Clearing out the A/C fins for more air to the Intercooler...

[TGPilot]

Has anyone done this and had any problems with the A/C not cooling enough? It seems to me that this would be a very easy upgrade to get much more air to the Intercooler by plowing the A/C fins out of the way just in front of the Intercooler...

What do you all think??  8)

[turby]

I think it would work. My a/c needs converted and recharged. I'm tempted to just tear it all out. Then I can squeeze a bigger intercooler in there.

[GPChief]

Why not just get a smaller A/C unit in the front, opening the area for the intercooler.  One from something like a GEO or Chevette.

[Mike J.]

Yes, Jeff M. was the first I heard posting this secret tip which he says does help.  It seems the majority of TGP's reside north of  the central US but us owners in the south have to watch out for HOT  summers/springsandfalls.  I don't think my A/C would cool well if I reduce its condensor size.  Question, has any one ever picked up on what I think was my original idea I posted about wrapping the Pipe going from the I.C. to the throttle body with 2" header wrap to stop the reabsorbsion of heat after it has just been cooled and now runs over the turbo and exhaust manifolds or is the air temp after the I.C. still fairly warm so as to not make a large difference?  Has anyone else done this ?  FYI since I had plenty of this material I wrapped/shielded a few other things also, like coil pacs,exhaust manifolds, t-body.

[Chris A]

Yeah. Had so much material left over after making a turbo shield that we wrapped as much as we could. That pipe going over the turbo, being metal AND being black didn't help much. And there is quite a bit surface area to transfer heat there. Don't have any quatitative comparison numbers for it, but it definitely helped. Just getting a shield back on the turbo dropped temps ALOT!

[TGPilot]

Anybody have a heat blanket in very good to mint condition?? Mine was nasty and when I pulled the motor and tranny it crumbled... 8)

[corvette]

I picked up an aftermarket turbo blanket kit from Summit, went in fairly easily, and came with a roll of wrap that would be for the piping, but didn'tt need, so you gave me an idea where to use it. I'm going to wrap my inlet piping as discussed, can't hurt.

[GPChief]

I wraped both my IC inlet & outlet with header wrap.  I noticed a big diferance in temps, espically once the car was going over 30 / 35 mph.  The best $15.00 I've spent thus far.

[TGPilot]

Hey guys..

The dark side commands you to do this mod!!!!!   :vamp:

Anyway...in this photo you can see the first row of fins pulled.
http://www.netavalanche.com/kenny/intercooler_mod/ek_2_4.jpg

Second photo is both rows if fins pulled. (Look closely and you will see the secondary pusher fan with unadulterated access to the intercooler now!!)
http://www.netavalanche.com/kenny/intercooler_mod/ek_3_5.jpg

Third is the desired tools of extraction!!
http://www.netavalanche.com/kenny/intercooler_mod/ek_4_6.jpg

This job took me about 1.5 hours from start to finish. When I first started I was very gentle with removing the fins. After about 10 minutes of that I realized that a little (I SAY A LITTLE!!) more force could be used. Pace yourself as the end results are worth 4 hours of your time!  I used both mini-needle nose and mini-duck bill plyers to do the work. I used the razor blade to cut the fins that I wanted to leave in place with a clean edge. You can see in the photos that the top 3 or 4 rows of fins are still there. You cannot see in the photos that the bottom 3 or 4 rows are still there also. I felt (my opinion) that I only wanted to remove the fins that were constricting the air going through the intercooler. If you want to remove them all so be it, I don't think it will make much difference at this point.

When pulling the fins I would grab about 1/2" to 3/4" worth of fins...squeeze down on the plyers to crush them, and then twist them out. The condenser tubes run horizontal meaning you will need to grab the fins vertically. If that doesn't make sense just ask I will explain, but I think it will be self explainitory once you start. When reaching for the back row of fins, I just went in at an angle in between the condenser tubes from the engine compartment side and pulled them the same way as the others. Be careful as this would be the time that you might damage the condenser tubes reaching through with the plyers!!!

If any one has any other suggestions on how to pull the fins...by all means speak up...  8)  

Peace!!

[1trucavalier]

my entire a/c in in the trash :D !

[Jeff M]

When I lived in Michigan I did this/removed fins (on a new 1990 TGP) and ran it for 4 years with summer weather on a black car, no problem with AC keeping up or too high a condensor pressure.  Did the same to my next black TGP here in Minnesota with no problems in summer, and summer in both states we can and I have seen high 90's, low 100's, granted you deep southerners show 100+, but we do at least see some summer/hot weather up here in the stone cold states :-).  After I did my black TGP here, ran some air flow tests on it, put a jumper on the fan relay socket to run the front fan (engine on so there is normal volts) and read around 150 cfm, then over 350 cfm with fins removed, it works.  One last thing, that greater amount of air-flow through the intercooler there helps the turbo inlet system (clamp on K&N or) get colder air too!!  Double win!

Jeff M

[turby]

Nice to see you on here Jeff.  :rock:

[Jeff M]

Glad to be around my own kind.  If by chance I get too busy and/or there is nothing here pressing to reply to or stand for, wanted to say before the Fat-Man sings (Ho-Ho that is) Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good flight.

Jeff M
http://www.pinball.com/games/starwars/audio/wavs/jarjar/eatin.wav

[turby]

Merry X-mas to you too Jeff.

Soon it will be Merry x-over for me. Watch for an email, Jeff.

[Mr. Mod Man]

The secondary fan comes on after the coolant reaches 215 degrees right ? If so should a toggle be added?