Intercoolers and Pipes...

[Jeff240sx]

Ok.  I was thinking this weekend, and realized that the only intercoolers and piping you can buy come made for kits.
Anyway... I was talking to a piping company, and they deal with 3" mandrel bent stainless piping, and would be interested in making piping for me.  One set would be cost-prohibitive, but 5 or more would be right on target with other companies (F-Max wants like $270 for 2.5" piping, and $700 for their FMIC.)
Whats better, is the company uses an orbital welder to weld pipes together, and then electropolishes the piping.  The company is UltraPure Group, and they make high-purity water processing systems.  That is why they have $100k worth of welding and polishing machines.
My Idea:
I could probably get spearco cores, and have end-tanks welded onto them.  And from there have the piping made in 2-pieces.
Possible Problems:
As long as the turbo kit is based on a RevHard manifold (or Chris May's "DIRECT" revhard replacement) and mounted a t3/4 on there... I don't think that fitment should be an issue.  If it is, it would be about an inch either way.  The piping could be cut down, or lenghtened as needed.
My Questions:
Would there be anyone out there that wants REALLY shiny 3" IC piping, as opposed to 2.5" steel?  
I just want to know, because if there are people that want this, I will spend the cash to buy an intercooler, and draw up the pipe layout in autocad, get a quote, and have some pipe sets made up.
Anyone have ideas, suggestions, or would want in on piping.  
-Jeff

[Kreator]

You confused me a bit. They only sell piping right? And the price will be around $300?

How much the piping worms up in the hottest place, eg near the compressor? Cuz i might wonna repaint it black cuz i'm not really fond of shiney stuff. But since you are saying they do it decently, i might wonna join in. So the question is will the paint hold or will it be getting too hot for the paint to hold?

[Kid Zelda]

Ok, so this is for custom pipes.
Problem I see is, whatever I/C  you get, other would have to get the same one, at the same dimensions for it to work as a kit, right ?  
And if more custom work would be needed to fit piping, then it's really not "MAdE" for a certain set-up since more work would be needed to fit. SO then, why would I buy these pipes, when I can get a muffler shop to do the pipes, and maybe for a cheaper price.

Justgiving you some feedback.

Anyways, if I had a KA+T, I would want more info on this, pretty good idea, just need to fix all the bugs.
Keep up the good work, respect.

[Jeff240sx]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Kid Zelda @ Oct. 21 2002,05:00)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Ok, so this is for custom pipes.
Problem I see is, whatever I/C you get, other would have to get the same one, at the same dimensions for it to work as a kit, right ?
And if more custom work would be needed to fit piping, then it's really not "MAdE" for a certain set-up since more work would be needed to fit. SO then, why would I buy these pipes, when I can get a muffler shop to do the pipes, and maybe for a cheaper price.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Thats why I mentioned selling them with a spearco core. &nbsp;I would design the piping for that core and endtanks. &nbsp;Also, a spearco intercooler would run about $300 less than a F-Max intercooler, has awesome efficiency, and a .5psi drop across the intercooler.
So, hypothetically, if 5 people want in, I could get ~$400 intercoolers with endtanks, and 3" mandrel bent piping for ~$300 more.
One F-Max intercooler is $700 alone, and then $270 for 2.5" pipes.
Finally, having a muffler shop with a 3" mandrel bender is a rare find. &nbsp;Also, low quality steel will discolor with heat. &nbsp;These pipes are pharmaceutical grade, high nickel content piping, that are made to withstand 400 degree nitric acid running through them, and last for 10 years on the system.
Anyway... I think it will work. &nbsp;The only caveat is it would have to be a t3/4 on a revhard (or equivalent) manifold.
Anymore comments, thoughts, anything?
-Jeff

[Kreator]

Uhh you still didn't answer my question about the temperature. And also, i'm guessing this won't fit a straight t3?

[Foxcolt]

You can always have the hot pipe be 2 peices instead of one. Here's an example.
I have the stock hotpipe on my s13 SR in an S14 motor.
When I went to fmic i had some fitment issues due to the fact that I had to buy an s13 kit. Fortunatly since my hot pipe was two peices (stock) I could move it around a bit and get everything to fit real nice.

just FYI

Jed <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/devil.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':devil:'>

[S13CRAVE]

i'm doing a turbo kit in the future but if you do it, i'd probably be interested. &nbsp;where can i get a rev-hard manifold by itself? &nbsp;thanks


~Ian

[DSC240sx]

ok... does anyone know if the manifold on the xs engineering kit is similar to the fmax .. or revhard manifold?..thanx
i i have the info, but can't place my hands on it, what turbo comes witht he xs kit ... the fmax has a t4/3 right?

[Jeff240sx]

xs-engineering.com says they use a t3/4 also, and it comes with a "rugged cast iron manifold." &nbsp;I don't know of any other cast iron manifolds besides RevHard's. &nbsp;Nsport I think uses a t4 with a custom tubular weld manifold.
-Jeff

[Kid Zelda]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Jeff240sx @ Oct. 20 2002,10:17)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">So, hypothetically, if 5 people want in, I could get ~$400 intercoolers with endtanks, and 3" mandrel bent piping for ~$300 more.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
400 for the Spearco I/C ? damn, I got qoute for $640 <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/nervous.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':nervous:'>
<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hmmm.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':hmmm:'>

[Jeff240sx]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Kid Zelda @ Oct. 21 2002,1:52)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Jeff240sx @ Oct. 20 2002,10:17)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">So, hypothetically, if 5 people want in, I could get ~$400 intercoolers with endtanks, and 3" mandrel bent piping for ~$300 more.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
400 for the Spearco I/C ? damn, I got qoute for $640 <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/nervous.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':nervous:'>
<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hmmm.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':hmmm:'></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Yea, but for some reason I have a resale liscense in FL... so with that, and buying 5 IC's and endtanks, I can get a reasonable number. &nbsp;And ~ means about... I haven't run numbers yet, because I won't waste my time if nobody wants them, but $400-$500 is what I expect.
-Jeff