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spearco/ bell IC cores?


Doug71zt

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Its time to upgrade my supra ic. I'm looking at a corky bell or spearco core but I'm wondering what size to run. Scottie? or anyone else out there with a fabbed up IC. I'm currently running a L28ET but want to be able to use this IC for a RB26 conversion in the future. I'm going to run the tubing through the vent holes in the rad saddle so I think I have about 20" of core width available. Also - if you know the rated flow and pressure drop through your core that would be good to know.

 

Thanks - Doug

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Spearco cores(Garrett cores air-air) have gone up about 25% in cost over the past year since the merge with Turbonetics. If you want to know what flow to obtain you will ask the following:

What power do I want to make?

500hp

How much flow is needed across core with 1.1psi pressure drop to support 500hp?

500hp*1.6 = 800cfm@1.1psi drop

 

So search the core maps and find a core that supports that flow and pressure drop across the core. This is not exact, but gives you the results you need for sizing an intercooler.

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I had a recent discussion with Cartech and they told me mine was good for 550hp. I take that to mean 520 in the real world. My core (240Z Turbo's old unit) is 27.5x8x2.5, so you see you are not limited to 20". The size of the core will depend on how the tanks are mounted. Side-mounted tanks will be narrower/taller and top/bottom tanks will be shorter/wider. I prefer shorter/wider cores. The cooling surface area will probably be the same but shorter/wider cores will usually flow more, IF THE TUBES RUN TOP-TO-BOTTOM. One of the keys to flow is the total area of the tube openings in the tanks.

 

An easy correlation (w/o doing the math) is that a 2" pipe, 10' long will have the same volume as a 4" pipe 5' long, but the 4" pipe will flow more. I know it's not 100% accurate, so lets not break out slide rules and get picky :D . I sometimes cringe when I see the Ricer I/Cs that are short/wide but only have like 4 long tubes.

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Thanks for the input guys - I was also wondering if you had done any inlet/outlet temp or pressure measurements on your ic's after installation? I like the look of Stoney's IC for its lack of sharp piping bends and was thinking of a set-up similar to that but I understand that there will be more restriction in a long core like that.

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Originally posted by Doug71zt:

Thanks again guys. I talked to Bell today and they think that the vertical core is the best way. Looks be damned - I'll go for more power any day. I think it will be a 3x22x8 core for me. Flows enough for 500 hp at 1 PSI drop and the piping won't be that bad. Scottie - they promised to do a better job on my IC than they did on yours. ;) Just have to wait 2 wks till they get there new business up and running. I didn't price a Spearco yet. Good people to talk to at Bell though.

 

Thanks - Doug

Just curious, what do they charge for that IC?
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I haven't got a quote yet. They are setting up an IC only business that opens in mid-Nov. I'm going to call for pricing on just a core and a complete assy in a couple weeks. They said that the demand is there for the product and as an earlier post said - spearco's pricing just went thru the roof.

 

Later - Doug

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Thanks again guys. I talked to Bell today and they think that the vertical core is the best way. Looks be damned - I'll go for more power any day. I think it will be a 3x22x8 core for me. Flows enough for 500 hp at 1 PSI drop and the piping won't be that bad. Scottie - they promised to do a better job on my IC than they did on yours. ;) Just have to wait 2 wks till they get there new business up and running. I didn't price a Spearco yet. Good people to talk to at Bell though.

 

Thanks - Doug

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I spoke with Corky Bell yesterday for about 15mins regarding the proper size core for my RB26 swap. He recommended a 18x6x3 core, which should flow 570CFM, good for close to 400hp. After measuring the radiator core support and the existing holes I decided to go a little wider on the core (22x6x3). This amounts to an increase in CFM to 705 or 450hp. I asked about the benefit to running 8" tubes instead of the 6", he indicated the bulk of the heat transfer happens in the first 4-6 inches so additional tube length doesnt give much benefit. Looking at the CFM ratings for the different cores at Bell you can see the longer tubes actually decrease CFM. Also since the space in front of the radiator support is somewhat limited and the end caps are top/bottom adding more tube length will mean more cutting on the car than I wanted. Price out the door for the core, caps, and welded on mounting brackets was $575. Not dirt cheap but certainly better than Spearco or Greddy...

 

Matt

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Yes the longer tubes will decrease the CFM rating because the CFM rating is pressure drop limited. The CFM rating is the flow at which you get a certain pressure drop - for Spearco it may be 1.5 psi. But what the longer tubes WILL get you is a greater temperature drop (better IC efficiency), so if you have the headroom on your turbo, you may be able to tolerate it.

 

I think thats one reason the Honda turbo folks can even use the long needle-like ICs on their applications - they use a ridiculously big turbo like a 60-1 that is efficient at a high pressure ratio, and they get the cooling needed from the IC to run boost in a 10:1 compression motor.

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Talked to Spearco today. They recommend a 3.5x18.8x8.4 core which is good for 675HP or 1000cfm. The guy couldn't tell me what pressure drop those #'s were at - guessed .5psi twak.gif I get the feeling I was talking to the wrong guy. Anyway - cost is $872 complete or $518 for the core only. eek2.gif If anyone wants some of that action - the part # is 2-196. A lot rich for me because that's almost $1700 CDN dollars by the time it gets here. I'll be calling griffin rads and corky back later. Apparently Griffin makes a lot of IC cores used by other companies.

 

Later - Doug

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Guest Tim78zt

Hi Doug!

You will not be disappointed with Corky's IC. Search this forum for my name or member number and "intercooler" and you will find the pics of my install of the Bell IC. Price is about what I paid over 2 years ago. A year went by after I bought it because the car was totalled in a rear-ender so I have only been running it a little over a year now. I showed the install to Corky when I was in San Antonio for the National Convention and he was happy with it.

If you have any more questions you can email me direct.

 

Tim78zt

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Guest Tim78zt

Hi Doug!

You will not be disappointed with Corky's IC. Search this forum for my name or member number and "intercooler" and you will find the pics of my install of the Bell IC. Price is about what I paid over 2 years ago. A year went by after I bought it because the car was totalled in a rear-ender so I have only been running it a little over a year now. I showed the install to Corky when I was in San Antonio for the National Convention and he was happy with it.

If you have any more questions you can email me direct.

 

Tim78zt

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Originally posted by 1stGenZ:

What's this crap inside this cooler's tubes? Isn't that restrictive?

 

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/parts/icpics/20x10-endflow.jpg

Restriction is the name of the game. It is necessary to create turbulance inside the core in order to transfer heat. It's a very touchy balancing act between restriction and efficiency. I think that is why no one can say for sure what design is "best" without actually running it and measuring the performance. For me, that means any intercooler I buy will be from a company that knows what it is doing, and not just experimenting and piecing it together.
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