saab intercooler question

[Mr Overkill]

was at the junk yard today and saw the samm ic its pretty big in size but how do they hold up to 20 psi of boost??? anyone so an install in there td and how do you like it

[Stevien1]

I have a Saab 9000 intercooler in my turbovan- it's seems to be okay. I removed the monster plastic endtanks and welded on some aluminum ones so it fit better.

-Chuck James

[Mr Overkill]

ok seems to be good for that but it might be 2 tall for a g body

[TurboMinivan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Overkill was at the junk yard today and saw the samm ic its pretty big in size

Does it look like the SAAB unit in this picture?



If so, avoid it. It creates the most backpressure of all the 'coolers shown in that picture, and is therefore the largest horsepower cork of the group.

[Mr Overkill]

no didnt quite look like that the place where the hoses went on were not a 90 degree angle but straight

[Stevien1]

That's what mine looked like before I removed the plastic endtanks. It looks like this now: http://users.mich.com/~stevien1/misc/intercool.jpg

Great, so now I've been running a crappy intercooler for almost 4yrs now! ;) Good thing it was free! Whats weird was that I could get 18psi from the worn out Mitsu and the intercooler would be barely warm. I wonder if it's not removing as much heat from the air as a "real" intercooler would? I haven't been able to check intercooler and intake manifold temps with the newer Super60 setup.

-Chuck James

[xrattiracer]

remeber kids, flow isnt everything. a piece of pipe has no pressure drop, but it dont cool all that well either :P
that cooler will work up to 300hp and 25 psi if you want it to, i know someone that has been running one at that for awhile now.

[TurboMinivan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrattiracer remeber kids, flow isnt everything.

It's not everything, perhaps, but it ought to be at the top of your list of considerations when it comes to intercooler selection. After all, horsepower is a measurement of airflow, not temperature.

(I already explained this over here and don't feel like typing it all again.)

[TurboMinivan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevien1 Great, so now I've been running a crappy intercooler for almost 4yrs now!

Look at the bright side: you are now a well-qualified candidate for an intercooler upgrade test! When you transition into something with, say 1/3 the backpressure, you'll have to report how much better it feels.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevien1 Good thing it was free!

Then it'll be hard to say it wasn't a good value.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevien1 Whats weird was that I could get 18psi from the worn out Mitsu and the intercooler would be barely warm.

I used to run my Mitsu turbo at 17/18 psi all day long with my PowerStroke intercooler, and the outlet tank never felt warmer than ambient... even on a 100^ summer day. And while pulling most of the heat out of the charge air sure sounds like your #1 goal, I wonder how much more power I could have made (and how much faster I could have gone) with a proper intercooler that had virtually no backpressure.

Now you know why I sold the PS and am building a triple core IC to replace it.