Keith C Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Just thought I'd let you know how I've been getting on after a week of it being fitted. By the way, thanks to all that offered me cheap s/h stock SMICs, but after chatting with Chris I was able to secure one of his uprated ones. All I can say is: *massive* improvement! Was a bit of a bugger to fit, as removing the bumper is a total bastid of a job! Also, a couple of the bolt holes weren't 100% lined up (were about 5mm too low), but nothing that couldn't be and wasn't worked around. I've mentioned this to Chris, and he says he'll check the jig for future ones. Drove down to Dieppe and back at the weekend, including lots of high-speed driving, and the car pulls *seriously* harder than it used to - even in an outside temp of over 30C, I even saw 34C once! It felt at that temp better than it used to at less than 10C in the winter. Sustained *cough*10mph+ driving, and frequent bursts up to over *cough*30mph didn't seem to affect my power level at all, unlike before in which I could quickly lose power on hot days. I'm hoping to get a couple of thermocouples on it at some point in the next few weeks to measure the temp drop over it, and when I do I'll let you have the info. Like I say, it handled the stress-test perfectly, and I'm very happy with it. Best of all is I don't need to tell the insurance company Erm, that's it really - just wanted to say it's worth every penny, and let you know how pleased I am with it. So if you want an uprated IC that you don't need to tell the insurance company about, Chris' one could well be for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrenn Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Hi Keith, That sounds like a very good review! Do you mind sharing what the costs of such a system are, and do all necessary pipework/brackets/clamps etc come included in the kit? (I presume though that it reuses the stock piping...?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 Yeah - it simply reuses all the stock clips, piping, etc - all that you get or need is the IC itself. You can see pics here, although the design has changed *very* slightly since those pics: http://www.formula3.freeserve.co.uk/intercooler/intercooler.html It cost me £528 including vat and postage. I forgot to mention that due to a mysterious and untracable leak in my turbo controller piping I'm running over 1bar of boost, which will be coming out pretty hot from the stock turbos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albundy68 Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 so would this SMIC stand up to reasonable boost from hybrid turbos does anyone think? just out of interest, coz it'd be nice if you could get the sort of power that hybrids/decent intercooler provide with a good chance that you could get away with not putting them on your insurance. ...Not that i'd ever think of not declairing anything on my insurance of course!!! does anyone have anymore info on this SMIC then? or has anyone else had it fitted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Originally posted by albundy68 so would this SMIC stand up to reasonable boost from hybrid turbos does anyone think? just out of interest, coz it'd be nice if you could get the sort of power that hybrids/decent intercooler provide with a good chance that you could get away with not putting them on your insurance. ...Not that i'd ever think of not declairing anything on my insurance of course!!! does anyone have anymore info on this SMIC then? or has anyone else had it fitted? Is your intercooler falling apart, the fins corroded off the tubes? If so, its efficiency will be extremely degraded. Running more boost than stock? Is this a good idea? NO! It's not even a good idea running STOCK boost with an I/C like that, and when the weather struggles above freezing it will be a VERY BAD idea! Don't want to spend over 1400 quid on a new quality front mount intercooler, only to have half of it masked by the aperture in the front stock bumper being too small to allow air through all the core? Even with a new aftermarket bumper that probably fits where it touches, (from what I have seen of most Jap products), the air will just take the easy route AROUND the expensive FMIC, rather than through it, because no ducting provision is made. The answer is my uprated, all aluminium stock mount intercooler. It uses all original mountings, and the original factory sealed ducting. It uses a state of the art core with fine pitched finning, on modern tubes with internal turbulators. The quality of its construction is superb, and all are fully leak tested before despatch. It will have greater efficiency than the stock unit, will withstand higher boost pressures, and is a viable alternative to none ducted aftermarket FMIC that also lose the water radiator ducting as part of their install. Pics of the intercooler are now available at: http://www.formula3.freeserve.co.uk/intercooler/intercooler.zip or http://www.formula3.freeserve.co.uk/intercooler/intercooler.html I currently have one left in stock, more are on order, delivery next 3 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Thanks for the positive response Keith, the hole mountings are being investigated, but the jig APPEARS to match the OE IC dimensions precisely, I will have to check with the makers to see if they had done something odd... Not heard any feedback regarding this on the others that have shiped out, will post the results of my enquiries in due course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 Heh - probably a hidden UK/J-spec difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 CHRIS... as you may/may not have heard (sorry SEEN !) on the 1/4 mile, Elvington threads, I have 'managed' to 'see-off' two Spark Plugs and hence cause unknown damage to; Head-Gasket?, Valves?, Pistons? (poss' even TURBOLISSIMOS:( ) I KNOW a contributing factor was my present/original I/C.... It isn't badly 'eaten-away' like many others, but you can't see much light thru it at all ? ! At Elvington I got gready and opened my 'nice' new Bleeder-Tee and I don't think I can blame the poor car..... it was ~30C PLUS / decatted / ~1.4Bar boost / flat-out for 1 1/2 miles ! ! ! ! I'm having my head seen to (see above statements:sly: ) this week (poss' 2/3 weeks ? ? ) But, soon after it's repaired I WILL require one of your nice shiny I/Cs. How much to BUY ? How much to S&F ? (don't fancy taking bumper off - is it a pain for a 'fitter' ? ?) Yours, the-"Boost-Pig"...FatS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Sorry to hear of the bad news Steve, I hope you get your head sorted soon Did you get a good time though ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Originally posted by Steve W CHRIS... as you may/may not have heard (sorry SEEN !) on the 1/4 mile, Elvington threads, I have 'managed' to 'see-off' two Spark Plugs and hence cause unknown damage to; Head-Gasket?, Valves?, Pistons? (poss' even TURBOLISSIMOS:( ) . I KNOW a contributing factor was my present/original I/C.... It isn't badly 'eaten-away' like many others, but you can't see much light thru it at all ? ! At Elvington I got gready and opened my 'nice' new Bleeder-Tee and I don't think I can blame the poor car..... it was ~30C PLUS / decatted / ~1.4Bar boost / flat-out for 1 1/2 miles ! ! ! ! I'm having my head seen to (see above statements:sly: ) this week (poss' 2/3 weeks ? ? ) But, soon after it's repaired I WILL require one of your nice shiny I/Cs. How much to BUY ? How much to S&F ? Yours, the-"Boost-Pig"...FatS. Ohh dear! Sorry, not seen the thread (yet), my mother has been ill and i haven't been as active in here as normal. Bad news indeed. I see only a small percentage of cars with good I/cs these days, mainly post 95 ones. ~30C and high boost and long periods of WOT NEEDS decent fuel and a decent charge cooler. Preferably WI too. For such outings it PAYS to take some race fuel to mix with SU, or some toluene at least. Could have saved your bacon, but hindsight's a wonderful thing! OK, have one only here at the moment but 3 more are on order to arrive within the month, I hope. 520 to buy, I'd want 120 to fit it, assuming the bumper and Ic fasteners aren't rusted up, and they rarely are. (don't fancy taking bumper off - is it a pain for a 'fitter' ? ?) It's not a hard job, just time consuming Good luck, hope there isn't piston or bore damage. I'd say colder plugs still would have helped, too. I had a friend do a track day with me this week, he runs a 1928 Morgan 3 wheeler on methanol, and at Oulton, again ~30C temps, he had to go 4 grades colder than his normal race plugs to cure det. Shows what ambient temps can do, and the same applies to intake temps through a knackered I/C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 OK Chris, let you know supply OR fit later this week ? [ I had ~1/2 tank Optimax with 1 bottle Millers CVL, and those PFR7 plugs - 1 grade cooler / Platinum.... MELTED the 'tips' and either melted 'arms' or they broke off (I hope 'melted' ! ! but will soon find out when head's off ! !) ] FatS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKEYmark Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 steve if i remember iam sure you can get to it if you take front wheel off and undo arch lining. thats how i remeber getting to the bolts that secure it. you will have to take off the under trays i did not have mine on. its an easy job if you dont mind getting dirty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 .....DIRTY ! ! oh fudge that ! ! CHRIS !..... will probably call you later this week coming ( ) "Cleany-Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terry S Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Steve why were you running platinum plugs???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albundy68 Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 chris, my question was is your SMIC much better than stock, if so do you have any figures on it? my stock SMIC is in A1 condition, as you'd expect on a 97 facelift thats only been in the UK 6 months, the question was more along the lines of, 'is your SMIC designed as a replacement for old SMIC or an alternative for a FMIC?' and if it is do you have any idea how good your SMIC is compaired to some of the popular FMICs? just interested coz i'd like to upgrade intercooler at sum point and if this is an option it'd have the bonus of being a little more insurance friendly which is allways nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Originally posted by albundy68 chris, my question was is your SMIC much better than stock, if so do you have any figures on it? my stock SMIC is in A1 condition, as you'd expect on a 97 facelift thats only been in the UK 6 months, the question was more along the lines of, 'is your SMIC designed as a replacement for old SMIC or an alternative for a FMIC?' and if it is do you have any idea how good your SMIC is compaired to some of the popular FMICs? just interested coz i'd like to upgrade intercooler at sum point and if this is an option it'd have the bonus of being a little more insurance friendly which is allways nice... Have a look at the topics in this link, this has been discussed in some detail -: SMIC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Terry.... went from "6" platinums (std') to BKR7's (normal Copper, "7"'s) then PFR7's - still 1 grade cooler, but back to 'supposedly' more durable Platinums (besides, they're Nissan Sunny GTiR plugs !) I've heard the 'Platinum' rumours, but can't see how Platinum's gonna burn away quicker than COPPER ? ! (...but........) I'll be lookin' for "8"'s but don't want to be splashing £15/16 a plug ! ! I like to change 'em regularly - can't afford that with the HKS/Blitz etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terry S Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Steve take a look on http://www.mkiv.co.nz and see what they have to say about platinums & detonation. Alex will sell you a set of IK ( Iridiums) for about £10ish per plug. These are 8's and exactly the same as HKS S plugs but 50% cheaper. I am running 9's now which seem fine, but at the end of the day I can't see any plug standing up to 1.4 bar at 30 degrees on optimax on a sustained run. I don't go much on most octane boosters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 I didn't GO much on the Booster either do you have any starting/idling/fouling probs with "9"s ? ? if not, may as well go straight to them ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terry S Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 TBH the 9's are much better than expected. The starting & idle is fine, although I haven't tried them in a really cold spell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 So Terry, tell us where you got these Grade 9 plugs? lol Steve, if you are going to fix her up and want some plugs I have 7's and 8's in stock... I can get the 9's to (IK27's) personally I don't see the need for you - you'd be better off putting the extra cash towards CW's FMIC and Water Injection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Cheers Alex.. yeah, may need the 7s or 8s off yer.......... may STILL want 9s though (I know they're probably overkill, but, if there's no down-side......... ?) DON'T want an FMIC - don't really like the look / don't want me rad covered. can't be arsed to fiddle with W/I. I REALLY do like the "Standard" look........... well...... -ish FatS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 I never touched my WI after it was installed....just make sure you don't run out of washerfluid. As for the FMIC...fair enough...still as this is CW's SMIC thread I plug that again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 CHRIS ! ! ! am I the only one here NOT on an 'advertising' commision ? ? ( I bet these likkle bleeders only cost ~£100, and I'm gonna 'sponsor' FIVE others ! ! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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