intercooler pipes

[TrentNell]

has any one made there own intercooler pipes ? i have been thinking it could be done . thinking of 3 - 3.5 " but dont know if its worth the time just looking to move some more air ( egt reduction )will be upgrading the wheel in my s300 to the 66mm soon hopefully and was wondering were else i can gain while i'm at it ?

[bullfrogjohnson]

When I did my turbo I went to 3" piping. The LB7's are already 3" everywhere except half of the driver side piping

[MaxPowerLB7]

Mine is 3 inch from the charger into the engine. I think it has helped a bit. The GT42 builds less boost with more power than my s300 did with the stock tubes and Y bridge.

[TrentNell]

i need to replace the pass. side any way so why not upgrade were did you guys get your tube bent , i see 2 options get an exhaust shop to bend up some tubing with the old ones for samples or get some bends and weld them up. will no mandral bends really slow flow ? would it hurt to go 3.5 " or is there clearence issues . i think the banks tubes are 3.5 in i wish they sold them seperately . whats the y bridge ?

[MaxPowerLB7]

Why do you need to replace the pass. side? The intercooler inlet and outlet are 3 inch so i see no reason to go bigger. You can buy a better drivers side tube but you need to have a A5k or GT42 for it to work.

[Turbo Buick 6]

Needs to be mandrel bends! Just buy some u bends and weld them together

[TrentNell]

Originally Posted by MaxPowerLB7

Why do you need to replace the pass. side? The intercooler inlet and outlet are 3 inch so i see no reason to go bigger. You can buy a better drivers side tube but you need to have a A5k or GT42 for it to work.

when i first did my water meth it was tapped into the intercooler tube now i have the sd manifold ,and had a 1/16 hole on the bottom towards the intercooler i have plugged the holes with plastic pipe thread plugs and they are holding but wasnt going to replace tube cause i was hoping to get a banks intercooler but its to much $ for the only benifit to me is egt reduction while towing hoping a wheel upgrade von the turbo will do the same and add some power too i'm afraid i'm going to blow a plug out or that they are disrupting the flow through the tube cause the 1/8 npt plugs set inside the tube 1/2" in three different spots. probably juist being anal , thanks for the advice guys

[TrentNell]

Originally Posted by Turbo Buick 6

Needs to be mandrel bends! Just buy some u bends and weld them together

i may end up going that route , is there enough length in the factory tube to cut out the step downs and just get different boots.

[codyn]

banks make 3 inch pipes

[Sean8816]

I believe killerbee sells 3in as well.

[Killerbee]

Originally Posted by trentnell

when i first did my water meth it was tapped into the intercooler tube now i have the sd manifold ,and had a 1/16 hole on the bottom towards the intercooler i have plugged the holes with plastic pipe thread plugs and they are holding but wasnt going to replace tube cause i was hoping to get a banks intercooler but its to much $ for the only benifit to me is egt reduction while towing hoping a wheel upgrade von the turbo will do the same and add some power too i'm afraid i'm going to blow a plug out or that they are disrupting the flow through the tube cause the 1/8 npt plugs set inside the tube 1/2" in three different spots. probably juist being anal , thanks for the advice guys

I think you have valid concerns. Plastic is heat sensitive also. I do have a feeling you have some unnecessary restrictions from your changes. If you have a constriction to under 2.5" on the cold side, you should look at that.

BTW, I don't think you will see any benefits from larger CAC tubes, you already have good stuff. The 04 and on is a different matter. The hot side is the only place you will benefit, and then only if you are using an aftermarket turbo.

[MAXLLY]

Killerbee,

I made all my own IC pipes, what happens when you start increasing ID? Can i have the info "6 year old style"?

I had 2.5" +/- on the stock LLY, added banks crud, then in the rebuild got away from stock charger location, in that change i increased the ID to 4". As reference charger sucks on a 5" pipe, compressor side blows in a 4" pipe down to just behind the radiator, then 4" back up to a 4" sheetmetal intake plenum.

I increased the ID, reduced total number of bends by almost 50 %. What benefit should i realize. Please.

[Killerbee]

The more air you want to move, the higher the velocity of it. Making the tube larger decreases velocity, which decreases friction.

But if the configuration already has less than say, 1/2 psi of restriction, there is little good in "fixing" it.

The 2.5" LLY has up to 2.5 psi of friction loss (takes away from boost) on the hot side. That is why it is worth changing to 3". I no longer even sell cold side tubes, because the gain is micro. That is because the CAC slows the air way down.

How was that?

[MAXLLY]

totally got that!!

slower, colder, denser... hotter, faster, less dense.

Of course this is all good to a point and a great big balancing act on several fronts i imagine.

Thanks Man.

I simply wanted to confirm i was headed in the right direction.

[bullfrogjohnson]

Got all my piping from Ebay