Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 08:21 pm, by: Ben Evans(Sbyder)
NOTE: If you do not feel comfortable doing this project, leave it up to the pro’s. I hold no responsibility for any issues that may arise due to this How-To.
I used the stock Aristo and some old soarer cooler piping I found from previous projects to reduce costs and for ease of fitment. I found that I still needed to purchase a 90 degree bend, for which everyone wanted to charge about $100. Found one on Ebay for $36 to my door, thanks Ebay!
Step 1. Purchase the Intercooler and bend/s (if you plan to use the stock piping, get a 2.5inch inlet and outlet cooler)
Step 2. Disconnect the Battery This will serve 2 purposes, A) ensures no wires can short while you remove the front bar, and B) gives your ECU a reset, ready for the new intercooler.
Step 3. Remove Front Bar. I have an aftermarket bar, so it was fairly easy to remove. Remove all the bolts, and pull her off. NOTE: please make sure you disconnect any fog light wires before yanking her off.
Step 4. Remove stock IC. There are 3 main bolts holding it on to the car via brackets and 2 cooler pipes. Remove the pipes 1st, then remove the air inlet shroud, then the mount bolts.
Step 5. Remove the front IC pipe. To remove the long piece of pipe, you will need to remove the intrusion bar. 5x 12mm bolts hold this on and you can access them via the holes at the front with a socket and extension. You will also find a small AC sensor mounted on the bar, pull it off and mount it elsewhere. Once the bar is off, disconnect the passenger side IC pipe connection and pull the pipe out.
Step 6. “Adjust” steering and air-con pipes and move radiator fan cooler. My radiator fan cooler was already removed in another project, but you may need to move the pipes towards the condenser as well as the power-steering cooler lines. I got away with bending the pipes very gently towards the condenser.
Step 9. Stand Back and enjoy the view. Almost done, now take some pics to show your grandkids, and get ready for the last few steps.
Step 10. Start her up. Connect the battery up, making sure any wires are not going to short. Start the car and listen for any leaks. It will make a pretty obvious vacuum noise if there’s a leak, so if you find one, turn her off and fix it.
Step 10. Reinstallation. Re-install the front bar making sure to connect all the wires back up and all bolts are tightened securely.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 07:03 pm, by: Ben Evans(Sbyder)
Its actually not that bad, though it does drain power. Its basically the same SMIC as the supra and soarer, which have proven increases in HP when upgrading to other intercoolers.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 01:51 pm, by: Ben Evans(Sbyder)
If you get a high quality cooler, it will actually flow a lot better and cool more easily, hence more air into the engine (with more fuel)= more power produced.