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Water to air intercooler setup


In an effort to improve the long term performance of this AW11 I decided to remove the factory intercooler and install a water to air intercooler instead. I also decided to change the original location and install the intercooler in the boot.

A turbo or supercharger heats the air up during the process of forcing more air into the throttle body. A water to air intercooler is a great way to remove the additional heat from a forced induction air intake.  Other systems that achieve similar results are water injection or alcohol injection.

While an injection system is simpler, I like the idea of reducing the over all heat soak of the engine by relocating the intercooler and having a plumbed water system to the front of the car where the radiators are mounted.

The intercooler in question was bought off ebay and it only required some minor modifications. We welded a bracket to the rear of the unit.

The water to air intercooler

The water to air intercooler

The radiators were another ebay deal (sensing a theme here?). They are designed for a motorcycle and had a small enough profile to be mounted upfront without interfering with air flow to the radiator.

IMG_8710The last part was the header tank, which just so happened to come from a BA falcon. It just about had the right pickup points to fit perfectly where I located it on the front right guard.

Some good quality radiator hose finished the job aided by a 12v pump to circulate the water at a pace that allows it to take the heat away.

water pump setup

water pump setup

The silicone hoses were purchased off ebay as was the polished ali-tube. Annoyingly I didn’t think about the engine sucking the air through on idle which caused the silicone joiners to pinch and buckle.  So I had to cut rings out of the left over ali-tube and reenforce the internals.

Still after all the effort I’m confident that the Mr2 will have better long term performance.

Lloyd Waldron

About the author: Lloyd Waldron

Cars are more then transport, they represent more than freedom or independence and they are a part of our identity. Cars reflect the personality of their owners. You can instantly tell if the owner takes pride in themselves; you'll know if they have a messy bedroom and occasionally you'll guess their sense of humor. Cars say so much about people, so I figure I should say something about them..

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