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Phenolic 3800 SC Intercoolers On Ebay - Opinions/Discuss


base93lumina

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So i was cruising thru Ebay and i stumbled upon this auction from a guy who is making intercoolers for the 3800 SC motors out of phenolic material. Has anyone had any dealings with these at all or any opinions?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Phenolic-Intercooler-Gen-3-Gen-5-L67-L32-Eaton-M90-SuperCharger-3800-3-8-Pontiac?item=120931313270&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D9395410849477226

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Maybe you can help me out a bit...I understand what an intercooler is, and what it does, but that device looks like a transmission cooler mounted between the intake and the supercharger.....how exactly is that supposed to work?

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Found someone elses' setup, which explained a bit...but I'm not that convinced that such a small radiator, even with cool water being circulated, is going to cool a fair-sized volume of air by more than maybe 3-5 degrees...

 

If reduction of detonation is the goal, I'd wonder if a water injection system wouldn't give you more reduction of detonation at a lower cost...

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Potentially, but more risk would be involved in terms of tuning I would think. There are a few stats out there that show the reduction in intake air temp by adding an intercooler.

 

In any case, these Intercoolers do help.

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Reduction in intake temps is HUGE! for 3 reasons. 1 - phenolic material doesnt transfer heat, so the S/C doesnt get heatsoaked from the engine. 2 - it blocks the coolant passages to the S/C and TB. Dumb design by GM IMO. 3 - the water being circulated thru the plate cools the incoming air.

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But, if you look at his design, like the one guy said, it doesnt look that great. Hell, it looks like a universal heater core sandwiched between two pieces of phenolic. I would be worried about the amount of cooling ability, the integrity of the core, and its ability to stand up to the supercharger weight and torque long term wise.

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Those were my thoughts when researching, I noticed they are cheaper if you buy direct from him through the forum vs using the ebay though.

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Heck...why not just route the A/C evaporator under the supercharger? MUCH colder... :)

 

You'd lose the A/C being used for the interior of the car, but if it's about all-out performance, why not?

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Maybe what you arent realizing is in a air/water/air intercooler system, the water is routed to a heat exchanger, or radiator if you will, which is mounted in front of the stock radiator.

 

Over 100F temp reductions can be seen with a full size intercooler like this.

 

I would prefer an air/air intercooler. Its thermally more efficient and much less maintenance, but less effective at low speeds.

Edited by Andrew
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But, if you look at his design, like the one guy said, it doesnt look that great. Hell, it looks like a universal heater core sandwiched between two pieces of phenolic. I would be worried about the amount of cooling ability, the integrity of the core, and its ability to stand up to the supercharger weight and torque long term wise.
I dont see enough detail to comment on the design. It is a small heat exchanger sandwiched between 2 pieces, thats how they are all designed. Phenolic is not soft. Edited by Andrew
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Really thinking of doing this for the next mod on the Regal GS. A little hesitant because the price is pretty steep. Even if I get this phenolic unit from 'sseilmnop', I'm still looking at a little over $1k when you factor in the intercooler install kit and the modified fuel rails which would be required of course.

 

I believe this phenolic unit was listed as being ~2" thick. Any idea if this would even fit under the hood of a '98 Regal GS?

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The ZZP and Intense intercoolers are actually 2.25" thick and give you approximately 1/8" of inside hood clearance. This should give you closer to a 3/8-1/2" of clearance.

 

I think i may just save up and get the short stack intercooler from ZZP. For the price, you get great gains from a tested and true company, plus the entire install kit. And all you need is injector spacers vs the whole custom fuel rail bit.

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The ZZP and Intense intercoolers are actually 2.25" thick and give you approximately 1/8" of inside hood clearance. This should give you closer to a 3/8-1/2" of clearance.

 

I think i may just save up and get the short stack intercooler from ZZP. For the price, you get great gains from a tested and true company, plus the entire install kit. And all you need is injector spacers vs the whole custom fuel rail bit.

 

I would read up a bit before spending the money on the short stack. The concensus on those seems to be that they heat soak quickly and offer no real gains. You'd be better off saving longer and doing it right.

 

Sent from my Galaxy using Tapatalk 2

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Short stock intercooler is totally worth the money. And Ive never had any issues with injector spacers in the 3 years Ive been running them. People always talk crap about the SSIC but I think they are just expecting too much.

Edited by bkaab
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