Capri Intercoolers install
Sept 18, 2000
(Under Construction)
Click on the pictures for a larger view
Some basics: Intercoolers basic purpose is to cool the air coming from the turbochargers. As air is compressed it heats up and also absorbs some of the hot exhaust heat. This heat will result in detonation if the temps got too high. remember, the cooler denser air gives much more power.
This shows the intecooler layout in the fox bodied car. Note that this may even fit the '87 - '93 nose if the headlamps can be avoided. In the '83 capri the inner headlamps had to go. I made block off plates from aluminum sheet stock and plan on getting the dragster headlamp stickers so it doesn't stick out so much. In this picture you can see the turbo to intercooler plumbing which pretty well used up all my old lower radiator hoses and a piece of 1.5" 90 degree EMT fitting. It sounds bad, but the turbo outlets are 1 5/8" ID and I maintained that size to the intercoolers. What it does is keep the volume down that the turbos have to fill before they go positive boost.
If you've ever pulled your grill out of you Capri you'll know how much of the bumper reinforcement I had to cut away. Lets just say I filled two 5 gallon buckets with fiberglass and plastic. The hood latch had to go away too as did part of the radiator support. All that was done so I could get the intercoolers up as high as possible so the would get all the air from the grill opening. The intercoolers are bolted together in the center and bolted to a 20" piece of 1" aluminum angle I cut the rest of the old intercooler mounts away. The aluminum support is bolted to the radiator support. As you can see the intercoolers need modified too. They usually set horizontally above the 2.3l thunderbird motor. The welded aluminum discs cover where the old inlets were and I had to weld on some 1 3/4" aluminum tubing for new inlets
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Well, this is what it ends up looking like without the covers. You can see the feeds from the headlamps and the 2" inlet pipe from the drivers side turbo that becomes 3" and then gets a 2" feed from the passenger side intercooler before turning up into the passenger side fender. The rubber hose was sourced from a old school bus radiator hose (don't ask why, it just fit). You can see the blury image of the carb hat above the strut tower brace. That's where the air ends up. I still have yet to rebolt the cover back to the lower radiator support so it looks bad in the picture.
This picture is interesting. It shows the air cleaner I used on the 650 VS holley I ran to break in the engine. You can see the oil feed lines to the turbos, the three yellow connectors go to the Taurus electric fan I used. Notice the Granada radiator and custom aluminum shields I made to forcer the air into the radiator. It's hard to see, but there are covers over the intercoolers and headlights. Also notive the hood pins and serpentine belt routing. You may notice how close the strut tower brace is to the spark plug wires too. Like I said, it's a tight fit.
I used a carb hat off a early '80's Buick regal T-type it worked great and aimed at the passenger side fender perfectly to line up with the 3" pvc. I scrounged around the local junk yards to get the high temp hose for the turbo plumbing. It looks down and dirty and it is. Once I get some quality exhaust wrap it'll lokk 100% better. Also note that the ugly coil is gone as is the 650 vacuum secondary carb. This was from the first day it was boosted.
Stay tuned
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