Intercooler w/ wide radiator

pelky350

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Can I make a intercooler system while still keeping my extra wide non ac radiator in my 88 f350 and what intercooler would work best for it?
 

laserjock

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The short answer is yes. The one that comes to mind is the Moose Truck. @Agnem
 

pelky350

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I'm also wondering what size pipe and cooler I should go with I was looking on eBay but having trouble deciding bar and plate or tube and fin. And searching for a intake hat as well seems to be another speed bumb in this all while wondering if installing a intercooler is gonna make more power to be worth it because I'm not currently running into problems with egts surprisingly with the larger pump and injectors haven't even gone up to or past 1250 yet I'm sure I could if I tried lugging up a hill or something lol
 

jaluhn83

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Use a air to water setup. More bits, but easier to route.

I would want an intercooler for anything over about 10 psi. Just because the egts aren't high doesn't mean it's not sub optimal.
 

pelky350

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Yeah it's running somewhere just over 15 psi about my guage only goes to 15 I was debating the air/water cooler system but like you mentioned there's a lot more parts included with air water with easier routing, or less parts with air to air but requires a lot more modification in the front, also the only thing holding me back is locating a intake hat from a 093 or stock style turbo to run the pipe into the intake, depending on the price I can find one for I might just end up getting a intake manifold from r and d, building on a budget right now lol
 

FordGuy100

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IIRC First gen cummins radiators fit around the wide radiators. Maybe I'm completely wrong though LOL
 

Agnem

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Sadly, the write up I did on this project is all gone. What I remember is that I used an intercooler from CXR Racing on ebay, one that was designed for a high performance 5.0L Mustang. I used two pipes from a Hypermax intercooler kit and the intake hat, then connected the pipes to the intercooler with my own odds and ends sourced from various places on the internet. You do have to route your pipes under the core support, but if you have a 2" body lift, you won't see them.
 

pelky350

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I don't have a body lift but I do have a larger than stock warn winch bumper that may give me extra room in that area to fit pipes? Is the body lift needed to fit pipes below the core support?
 

Agnem

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No, the body lift is just makes it pretty. Your warn bumper may work, but at the end of the day with a 300 degree drop in EGT's, you won't care how it looks!
 

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I am planning on doing an a2w setup, with a reservoir for cooling it down further. As I see it:

A2w pros:
Easier routing two small hoses than it is two large pipes
Can actively cool the air even idling if you add fans
If you add a reservoir you could throw in some ice/etc before towing up a mountain pass or something where every bit counts.

Cons:
Requires a pump wired to ignition on. It's extremely easy but still a con compared to a2a.

Side note is heat soak, which doesn't really happen badly (or ever if you add a fan) unless you set it up wrong. I plan on mounting my a2w radiator in front of the main radiator, the rad fans can cool it for me.



A2a pros
It's all automated in design, go down the road and air will cool it, the turbo pushes it through the piping et cetera.

Cons
Big pipes in the way, routing the pipes, etc.


I have a few good 12v pumps, radiators sized appropriately. You could probably do it all under 200, heater cores work for a cheap rad. Only thing I need is the a2w exhanger and they are fairly cheap. And I might want a new intake setup if I don't use my intake snail. If I go that route I'll probably add a methanol injection kit for fun
 

pelky350

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I'm getting ready to buy the intercooler and piping here soon got in contact with typ4 to build me a hat, anyone have a idea what size pipe and cooler I should buy? I'm going the eBay route to keep cost down I was thinking either 2.5 or 3 inch piping, and between the 31x12x3 cooler or the 28x7x2.5 kits. I'm running the ats 088 turbo now with max psi of 18-19psi now but I don't build boostlike right off the bat so I don't know if the bigger one is gonna hurt performance any or not and totally kill my low end torque? Any suggestions on best option or expierience with eBay intercooler kits? Also have 90cc pump and stage1 injectors on now so have plenty of fuel to consume hoping some cooler air with help burn this fuel lol
 

laserjock

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You need an intercooler that will flow 750-850 cfm with minimal pressure drop. The popular eBay IC on here I believe is CX racing PN IC22 or ic 022. Can't remember which. It's a universal 3" core and they actually have flow data for it. For pipe, I did a good bit of research and 2.25 is likely adequate with 2.5 being overkill for a stock turbo. Really no reason to go 3". It's just harder to route. With the wide radiator, you will have enough trouble with piping. The pictures may be gone but I think Mel used that IC on the moose truck and it's a wide radiator.
 

pelky350

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I couldn't find the part number for the cx racing cooler but it looks to come in two sizes and styles which would be best 31x12x3 or 28x7x2.5 and bar and play or tube and fin? I'm going with 2.5 tubing size I believ maybe 2.25 depends on which kit comes with a better amount of parts for my truck
 

laserjock

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pelky350

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How does it performe? Was the turbo lag increased a bunch? do you have pictures of how you installed the cooler in the front or a vauge description of how you did?
 

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