using a used intercooler
 

I'm looking to intercool my 84' turbo, however I'm not sure what dimensions it should be in order to be efficient. I'm also looking to use one from another vehicle if I can find a good one, but I dont know what vehicles have good intercoolers for our cars. I've heard supra intercoolers are good, but what year supra? also I heard some model volvo intercooler works well. what about a intercooler from a 90's eclipse or talon? those are easy to find. I plan to fab the piping myself.

any suggestions are appreciated thnks.
I'm only planning to run maybe 15lbs boost probly a little less since I havent done much to the car other than intake and BOV, and manual controller.

Sounds to me like you need to upgrade a few other things first...
Like exhaust?
Be careful with higher boost levels, too.

its on my to-do list. haven't decided on that yet either, i was thinking 3" no cat, havent decided on a muffler yet. how loud are these cars without a muffler?

I figured it'd be safe to run 13 maybe 14 psi without doing the injectors, what else should I do to it before I turn the boost up that high? i figure i need a bigger throttle body, and headers/downpipe, but are those necessary BEFORE i adjust the boost? or would it just affect the amount of power i'd get out of the car.

Well, first off, I think the intercooler is a bit pricey and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't make a difference yet. Not that it's a bad idea, though. No idea on size; see if you can read some general stuff on them, might help.

You can run up to about 15 psi with the stock turbo before it starts producing more heat than power, from what I've heard. Not really sure if the throttle body would help things, but that also seems to be a rare mod that people do later on.

I've actually been trying to find out if anyone has run without a muffler since the turbo quiets the exhaust. I'm thinking of pulling mine off just to see how it sounds : P If I do, I'll let ya know.

About the boost and exhaust, I keep my boost under 10 psi for normal driving. It's safer, and since I don't have a lot of mods, I might as well be careful. Don't want any costly mistakes :) I'd reccommend getting the downpipe and 3 inch exhaust first, then get a reliable boost gauge installed (if you haven't already), and an air to fuel ratio gauge before you mess with boost too much. Boost is fun, but if you don't have a way of keeping track of how the engine is doing, it can be desctructive. Remember, if the engine starts pinging, slow down and lower the boost!

let me know how it goes, i want to find a used intercooler so it'll be cheaper, but yeah, it can get pricey.

I already have a boost gauge, autometer, i dont have a air/fuel ratio though.

thx for your suggestions. was it u that wrote a post about using a 3" galvanized pipe from home depot? I might try that. especially if its not too loud muffler-less. anyway you could post some pictures of what it looks like under the car?

That was "Velox ZX", posting on my thread :P

https://www.zdriver.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13290

I actually just talked to a guy that sells exhaust for compact cars, and he reccommended that I find a local shop to mandrel bend a 3 inch exhaust for my car. It'd be more expensive than just one straight pipe, but it'd fit better. Just a suggestion.

thats right i remember now. I remember I saw on some tv show, on speed network i think might have been horsepower tv i dont know, but you can also do bends yourself with a torch and some elbow grease. The guy pointed out that you could remove your old exhaust and bend a new pipe yourself to match.

thanks for your help though

3in exhaust
 

I just had 3in exhaust from downpipe out added to my 86 turbo. No cat and no muffler. It sounded ok until I shifted so I thought of adding a muffler. Instead I added a tip and it baffled the sound when shifting enough that it sounds good. It cost $120 to have done at local shop. Just my two cents on 3 in exhaust. I like it.

read this first:
http://z31.com/tfaq/

I just picked up an intercooler off a Mitsubishi Starion; I haven't installed it yet but I kmow it will fit because the previous owner had it spliced into his 86 Turbo. Apparently all he took out was the A/C system and mounted it behind the engine fan. Here's a couple of pics.

http://img277.echo.cx/img277/9881/inth9hm.jpg

http://img277.echo.cx/img277/3416/intv4ee.jpg

So that's probably near the size range you're looking for... 24x12x3 or something like that.

BTW, I've heard if you go for a Supra Intercooler, go for the MKIV (93 and up), the older ones suck.

Read: http://z31.com/tfaq/

thats exaclty the same intercooler i have.... got it cheap how much you pay for it...

hey ravin take that back dough 'bout the electric fan dont do it isnt worth it... what i reccomend you to do a flush in your radiator and engine cooling system, change the hoses in my case the interior of those hoses were rusty as f...! so that kind of blocked the c/s get a new belt for the water pump and alternator get a new radiator cap and some coolant... that should do it... my car's running cooler now (that's better you know more gas...) i dont have a thermostat so that makes it run cooler the only thing is now with the piping for the intercooler...kind of tight job...