Getting custom intercooler made, any reccomendations?

[Mr Whippy]

Anyone reccomend anyone good?

Someone has drawn up designs, just finding someone to do it. Allard came back with ~ £450 for the job which was far too much, some others don't have 50mm formers for the curved pipes out of the end tanks.

It's a ~ 50mm thick, 270mm top to bottom, and about 400mm wide, a twin-pass design, with both outlets going up near each other then through into a small cavity next to the rad into the engine bay, so it's fairly important they are curved and smooth.
Ie, Allard were to make segmented welded up bends, which can't be cheap on labour vs stock bends welded to the straight, and some places don't have 50mm formers for smooth ally bends.

Just after anyone good we can send the plans to and can give us a good competitive price. Probably 5 units initially, but perhaps lots more if the kit goes well.

Thanks for any help.

Dave

[dnb]

Someone like Radtec may be able to do something. I've always been happy with the quality of the radiator they made for my Griff. It'll not be cheap though - £450 doesn't sound bad at all for a custom IC made in GB.

[eliot]

try alan docking engineering, silverstone. Seen one made by them, it was really nice.

[ceejay]

Another vote for Dockin Engineering, they've made intercoolers and rads for me. Really good quality but not as cheap as Radtec (i've used both), you get what you pay for.

http://www.dockingengineering.com/

ceejay

[Else]

Try Proalloy.co.uk. I have seen thier work and it is top quality.

Andy

[BB-Q]

Alisport are certainly worth a shout too.

[stevieturbo]

Try Richard 07908006818. Dont recall his second name, but he made a radiator for me a year or 2 ago. Did a very good job, and at a very keen price.

[Mr Whippy]

Wow, thanks for the replies.

There is a small group of us all after one, and I'm itching to intercool my car, so will give them all a ring on Monday to get the request in and maybe a reply before christmas

Thanks

Dave

[denisb]

Pace products. Awesome quality work, but more expensive.

Brise Fabrications. Cheaper, excellent quality but generally not as 'pretty' as Pace.

[Busa_Rush]

Else said:

Try Proalloy.co.uk. I have seen thier work and it is top quality.

Andy

Second that, they are real petrol heads too, nice company to deal with and the best ali welding I have ever seen.

[CanAm Dave]

Pace Products made my custom chargecooler and rads from my CAD drawings. Great quality and a good price.

Regards Dave

[Mr Whippy]

Arghhh, costs seem a bit higher than I'd liked...

I guessed that alot is not really the core, but the labour charges for all the end-tank welding on more custom items.

I guess I may have been dreaming thinking I could get a decent custom one made for around £250-£300, but hey ho

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Medium-TwinPass-Front-Mount-...

A friend has squeezed one of these in behind his bumper, so probably going to go for that, and just run 3" to 2" 90 deg bends off the ends (basically what the custom core would have been with just 2" inlets proper and the bottom one bent up towards the top inlet a bit)...


Does anyone here have any reservations with these at all at a quick glance? Just after a "eek no, because of X Y Z", I'm guessing it'll not be the best out there, but it's only for a diesel Peugeot afterall, and we can still make a 'kit' of pipes and hoses using these intercoolers. Main worry is hurting response, but my friend said pressure drop was only around 2psi at 22psi... (not such accurate gauges and that was at turbo outlet vs manifold inlet)

Dave

[stevieturbo]

A pressure drop of 2psi at 22psi means absolutely nothing.

If there was that drop, flowing only 1cfm of air....that's one shit intercooler.

If it has that drop flowing 2000cfm of air...I'd say its pretty good ( assuming it actually cools the air too )

[Mr Whippy]

Good point.

Hmmm, well at the 22psi or so it's flowing between 2000rpm and 3000rpm for a 2.0 4 stroke engine...

The low rpm suggest that the flow isn't THAT much. 150-225CFM for the power it is generating at those rpm ranges seems about right.


Can't seem to Google much that tells me if that is good or not. Will keep having a search around.

I guess the proof is in the pudding though. Will be doing pressure differential test and pre/post temp checks on it once I'm done.

Dave

[Deltaf01]

Ebay stuff tends to be hacked up in Chiner.....ill make me own.

[Mr Whippy]

Chiner labour is relatively cheap though.

The quality is still a function outside of where it is made

But I tend to agree generally with your sentiment. But at the same time I don't believe an intercooler can cost so much to make. I'd prefer to pay a skilled Chiner man £10 an hour labour and give him a decent living, than a skilled Brit £40 an hour, to then pay A Darling for illegal wars and dole scum, in order to give him a decent living.



Dave

[peterperkins]

http://www.walkers-garage.co.uk/radiators.htm

They have made me up some stuff, not cheap but top quality alloy welding and product. Been doing it for years and quite well known.

[BB-Q]

I used an Ebay intercooler with a 24"x18"x3" core in my Volvo 945. I also had the condensor in front of it. After a good caning at 20psi boost pressure the cold side was just that- cold.

I'm so impressed with it that's it's going in the next car I'm building. Virtually anything universal from Ebay will seriously outflow stock stuff, so don't worry too much. By the way- it's much cheaper to get pipes bent up in stainless and join them with straight joiners than to buy silicon elbows.

Pic of aforementioned intercooler. £175, BTW. Please excuse the ugly fr holding it:

Edited by BB-Q on Wednesday 19th December 22:33

[Psimpson7]

Ive used Radtec for a few things and they are absoloutely top notch.

Pete

[Deltaf01]

Psimpson7 said:

Ive used Radtec for a few things and they are absoloutely top notch.

Pete

Yep radtec supplied both my cores.