I'm fabricating the piping out of 304 stainless steel, using my new TIG welder. I also made the brackets to hold the new intercooler. This is my first project with the welder. Next, I'm going to make a 3" stainless steel DP, since we can never seem to get anyone to make them for those of us with the star kits. Anyways, I still need to make the piece that connects the intercooler to the throttle body. As you can see in the pics, I'm going with a different route for the turbo to intercooler so I had to cut away a little bit of sheet metal to get the piping past the radiator for this reason. Let me know what you think. Is the intercooler big enough?

great job but is it just me or does that intercooler pipe like..neck down?..or is it just the angle of the picture?

You can ditch the loop for the power steering "cooler" also. I just cut the hoses on mine and looped it from the outlet back to the inlet. You don't want that nice core to get all fucked up from rubbing.

edit: Why didn't you run the piping from the turbo towards the left and into the left inlet and then out the right side and straight up to the tb.
You could be using WAY less piping.

Steve- yeah it necks from 2" to 2 1/2"

EclipzGST- I liked this route better as it is more out of the way. I was thinking of getting rid of the power steering cooler, but it fits for the most part. I'll probably put some hose over it in a couple spots to protect it and the intercooler from rubbing on one another.

that sucker is huge! none the less it looks good.

what intercooler is that? Is it a hybrid intercooler? I think i might have that exact size one. What size is it?

yeah, it's a Hybrid

Looks good, I routed my turbo to intercooler piping the same way, and yeh... that intercooler is big enough. :thumbsup

would you consider making fmic KITS and selling them?

the star dp group buy wasnt big so youd only need to make half a dozen at most

nice job with the piping, nice welds! in my opinion and for less pressure drop, i would've routed the inlet side of the IC from the turbo behind the radiator to the inlet, it would've been less piping used and less air travel.

Ghettoraid- I probably will not make any IC kits as fitment issues would be hard to guarantee, and also the 304 SS is really expensive for a project this size. After I make my DP and get some more practice with the Tig welder, I would most likely see if anyone wanted to buy a SS DP and/or SS test pipe.

Darkreality- True the piping is longer this way, but it's more out of the way. I did consider the route that you suggested, and it would have been shorter like you said, but It's only marginaly longer this way and only has one extra bend(which is a 45 degree) going this way.

thanks for the props guys.

Man, that welding is clean!:thumbsup But something doesn't look ok to me, did you check the clearance from the bottom of the IC lower bracket to the floor? It looks kind of low to me. It would be painful to hit something and bye-bye FMIC. Other than that the welding looks so clean, Is this your first time welding?

The lowest part on the intercooler bracket is 5.5 inches from the floor. Yeah, it's my first time welding, but I had a friend of mine that knows how to weld show me the ropes, he helped me with the brackets, but all the pipe welds are mine. I bought a really nice Tig welder that takes alot of the variables out of welding. And Tig welding is known for making pretty welds.

Ok.
And yes, your welding looks great! I bought a flux welding machine, it uses no gas, but the welding is not that clean, add to that that is the fisrt time I also weld. My weld is not pretty, but at least the do the work. Post picture of the project finalize!:thumbsup

Thats some nice shit you got there. Since you have a Tig, maybe you should think about making custom intercoolers. All you have to do is get the cores and fab some intanks for them. I'd do it but I only have a Mig now. A Tig is in my future though. Good job man! :thumbsup

Why are you using 304 stainless for piping over aluminum?

Just curious.

Stainless over aluminum for a few reasons, it's less expensive, easier to weld, heat transfer rate is much lower than aluminum which is good for the piping that is after the intercooler IMO. Lastly it's good welding practice before I make my SS downpipe, since ADFX didn't come through on the DP's.