Hey guys and gurls. I tryed to search a little but found nothing to my avail. I have a 98 s14 stock front end. I ordered this intercooler kit for my kat http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem
from the looks of it i need to make my own two brackets. Im looking for install picks of s14 of were you notch your frame/bumper and i would like to see what materials and how peeps made there intercooler brackets.
Any help would be great, Chad
S14 intercooler install.
Re: S14 intercooler install. (chad_KAT)
Funny you asked, i was just going to do a quick writeup on the subject, might as well put it here since you'v got a good title.
Theres two main ways to do a IC install. One way is to take out the front bumper support, the other is to keep it in. I chose the latter, i dont want to ruin my engine bay because of a fender bender or something.
To keep the front bumper support and install your Intercooler i used the following -------->
- 4 or 6 inch Angle grinder, you will need a few extra disks, and a full face shield. I had a few disks blow apart on me. If you dont have a full face shield this will hurt, really, really bad. Typically your face isnt far from the grinder when your doing the underside of the support.
- Sandpaper, to clean up the freshly cut bumper support.
- Paint, to cover up the bare metal so it wont rust.
- Strips of rubber adhesive. I used an 8th inch thick piece of 3M(worth the extra cash, 3m is the sheit) rubber 'tape'. Use this to cover all the area you cut out, so theres no chance it will rub a hole through the IC itself.
- Stuff to fabricate the brackets. I used some steel i had lying around and mig welded it up. Also, you need a drill and some bolts, to attach the brackets to the supports.
First, you need to cut the bumper support out. I used a marker to get put a strait line down the length of the support, as a cutting line. Remember here, you can always cut more out, but you cant replace the metal if you cut to much out.
After you do this, slide the IC in there and see how it fits. You probably will have to take out metal here and there to get a good fit, it takes some time.
Try to get the IC as far up as you can. You dont want it bashing speed bumps, ect. Also, if your IC has mounting brackets on the bottom of it, take your grinder and lop those off. You wont need them, and they would be the lowest point, the things that would hit everything.
Next, you need to do a little work on the support area, its the spot where you will be mounting your brackets.
There is a 90 degree bend in the metal support itself on the side that you will be mounting your brackets to. You should cut that , to the point where you can bend the tab of metal you cut out, making it line up strait with the other piece. This gives you a little more room to drill your holes, and more metal for the bracket to sit against. You only need to do this on the driver side support, the other support is already set up correctly.
After that, use a jack to keep your IC up while you figure out your angles and the spot that your brackets will mount to. Measure twice, weld once..
My brackets were really simple, just a flat piece of metal about 3-4 inch's long with a hole on one side. Then, i cut another piece of metal about a square inch with a hole in it. I welded that perpendicular to the other piece.
A really important thing about this setup, you have to make sure your headlights will fit in. You will only have to worry about the heads of the bolts that go into your IC itself. I had to use a bench grinder to take down about a quarter of an inch on the heads themselves.
Well, hope this helps, if you see anything that i left out post and ill edit it up. Feel free to add to this post if you have any other ideas, or you did it differently.
Good luck
Theres two main ways to do a IC install. One way is to take out the front bumper support, the other is to keep it in. I chose the latter, i dont want to ruin my engine bay because of a fender bender or something.
To keep the front bumper support and install your Intercooler i used the following -------->
- 4 or 6 inch Angle grinder, you will need a few extra disks, and a full face shield. I had a few disks blow apart on me. If you dont have a full face shield this will hurt, really, really bad. Typically your face isnt far from the grinder when your doing the underside of the support.
- Sandpaper, to clean up the freshly cut bumper support.
- Paint, to cover up the bare metal so it wont rust.
- Strips of rubber adhesive. I used an 8th inch thick piece of 3M(worth the extra cash, 3m is the sheit) rubber 'tape'. Use this to cover all the area you cut out, so theres no chance it will rub a hole through the IC itself.
- Stuff to fabricate the brackets. I used some steel i had lying around and mig welded it up. Also, you need a drill and some bolts, to attach the brackets to the supports.
First, you need to cut the bumper support out. I used a marker to get put a strait line down the length of the support, as a cutting line. Remember here, you can always cut more out, but you cant replace the metal if you cut to much out.
After you do this, slide the IC in there and see how it fits. You probably will have to take out metal here and there to get a good fit, it takes some time.
Try to get the IC as far up as you can. You dont want it bashing speed bumps, ect. Also, if your IC has mounting brackets on the bottom of it, take your grinder and lop those off. You wont need them, and they would be the lowest point, the things that would hit everything.
Next, you need to do a little work on the support area, its the spot where you will be mounting your brackets.
There is a 90 degree bend in the metal support itself on the side that you will be mounting your brackets to. You should cut that , to the point where you can bend the tab of metal you cut out, making it line up strait with the other piece. This gives you a little more room to drill your holes, and more metal for the bracket to sit against. You only need to do this on the driver side support, the other support is already set up correctly.
After that, use a jack to keep your IC up while you figure out your angles and the spot that your brackets will mount to. Measure twice, weld once..
My brackets were really simple, just a flat piece of metal about 3-4 inch's long with a hole on one side. Then, i cut another piece of metal about a square inch with a hole in it. I welded that perpendicular to the other piece.
A really important thing about this setup, you have to make sure your headlights will fit in. You will only have to worry about the heads of the bolts that go into your IC itself. I had to use a bench grinder to take down about a quarter of an inch on the heads themselves.
Well, hope this helps, if you see anything that i left out post and ill edit it up. Feel free to add to this post if you have any other ideas, or you did it differently.
Good luck
Re: S14 intercooler install. (mowedS14)
The car in the pictures, the car that i installed the IC in is a 1996 pearl white 240sx, s14.