. This should give you more room for the AC lines/ power steering cooling lines. I also bolted the intercooler to the bumper support. The fitment was perfect, before it would dip below my bumper. This modification of the bumper made the kit perfect.

 

[Oldsid]

Leepen, I like the idea of modifying the AC. There is a shop close by that specialize in making that kind of hose and I will talk to them about it.

Agentorange313, my intercooler is a little bit different on how it is attached. Mine has the clips on the end and it get attached to the bottom of the bumper with self tapping screws. It would help if the intercooler would sit a little bit higher but unfortunately it can't. I think that the major issue for the fit is that the dimension between the centerlines of the intercooler inlet and outlet is about 1/2" short. I measured the distance between the inner edges of the intercooler inlet and outlet (picture 1235)and it is the same as the distance between the edge of the sheet metal where the "d" hole is (Picture 237 for dimension and reference for measurements pictures 1239 and 1240). That leaves no room for the coupler and a few mm of clearance for the lines.

 

[agentorange313]

My ETS instructions were exactly the same. It said to mount the intercooler to the bumper and use self tapping screws to secure it. I did that but the tabs started to bend. I have pictures of it.

I had left over seat brackets and just cut two L shaped pieces to mount the intercooler to the bumper supports.

In addition, I found that if you do mount it to the bumper, the couplers are too short. When I first mounted the intercooler, 4-5" couplers were needed due to the gab, after the remount I used standard 3" length couplers.

 

[Oldsid]

My ETS instructions were exactly the same. It said to mount the intercooler to the bumper and use self tapping screws to secure it. I did that but the tabs started to bend. I have pictures of it.

I had left over seat brackets and just cut two L shaped pieces to mount the intercooler to the bumper supports.

In addition, I found that if you do mount it to the bumper, the couplers are too short. When I first mounted the intercooler, 4-5" couplers were needed due to the gab, after the remount I used standard 3" length couplers.

For Aluminum mounts, they do seem small for the weight of the intercooler. I am going to try first to install it is per ETS instructions and see how it will come out. I am not very optimistic about the outcome but the worst that can happen is I will have to modify the AC line and may be get longer couplers.

 

[leepen]

My ETS instructions were exactly the same. It said to mount the intercooler to the bumper and use self tapping screws to secure it. I did that but the tabs started to bend. I have pictures of it.

I had left over seat brackets and just cut two L shaped pieces to mount the intercooler to the bumper supports.

In addition, I found that if you do mount it to the bumper, the couplers are too short. When I first mounted the intercooler, 4-5" couplers were needed due to the gab, after the remount I used standard 3" length couplers.

True...luckly the same place that made my AC line sells couplers by the foot

 

[Oldsid]

I am actually thinking about cutting AC the line close enough on the straight portion before it curves then use a compression fitting elbow. I will then put the line in the vertical and bend so it goes above the intercooler inlet. I will of course have a shop empty my AC before I try this solution.
Does anyone know the size of that AC line tubing? I hope it is not a metric one because finding fittings for them is a pain.

 

[Oldsid]

I finaly put all the intercooler pieces in place as in the pictures below. Unfortunately the J pipe does not have the nipple for the wastegate actuator. Where do you guys take the wastegate boost feed? Did anyone used the intake manifold as a source and did you have boost creep?

 

[Oldsid]

I finally had sometime this weekend to try to finish the installation and it seems that the gods are against me! When I tried to put back my stock intake pipe, the MAS/Filter hits the new intake pipe. I can't bolt back the filter and it is off by about 2" on the headlight side. I tried to rotate the filter housing a bit and pushed/rotated the new intake pipe but it is still impossible to get it to fit as it used to. I am really wondering if I got the right piping? Even the location of the BOV does not seem to be right since it is now located just where the overflow tank used to be and hidden below the filter and intake piping.
Had anyone had this problem?

 

[ExtremeTurboSystems]

The intercooler kit will work with the Stock MAF. This is the best possible routing for the 1Gs. We have gone through a few designs and this one seems to be best for fit and function.

Engine Bay

You will need to remove the shield/air box on the factory end tank and bend the clips to fit snugly against the filter.

Clip Modification

Intake Closer up

I've had several 1G's and every time this is how I ran my car. If you need any more pictures, let me know!

 

[Oldsid]

The intercooler kit will work with the Stock MAF. This is the best possible routing for the 1Gs. We have gone through a few designs and this one seems to be best for fit and function.

Engine Bay

You will need to remove the shield/air box on the factory end tank and bend the clips to fit snugly against the filter.

Clip Modification

Intake Closer up

I’ve had several 1G’s and every time this is how I ran my car. If you need any more pictures, let me know!

It is not the shield that is touching; it the MAS housing. Removing the shield means the filter will be just hanging in the air and that does not address the problem. I was able to get one hole to align and bolt the shield on one side but that still a hack job to me. I don't like do hack jobs and that is why I bought this kit; to avoid a hack job! Unfortunately there was no mention of this in the description of the kit. The mention of removing the power steering cooler is trivial compared to this and actually we do not even have to remove those lines because a little bending will make them fit!