Fitting an intercooler to an RA23/28

[timbosaurus]

I know this is a pretty easy task for those who enjoy a little bit of fabrication. But for those without much experience, here's a step-by-step guide for just one (simple) way to mount up an intercooler in no more than a few hours.

I wanted to ensure that the GT grill and filler panels still fit without modification, yet mount the cooler as far forward as possible to give me the best chance of fitting a condensor later on if desired.

Parts you will need.

- 1m of 40mmx40mmx3 or 4mm aluminum right angle (i got it from bunnings for about $10)
- 2 x M10 bolts about 15mm long (to bolt into the weldnuts on the car)
- 4 x M8 bolts about 10mm long (to bolt into the intercooler)
- 4 x M6 nut/bolt pairs (to bolt the little intercooler brackets to the big one)
- can of matt black spray paint
- justjap/cooling pro style 450x300x50 intercooler (edit - actually 450x300x76...)

Tools you will need.

- 14mm socket
- 12mm socket
- 10mm socket and ring spanner
- phillips screwdriver
- tape measure
- felt tip marker
- drill press (battery drill will do)
- 6, 8, and 10mm drill bits
- cutoff machine/hacksaw for cutting aluminium
- file/grinder/linisher to tidy up the edges

To remove the bumper, undo the four 14mm bolts inside the engine bay that hold the bumper brackets to the chassis rails, preferably while having someone hold the bar so that it doesn't move around and scratch your paint.

Unclip the two indicator wires, then the whole bar (including brackets) should slide right out.

The grille and centre filler panel are all held in by phillips head screws, and the vertical support uses screws and 10mm bolts. I'm sure you can work out how to get them off.

You will then be left with this.



You can see the two weldnuts, one at either end of the chassis tie rail, and these are what we are going to use to fasten our intercooler. I know some celicas have these, and some dont. I don't know why, so let's just hope yours does, otherwise you will have to use self tappers

On each end of the tie bar, there is a bit of a flange. The ends of the alumium right angle main support will sit just inside those flanges, so measure the distance between them. Mine was about 84cm.

Cut the angle to length and sit it in to make sure it fits. I cut mine at a 45 degree angle, just because I thought it would look neater. It doesn't really matter though.

Once you have that main support cut to length, you need to drill two holes thorugh it so that you can bolt it to the tie rail. You could measure all the distances, but I found it accurate enough just to line it up and mark it with a pen.





A lot of guys mount the angle around the other way(pointing forward), and bolt the intercooler directly to it. This is a bit simpler, and I don't see any real problems with it, but this way the large support actually sits on the tie rail and your not relying so much on the shear strength of the bolts... more of a problem if you don't have the weldnuts in your tie rail, and you are using screws.

Once you have the holes marked drill them with the 10mm bit...



Then tidy up all the edges so that it's neat and you don't cut yourself



Once that's done... bolt it in to make sure it fits.



The next thing is to cut off two more bits of the remaining aluminum angle... approximately 40mm long. These are going to be the smaller support brackets.

Once you've cut them, and neatened them up, they need to be drilled and attached to the intercooler. Once you sit the intercooler in place, you can measure up how far out to drill the holes in the little supports. Here you can see I had to drill the hole out about 20mm.



While you are drilling them with the 8mm drill, put two 6mm holes on the other face of the angle. I used 2 x M6 nut/bolt pairs per side... I prefer to use 2 smaller bolts than one big one, as it removes one degree of freedom.

Do that to both smaller brackets, bolt them to the intercooler, then put the whole setup in place It is starting to come together.



You need to mark where to drill the holes on the large support... just make sure that the cooler is dead centre when you do this. I also put a mark where I needed to cut off the bottom of the smaller bracket, so that it lines up with the main support.



Once the position is marked, remove the large support and drill the holes. Pretty much all the work is finished for the bottom mounts.

We'll finish it off next post!

Cheers,
Timbo

[timbosaurus]

Now, some things are meant to be bling, and some things are not.

Personally, I think brackets are in the latter.

So even though they are made of nice shiney aluminium, We'll give them a quick spray of matt black while they are out.



Bolt all the bits on while it is out of the car (much easier). You can also see that I trimmed the bottom of the small brackets so that they don't stick out below the main support.



Bolt it all into place, and you will notice that it is actually bloody strong just with the bottom brackets! Some guys would probably even leave it like this!



I'm a little unsure as to what I'll be doing with the radiator support panel when I get the excel radiator, and didn't want to waste my time and materials doing something that will not work later on. So the top mount is very temporary... but gives you and idea of what you need to do with a bit of spare strap/angle.



Then you can put all the bits back on and marvel at your new shiny cooler







This is certainly not the only way to do it, but is a pretty straightforward way.

I do not have my silicon hoses yet, and will wait until I get them before a cut holes to route them into the bay. I'll update with some pics when that happens

Let me know if you have any suggestions to add, or if you do decide to give it a go yourself after reading this.

Cheers,
Timbo

[Slim]

Fark that's a bit easier than for a Cressida. Looks like you've got all the room in the world there. Good work though.

[RAd28]

Stay tuned for "how to plumb up an intercooler in an RA28...", That should be the interesting one... We managed to get the intercooler setup in my RA28 but the bastard job was plumbing... by the looks of things your gonna have to throw your front bumper mounts in the bin, there's simply no way you'll be able use the oem mounts AND run plumbing...

[timbosaurus]

your gonna have to throw your front bumper mounts in the bin, there's simply no way you'll be able use the oem mounts AND run plumbing...

You just wait

Next installment will show you how

Slim, whilst there is a bit of room once you take all the bits off, the marvellous part is how the cooler fits like it was made for that spot.

I will be using 90 degree silicon reducer bends (should have got a cooler with 2 1/2" in/outlets, not 3"), through holes that I will have to cut in the headlight panel.

[river]

Hi,

Nice write up and well explained, but where does the air-con condenser go?

seeyuzz
river

[wilbo666]

Wow time to get a 23/28...easiest fitting ever!

Cheers
Wilbo

[RAd28]

If i ever get my arse into gear i'll grab a snap shot of what my cooler setup looked like, it fitted so snug, was about 10mm from each of the head lights.. but i couldn't get the grill... jealous of your fitment in that respect... i'm gonna be re-visiting the mounting to try and take that into account this time around...

[timbosaurus]

Hi River,

I mounted the cooler as far forward as I could, to allow for a condensor between the cooler and the radiator.

You can see that there is an inch or two between them, but I dont think the original condensor will fit. I think the main problem I saw was that that the piping to the condensor will interfere with the intercooler piping... so a custom condensor using the same size core, might be OK.

I was originally looking at fitting the aircon with the 1G, but it looks like the compressor will interfere with the cooling fans anyways, so that's been shelved for now.

Cheers,
Timbo

[TheToyman75]

Nice work on the write up Timbo its about time someone did it.

Mine is very similar actually I just turned the Alloy angle the other way round Here it is before being profiled to suit.


Top mount is also just alloy angle


You can see that all I did was slide the angle up inside of the existing radiator support panel. The pipework was beyond me so I had Linden at Roadrunner do mine. I decided to have the pipework that goes through the radiator support panel as part of the intercooler. That way I kept the access holes small and its no big drama removing the front bar to get the intercooler off. You can also see the finished lower intercooler bracket in this pic.



You can see I reduced the thickness of the front bumper bracket bolt and removed the top lip off the bracket itself to make the pipework fit rather than cut away to much of the car.



Good luck with the pipework.

Check my members rides thread for pics of the excel radiator install if you want any idea's, its just as easy.

[RAd28]

Nice plumbing there Rod looks really tidy... my cooler was significantly bigger, so the inlets were much closer to the bumper brackets therefore they got the chop...

[TheToyman75]

Rad,

The last RA28 1g conversion I did got a much bigger intercooler with a custom core and tanks, while the grill still fit I had to chop the mounting brackets up and I just wasn't happy with it. And lets face it, its only a 2lt engine so it was a tad overkill.



I am happier with every aspect of the result on the Silver RA28 I have now.

[GT1978]

Wow nice job guys. Has the removal of the vertical support brace caused any extra rattles in the grill or the lower valance? And if so have you considered how you might brace them?

Glen

[RAd28]

This pic is the best one i've got of my old turbo setup... as you can see i haven't got the light surround on the RHS, so you can't see how close it fits. But the pic shows you 2 very different intercooler setups... that Kirks car on the left, cooler pipes looked mean as in the rear view mirror...

I never noticed any troubles with the centre brace gone.. and i didn't do anyting to make up for it's absence.

[TheToyman75]

Wow nice job guys. Has the removal of the vertical support brace caused any extra rattles in the grill or the lower valance? And if so have you considered how you might brace them?

Glen

Glen,

The only thing I have noticed is that the front apron moves around a little bit. No other dramas at all.