Ecotec replacement aftercooler and reservoir

[silver]

Intercooler has been recieved, It does have a breather vent bung on the very top / bottom depending on which way you would mount it, so SCORE, I won't need to do any T in my system at the intercooler.

It was very well packaged, but, even still the hanger was bent....I'm sure a Hammer and flat surface will flaten it back out, no biggie.

Intercooler for $120 shipped......score score score....now to see if it will fit haha...

[s996]

With these new aftercoolers what kind of results are you predicting?
Do you think is would improve the stock sc?

What kind of temperature differences are to be expected with the new radiators? and how does this relate to "usable" power?

thanks ahead, im just itching to upgrade something!

[DarthChicken]

I'm guessing.. and its an educated guess because I do have a better radiator on my car... that you will see IAT2 temps reducing about 40 degrees.  Which equates to about 2 degrees of advance, which equates to somewhere between 10 and 20hp.

[silver]

I'm pretty sure the stock intercooler provided 0 reduction in IAT2's as I would get up to 168 (in texas summer heat) while holding steady at 60mph in 4th year.

I have absolutely no clue what it will reduce the IAT2's to and I don't have the gauge to check after either (and it's not summer anymore)

I can tell you that my IAT2 going up to 168 caused my WHP to go below 200.....if that's a clue for you.

[DarthChicken]

I think more importantly, is that the reduction will allow the use of a smaller pulley.  You really can get to 300bhp with better cooling and a 2.8" pulley.  Imagine having another 25% more power.. that's what this unlocks for you.

[silver]

haha I have the 2.8" pulley so I'm agreeing with Darth.....my 168IAT2's makes a 2.8" pulley give you under 200whp whereas if your ECU was able to give it all the timing needed you might do 255whp or more depending on the dyno.

Eddie's running the 2.8" pulley with meth injection doing 255whp fully tuned with 12-15 hours dyno time...............to give you an idea, but he's using the meth injection to bring down IAT2's rather then a different intercooler.

[s996]

sounds like its time to start swapping.

how about location.  is this area the only good option or the easiest.  what about a swap of positions with the front water radiator to the middle location and place the aftercooler in the main air stream?

[DarthChicken]

I have a smaller radiator in front of the main one.. same as Positron, who pioneered this.  I'm still curious about Max's intercooler position, as the main radiator puts off some SERIOUS heat, and it might flow right into his new setup.  We'll see.

[silver]

I have similar concerns to darth on the placement BUT, there's a lot of room under there for me to place a scoop to push the hot radiator air out of the way AND mount a fan to push more cool air through the new radiator........................that's the plan if this doesn't cool them down enough.............of course the harrop swap which is now part of my plan will reduce the IAT2's another 30 degrees or so.

[Heywood-Yablowme]

Yea,that stock oil cooler setup that brammo used as an aftercooler is about worthless.(especially when it is 1/2 empty.. )  No wonder the cars struggled to get the power people expected. Shame on them for using that cooler in such a fashon.Hell,they even welded brackets to the frame specifically to use it!

My car never felt lacking for power...but there is always room for MORE!  >:D   My aftercooler system filled fine today and my tune should be here next week.Not that I can drive the car,unless I trailer it to Florida..  

Am Now working on the meth/water injection setup.I am going to inject after the throttle plate,through the unused evap port.It is perfectly situated for this purpose. I am mounting the tank and pump just in front of the passenger footrest. Lots of wasted space there..

According to my friend who is a thermodynamic engineer ( ) as long as the second radiator has an adequate air gap betweeen the primary radiator (12 inches+)so as not to allow convected heat transfer, and there is sufficient air flow at the rear mounting position (it is unobstructed from all sides, and there will be a kicker/spoiler underneath directing air flow upward) it should work quite well.
Air passing through a radiator slows down significantly and dramatically,and on exiting disperses easily in an air stream. This can be demonstrated by blowing compressed air at the face of a radiator and placing you hand on the back side.You will barely feel the flow of air on the outlet side.. Try it.  He was the one that suggested the position, as I thought the same thing...all the hot air off the main radiator will go into the aftercooler unit...but he said no.   We shall see...

[silver]

[quote="s996"]
sounds like its time to start swapping.

how about location.  is this area the only good option or the easiest.  what about a swap of positions with the front water radiator to the middle location and place the aftercooler in the main air stream?
[/quote]

there are 3 options so far that have been attempted.....Darth and Positron found a kart radiator that fits in front of the regular radiator...it's no longer being produced and I've looked around a lot and couldn't ever find one...this would probably be one of the best and cheapest solutions.

then there's Tom's solution....intercooler located in the hoop which requires a new air intake also ...Cost is a huge factor here at over $2000 for both, it's not cheap but extremely good build quality so if you want stealth and quality and performance this is it.

Then there's Mad's solution (which I'm simply copying) untested in real-world application as of yet.  Cheap, should work well considering you're now using a real intercooler and not an oil cooler, it's at least 2 times the size and can be mounted vertically so hopefully if it's in the wind  and not heatsoaked from the front radiator....we should be golden.

[silver]

[quote="MadMaxAtom and company"]
Yea,that stock oil cooler setup that brammo used as an aftercooler is about worthless.(especially when it is 1/2 empty.. )  No wonder the cars struggled to get the power people expected. Shame on them for using that cooler in such a fashon fashon.Hell,they even welded brackets to the frame specifically to use it!

My car never felt lacking for power...but there is always room for MORE!  >:D   My aftercooler system filled fine today and my tune should be here next week.Not that I can drive the car,unless I trailer it to Florida..  

Am Now working on the meth/water injection setup.I am going to inject after the throttle plate,through the unused evap port.It is perfectly situated for this purpose. I am mounting the tank and pump just in front of the passenger footrest. Lots of wasted space there..

According to my friend who is a thermodynamic engineer ( ) as long as the second radiator has an adequate air gap betweeen the primary radiator (12 inches+)so as not to allow convected heat transfer, and there is sufficient air flow at the rear mounting position (it is unobstructed from all sides, and there will be a kicker/spoiler underneath directing air flow upward) it should work quite well.
Air passing through a radiator slows down significantly and dramatically,and on exiting disperses easily in an air stream. This can be demonstrated by blowing compressed air at the face of a radiator and placing you hand on the back side.You will barely feel the flow of air on the outlet side.. Try it.  He was the one that suggested the position, as I thought the same thing...all the hot air off the main radiator will go into the aftercooler unit...but he said no.   We shall see...
[/quote]

haha finally someone's copying me on the placement of the pump   as I mentioned my resivoir for the water / meth fits neatly in the cubby hole and if you wanted to get real crazy you could just fiberglass the top of the cubby hole and use the actual cubby hole as the resevoir.....just saying

MAD quick question....my particular atom has the fan sucking hot air off the front rad whereas the UK models have it pushing air...I'm sure we could remount the fan on the front to push into the radiator are you going to do that? or is your fan already mounted on the front.....this is where my concern was so maybe an additional answer is to move my fan to the front.

[Heywood-Yablowme]

I don't see air flow through the front radiator as a source of trouble unless you do lots of stop and go driving. It is true that fans push better than they suck,however,I don't think the Ecotec Atoms are running hot,even modded. I'm not sure how Boluses is set up,and he has about the most hp of an Ecotec Atom that I am aware of,but he has not mentioned an overheating issue.

I'm mounting my pump and tank in front of the footrest. That way,the nose can come off without unhooking anything extra. I also have to build a bulkhead around the tank and pump due to regulations up this way (club and track rules) that consider the tank a fuel tank(!) if it has ANY alcohol in the tank. Rediculous...but I didn't make the rules...

[silver]

I see...the way my tank is mounted, (if it's empty) just pull the red tube and that's all.....if it's full....drain it.

but I see your point.

You will also need the anti-siphon valve...if you don't do this it WILL pour water in your throttle body without being ON....the snow system has NO shut off valves stock it's gravity fed, maybe if your bottle's low enough it would work but when my bottle is full it would siphon into the air intake until I installed the valve.

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="silver"]
MAD quick question....my particular atom has the fan sucking hot air off the front rad whereas the UK models have it pushing air...I'm sure we could remount the fan on the front to push into the radiator are you going to do that? or is your fan already mounted on the front.....this is where my concern was so maybe an additional answer is to move my fan to the front.[/quote]

Early Brammo cars have the radiator in front. This was a real pain for me as I had to take a cutting wheel to the last Brammo CF nose ever made to get it to fit, since my Atom has a very different geometry up there.