gedday all,

im in the process of a turbo/intercooler/fueling upgrade on my GC8 wrx and need some help on a new TMIC.

my question is how hard is it to modify a top mount intercooler?
i have a chinese spec bar and plate cooler for a bugeye that doesnt quite fit my car. how hard is it to cut off the bottom end tank, cut like 50mm off the core (to reduce the height of the core) and then weld the tank back on?

i figure i could cut it with a drop saw with a metal cutting disc, then use a small pair of pliers to fix the bent fins where i have just cut. then give it to a shop to weld the tank back on...

in not 100% up to speed on how the coolers are manufactured. are they made to size? or made in like 10meter by 2 meter widths, and then cut up into sections...??

any info/thoughts would be appreciated.

thanks, Steven.

I think the money involved in modifiying a crap china core would be better spent purchasing a better cooler from the start.

As said in many other threads the GD Spec C TMIC is the bomb. Alternatively finding a quality core that fits a GC8 would be 100 times better.

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[COLOR="Gray"]550Nm off a 2L... Just wish it was in the dak dak...[/COLOR]

Yeah, check the for sale thread. STi intercoolers pop up from time to time.

Also it sounds like your 50mm out for clearance. Is there any way you could modify the bracket to give you an extra bit of room??

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No more GC8, sad face.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Kato - Yeah, ive been looking for STI coolers, havent found one yet and was contemplating other ideas.

yeah, im about 50mm out.
the cooler is too tall though, not too thick.
its too big to fit between the throttle body and the firewall.

also the scoop/hole in the bonnet is too small to effectively cool the whole intercooler so it would just turn into a heat soak lump of metal..

Do not cut aluminium on a friction type drop saw = bad

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A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.

hmm, yeah thats right - it clogs up the cutting disc...

do you recon you could cut the core with a hacksaw?
a bandsaw would be ideal i recon - but dont have one at home unfortunately.

A hacksaw would do it easily. Plenty of candle wax on the blade helps.

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A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.

Just go to JWS (Japanese Wholesale) last time i was there i saw three STI spec c coolers (the ones with the blanking plate) sitting on the shelving.