4agte intercooler piping - price and advice

[l1ttle_d3vil]

may as well keep this all in the same topic...

2 questions:

* does the intercooler piping need flares or anything at the joins [like waterlines]? or do you just use decent joiners and clamps?

* would heavy duty radiator hose and good clamps be suitable for joining the piping up [as opposed to the silicon joiners off TM)? i know its probably not the best idea, but i have heard different opinions on it - some say its fine and some say its not.

if it matters it will only be for a street driven 4agte application, not a drag car running 30psi

cheers.

[flygt4]

i was ok up to about 15psi then pipes started popping off, also has a lot to do with power, and the engine twisting. the more power i made the more the engine twisted. the more pipes popped off.

flares are so cheap and easy its just easier to do it than not.

i slipped a rangi'ed up joiner off during a track day, and blew my turbo. do you want this to happen to you? buy a proper joiner, even a cheap silicon one is better.

i think its even more important to have a reliable street driven setup than a drag/track car. you dont have access to a trailer all the time for a street car.

[Stu-]

You can also weld dots around the pipe for the clamps to pull the silicon joiners down on, or weld some filler rod to the edge of the pipe as a flare.

[Crucible]

I use heavy bolt clamps with no flares on my piping and havent had issues yet.

cant see any reason why you cant use radiator hose, some stock intercooler piping on diesel turbos seem to use the same type of black hose Ive noticed.

[92mr2paddy]

as long as the 'black' standard hose is reinforced then there should be no problem with using it on an ic setup. but then again silicon joiners arent priced like gold nowadays anyway, i recommend that you use t-bolt clamps all round, they never pop off and you cant break them!!

like flygt4 said,, its better to have a street car more reliable than it needs to be.

[l1ttle_d3vil]

flares are so cheap and easy its just easier to do it than not.

whast the most reliable way to do it then? as above or is there a better way? this will be alloy pipe, not mild steel. does it make a difference? would flaring it like you do with exhausts work? only ever flared small fuel lines before so this is all new to me

i think its even more important to have a reliable street driven setup than a drag/track car. you dont have access to a trailer all the time for a street car.

very true, never thought about it from that point. no hurry to get it on the road so may as well do it properly rather than save a few $$!

[flygt4]

they dont actualy flare it. a good exhaust shop should have a tool for putting a bead round the end of the pipe. they just roll it around and it makes sort of a raised edge. not too sure which metals they can use it on tho. definately ok for mild steel, i think alloy is softer(it is to drill into anyway) so i would expect it would work on that too.

the other trick is to have a small lump of weld onto the outside to make a raised edge.

you'll find in a front wheel drive the engine will twist backwards under load and if you dont have solid mounts or really good condition mounts it will probly sometimes pull the turbo loose out of the first joiner without a bead/lip
also with a small engine you want all the spool you can get, and having an absolutely sealed piping system helps a lot.

the proper full stainless t bolt clamps are the way to go too, as they evenly apply pressure right around the join. hose clamps and half clamps will either damag the joiners or not secure it all the way around allowing it to open under high pressures.