Lets talk Ebay FMIC. Especially if you have one.

[chicagoavenger]

I have read a couple of threads on ebay intercoolers but just wondering which ones out there that are actually good? Allot of them have something that goes like this

"Good for up to 500bhp(I have seen from 350-600). all our intercooler has been tested to withstand more then 80psi pressure and it has very small pressure drop across the end tanks, at 15psi inlet the out let has 14.8psi that means it has only 0.2 psi pressure drop ,compare to many other intercoolers it is an excellent figure (some intercooler has 1-2psi pressure drop) also at the same condition, the temperature has drop from 120 degree to 28 degree ( and it is an excellent figure for efficiency"

Is the above statement just a bunch of bs or true? Has anyone tried the Megan racing FMIC? I think it's crazy to spend 700+ on a core and piping. I really don't care about name brands I just want it to work. Kinda like a Dave Brode part or Megan Racing or Johnny Racecar FMIC all cheap but effective with great quality. Here are just a couple of FMIC I'm talking about that look good but do they perform and will they last? Please chime in if you have a ebay FMIC or had one especially if it worked or did not work well for you. thanks

Megan FMIC

No name brand but has the standard psi and efficiency spill

Street Imports FMIC

XOXO Core but has good feedback on the core

 

[cfisher]

its an 800 x 600 pic.. 100 pixel more than the limit.. are dsm owners running 640x480 desktop resolutions? .. 1024x768 should be the standard limit these days.. ..

as for the PS cooling lines.. i didnt move them.. they run across the radiator behind the bracket.. however where it bends down is REALLLLLLY close to touching the core.. a lil bending here and there and it doesnt touch it at all.

-DSM2NR- i guess if you want to keep your fog lights that would work.. but you are paying $120+ for a more inferior kit.. it has a smaller core, it uses your current throttle body elbow from what I see is included in the kit from the picture.. and who knows if its short route piping unless someone wants to verify.. that and how big the piping diameter is.. but i guess fog lights are very important to some people, i never had them to begin with to worry..

So you just left the PS cooling lines alone. I've seen some that remove them and loop the lines but I'd rather not. So you just moved them around a little to where everything would fit?

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

as for how long it took to install.. i took my time so i worked on it a lil' each day. so any kind of number of hours i give would be skewed. A difficult process was putting on the bumper. I came from a greddy 24r fmic. I had already trimmed the bumper to accomdate that. With this kit, I had to do it again, even more. I don't know how many times i had the bumper on and off, but that took the most time. It will be different for each owner depending on how they mounted the core in the first place. I had to trim down some area of the foglight holes, and the other vents next to it. I also had to trim around the big mouth area. Both left and right side and the bottom.

I also relocated the coolant resevoir where the stock smic use to be. I used the same bracket and bended it in ways some would want to position their women. Also mounted the bcs and another solenoid that were both attached to that bracket to another location so nothing was hanging and everything looked pro-fess-io-nal. I had some wires exposed so I went ahead an taped it up. This took some time because the first time The resevoir bottle was sitting too low to the ground and when I took a drive it hit the ground then fell so I had to drive home with it draggin on the ground. So I had to get another the car because I did not want to take off the front bumper. Not fun.

Another part that took some time was cutting the hole between the radiator and the frame. I do not have a nice plasma cutter as someone stated here, so I did a ghetto way and just drilled holes then like connect the dots used a different cutter and used pliers to tear away the metal. This was not fun.

Overall those were the most difficult parts. I did take much longer because I painted my pipes black.

Don't paint the pipes, have a nice cutter and one should be able to do this on a weekend.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

So you just left the PS cooling lines alone. I've seen some that remove them and loop the lines but I'd rather not. So you just moved them around a little to where everything would fit?

yes, the one that runs in between the radiator and that metal frame/bracket thing correct? First I zipped tied the lines along that metal bracket so it wouldnt move.. but towards the right side of the core when it bends down then up is where it protrudes closely to the core. That was the part I was worried about and contemplating looping it closer, but I got lazy so I just moved them around yes.

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

its an 800 x 600 pic.. 100 pixel more than the limit.. are dsm owners running 640x480 desktop resolutions? .. 1024x768 should be the standard limit these days.. ..

Hey, your pic is fine, it was the one above you, previous page.
Nice looking grill!

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

now i would love to see the 1g guys make this work on their cars.

 

[91-gsx]

now i would love to see the 1g guys make this work on their cars.

, that hard huh? i got it in yesterday and it definately is worth a shot, i dont give up easily.
late

 

[my98GST]

You need to make sure you get someone video taping the whole thing so we can see step by step of how hard its giong to be...Plus I just want to sit here and laugh hysterically at all of the curse words we're going to be hereing

Im sure you could make it work so hit it up #####!

 

[kottyking]

I would like to wish you luck, get er done bro!

 

[90tsi]

Just ordered mine! Anyone running this 2G kit with a 14b/16G style turbo? How did you get it to fit?

 

[2gredspyder]

Just ordered mine! Anyone running this 2G kit with a 14b/16G style turbo? How did you get it to fit?

For a 16g/14b style turbo you will need to get a fmic j pipe as they are made to work with a front mount. They point down differently than a regular j pipe. With some work you could get a regular j pipe to work too.

 

[Lethal GST]

For a 16g/14b style turbo you will need to get a fmic j pipe as they are made to work with a front mount. They point down differently than a regular j pipe. With some work you could get a regular j pipe to work too.

yeah I found that out AFTER i got the FMIC mounted and swapped out the UIC pipe. Just got a new J-pipe from Dejontool today so I'll be installing all my piping tomorrow. I'll be sure to take pics this time.

 

[Narco]

one things for sure.. id only install this for myself.. unless i got payed

No sh@t!

Just got the core mounted last night.

I used the stock mounting location for the PS lines. I bent the middle bar of the core support back, bent it and drilled new mounting holes for it so my core would sit completely flush.

I should be finished Sunday(too hung over today to work on it). Then I'll post pictures of the install if anyone's interested.

 

[Lethal GST]

Is everyone removing the PS cooling lines. There is one set in the front that is removed but there is also another set behind the radiator. Is everyone taking those out as well? Just curious.

i took off my PS cooling lines. well, actually i took off the stock lines and just used a transmission cooler hose instead.

 

[my98GST]

Just recieved my Fedex invoice. Jeeze I was starting to get worried. Now all this talk with the lines and crap is really starting to make me nervous about installing it

 

[eclpsgsx97]

I removed the power steering cooler and looped the hose back into the fluid resevoir.

I was able to mount the intercooler the other day, but still waiting on a couple things to run the piping. I bought some reducers for the 3" GM MAF and going to attempt to fit it b/w the BOV and throttle body.

I used the outer bolt hole on each foglight to mount the side bars of the IC and bent the top metal flap on the IC down and forward to mate with the bottom hood latch bolt. Although, I haven't drilled a hole to use it b/c the IC seems to be secure without it.

For the a/t guys with a driver's side mounted tranny cooler: It's going to have to be relocated. The way I mounted the IC, the inlet pipe runs right into the fittings/hoses of the cooler. Personally, I'm going to relocate the stock one to the passenger's side once the SMIC is removed. Later on, I'll probably get the 4588 kit from IPT trans.

Word of caution: Be VERY careful when drilling or cutting the passenger's side radiator support. Those wires are in a vulnerable position. I was using a rotary tool with a Dremel brand tungsten carbide cutting bit, trying my best to be careful. Gave a little push to make a hole, and the bit went through much easier than I expected. Luckily it didn't sever any wires, but it did cut into the insulation of a couple of them. So, I had to spend some time taping them up.

Sorry for the long post. Thought I'd offer up my experience so far.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Word of caution: Be VERY careful when drilling or cutting the passenger's side radiator support. Those wires are in a vulnerable position. I was using a rotary tool with a Dremel brand tungsten carbide cutting bit, trying my best to be careful. Gave a little push to make a hole, and the bit went through much easier than I expected. Luckily it didn't sever any wires, but it did cut into the insulation of a couple of them. So, I had to spend some time taping them up.

yes i forgot to mention this.. while drilling it hit the wires.. it totally cut through the electrical tape and the rest of the covering.. it penetrated and exposed the wires.. i had to remove all the electrical tape and covering to see what I damaged. and sure enough some wires got exposed. luckily only 1 got severed. soldered it and covered it all up with electrical tape. looks better than before, but definitely a waste of time.

 

[southjerseyTSI]

yes i forgot to mention this.. while drilling it hit the wires.. it totally cut through the electrical tape and the rest of the covering.. it penetrated and exposed the wires.. i had to remove all the electrical tape and covering to see what I damaged. and sure enough some wires got exposed. luckily only 1 got severed. soldered it and covered it all up with electrical tape. looks better than before, but definitely a waste of time.

... this makes me feel better, that im not the only one that did this.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

I used the outer bolt hole on each foglight to mount the side bars of the IC and bent the top metal flap on the IC down and forward to mate with the bottom hood latch bolt. Although, I haven't drilled a hole to use it b/c the IC seems to be secure without it.

do you have pics of this? i have a 95, so i dont know if i have the same foglight mount.

southjerseyTSI - of course, I'm sure we're not a lone. We shoudlnt have mentioned anything to see how many other people wouldve done it as well, JK.

 

[my98GST]

Screw you guys....I'm scared to trying to mount mine when it comes!!!!!!!

 

[sphinx0nine]

any news on the 1g guine pig???

 

[eclpsgsx97]

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

The bolt is the one I'm using to mount the IC. The other two holes adjacent to the bolt were for the foglight as well.

 

[sphinx0nine]

thats one huge pic...
maybe size it down a bit?

 

[Lethal GST]

do you have pics of this? i have a 95, so i dont know if i have the same foglight mount.

I have a 95 also, and the foglight holes should be there. They are the same ones that eclpsgsx97 has a pic of. I would take pics, but I don't have time to remove my bumper again because when I was getting into my car to pull it into the garage my door handle broke So now I have to call around before the parts deparments close today and see if anyone has any in stock .

 

[91-gsx]

any news on the 1g guine pig???

whats up, sorry i have not had a chance to try it out yet. its raining and im sick, but i will be getting to it very soon.
later

 

[Tx97GSX]

Anyone else have a problem with the piping? I had to cut the turbo to intercooler piping because it was way too long to fit on my turbo. It's about 2 inches too long.
This is how I mounted mine.