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New FMIC & piping

8K views 73 replies 24 participants last post by  awoyoshix 
#1 ·
So the piping kit I ordered Arrived yesterday. Now to just find a bit of time and space to install this baby :)





It's a 20x8x3.5 inch core, it's 30" long with the end tanks, and has 2.5" outlets

The pipes are 2mm, mandrel bent, 2.5" aluminum, and the couplers are 3-ply silicone. The elbows are 4-ply silicone.

$120 shipped for the FMIC
$110 shipped for the piping kit

I need to source one more silicone (high temp) coupler to connect to the turbo, if I can't use the existing connector.




This will go VERY NICELY with my Stage 3+ nordic ECU. The ECU was tuned for a 'larger than viggen' intercooler. And very soon (early May), I'll be completeing my full 3" Turbo back exhaust. (I just have the 3" downpipe and stock exhaust now... no cat)
 
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#3 ·
I plan on photo-documenting the full install process. Since there really isn't a good definitive install guide for the Ebay FMIC's.
 
#6 ·
According to Jak Stoll http://www.jakstollperformance.com/t5.html
JSP NG900/9-3 bar & plate IC - The core dimensions of this IC are 3.5X8X20 which is the largest “drop in” performance IC on the market that Im aware of.
I bought the intercooler off ebay from "Just-Intercoolers" : http://stores.ebay.com/Just-Intercoolers

As previously mentioned, this IC has a 20x8x3.5 core (the exact same core size as Jak's). But rather than having 90 degree end tanks, it is a crossflow, so needs additional piping to route around.

I bought the piping off ebay from "ETD Motors" : http://stores.ebay.com/ETD-Motors

As previously mentioned, the pipes are 2.5" ID with 2mm thickness, mandrel bent aluminum with beads on the ends.


BOTH the FMIC and the Piping kits ended up being shipped from "CXRacing" (www.cxracing.com), even though they were purchased from 2 different ebay stores. I'm guessing the ebay stores are both resellers for CXRacing. The prices on the ebay stores were better than the prices from CXRacing direct.




Mike Saunders has a similar crossflow FMIC. You can see his thread on TSL: http://www.saablink.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3664

I'm going to install similar to Mike with the way I'm routing my piping. And hopefully with my pictures/steps, others will be able to easily follow in our footsteps.
 
#11 ·
I'd bookmarked that same intercooler on ebay but was skeptical of the think...it's a bit too long isn't it? I thought anything over 28" required some modification. Be sure to update how that goes - if it works for you then I'll place my own order.
 
#13 ·
yeah, any install notes you have would be stellar, also curious to see if the fit and pipes work out as they should. this would be a far cheaper kit than any of the other custom ones out on the market...let me know how it works out, really anxious to pick this up!
 
#15 · (Edited)
The blue piping is 2.5" ID silicone truck radiator hose. It's tough to come by but grab it if you can find it, as it's silly strong (4 ply; 200 psi burst strength at 100C) and incredibly cheap. The piece you see up there was something like $35 or 40 shipped. :eek:

The stainless steel bits are cast-off pieces from microbrewery construction, also found on Ebay. Commercial dairies use the same spec steel (I can't remember the exact guage, but it's about 50 percent thicker than the stock aluminum pipe) so you can try looking there for auctions. I think the categories are food and manufacturing. Or, if you live in the Midwest, or the pacific Northwest, try finding a guy who does fabrication and ask to buy his cast-offs. Each of the elbows was $9-10. The benefit of thick stainless is that it doesn't absorb heat as quickly as aluminum, so the pipes tend to stay cooler. After an hour's commute, I can usually hold my hand on the top opf those pipes. The downside is that they're a ***** to cut and you'll need either a chop saw or a reciprocating saw, and lots of carbide saw blades. ...and they're impossible to bead unless you have a machine shop, so you'll need to invest in heavy-duty clamps.

I did this a few years ago where there was only one option -- Abbott Racing's ridiculously overpriced delivery pipe -- so you guys have some additional options. You might want to do some research on pricing, then check out GenuineSaab's delivery pipe.

re: the original post......Amish snagged a GREAT deal on both pipes and IC. The only thing I'd probably change would be to find other uses for the worm-gear hose clamps and upgrade to lined T-bar clamps. Constant torque clamps would probably be overkill.) The worm-gear clamps are usually thin and will chew into the silicone, causing weak spots.


The current setup looks like this:



 
#17 ·
Viggen_93 said:
amish_geek What brand is your FMIC? i want to get the same one. is the GODSPEED BRAND?
Both my FMIC and Piping kits were ordered off ebay. From different sellers.

Both arrived in boxes shipped from the same place, with the same advertising literature and website on the label.

www.cxracing.com

My guess is they have a big factory in China that manufactures everything on the cheap. Quality is good.

The piping kit came with T-Bolt clamps (very cheap ones, I busted the heads off the bolt trying to torque them tight enough). I'm going to be getting some constant-torques from the local NAPA.


The piping kit was a B*tch to install on the hot side. The cold pipes went on in a breeze.

I am going to be re-doing my hotpipe side. Possibly cutting my crash bar if I can't get a custom hotpipe made up. I do NOT want to delete my AC compressor.

Front:


Looking down from the intake (cold pipe):



Looking up from the drivers side towards the intake (cold pipe):



Looking up from the drivers side (cold pipe):


Looking from the drivers side (cold pipe):
 
#18 ·
Passenger side (hot pipe):


Underneath, passenger side (hot pipe):




Underneath, elbow off turbo (hot pipe):




There was very little room, and I didn't have the right pipes/sizes/angles to get it how I wanted. So I canibalized the stock aluminum IC pipe, and hose/elbows, and squeezed the pipe under the AC compressor wheel.

It was very tight. When I put the bumper cover back on, it pushed the pipe against the pulley/belt.





So I shimmed it away, but the vibrations dislodged the shim while driving. So I then zip tied around the pipe, and pulled it down, away from the pulley, wrapped the zip ties under the frame and tied into the tow hook in front of the frame. That has held just fine (with about 1/8" to 1/4" clearance between the pipe and the pulley) for the past month.

I can't fit my bumper SE lip/front spoiler on with the pipes in this arrangement. I need to move the hot pipe up higher, and route it in front of the AC belt/pulley, rather than under it. That will require cutting the crash bar, or a custom bent hotpipe (or very creative coupling).

 
#19 ·
For those who don't know what the crashbar is that needs to be cut:


Cut a notch where it's circled, and the pipe can be routed safely in front of the AC compressor.
 
#21 ·
#24 ·
The larger intercooler meant more volume for the turbo to presurize. So a slight lag to build boost.

This FMIC coupled with my Stage 3+ ECU modified my torque curve. So rather than spiking right away at 2800rpm and being flat, it is more gradual. So the car feels more smooth, and less torquey on the butt-dyno.
 
#26 ·
I bought a Stage 3+ ECU second hand off a guy whose car had an affair with a deer.

The + designation meant the ECU tune expected there to be a "larger than viggen" intercooler in place. Thus I had to upgrade my IC.

A regular Stage 3 nordic ECU does not need an upgraded intercooler.


Tuning means your programming your ECU to match your hardware. Staged tunes are pre-defined to match a certain set of hardware. For nordic (off genuinesaab.com):

Stg1 Hp 220 and 243 FtLbs Torque! (ECU)
Stg2 Hp 240 and 258 Tq (+ SaabSport Catback, clamps)
Stg3 Hp 260 and 280 Tq (+ GS Sportcat/DP, Airfilter)
Stg4 Hp 290 and 295 Tq (+ Td0415t 5cm, Forge IC)

So a Stage 4 ECU requires a larger turbo and larger IC.

If you have custom hardware, then you get a custom tune. Or you can be cheap, buy the recommended hardware and get a staged tune. I bought a used semi-custom ECU (for cheap), so I had to build my hardware to match the tune.
 
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