Possible low cost alternative to front mount intercooler and leaking hoses

[Rich_m]

Someone has possibly thought of this already but i can’t seem to find any posts about it being done.

 

The majority of my boost pipes are worn. So i searched for alternatives to replacing with standard pipes. I was going to build just the top hose like people have here but with the couplers being £20-25 each with postage it can be expensive.

 

So i stumbled across the fact that the Fabia with an ATD engine doesn’t have the crap pipe fittings like the VRS. Neither does the intercooler.

so i did some comparisons and the intercooler mounts, shape, size are all the same as the VRS but with normal 51mm outlets.

 

I’ve managed to get the intercooler brand new through Euro car parts ebay page for £53 delivered, both boost pipes have cost approx £100 including a coupler for each end as i’ve kept the egr/asv unit.

 

I’m still waiting for the last silicone hose to turn up but as a mock fit before modifying the pipe lengths goes it should be a good fit. Even better that it keeps the standard mountings, eliminates 99% of the leak points and costs approx £160 for all the parts including decent jubilee/mikalor clips.

 

All parts are available on ebay and if people want to know what to order once i’ve confirmed it does all work properly then i’ll list the parts. If people are still having these troubles obviously

 

[sepulchrave]

Yeah, but it's a smaller intercooler so it falls into the class of a ghetto mod. since performance will decrease rapidly as it heatsoaks.

[Rich_m]

  Apologies for the badly explained title

its not an alternative to a front mount for all uses but if its just to fit a reliable set up then it should work as an alternative to replacing standard pipework

Mine isn’t remapped so it should be fine. 

It was more of a cheaper substitute idea than spending hundreds on doing a big modification just to get away from the crap vw pipe design tbh. Should lat a lot longer than replacing a pipe everytime it wears.

I’m sure it wouldn’t be a great alternative if you were hoping for big gains but then a proper front mount would be an obvious choice down that route.

Edited 27 April, 2018 by Rich_m

[KenONeill]

@Rich_m - The working size of an intercooler is X by Y by Z, not just X by Y.

[Rich_m]

Yeah apologies that was badly worded.

what i should have put is alternative to replacing standard pipework without the cost of a front mount. Thats how it should have been worded 

not that it would be a better option than a front mount if you’re looking for power. I meant reliablity 

Edited 27 April, 2018 by Rich_m

[corndog]

depending on how bad your pipes are....

 

If it's just the couplers that are damaged (the wee extruded aluminium catch bit) then a few screws works well and not exactly hard to undo

 

 

[Rich_m]

2 hours ago, corndog said:

depending on how bad your pipes are....

 

If it's just the couplers that are damaged (the wee extruded aluminium catch bit) then a few screws works well and not exactly hard to undo

 

 

Yeah that is possible and plenty of people do it along with the cable tie ‘fix’, but i wouldn’t want to bodge every joint. Plus if i went to look at a car and it had screws holding the pipes together i wouldn’t buy it.  it could be done even cheaper possibly under £100 with secondhand couplers, intercooler/cheaper hoses.

If it reads like i’m trying to reinvent the intercooler that’s not the intention  

[JWvrs25]

Are the ATD intercoolers not less effective in some way then? i see no reason why they would make 2 identical intercoolers with different couplings unless there was a difference inside

Good alternative if they are the same, but ill stick to my self tappers and cable ties 

[Rich_m]

14 minutes ago, JWvrs25 said:

Are the ATD intercoolers not less effective in some way then? i see no reason why they would make 2 identical intercoolers with different couplings unless there was a difference inside

Good alternative if they are the same, but ill stick to my self tappers and cable ties 

Well as far as dimensions go it is identical at the core. The only difference i can see is the plastic moulds top and bottom which are obviously different. The mounts are in exactly the same place on the core too so i thought it was worth a bash 

 

Edited 27 April, 2018 by Rich_m

[Rich_m]

16 hours ago, JWvrs25 said:

Are the ATD intercoolers not less effective in some way then? i see no reason why they would make 2 identical intercoolers with different couplings unless there was a difference inside

Good alternative if they are the same, but ill stick to my self tappers and cable ties 

Found a couple of mk4 golf intercoolers with the same spec core and the plastic ends in a different orientation. So hopefully the cores are all the same 

Edited 28 April, 2018 by Rich_m