non-mandrel intercooler pipes

[rollsy]

hi guys,
well im in the process of putting a 1ggte into my hilux. and Iam running out of money..
so i was wondering if it would be possible to not put madrel bends in my intercooler piping.. because i need 8 bends at 90 degrees.. so im going to be looking at around 200 bucks just for bends!!
so would it make a huge difference? i think the piping is only 2inch..
this would only be for a few months until i could afford to do it properly..
thanks in advance..
rollsy.
p.s
it is a 4wd so im not chasing every last kw at this stage!

[Roundy]

it can certainly be done, maybe just go 1/4" bigger to regain some of the lost flow from the press bends

[TurboRA28]

I concur with Roundy, if you cannot afford mandrel bends then go a bit oversized.

But mandrel bend FTW!
Have you tried truckline? They have cheap mandrel bends.

[kingmick]

have you tried the plumbing suppliers? PVC FTW!hahahahaha

At worst you could get thin walled steel mandrel bends for cheap!

What ever you do, if your not going to be happy with it in the future, save a bit more and do it right now!!

[MS-75]

Rollsy-although mick mentioned it in jest, PVC is an option post intercooler. I used PVC post cooler for quite some time just to see if it worked. Car spun up 300kw and 11.04 1/4mile time like that.

The main thing to remember with PVC is to avoid getting it hot. Stick to steel off the turbo and and anywhere near the hot side of the motor, but post I/C should be fine.

Considering you aren't chasing bulk HP, the boost level-and therefore heat-is likely to be acceptable.

One thing I would consider though is trying to reduce the # of bends in the system to drop the resistance of the piping-the more bends, the higher the resistance.

Have fun mate

Sean

[Mr Ed]

Lobster back FTW??

[MS-75]

As long as you keep the lobsterback angle under a certain value (which I can't recall right now of course) there are no losses over a mandrel bend.

As long as you have a good drop saw lobster back is easy and cheap-and sometimes better than a mandrel bed anyway as you can change the plane of the bend as you go.

[Mr Ed]

Something around maximum 15° per segment seems to ring a bell.

[Nark]

What ever you do, if your not going to be happy with it in the future, save a bit more and do it right now!!

QFT.

If it's only going to be a few months, why not wait and do it properly in the first place?

[rollsy]

thanks for all the replies guys!!
managed to find 8 bends for 105 bucks.. so ill go with mandrel now i think!!
thanks again..
cheers
rollsy