slownrusty Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Hi gang, I bought this NPR intercooler off eBay over a year and half ago, and I have been dragging and dragging my butt. Then my friend Mark came by to show me that he got his HKS intercooler installed on his ZXT - well that was the missile I needed in my a$$ to get moving. Total installation time was about 30hours. Mostly it was planning more than anything else, as I did not want to cut up the car too much to install the Intercooler. I had to come up with a creative method of hanging my Permacool oil cooler so you can see I incorporated the oil cooler in my bracket. It lies flat and get cold air through the Intercooler. I got a little bit fancy as my good friend Doug who helped me big time, had a neat bead roller - so that's why I decided to emboss the "ZX" in the 20gauge sheet steel brackets. The Intercooler itself points down at about 20degrees - which I think is perfect for scooping up cold air coming into the nose of the car and I ran all the piping infront of the rad. My original idea was to run the piping back to the TB between the head and the radiator and I even prepraed for it by removing the clutch fan and installing twin electric Flex-A-Lite fans. I was a little worried about all the heat coming off the rad and onto this pipe, which defeats the point as this pipe is carrying the "cooled" air back to the TB, so why heat it up? All the piping is 2.25" with some 2.00" as well. I used a portion of the stock 2.00" J-pipe as it comes out of the Turbo at the right angle and provides the necessary clearance for my Cusco strut brace while also provding the nipple for one of the vacuum lines. I installed my large K&N air filter under the left head light bucket and made a shield that looks like a sugar scoop to prevent road debris getting all over it and I relocated the AFM and bolted that to the block by making a new bracket for that. Essentially I bolted the AFM to the location where the AC compressor used to be. I also had to relocate my 1989 300ZX Turbo coil and that high altitude sensor thingy (I think that's what it is). For the piping, I used the existing hole on the left side of the rad support and just opened it up a smidge to accomodate the piping and both pipes are able to just "squeeze" though this opening. Results - well after finding two pin holes in the welded piping and making sure everything was leak free. The car runs really fantastic, next thing is turn the boost up and see how it responds. You can certainly feel the difference in the higher rpms. I am also running the 60mm KA24 TB as well, as can be seen in the pictures. Well enjoy - feel free to ask any questions or comments. Regards - Yasin Here is the NPR compared to a 1988 Supra Intercooler: Connection of the stock J-pipe to the new IC piping and also the piping going into the 60mm KA24TB: Passing the IC piping through the "massaged" stock hole in the rad support and also a view of my relocated 300ZX Turbo coil and high altitude sensor. You can also see I stripped my rad and polished the brass tank as well: A poor view the NPR intercooler tilted down: The final product - 30hours later, the opening on the top is my oil cooler: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKDGabe Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kosmatka Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Yasin do you notice a vast improvement over the supra intercooler you were using, what kind of boost were you running with that ic. Also how hard was it to relocate your maf and intake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kosmatka Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Also where did you get that cusco strut bar, thats nice, do they make them for the rear. How much rigidity do they add. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted July 20, 2003 Author Share Posted July 20, 2003 John - I actually did not have the Supra IC installed on my ZXT. I did have the Supra IC installed on my supercharged RWD Corolla, and was very dissapointed with the pressure drop across it. So much so that I installed pressure gauges in-line beofre and after this IC and at 14psi, the pressure drop was around 2-3psi!. And that was with all mandrel flame bent aluminum 2.25" piping - which cost me a king's ransom. Here is what it looked like: The pressure drop across the NPR IC is around 0.3psi by comparison. Right now I am running the stock boost untli I get my manual boost controoler. Which is why I probably do not feel any gain until the higher rpms. Relocating the AFM was easy but relocating the air filer to under the headlight bucket and then making a protective shield for it was a pain. I could have taken the easy way out and left the air filter in the engine compartment, but then that would have negated the whole point of going to such great troubles. It is one of those things where you just have to buckle down and do it. In the end its definately worth it. I got the Cusco front strut brace from Cyber Auto Parts in Florida (http://www.cyberauto.com) and I have bought alot of things from them in the past. The owner Chris Meyer is really into the older school japanese cars and has gone greatl lengths to help me out. The strut brace came out of Japan and took an easy 2months to get. He could not get me the matching rear one but I had one custom made for me. I can take picutes of it if you like. I am not sure how much rigidit they add - but my car is really set-up suspension wise, full front and rear coilovers, polyurethane bushings and the big Suspension Techniques sway bars. Hope that helps - Regards- Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 All looks good. I like the ZX on the top piece. How about a pic of the rear brace. I've made some myself and would like to see what other people have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tickwon Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Wow, very nice...I like. I also like your Hachi Roku, very sweet. Your coil-overs are you using Hyper coil springs? How are they? Time to turn up the boost. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kosmatka Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Yasin, i have been thinking about a daily driver. Would you recommend the ae86. How reliable are they and how well do they hold up to modifications. And what did you make your rear strut bar out of i would like to see some pics. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted July 22, 2003 Author Share Posted July 22, 2003 Hi Guys Chris John - Well I cannot recommend getting an AE86Hachiroku enough. I have had several over the past seven years, and I currently working on a little '85 coupe that will be a terror once its done. As a daily drive they are VERY reliable - typical Toyota and the 4AG engine although a little underpowered (112hp) by todays standards, is peppy in a 2250lb car. The 4AG is very easy to work on, and I can change a timing belt and water pump on it in less than a hour. Parts are readily available and easy to source as well, as the engine was shared with the first gen MR2 and also the Toyota FX16 The car really responds well to suspension and engine mods as well, and there have been some fabulous engine conversion as you can imagine. You might get lucky and find one with a genuine factory LSD as well. All in all GREAT cars and excellent handlers. If you plan to drive the car in winter, I beg you to get some good winter tires and rust protect the car. As the winter will rust them out and regular all season tires will put you into a ditch faster than you can say "Dorifto!". Here is a picture of my old supercharged AE86 hatch - just recently sold - I miss it!: John - I will get you some pics of my rear strut brace soon - I promise. Chris - I am using Hypercoil 2.5" O.D springs. 200# Front and 225# rear and they are fantastic. I cannot recommend them enough. Regards - Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tickwon Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Thanks Yasin...I have Hypercoil 200# front and was wondering about either going 225 or 250# rear. How's the ride, is it really harsh for street or sporty? That will kinda give me an idea what to go with. I heard the stock springs are 112# front and rear...anything is better than that. I'm looking for somewhere in between the harshness and sport. Yeah, the Hachis are underpowered, but they are hella of nice car to do whatever you what with. IMO they're easy to work on. I had a friend with a Hachi Roku in Okinawa, Japan. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Just an FYI as well...we carry Cusco products, and ETA for the front or rear braces for the Z and ZX is about 2 weeks.....I have the fornt and rear on my ZX (front is blue, rear is silver with blue end caps), and one of my employees has it on his '77 280 Turbo as well.....very nice items! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tickwon Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Whoa...you have one for the rear. I own a '81 280ZX. You have a Cusco rear strut tower bar? How much, Adam? Thanks. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I was under the impression that it was okay to leave the air intake/filter inside the engine bay if you were running an I/C? I've seen a lot of pics of setups like this. Is it really a bad idea? By the way one of our neighbors is selling a hachi that looks just like the red one in that pic for like $2000... I'm trying to convice my g/f that she should get that car.... it's very very clean but she doesn't want an 'old' car.... what a dork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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