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Intercooler cover; Like/Dislike?

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jongraack

10+ Year Contributor
154
1
Jul 14, 2011
Saint Joseph, Michigan
Just curious what you think about this and I'm sorry if this is not the right place for this but it does have to do with appearance.

I went ahead and made a cover for my intercooler to protect it from being damaged by daily driving. I used wire mesh from the local hardware store. I was going to leave it pollished looking but I know that this stuff will end up rusting so I went ahead and primered and painted it black. IMO it turned out great and looks like it will serve its purpose. I'm sure it won't protect the intercooler from everything but atleast when a big a** rock flys into it, it won't damage it now.

Let me know what you think, good or bad, I don't mind:thumb:
 

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"Function over Appearance always", but I could make an exception! :D

....Put the "Front Bumper Cover" & get a few pictures up. :thumb:
 
I think the mesh is too big to prevent bug debris, and too thin to stop a rock. Always open to being wrong, though.
 
For what its worth and not to be the downer in the thread but I doubt that stuff would stop anything more than a leaf.... looks good though....

LandoAWD said:
I think the mesh is too big to prevent bug debris, and too thin to stop a rock. Always open to being wrong, though.

Looks like someone beat me to it. Lol
 
Restrict air flow, not much but in for some pics of it on the car.

I thought about the restriction of air but I can't see it being much of a restriction at all and probably nothing noticable. I will post more pictures after the bumper gets here, waiting on delivery. And it is mounted already, mounted so well that I could hang my body weight from it.

This is just something that is temporary until the car is no longer street drivable. I just don't want to trash a perfectly good intercooler the first time on the road because a semi threw a rock into my intercooler. I'd be p****d.
 
Nice job! But I usually see them installed over the front gap in the bumper cover.

The only thing you would have to check is the clearance between the intercooler and the wire screen..

If there is less than a half inch clearance, there is a chance a big rock can dent the wire mesh in and slam right into your intercooler, leaving you in the same situation you were trying to avoid.

It will definitely help with smaller sized rocks and whatever else gets thrown up from the road.
 
I think the mesh is too big to prevent bug debris, and too thin to stop a rock. Always open to being wrong, though.

The mesh is very tough. It is what I use on stone walls as a Mason to stick the stone too. I actually tested the mesh on an old radiator I had laying around befor I even started. I threw numorous different sized rocks at it covering the radiator and the rocks didn't faze the radiator fins. Small ones at high-speed would probably get stuck but this is the best option I could come up with without restricting much air flow.

Nice job! But I usually see them installed over the front gap in the bumper cover.

The only thing you would have to check is the clearance between the intercooler and the wire screen..

If there is less than a half inch clearance, there is a chance a big rock can dent the wire mesh in and slam right into your intercooler, leaving you in the same situation you were trying to avoid.

It will definitely help with smaller sized rocks and whatever else gets thrown up from the road.

Let's just hope I don't come across any those BIG rocks while I'm on the road what little bit I will be:thumb: Thanks for the reply!!!!
 
Most ICs stand up pretty well. I've eaten an owl or two over the years at 70+...just feathers remained and the IC was fine.
 
Nice job! But I usually see them installed over the front gap in the bumper cover.

The only thing you would have to check is the clearance between the intercooler and the wire screen..

If there is less than a half inch clearance, there is a chance a big rock can dent the wire mesh in and slam right into your intercooler, leaving you in the same situation you were trying to avoid.

It will definitely help with smaller sized rocks and whatever else gets thrown up from the road.

This is exactly what i was thinking. With the mesh mounted directly on the IC, you aren't really protecting it from damage at all. All you are really doing is making it easier to clean. If you want protection, mount it to the metal bumper or the bumper cover. Then what a rock hits it and dents it all up, replace it and not your IC. :thumb:
 
Looks ok but won't serve much purpose since its on the intercooler there's no gap between the two objects so kinda pointless until you move it further away

I knew people would assume that but that is why I tested it on a radiator befor I even started. The mesh is thicker and more durable than people think. I was chucking some good sized stones at it and it didn't hurt the radiator anything like when it wasn't covered. It was quite shocking to me how the difference really was. This is just one of those things that people won't like unless they try it themselves and then they still not may not like it.
 
mine has been through a few animals as well.. the air passage blocks take most of the force and leave a couple fins bent but nothing a comb and pliers cant take care of. as far as rocks and such i travel one of the worst roads on the east coast as far as rocks go. a couple rock quarys and a landfill so ive seen my share and none of them have ever damaged the intercooler beyond repair.
 
This is exactly what i was thinking. With the mesh mounted directly on the IC, you aren't really protecting it from damage at all. All you are really doing is making it easier to clean. If you want protection, mount it to the metal bumper or the bumper cover. Then what a rock hits it and dents it all up, replace it and not your IC. :thumb:

I'm thinking (could be wrong) that the mesh I am using is not like the standard mesh grill material that comes from other places that people use on their bumpers and wherever else. This stuff is strong and can take a beating for sure. I'm happy with it.

mine has been through a few animals as well.. the air passage blocks take most of the force and leave a couple fins bent but nothing a comb and pliers cant take care of. as far as rocks and such i travel one of the worst roads on the east coast as far as rocks go. a couple rock quarys and a landfill so ive seen my share and none of them have ever damaged the intercooler beyond repair.

Thanks for the reply:thumb: I am mainly just going for something that will help keep the intercooler looking nice and not kill performance. I know this won't stop everything but every little bit helps.
 
I like the idea of protecting the intercooler, the appearance looks good too. Have you considered putting that cheap thin mesh on the bumper as well to give it another barrier to go through first? Good job though looks cool. :hellyeah:
 
It will protect the IC from larger objects damaging the fins. For protection purposes, it would be better mounted in the bumper opening. But it does look good on the IC.
 
where hardware cloth which is what is used here is very strong it also has a sharp edge to it and has the potential to damage the intercooler if it takes a hard enough hit on the material itself.

here is me using the same material in a lead sifter for gathering sppent lead at my gun range. this picture shows 70 pounds of lead that can be shaken with no damage to the hardware cloth.
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the stuff is stupid strong for the weight of it but as said for the best protection you would be better off moving it off the surface of the intercooler and putting at leats an inch or more of space between the two. personally i would use in on the back side of the bumper as it will allow the maximum amount of room and in the fall if it it becomes a leaf catcher the ic will be able to pull air from under the bumper to still function properly.
 
I like the look, its nice and subtle. But I too would be afraid that the mesh is too close to the intercooler. A large enough rock(1/2") could possibly dent the mesh and create a matching dent in the intercooler
 
I like it :thumb:

I think what people are getting down to are the facts. There are very few "perfect" devices out there. So you figure out what sacrifices you want to make. So leaving any opinoions behind, these are the facts:

1) if you hit a LARGE strong object at speed, then it could do more damage (at least in a concentrated area)

2) very small objects will still make it through (which is ok because that's going to happen either way)

Then you have the added benefits. Black looks good, light and strong, and no matter what it will ALWAYS prove to be an added layer of protection. If you hit something large enough to say "crap why did I put this mesh on here," then you would have been screwed either way.

That being said, putting it on the back part of the bumper would remove the cover from contact with the intercooler all together. Kind of like giving the intercooler a bumper of it's own, except there is just air there. But then you lose your solid mounting points which are very nice to have.
 
I think it would work better if it was spaced off the intercooler a few inches. The way you have it now the force of the impact of a rock will be directly transfered to the intercooler whereas if it were spaced away the screen would catch it and keep it off the intercooler.
 
Thanks everyone for all the replies. There are a lot of good points made. I guess I'll go ahead and clarify a couple things.

First off, I did not have a bumper available at the time I thought about this so I went ahead and had some fun making a cover for the intercooler. I also chose to go with black paint on the cover because it may hide the intercooler a little bit from being so easily visible. My intentions are to keep the stock appearance with my car until I can afford to go balls out with the motor and trans.

Secondly, I did plan on making inserts for the bumper as well but I am only going to clear-coat those. The brighter inserts should disturb the appearance of the intercooler a bit, hopefully:thumb: To some people this may sound dumb but I like the stealth look and I am not looking to push this intercooler to the max until my motor and trans upgrade so I don't see airflow being a problem.

Thanks again for the replies and keep them coming:thumb:
 
I feel like having that mesh will add more attention to that area considering it's not OEM. If you want to conceal your intercooler powdercoat it black.
 
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