Stealth Intercooler?

[richardxfeng]

i dont think anybody can see it behind the stock bumper.am i right?

[nrcooled]

[quote=" Cyberkreig Along your logic: Why dont the big IC companies paint their IC's white? we all know that color attracts the least heat. [/quote]

Now I am going to be more mature than to start calling names. The reason they don't paint them white is because the paint still acts as and insulator and essentially would do the same in any color.

Now who's the idiot?:rolleyes

[Nathan]

Ok...you guys are being ridiculous, just get some black spray paint and give it a light dusting...dont COAT it, just give it a nice light dusting, maybe two light coats....will it look perfect? no...but who really cares? if your blacking out your intercooler allready then obviously your not going for looks. get some chicken wire, the fine stuff...paint it black as well and keep your stock bumper. Unless your making like 500hp then it's not going to matter enough to be a problem. What I told you to do is my exact plan, I'll tell you how well it works

[RobDET]

the anodization thing is cool... great link! i'm doing it to something!

[Mameluke]

Are engine swaps illegal in Canada??!

[Cyberkreig]

nrcooled.. You are right about the name calling, that usualy isnt my style. But this is really annoying to me. I simply dont see how radiator paint is going to effect efficency enough to matter... I wish i had a camera good enough to show you mine.. only the outer layer of fins has paint, you can still see silver on the inside..

Again, I appologize for name calling, but you have to admit the sunlight thing was a heck of a stretch

[240SXer]

I looked at my bumper again, it's not really that obvious. I've only seen intercoolers on S13s, on S14s you can barely see it. That combined with the chickenwire (mesh) grill it'll be hardly noticable. Let's not fight about it guys. The fact is nobody really knows because it's never been an issue. The california lawmakers are the devil, they are the ones to blame for it all. I shouldnt have to be hiding my intercooler..

[ZERO]

As for the idea of using two side mounts, audi and VW have that for their 1.8t engines. The drawbacks to this setup are the increase in turbolag, and even then you cant go too high on psi, because those ICs can only hold so much. That just my opinion.

[240SXer]

Yeah. I want an effective setup, I don't want to spend a lot more with it. A front mount is the only way to go. I've just gotta find out if painting it will make it suck.

[GatorS14]

or you can see how scc did their intercooler/radiator set up.

the intercooler takes the place of the radiator.and the radiator is right behind it(a flo-thru obvious).

i'm going to do this.but brian aka orion brought up the fact the a/c condenser will be in the way.I live in FL ,so that it definately a problem to be solved before i go that route.

[illspace]

why is nobody worried about the super restricted airflow from the mesh wire, and yet squabbles over painting the intercooler. The "heatsoak" from the black intercooler will be no where near as bad as the heatsoak from the wiremesh.

http://www.airpowersystems.com.authey tune sr20s and other such motors, and have an option of the stealth black intercooler...

[timmybgood]

what are you talking about, unless you put mesh with like 1/4" holes 3" apart, the mesh will have absolutly no adverse effects

if you want really want stealth, get air/water IC, it cools far better anyways

[illspace]

From personal experience, I have none with the mesh, but on http://www.nasioc.com where I used to visit for my WRX, there are numerous tests showing the wire mesh increasing temps.

[Drakon]

Why dont you stripe it with black? so technically half of the surface is actually black. like 1 cm between stripes or something. that could work. and Large gaped wire mesh will hardly have a noticable effect on air flow, the point in it is to make the eyes loose focus on anything behind the black mesh. also if you get some 19 inch chrome rims no one would even notice a monster FMIC on ur car.

[240SXer]

Yeah airpowersystems have a stealth black intercooler. I think i'll find out how they did it. Then do it to another intercooler, or just boy one of them. So obvious, to settle it. there IS some sort of paining that can be done to an intercooler with little or no effect on performance.

[Drakon]

ANd BlitZ intercoolers have their name in BLACK on the front. Its not on the whole thing but it is black and they wouldnt add it if it really effected it much.

[SR22DET]

now this may not help but just a thought signal auto did it so it must be good u kno how they mounted their intecoolers inside the engine bay now iunno if they put the firewall back a lil or what so just if u can do it then cool

[SR22DET]

by the way yes i know most of us dont have S15 conversions so u can make a lil scoop or dam of somekind on yer hood so it can intake the air

[nrcooled]

The engine bay is modified on that s15 and on all of the intercooler in the engine bay custom rad mounts and engine mounts are necessary to get the set up to work propperly. Also the stelth issue will be lost with the multiple scoops and ducting that will be needed to propperly route the air.

Koguchi (sp?) has his 180sx done like that it's very trick

I have never heard of mesh causing heat soak but i also don't know a lot of people that use mesh infront of the i/c. Where on the APS site is the mesh info located so I can get some knowledge on it?

[Nathan]

What are you people using? Window screens? hahaha...I dont think chicken wire would be a huge restriction at all...if stealth is important to you then you can deal with a SMALL restriction right? I know I can! a FMIC is still a huge upgrade from the stock sidemount.

[RobDET]

blitz does not spray the blitz logo on from the factory. they send you a template and you can spray it on if you want... just some FYI

[240SXer]

What kinda paint do they say to do it with?

[MarkEmark]

straight from Bell Intercoolers FAQ page,

Can an intercooler be painted?Certainly. One might find a small loss of efficiency if the core is painted, but likely this would be less of a difference than the repeatability of measurement. By all means, paint the end tanks, but preference suggests the core remain exposed.

Hope that helps

[machinehead]

heh, that anodizing thing is cool, anyone know how to chrome something :p